Acknowledgements

During the writing of this book I have been helped by so many people and organizations, without whom this study would not have been possible. First, I want to thank Professor Jie Chen, my collaborator in the southern Jiangsu survey project. We have worked together for many years and published a number of journal articles based on the survey project. My gratitude also goes to the Department of Political Science and the Graduate School of the University of Tennessee who provided generous financial help for my field research trips to China and for granting me sabbatical leave to work on this book. My thanks also go to Professor Yongnian Zheng, Editor of the China Policy Series for Routledge Press, for including this study in the series. Peter Sowden, Editor at Routledge, and Emma Davis are some of the nicest people with whom I have worked. They deserve the credit for making the book look so good.

I would like to thank the following publishers and copyright holders for permission to reprint work in this book: Chapter 2 was adapted from my article ‘Democratic Values among Chinese Peasantry: An Empirical Study’, published in China: An International Journal (Vol. 3, No. 2, 2005), reprinted with kind permission of the National University of Singapore Press. Chapter 4 was adapted from my article ‘Political Interest in Rural Southern Jiangsu Province in China’ in The Journal of Chinese Political Science (Vol. 10, No. 2, 2005), reprinted with kind permission of Springer Publishing. Chapter 6 was adapted from my article ‘To Vote or Not To Vote: An Analysis of Peasants’ Participation in Chinese Village Elections’ in Comparative Political Studies (Vol. 35, No. 6, 2002), reprinted with kind permission of Sage Publications, Inc.

Last but not least, I want to express my heart-felt gratitude to my parents, my wife Ping and my children Christina and Sean for taking care of me and providing encouragement. Without them I, for sure, could not have finished this book. It is to them that I dedicate this book.