Taxation Without Representation in Contemporary Rural China

The tax burden imposed upon the farmer has become a major source of discontent in the Chinese countryside and a worrisome source of political and social instability. Thomas P. Bernstein and Xiabo LÜ examine the heavy, informal taxation, revealing how peasants defend their interests by adopting peaceful and violent strategies of collective resistance. Bernstein and LÜ explain why the central government, often siding with the peasants, has been unable to resolve the tax burden issue by instituting a sound, reliable financial system.

The tax burden imposed upon the farmer has become a major source of discontent in the Chinese countryside and a worrisome source of political and social instability. Bernstein and LÜ examine the forms and sources of heavy, informal taxation, and shed light on how peasants defend their interests by adopting strategies of collective resistance (both peaceful and violent). Bernstein and LÜ also explain why the central government, while often siding with the peasants, has not been able to solve the burden problem by instituting a sound, reliable financial system in the countryside.