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Westerners tend to divide the political world into good democracies and bad authoritarian regimes. But the Chinese political model does not fit neatly in either category. Over the past three decades, China has evolved a political system that can best be described as political meritocracy. The China Model seeks to understand the ideals and the reality of this unique political system. How do the ideals of political meritocracy set the standard for evaluating political progress (and regress) in China? How can China avoid the disadvantages of political meritocracy? And how can political meritocracy best be combined with democracy? Daniel Bell answers these questions and more.

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"[I]t is part of the job of academics to ask fundamental questions that challenge conventional thinking. Bell performs this role admirably in lucid, jargon-free prose that leads the reader back to some of the most fundamental questions in political philosophy - refracted through the experience of contemporary China . . . I found the questions that Bell raised consistently stimulating."--Gideon Rachman, Financial Times

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Daniel A. Bell is Chair Professor of the Schwarzman Scholars Program at Tsinghua University in Beijing and director of the Berggruen Philosophy and Culture Center.

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