Content area
Full Text
THE RISE OF THINK TANKS IN CHINA. China Policy Series, 28. By Xufeng Zhu. London; New York: Routledge, 2013. xiii, 210 pp. (Figures, tables.) US$145.00, cloth. ISBN 978-0-415-66900-9.
Xufeng Zhu, a professor at the Zhou Enlai School of Government at Nankai University, maintains that think tanks are a window for the outside world to observe the Chinese political system and its processes. In The Rise of Think Tanks in China, a detailed study of China's think tanks, Zhu provides the reader with empirical evidence of the rise of think tanks, as well as a comparative analysis of seven prominent think tanks. The book also makes use of a nationwide survey of think-tank leaders.
Zhu attempts to answer the questions: how do different types of think tanks operate in China and to what extent do they actually influence policy making? While the second question remains clouded in conjecture because policy makers will often draw on multiple sources, the book does provide a pioneering account of think tanks' administrative structure and influence, the strategies adopted by leaders, and the resources on which they draw. The overall argument confirms the view that the closer one is to government the more likely one's voice is to be heard. While this is unsurprising, the book does provide an insider's view on the machinations of influence in China's policy circles.
The book is divided into four sections. The first section provides a comparative theoretical analysis in respect to how think tanks are positioned within China's...