'The surge of land-related popular protests in China has caught extensive attention in recent years, but it is notoriously difficult to establish causal connections between social protests and policy outcomes. In this book Christopher Heurlin systematically examines the policy making processes triggered by petitions or protests, and offers one of the most illuminating studies on authoritarian responsiveness in China.' Xi Chen, Chinese University of Hong Kong
1. Protest and policy outcomes under authoritarianism; 2. Land takings, demolitions, and a rising wave of protest signals; 3. Disruptive tactics and buying stability in local government responsiveness; 4. Social stability and the petitioning system's role in agenda setting; 5. Protest and the political mediation approach in provincial policy making; 6. The state council and the National People's Congress as veto players in the policy outcomes of protests; 7. Conclusion; Appendix 1. The LexisNexis data set; Appendix 2. The Zhejiang landless farmer survey; Appendix 3. Descriptive data on provincial adoption of social security policies.