This book examines the status of village democracy, studies the achievements and the problems, explains its dynamics, and investigates the prospects of China's democratization. It challenges the skeptics with a nuanced assessment of village democracy in its variety and diversity. It develops an understanding of how three key factors ? township, economy and kinship? shape village democracy and account for the variations of rural democracy. The extension of village to township elections has been examined and an idea of mixed regime being formulated with an examination of its key features and implications for our understanding of political development in China.