Contradictions in Communist Reform: China before 4 June 1989
Democratic reform in an authoritarian political system has always been a complicated and uncertain process. Historically, most democracies evolved in capitalist societies in which trade and industry evolved autonomously from government and in which a philosophical and legal framework for limited government was established. I An emergent bourgeoisie convinced old feudal leaders and kings to share power in parliaments. Later, industrialization and urbanization formed more new social classes, and these forces also eventually joined in the sharing of power. At each stage in this process, conflict between old and new social forces was common, and many countries experienced civil violence and dictatorship. Some political systems oscillated several times between autocratic and constitutional rule over many political generations. Established elites finally decided they could use representative and electoral institutions to avoid violent revolution, to strengthen the legitimacy of the status quo, and to prevent the stagnation of hereditary elites.2 A crisis-choice-change model has successfully been used to link long-term changes