Machine generated contents note: 1. China as a Centrifugal Empire: Size, Diversity, and Local Governance -- 2. China Goes Local (Again): Assessing Post-Mao Decentralization -- 3. The Subnational Hierarchy in Time: Institutional Changes (and Continuities) -- 4. The Center's Perceptions of Local Bureaucracy in China: A Typological First-Cut -- 5. The Center's Instruments of Local Control -- 6. Determinants of Local Discretion in Implementation: Exploring Policy-Contingent Variations -- 7. The Political Economy of Vertical Support and Horizontal Networks -- 8. Conclusion