1. Introduction : a typology for stability and instability in China / Steven F. Jackson -- 2. How do we know if China is unstable? / H. Lyman Miller -- 3. The Chinese leadership : cracks in the Façade? / David Shambaugh -- 4. Political instability at the middle and lower levels : signs of a decaying CCP, corruption, and political dissent / Bruce J. Dickson -- 5. Sources of macroeconomic instability in China / Nicholas R. Lardy -- 6. How stable is China? An economic perspective / Pieter Bottelier -- 7. The potential for urban unrest : will the fencers stay on the Pisté? / Dorothy J. Solinger -- 8. Instability in rural China / Thomas P. Bernstein -- 9. The potential for instability among alienated intellectuals and students in post-Mao China / Merle Goldman -- 10. The potential for instability in minority regions / June Teufel Dreyer -- 11. Chinese social trends : stability or chaos? / Martin King Whyte