This book examines the period of history from 1989 to not only better understand the state of Chinese politics today, but also raise questions about its future. There are four essential elements to this: politics - if Tiananmen reflected a political breakdown, how was the political system put back together?, intellectuals and their relationship to the state, intellectual concerns - how did they become more accepting of the state in the 1990s?, and social change. The last one has forced new issues onto the state's agenda, as well as modifying the state's ability to respond to these issues.