A PATH TO DEMOCRACY: IN SEARCH OF CHINA’S DEMOCRATIZATION MODEL* Kai He and Huiyun FengChina’s transition is drawing worldwide attention. China started market economic reforms in 1978 and is rapidly clos-ing its economic gap with the developed world. The Chinesepublic and Chinese leaders have started to debate and explorewhere China should go politically and how to get there. Afterexamining the merits and weaknesses of four prevailing theo-ries of democratization—modernization, social mobilization, cultural/social capital, and negotiation-pact transition theory—we conclude with an appropriate model for China’s politi-cal future. We argue that (1) the conflict between the reform and conservative groups inside the communist regime willshape the process of China’s democratization; (2) the hope ofChina’s political future lies in continued economic develop-ment, a mature civil society, and the building of democraticpolitical culture in society; and (3) the current intra-partydemocracy promoted by Hu and Wen signals a positive trendfor China’s future democratization. Key words: China, Democracy – East Asia, East Asian politics * This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the 2008 Annual Meet- ing of the International Studies Association, March 26-29, 2008, San Francisco, California. The authors thank Peter McDonough, Stephen MacKinnon, and Stephen Walker for their valuable suggestions and assistance. ASIAN PERSPECTIVE, Vol. 32, No. 3, 2008, pp. 139-169.