Media Commercialization and Authoritarian Rule in China

'Daniela Stockmann's Media Commercialization and Authoritarian Rule in China is a superb, comprehensive, and multi-method analysis of the introduction of market forces in Chinese media. By communicating from the bottom up as well as from the top down, Stockmann argues that market-based media provide regime stability rather than simply a democratizing force for change in China. She enriches our understanding of China's dynamic media environment by making cogent comparisons to trends in other authoritarian regimes. These comparisons reveal the importance of institutional factors in determining the impact of media commercialization.' Ann N. Crigler, University of Southern California