Writing a book is often a lonely journey, but it is also a collective work. I have been fortunate to receive advice, encouragement, and guidance from many people. So it is a great pleasure to acknowledge the many individuals and institutions whose generous support made the writing of this book possible. At UCLA I encountered an extraordinary scholarly community open to diverse ideas and approaches. Although I was in the political science department, I benefited tremendously from various disciplines – including anthropology, economics, geography, history, and sociology – and I thank UCLA for providing me with the environment where I could explore a true multidisciplinary approach.

Within the larger UCLA community, I would first like to express my gratitude to my dissertation committee chair, the late Richard Baum. He was a constant source of encouragement, advice, and support in both the research and writing stages, through the process of transforming an initial idea into a feasible research project and then into a final product. He encouraged me to pursue a topic in which I was really interested, no matter how challenging, gave me timely and right-to-the-point guidance throughout my dissertation research, and patiently pushed me to achieve high academic standards with a perfect sense of when I needed to move faster and when I needed to slow down. I had to answer his tough questions before my dissertation was finished, and they improved the overall argument of this book tremendously. I always admired his ability to capture the big trends in China and explain them using ordinary language, and I have greatly missed him since he passed away. It is my regret that I did not have the opportunity to show him this book.

I would also like to thank Kathy Bawn. I had been disappointed with economics – my undergraduate major – but she showed me how useful game theory and other economics approaches are as tools to analyze political problems. Her guidance formed the methodological ground of my research and her warm encouragement always replenished my diminishing confidence while I was writing my dissertation. I was fortunate to have Kathy as my adviser, mentor, and friend.

I am also grateful to my other dissertation committee members: Cindy Fan and Jean-Laurent Rosenthal. They provided me with very insightful and constructive suggestions that helped me build ideas for my dissertation. As members outside the political science department, they gave me different angles from which to analyze China’s rural politics. Cindy, an economic geographer, constantly reminded me of the uniqueness and innovativeness of combining fieldwork-based empirical research with a game-theory–based theoretical approach. Jean-Laurent, an economist, always helped me keep the rigor of my game-theoretic analysis while thinking about implications of the models’ equilibria for the empirical observations from my field research.

Working with Michael Chwe and Barbara Geddes at UCLA was an extremely pleasant and enriching experience. Michael and Barbara helped me tremendously in the building of a rigorous research design. Michael taught me how much a simple formal model could inform us about logical explanations for people’s behavior. Barbara encouraged me to focus my efforts on developing good formal models for making convincing arguments. Without their guidance, this book could not develop rich theoretical explanations to support my arguments.

My colleagues at Southern Methodist University (SMU) have enriched the past several years with their advice, conversation, and friendship. I especially want to thank Jim Hollifield, Diana Newton, and Bill Tsutsui. I have been fortunate to have Jim as my colleague, friend, and mentor. With Diana I have shared a fascination for East Asian politics, and she has helped me think about the policy implications of my findings. Bill has always given me encouragement, and his passion for academia has recharged my battery to complete this book whenever its energy level had waned. I also want to thank Michael Lusztig, Steve Wegren, and Matthew Wilson, who gave me incisive suggestions for transforming my project into the publication of this book. Conversations with my colleagues from Chinese studies at SMU, Johan Elverskog and Ling Shiao, have sharpened my understanding of China and improved this book. Dennis Ippolito, Chair of the Political Science Department, has patiently followed and supported my progress. I also thank my other colleagues at SMU – Sabri Ates, Anna Batta, Chelsea Brown, Seyom Brown, Brad Carter, Karisa Cloward, Pam Corley, Liljana Elverskog, Cal Jillson, Jeff Kahn, Joe Kobylka, LaiYee Leong, Steven Lindquist, Luigi Manzetti, Azfar Moin, Steve Rankin, Josh Rovner, Libby Russ, Dennis Simon, and Harold Stanley.

At SMU, I have also been fortunate to be supported by the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies, a policy institute at SMU. In addition to financially supporting my research for the past six years, the Tower Center has given me opportunities to organize many conferences, symposia, and talks, through which I have learned a lot about how to present academic findings to the Dallas/Fort Worth community and beyond, as the Tower Center’s mission is bridging academia and a well-informed public. Moreover, participation in numerous events at the Tower Center has expanded and stimulated my interest in politics and public policy, and reminded me of the mission of an intellectual to contribute to society. Such activities are possible thanks to the excellent staff members of the Tower Center, with whom I have made friends, and I thank Luisa del Rosal, Mariko Isozaki, Noëlle McAlpine, Jieun Pyun, Ray Rafidi, Matt Tullman, and Carole Wilson. Furthermore, through the Tower Center’s activities I have had opportunities to work with Tom Schieffer, Amanda and David Schnetzer, and Pat Walsh. These opportunities have sharpened my views on international politics and motivated me to think about the implications for U.S. foreign policy. Discussion with them is not only stimulating but also fun, and I thank them for being great friends of mine.

Many people have read my work. I am especially grateful to Melanie Manion. I met her just after I had completed my dissertation, and since then, working with her has been the most stimulating experience. Melanie has always asked me challenging questions and guided me toward not only a better understanding of China and Chinese politics but also a better grasp of the political science discipline. Although I do not think that I have been able to answer all the questions she has raised, my efforts to answer her questions have laid the foundation of this book. Melanie has also encouraged me by focusing on the importance of this book’s contribution, especially when I struggled with its progress.

Among many others who have read my work, Steph Haggard and Ralph Thaxton deserve special thanks for their comments on the entire manuscript and substantial suggestions for improvement. I also thank Peter Gries, who provided encouragement, gave me comments on the manuscript, and perhaps most importantly, suggested the title of this book. Without his help, the book’s title would have been a much more convoluted one. Conversations with a number of people helped me formulate my ideas. I am grateful to Tomoko Ako, Greg Anderson, Yuen Ang, Tom Bernstein, Lisa Blaydes, Yongshun Cai, Alberto Diaz-Cayeros, Martin Dimitrov, Yusaku Horiuchi, You-Tien Hsing, Lianjiang Li, Phillip Lipscy, Xin Liu, Peter Lorentzen, Dan Lynch, Patti Maclachlan, Barry Naughton, Will Norris, Kevin O’Brien, Jean Oi, Wooyeal Paik, Karen Remner, Ron Rogowski, Michael Ross, Scott Rozelle, Idean Salehyan, Yoshihide Soeya, Heizo Takenaka, Mike Thies, Dan Treisman, Lily Tsai, Jeremy Wallace, Anny Wong, Bin Wong, Stan Wong, Terri Wright, Tatsuo Yamada, Dali Yang, Ka Zeng, Yu Zheng, and Xueguang Zhou.

Since I started my graduate work in the United States more than ten years ago, several scholars have especially influenced me and formed my foundation as a scholar. Although they are from different disciplines and different fields, they are my role models, and without opportunities to meet and work with them I would not have become who I am now as a scholar and a teacher. I thank Tom Gold, Ryosei Kokubun, Jeff Lewis, Skip Lupia, Liz Perry, Ken Schultz, Beth Simmons, and Andrew Walder for guiding me to the world I am truly enjoying and reminding me of the standard I should follow.

In conducting field research in China’s rural villages, I received help from many people. I first thank those who arranged interviews for me: Huang Keyue, Li Changping, Qiu Jiaansheng, Xiao Tangbiao, Xu Jianbo, Yuan Baishun, Zhan Zhengguo, Zhao Shujin, and Zhao Shukai. I also thank the scholars, journalists, and practitioners who have shared their insights with me through discussions: Cao Jinqing, Jing Yuejin, Li Changping, Liu Ya, Tang Shiping, Wang Jiabing, Xiang Jiquan, Xiao Tangbiao, Xu Fuqun, Zhang Jianjun, Zhang Jifeng, Zhao Shukai, and Zhou Li. I am also grateful to Jean Hung and the staff at the Universities Service Centre for China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong for guidance and assistance with my research. Finally, this book would not have been possible without the help of the more than one hundred individuals in rural China who agreed to be interviewed. They taught me how village politics was working. Although I am not able to name them, I thank them for being great teachers of the Chinese rural political economy.

My undergraduate students at SMU have stimulated my interests in rural politics in China and helped me think about why it matters. Discussions with my students have motivated me to think about China’s rural problems even further and improved this book. To mention just a few, I am particularly grateful to Rahfin Faruk, Elise Houren, Amber Stubblefield, Jack Swearingen, Julien Teel, and Ryan Wilson. My teaching philosophy is that real teaching should not consist of merely giving lectures, but should give education to individual students. Thus, I treat my students as analysts. The achievements my students have made are my pride.

Some of the material here is revised from “Vote Buying, Village Elections, and Authoritarian Rule in Rural China: A Game Theoretic Analysis,” by Hiroki Takeuchi that appeared in Journal of East Asian Studies, Volume 13, Number 1 (January–April), 2013, copyright © by the East Asia Institute, and used with permission of Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. I would like to thank Lynne Rienner Publishers for this permission. I am also grateful to the Taylor & Francis Group, which provided permission to reprint material revised from “Survival Strategies of Township Governments in Rural China: From Predatory Taxation to Land Trade,” by Hiroki Takeuchi that appeared in the Journal of Contemporary China, Volume 22, Number 83, 2013, www.tandfonline.com.

At Cambridge University Press, I particularly want to thank Lew Bateman, who has supported my ideas on this research and book from an early stage and whose encouragement and judicious advice have brought this project to fruition. I also want to thank Shaun Vigil, who has patiently dealt with long email exchanges, answering many questions and responding to various requests. They are often tedious, but he has handled them in the utmost professional way. I also thank three anonymous reviewers for the Press, whose comments richly improved the manuscript.

Before the book went to press, Christine Carberry proofread the whole manuscript a few times because this book went through several revisions. Every time she proofread, she did it with an expert eye, saving me from many mistakes, and patiently giving me many helpful suggestions. After the book went to press, she assisted me in transmitting my manuscript for publication. Without her help I would have gotten lost somewhere in the publication process. Even when I was not sure what I was doing, she was sure. Finally, but not least importantly, she prepared the index of this book. I am fortunate to have Chris as my colleague and friend.

Friends, family, and colleagues, from near and far, kept me rooted and sane when I most needed a break (or breaks). I cannot list all those who offered words of encouragement that pulled me out of numerous slumps. To mention just a few, Vivian Zhan, Xin Zhang, and Eric Zusman deserve special credit for providing me with valuable input and selfless help while I went through the PhD program. It was with pleasure that we identified ourselves as the “Gang of Four” while organizing the Chinese Politics Study Group at UCLA. I would also like to express with profound gratitude my debt to Linda Choi Hasunuma, who read and edited an entire draft of my dissertation to suggest corrections and improvements in my writing style. Among other friends, I particularly thank Satoshi Ikeuchi, Tomoki Kamo, Kazuko Kojima, and Kimiko Shiki. My friends have made my work easier and a challenging project again seem possible.

This book grew out of my ongoing journey across three countries. Thus, my greatest debt is to my family, who had to endure during my constant travels. My deepest thanks goes to my wife, Honghong Ma, for her love and support, without which I could not have completed this book. Since we started the journey together, Honghong has listened to me talk enthusiastically about arcane matters of China’s rural problems. Her passion and dedication to scholarship have also refreshed my energies for writing this book. In addition to all the support she gives me, I thank her for laughing together with me every day. I am also grateful to my parents-in-law, Anderson Ma and Dang Huu, for being truly supportive for my passion and interest in China.

My parents, Yoshio and Michiko Takeuchi, have always believed in their son and supported my work in diaspora. My parents have encouraged me to pursue whatever I want to pursue, however challenging it is, and have been models of integrity, tenacity, and courage. I am deeply saddened that my father passed away before he could see this book’s publication. Conversation with my father was always stimulating and filled with love. He constantly reminded me of the importance of contributing to society through academic work. I hope that his fingerprints are on this book.