| Summary: | A key challenge confronting any sizeable country is how to build a unified nation while avoiding the trap of relying on a centralized government and an ossified bureaucracy that fail to address multi-faceted governance issues at varying levels and scales. Using Alexis de Tocqueville's concept of “centralized government, decentralized administration” as the starting point, this paper examines continuing institutional challenges in contemporary China, focusing on urban governance issues related to government accountability, fitting institutions to types of problems, and encouraging cross-sectoral collaboration. China's patriarchal and authoritarian legacies have shaped the nature of these challenges. To address these challenges, researchers must recognize how these legacies shape contemporary practices and the limits for reform.
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