當代中國政權的合法性基礎為何？
何以近年經濟發展給中國帶來的卻是政治上的更嚴厲控制？
從政治、經濟、輿論的多重角度，一解當代中國的國家與社會關係！
本書彙集作者二十多年來針對政權合法性基礎與國家社會關係形態的研究成果，界定並論證了建立統治合法性基礎的三維「理想類型集」：意識形態合法性、績效合法性，以及程序合法性。不同的合法性基礎將會激發不同的社會理性，從而塑造出不同的大眾政治認知模式和行為特徵。
以此理論為基礎，本書分析了當代中國政治的各個面向，包括：為什麽由毛澤東發動的文革會終結於武鬥和派系政治？為什麽民族主義運動在鄧小平時代的中國很難發展？為什麽「八九」學運會以血腥鎮壓告終？為什麽績效合法性在中國的傳統和現代政治中都占有非常重要的地位？中國近幾十年來經濟飛速發展的關鍵因素是什麽？為什麽經濟績效良好的中國，在政治上仍然具有比較大的不穩定性？為什麽中國的傳統媒體和社群媒體（social media）有很大的反體制傾向，而官方媒體卻很難建構中國的政治輿論？民主體制在當代社會中的生命力和局限為何？
經由本書從政權合法性出發，對當代中國政治、經濟和輿論形態所做的全面論述，盼能充分展示政權合法性理論與相關的社會學原理在經驗研究上的廣泛適用性，從而使讀者在了解當代中國國家性質與國家社會關係現狀的同時，也能具體掌握當前的世界局勢。
This book argues that state power can only be legitimized in three ideal-typical ways: a set of values that a state is upholding (ideological legitimacy), recognized political processes such as regular competitive election (procedural legitimacy), or capacity of public goods provision (performance legitimacy). Different foundations of state legitimacy structure people’s expectations of the state differently. If people are committed to an ideology that a state is upholding, the state will gain capacity but the chance for that state to bring the country to a wrong direction may also run high. If the power of a state rests primarily on a state’s capacity to provide public goods, people will act instrumentally and the state has to deliver good performance to a demanding public to maintain its rule. If political procedures become the chief basis of state legitimacy, politics will be conducted orderly, but even the most terrible political decision or leadership selection will be regarded as legitimate if the deliberation follows recognized procedures.
Based on this theory, the author has analyzed different aspects of Chinese politics, from the rising importance of performance legitimacy in Chinese history, the patterns of factional struggle during the Cultural Revolution, the tragic ending of the 1989 pro-democracy movement, the weak development of mass-based nationalism in post-Mao China, the reasons behind China’s economic success, the anti-establishment tendency of the Chinese mass media and social media, to the sources of political tension in China despite of a superb economy. The wide applicability of the theory shows a great potential of the state legitimacy perspective, especially in comparison with the value-laden democracy/authoritarian analysis currently popular in sociology and political science.