If there is one lesson to be learned from the remarkable history of the democratic transitions of the past 38 years, it is that when elites and the public reject authoritarian rule, they do their best to make the new system work. Should such a transition occur in China, there is no reason to think that the process and the outcome will be fundamentally different.
如果说过去38年民主过渡的辉煌历史给我们留下了什么经验，那就是当精英和公众反抗独裁统治，他们就会竭尽所能建设新的体系。如果这样一种转变发生在中国，人们没有理由认为过程和结果会有什么根本的差别。