Some Asian political leaders and Western academics have recently claimed that China is unlikely to produce an open political system. This assertion is based on the idea that Confucian culture offers an alternative to Western civil values and that China lacks the democratic traditions and horizontal trust institutions that could build a civil society. An opposing line of thought is significantly more optimistic about democracy, viewing the market economies that China has begun to promote as unstoppable forces pushing against authoritarian political control and as reproducing Western patterns of change. "Alternate Civilities" advocates for a different set of political possibilities. By comparing China with Taiwan's new and vibrant democracy, it demonstrates how democracy can grow from Chinese cultural roots and authoritarian institutions. The economic organizations, religious groups, environmental movements, and women's networks examined do not simply reproduce Western values and institutions. These cases point to the possibility of an alternative civility that is neither the stubborn remnant of an old authoritarian culture nor a reflection of the market economy. Rather, they represent the active creation of new solutions to the problems of modern life.