| 520 | ## | $aBased on extensive field research in Southwest China, this study analyzes citizen and media challenges to major hydropower projects at Pubugou, Dujiangyan, and the Nu River. Mertha shows how “policy entrepreneurs” (disgruntled officials, journalists, NGO activists) leverage framing strategies—articulation and amplification—to transform local resistance into concrete policy changes. The success of campaigns (notably Dujiangyan and Nu River) contrasted with the failure at Pubugou underscores evolving “fragmented authoritarianism” in China, where state-society dynamics become more pluralistic amid market-driven decentralization and environmental concerns. |