In Search of Legitimacy in Post-Revolutionary China: Bringing Ideology and Governance Back
TL;DR: The contemporary politics of China reflect an ongoing effort by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to claim the right to rule in light of the consequences of economic development, international pressures, and historical change as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The contemporary politics of China reflect an ongoing effort by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to claim the right to rule in light of the consequences of economic development, international pressures, and historical change. China stands out within the Asian region for the success the regime has achieved in this effort. By focusing on the changes in China’s elite discourse during the reform period and particularly during the last decade, this paper aims to elaborate on the relative importance of various sources of legitimacy as they shift over time, as well as on their inherent dilemmas and limitations. There is evidence of an agile, responsive, and creative party effort to relegitimate the postrevolutionary regime through economic performance, nationalism, ideology, culture, governance, and democracy. At the same time, the paper identifies a clear shift in emphasis from an earlier economic‐nationalistic approach to a more ideological‐institutional approach.
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TL;DR: In this paper, a new typology and a new dataset of political regimes (1946-2010) are presented, based on the distinctive patterns of legitimation exhibited by the political regimes.
Abstract: This article presents a new typology and a new dataset of political regimes (1946–2010). The classification presented is based, in theoretical terms, on the distinctive patterns of legitimation exhibited by the political regimes. To demonstrate the usefulness of the classification, I explore the extent to which the classification and its theoretical foundation, namely the pattern of legitimation, helps to explain the durability of different political regime types. I compare the results and explanations with those of Geddes and Hadenius and Teorell in order to clarify the differences made by the use of the presented classification.
159 citations
TL;DR: Li et al. as mentioned in this paper examined how blame avoidance behavior shapes China's decentralized system of environmental governance from three perspectives: first, actors and the chain of blame shaped by the hierarchical power structure among environmental policymakers and implementers; second, the strategies of discursive domination and decentralization for blaming environmental problems on local officials; and lastly, the contextual factor of hierarchical governmental trust.
Abstract: Decentralized environmental governance theory suggests that decentralization can produce better environmental performance mainly because lower-level governments are closer to the people and environmental issues and are considered more legitimate than the national government. However, China's decentralized system of environmental governance has been often regarded as a key factor in creating pollution problems rather than in solving them. To explain this puzzle, this article, using Blame Avoidance Behaviour in government theory as a theoretical framework, examines how blame avoidance behaviour shapes China's decentralized system of environmental governance from three perspectives: first, actors and the chain of blame shaped by the hierarchical power structure among environmental policymakers and implementers; second, the strategies of discursive domination and decentralization for blaming environmental problems on local officials; and lastly, the contextual factor of “hierarchical governmental trust.” Drawing on documentary discursive analysis and extensive fieldwork, this article suggests that the dysfunction of China's decentralized environmental governance structure may in fact be an outcome of a blame-shifting game between central and local governments.
80 citations
TL;DR: The recent debate in China on the role of microblogs in the governance process, as documented in the reports issued by Chinese research institutes and advisory bodies, illustrates the efforts being undertaken by China's political elites to integrate microblogs into their new public management strategy as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The Chinese party-state is currently adapting its governance strategy. The recent debate in China on the role of microblogs in the governance process, as documented in the reports issued by Chinese research institutes and advisory bodies, illustrates the efforts being undertaken by China's political elites to integrate microblogs into their new public management strategy. Mass protests and large-scale online criticism—voiced via microblogs—directly threaten the regime's survival. As a consequence, legitimacy is no longer regarded as being inherent, but as something that has instead to be permanently regained and reaffirmed. To increase the system's efficiency and to generate a new kind of symbolic legitimacy, China's political elites tend to base the political decision-making process on strategic calculations intended to be reflective of public online opinion. The turn toward a more responsive way of governing by the Chinese party-state demonstrates once more the adaptability of authoritarian one-party states in the digital era.
71 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Zhang et al. as mentioned in this paper reexamine the ongoing debate over the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party regime through a rigorous analysis of a recent Asian Barometer Survey data from mainland China.
Abstract: This article reexamines the ongoing debate over the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party regime through a rigorous analysis of a recent Asian Barometer Survey data from mainland China. It evaluates the empirical evidences related to three key issues—to what extent the CCP regime is facing a legitimacy crisis, what factors help sustain the regime’s political support, and whether the regime can defy the gravitation toward liberal democracy in the process of rapid socioeconomic modernization. There is no strong evidence suggesting that the regime’s popular foundation is highly or exclusively dependent on its superior economic performance or its manipulation of nationalist zeal. Our analysis lends its support to the culturalist argument about the prevailing influence of the traditional concepts of political legitimacy as well as the institutionalist argument about the importance of perceived characteristics of the political system.
47 citations
19 May 2020
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide detailed insight into the psychology of modern Chinese society and its implications for social actors' socio-political agency and efficacy using a qualitative interview study conducted in Peking, Xi'an and Wenzhou.
Abstract: This book provides detailed insight into the psychology of modern Chinese society and its implications for social actors’ socio-political agency and efficacy. Perceptions of social mobility and cohesion are at the heart of a sociological typology that is a direct reflection of China’s unique path towards modernisation. The book makes a contribution to the debate about convergence versus divergence of cultures and, ultimately, political systems. Using the example of China, it supports the argument of cultural divergence as proposed by Shmuel Eisenstadt’s notion of ‘multiple modernities’. It mainly builds on a qualitative interview study conducted in Peking, Xi’an and Wenzhou, whose key findings are discussed in the light of findings from national surveys. The book is aimed at political and social scientists who are interested in modernisation theory and at sinologists who are interested in contemporary Chinese society.
30 citations
Cites background from "In Search of Legitimacy in Post-Rev..."
...…Gilley argued that the successful Jiang/Hu leadership succession “had more to do with the powerful legacy of patriarch Deng Xiaoping than it did with institutionalisation”.109 Gilley also maintained that personal connections remained much more influen- 2.3.3 104 Holbig and Gilley (2010), p. 20–3....
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...105 Holbig and Gilley (2010), p. 23–6....
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...103 Holbig and Gilley (2010), p. 12....
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...100 Holbig and Gilley (2010), p. 12 with reference to He, Yinan (2007)....
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References
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Book•
01 Jan 2005TL;DR: The authors presented a model of social change that predicts how the value systems play a crucial role in the emergence and flourishing of democratic institutions, and that modernisation brings coherent cultural changes that are conducive to democratisation.
Abstract: This book demonstrates that people's basic values and beliefs are changing, in ways that affect their political, sexual, economic, and religious behaviour. These changes are roughly predictable: to a large extent, they can be interpreted on the basis of a revised version of modernisation theory presented here. Drawing on a massive body of evidence from societies containing 85 percent of the world's population, the authors demonstrate that modernisation is a process of human development, in which economic development gives rise to cultural changes that make individual autonomy, gender equality, and democracy increasingly likely. The authors present a model of social change that predicts how the value systems play a crucial role in the emergence and flourishing of democratic institutions - and that modernisation brings coherent cultural changes that are conducive to democratisation.
3,016 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a quantitative measurement of the political legitimacy of states in the late 1990s and early 2000s for 72 states containing 5.1 billion people, or 83 per cent of the world's population.
Abstract: . This article presents a quantitative measurement of the political legitimacy of states in the late 1990s and early 2000s for 72 states containing 5.1 billion people, or 83 per cent of the world's population. First, the concept of state legitimacy is defined and justified. The definition includes the subjects, objects and sub-types of legitimacy. A strategy to achieve replicable cross-national measurements of legitimacy is then outlined and implemented, including a discussion of data sources and three alternative aggregation methods. The results are briefly examined and tested, and the uncertainties of quantitative measures discussed. Finally, the role of supplementary qualitative measurement is considered.
336 citations
Book•
01 Aug 2004
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper presented a map of the People-Aes Republic of China (PER of China) with a note on translation, transliteration, names, and measures.
Abstract: @fmct:Contents @toc4:Figures and Tables 000 A Note on Translation, Transliteration, Names, and Measures 000 Map of the PeopleAes Republic of China 000 Abbreviations 000 @toc2:1 Economic Transition and the Problem of Governance in China 000 2 Market Transition and the Remaking of the Administrative State 000 Appendix: The Composition of the State Council, 1992 and 2003 000 3 Institutional Development and the Quest for Fiscal Prowess and Market Order 000 4 The Smuggling Crisis and the Leveling of the Economic Playing Field 000 5 Administrative Rationalization and the Reorientation of Government Behavior 000 6 Market Incentives and the Disciplining of Government Discretion 000 7 Institutional Reforms and the Struggle against Corruption 000 8 Institutions of Horizontal Accountability and Good Governance: Legislative Oversight and Government Audit 000 9 Conclusions @toc4:Abbreviations for Journals, Newspapers, and Other Sources Notes Bibliography Index Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication:
333 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2004
TL;DR: The authors studied the causes, content, and consequences of nationalism in China, an ancient empire that has struggled to construct a nation-state and find its place in the modern world, and revealed how leaders of the PRC have adopted a pragmatic strategy to use nationalism while struggling to prevent it from turning into a menace rather than a prop.
Abstract: This is the first historically comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of the causes, content, and consequences of nationalism in China, an ancient empire that has struggled to construct a nation-state and find its place in the modern world. It shows how Chinese political elites have competed to promote different types of nationalism linked to their political values and interests and imposed them on the nation while trying to repress other types of nationalism. In particular, the book reveals how leaders of the PRC have adopted a pragmatic strategy to use nationalism while struggling to prevent it from turning into a menace rather than a prop.
326 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a study of the impact of culture on political trust in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan can test cultural theory, and it is possible to examine if cultural effects can be reduced to structures or institutions as suggested by modernization and institutional theorists.
Abstract: Political trust is the belief that the political system or some part of it will produce preferred outcomes even if left untended. As a sentiment "independent of outputs and performance in the short run," political trust is one of the important determinants of a polity's stability.1 Political trust is important because it is a component of political support that gives a political regime room to maneuver when it encounters difficulties in performing its more immediate political tasks. From the rational choice perspective, political trust can be explained by political actors' calculation of material interests.2 This theory does not deny that values and norms can play a role in shaping people's choices, but it does not give them independent status.3 Rational choice studies of political trust have focused largely on the behavior of governments. They have found that political trust depends on the ability of governments to provide people with good policy and good access and on the perception of government officials as "good men or women."4 In contrast to rational choice theory, culturalists argue that short-run calculations of material interest tell only part of the story. Political actors respond to stimuli, not directly, but rather through a mediating orientation that assigns meanings and values to events.5 Differences in mediating orientation can make political actors respond to the same stimuli in different ways. Culturalists do not deny that people's orientations are shaped by institutions and that institutional changes will eventually lead to changes in orientations. However, changes in political culture usually lag behind changes in institutions, instead of changing in tandem with them. Consequently, people's orientations can affect their behavior independently. Their effects can not be reduced to the influence of institutions.6 A study of the impact of culture on political trust in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan can test cultural theory. Data gathered from these two societies in 1993 illustrate the effects of political culture on people's attitudes towards government. By decomposing the impact of structure, institutions, and culture, it is possible to examine if cultural effects can be reduced to structures or institutions as suggested by modernization and institutional theorists.
293 citations