Populist Authoritarianism: Chinese Political Culture and Regime Sustainability

摘要

Weaving multiple public opinion surveys collected from mainland China (between 1987 and 2015) in this book, Wenfang Tang, a leading survey researcher on Chinese politics, provides a thorough and comprehensive analysis of a key empirical puzzle in today's largest authoritarian regime: why do the Chinese people consistently show strong government support while China witnesses increasing social unrest? To effectively tackle this empirical puzzle, Tang brings the CCP's revolutionary experiences and governing style to the centre of his theorization and analysis. More specifically, building upon the literature of political culture in comparative politics, Tang argues that China's political culture, primarily shaped by the CCP's mass-line-inspired political mobilization, collectivization and provision of social services, exerts great influence on the Chinese people's political attitudes and behaviour. According to Tang, this political culture can be best described as "populist authoritarianism," which consists of six key components, namely (1) mass line ideology, (2) accumulation of social capital, (3) public political activism and contentious politics, (4) a hyper-responsive government, (5) weak political and civil institutions, and (6) a high level of regime trust.