Winning Hearts and Minds? Cadres as Microbloggers in China

Bibliographic Data

ID12952647
AuthorsAshley Esarey (Whitman College, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume44
Issue2
Pages69-103
Publication date2015-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Current Chinese Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1868-1026 • E-ISSN: 1868-4874
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/186810261504400204
OpenAlexW1768733321
LanguageEN
Citations received22
References cited34

China's local governments are facing a crisis of public confidence and have struggled to handle political dissent and popular protests. In an attempt to promote political stability, local officials around the country have utilized Twitter-like microblog sites ([Formula: see text], weibo) to upgrade their capability to influence citizens and engage in rapid information management. Through the analysis of microblogging by prominent propagandists whose identities and professions are known to the public, this article finds some evidence that microblogging could be helping cadres to win hearts and minds, although such microblogging poses new risks to the state as netizens challenge propagandists and state policies in exchanges that reveal political pluralism and disapproval of state policies. While venting on weibo may enable people to blow off steam, the reluctance (or inability) of official microbloggers to engage their critics in meaningful dialogue suggests the limited utility of official microblogging as a means of furthering political stability through the improvement of state–society relations

China · Dissent · Microblogging · Pluralism (philosophy · Political dissent · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · State (computer science · Unintended consequences · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Internet Traffic Analysis and Secure E-voting · Law

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