Generating Regime Support in Contemporary China

Legitimation and the Local Legitimacy Deficit

Bibliographic Data

ID6007745
AuthorsBruce J Dickson (George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA, corresponding author), Mingming Shen (Peking University, Beijing, China), Jie Yan (0000-0002-2326-977X, Peking University, Beijing, China)
Year2017
Volume43
Issue2
Pages123-155
Publication date2017-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueModern China (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0097-7004 • E-ISSN: 1552-6836
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0097700416672419
OpenAlexW2531437678
LanguageEN
Citations received28
References cited83

Autocrats may try to generate regime support in order to remain in power, but do they get the results they intend? This article analyzes the causes and consequences of regime support in China. We show two key findings. First, as in previous studies, we find significant differences in levels of support and trust for central and local political institutions, what we refer to as the “local legitimacy deficit.” The factors that produce support and trust in the central state have dissimilar impacts on local levels of the state. Second, rising prosperity, normative values, and institutional ties to the state—when analyzed together instead of viewed in isolation—do not influence regime support in the way expected by conventional wisdom. These findings have direct implications for state-society relations in contemporary China and for the sustainability of authoritarian regimes more generally

Authoritarianism · China · Democracy · Economic system · Economics · Legitimacy · Normative · Order (exchange · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Prosperity · Sociology · State (computer science · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · Law

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