The Return to Personalistic Rule
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6286445 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Susan L Shirk (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 22-36 |
| Publication date | 2018-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of democracy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1045-5736 • E-ISSN: 1086-3214 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/jod.2018.0022 |
| OpenAlex | W2797283796 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 82 |
| References cited | 6 |
After Mao Zedong died, Deng Xiaoping and his colleagues sought to prevent “the overconcentration of power” by introducing fixed terms of office, term limits, and a mandatory retirement age; delegating authority from the Communist Party to government agencies; and holding regular meetings of Party institutions. All these moves were designed to decentralize authority, regularize political life and check dictatorial power. The centerpiece of the institutionalization project was the practice of regular peaceful leadership succession followed by Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. Regular premortem leadership succession was a rare achievement in a communist system and the most important source of China’s “authoritarian resilience.” Yet today, Xi Jinping is taking China back to a personalistic dictatorship after decades of institutionalized collective leadership. He has clearly signaled his intention to remain in office after his normal two terms end in 2022. This article analyzes the reasons why the institutional rules and precedents laid down since Deng Xiaoping’s time failed to prevent the emergence of another strongman leader like Mao Zedong
Authoritarianism · China · Collective leadership · Communism · Democracy · Dictatorship · Government (linguistics · Institutionalisation · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · Law · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies
Making the World Safe for Dictatorship
The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Studies
Making It Personal? A Comparative Study of Institutional Constraints on Foreign Policy in Russia and China
The historical evolution of Chinese political discourse and socio-ideological change
How Propaganda Works in the Digital Era
Repressor on Leashes
Xi Jinping’s Important Speeches as Data
Understanding China’s Developmental Path
Uncovering Xi Jinping's Policy Agenda
Looking Back, Looking Forward
Explaining the increase of China’s power in the South China Sea through international relation theories
Political leadership, preference disclosure, and regulatory behavior
Institutionalization of the Revolution
Personalizing Party Ideology
Aligning Agendas in Public-Activity Reports
Explaining the Dramatic Policy Changes in Xi Jinping’s China
Who are in charge, who do i work with, and who are my friends
Party Adaptation Strategies for Provincial Standing Committees in Post-Mao China
Internalizing Public Disputes
A pact of iron? China’s deepening of the Sino-Russian partnership
An Alternative Approach to Ideas and Personality
Dual Elite Recruitment Logic and Political Manipulation under Xi Jinping
Explaining military reforms under Xi Jinping
Twenty‐First Century Autocrats and Their Followers
Machine-learning applications to authoritarian selections
Hong Kong in the age of the PRC’s alienation from the international system
Staging Repentance
Clientelism by Design
Xi Jinping's keynote in the Belt and Road Forum
Declining Legislative Dissent in China
Frieden ist, wenn man woanders schießt“ – Politikversagen und die Weltordnung der Zukunft
Political Attention in a Single-Leading-Party State
International relations theory and US–China competition
Leadership succession in politics
South Korean foreign policy signalling
How Xi Jinping Dominates Elite Party Politics
Does the Structural Power of Business Matter in State Capitalism
Collective Charisma
Shaping the Future of Nuclear Deterrence
How Propaganda Affects Public Opinion in China
Flexible’ versus ‘fragmented’ authoritarianism
China and the “culture and trade” debate
Silencing the crowd
China’s infinite transition and its limits
Notice the comment? Chinese government responsiveness to public participation in the policymaking process
Patronage and authoritarian co-optation of the military
China’s military strategy for a ‘new era’
Personnel Control and Local Officials’ Attention to Economic Development
Life‐Cycle and Generational Influences on Chinese Political Behavior and Attitudes
The Political Economy of U.S. Containment
The Realpolitik of small states
Rent Seekers in the Interest of Society? Civil Organizations and Regional Innovation in China
Public Preference for Strongman Rule in China
China’s Response to War in Ukraine
Self-censorship of regime support in authoritarian states
Embracing complexity
Diminishing Partisanship
Personalization of Power and Repression in Dictatorships
The durability of governance reform
Distrust in Government and Preference for Regime Change in China
Enlightened One-Party Rule? Ideological Differences between Chinese Communist Party Members and the Mass Public
Power Sharing and Media Freedom in Dictatorships
In Government We Trust
Censoring the Intellectual Public Space in China
The Right to Dominate
Dynamic dictators
How modernization theory has stumbled in China
Personalist ruling parties in democracies
Tanzania under Magufuli
The buffering effect of government responsiveness on authoritarian values and political trust
How the Party Commands the Gun
The Modern Regency
Conceptual and Measurement Issues in Assessing Democratic Backsliding
The Elusive Pursuit of Incentive Systems
Voices from within
Institutional Isolation
Conviction of Multiparty Competition and Elections among Chinese College Students
Informal networks and influential politicians in China
The Norm Saboteur
Exploring Biographical Ties among Party and State Leaders in China
Making the List
The place of Russia's political regime (2003-2023) on a conceptual map of the world's autocracies
| Unique citing works | 82 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 10,25 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 82 |