The Dictator's Dilemma: The Chinese Communist Party's Strategy for SurvivalOxford University Press, 2016 M05 16 - 256 pages Many observers predicted the collapse of the Chinese Communist Party following the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, and again following the serial collapse of communist regimes behind the Iron Curtain. Their prediction, however, never proved true. Despite minor setbacks, China has experienced explosive economic growth and relative political stability ever since 1989. In The Dictator's Dilemma, eminent China scholar Bruce Dickson provides a comprehensive explanation for regime's continued survival and prosperity. Dickson contends that the popular media narrative of the party's impending implosion ignores some basic facts. The regime's policies may generate resentment and protest, but the CCP still enjoys a surprisingly high level of popular support. Nor is the party is not cut off from the people it governs. It consults with a wide range of specialists, stakeholders, and members of the general public in a selective yet extensive manner. Further, it tolerates and even encourages a growing and diverse civil society, even while restricting access to it. Today, the majority of Chinese people see the regime as increasingly democratic even though it does not allow political competition and its leaders are not accountable to the electorate. In short, while the Chinese people may prefer change, they prefer that it occurs within the existing political framework. In reaching this conclusion, Dickson draws upon original public opinion surveys, interviews, and published materials to explain why there is so much popular support for the regime. This basic stability is a familiar story to China specialists, but not to those whose knowledge of contemporary China is limited to the popular media. The Dictator's Dilemma, an engaging synthesis of how the CCP rules and its future prospects, will enlighten both audiences, and will be essential for anyone interested in understanding China's increasing importance in world politics. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 55
Page 2
... challenges facing the regime, but wrongly discounted its ability to adapt to changing conditions. Like all ruling parties, the Party's primary goal is to remain in power. Its strategy for survival is a combination of carrots and sticks ...
... challenges facing the regime, but wrongly discounted its ability to adapt to changing conditions. Like all ruling parties, the Party's primary goal is to remain in power. Its strategy for survival is a combination of carrots and sticks ...
Page 3
... challenges. Rising living standards may produce a desire for more accountability from the Party and government ... challenge the status quo. In handling real and perceived threats, it must calibrate its coercive tools: Too little ...
... challenges. Rising living standards may produce a desire for more accountability from the Party and government ... challenge the status quo. In handling real and perceived threats, it must calibrate its coercive tools: Too little ...
Page 7
... challenges without relying entirely on coercive powers, the Party more commonly restricts access to “coordination goods,” such as restricting the types of groups that can operate openly, screening the people who serve in public ...
... challenges without relying entirely on coercive powers, the Party more commonly restricts access to “coordination goods,” such as restricting the types of groups that can operate openly, screening the people who serve in public ...
Page 12
... challenges from other sets of elites. Therefore, in most authoritarian regimes, rational politicians distribute private goods—such as plum jobs and access to scarce goods and services—to their elite supporters rather than the public at ...
... challenges from other sets of elites. Therefore, in most authoritarian regimes, rational politicians distribute private goods—such as plum jobs and access to scarce goods and services—to their elite supporters rather than the public at ...
Page 15
... challenge the conventional wisdom on contemporary China in several ways. First, they challenge the accepted idea that economic growth is the primary basis for the Party's legitimacy. That may have been the case early in the reform era ...
... challenge the conventional wisdom on contemporary China in several ways. First, they challenge the accepted idea that economic growth is the primary basis for the Party's legitimacy. That may have been the case early in the reform era ...
Contents
1 | |
2 The Heavy Hand of the State | 31 |
3 Mass Line for Modern Times | 96 |
4 Serving the People | 164 |
5 Generating Support | 214 |
6 Defining Democracy | 262 |
7 Will the Party Survive? | 301 |
Appendices | 323 |
Bibliography | 327 |
Index | 341 |
Other editions - View all
The Dictator's Dilemma: The Chinese Communist Party's Strategy for Survival Bruce Dickson Limited preview - 2016 |
The Dictator's Dilemma: The Chinese Communist Party's Strategy for Survival Bruce J. Dickson No preview available - 2018 |
Common terms and phrases
accessed January 27 authoritarian authoritarian regimes Beijing Cambridge University Press campaign CCP’s censorship central challenge China China New York China’s leaders Chinese government Chinese political Chongqing cities civil society civil society groups Communist Confucian Contemporary China corruption countries critical Cultural Revolution Dalai Lama debate democracy in China democratic Deng Xiaoping economic growth economic reforms elections elites focus group foreign freedoms Fuping goals government officials government’s Guangzhou healthcare Hu Jintao hukou improve income institutions Internet legitimacy less level of democracy levels of regime Li Yapeng Maoist mass line ment migrants NGOs one-child policy organizations participants Party and government Party members Party’s survival strategy people’s congress percent political reforms Political Support Survey political system popular support promoting protests public opinion regime change regime support repression respondents social spending state’s Tibet Tibetans tion urban Uyghurs Xi Jinping Xinjiang