Why China''s Economic Reform Has Delayed Its Transition Toward Western-style Democracy
Date Issued
2008
Date
2008
Author(s)
Lai, Anne
Abstract
The sequence of Chinese reforms has a major overall effect on the political and social landscape of the country. To some extent, economic development is certainly a push- pull factor that makes China move toward or deviate from the path of political liberalization. In the case of China, as the paper proposed, it deviates from the developmental experience of the Asian four tigers, where growth of the physical economy brings about the emerging institutional basis for the country’s intellectual pluralism and informal institutions. In other words, the two-decades of economic reform has made China an exception that is immune from political vulnerability and a legitimacy crisis that most Eastern European socialist economies had experienced during the transition period. The basic reason is that the rising middle class has not demanded democracy but has cooperated with the Party, though it is widely assumed to be politically assertive and autonomous from the government in the political science literature. Moreover, Chinese entrepreneurs are not agitating for democratic demands either; instead, they represent a vast majority of interest groups in pursuit of profit maximization and to loyally support the regime in exchange for the preservation of their special positions. As the paper argues, China’s private entrepreneurs are found to be politically introverted and willing to maintain some kind of good relationship with the state. On the top-down level, the Chinese Communist Party has shown incredible adaptability to a changing political environment through its recruitment policies. The cooptation policy, cooperation policy and cadre evaluation system make the party more capable of dealing with the legitimacy issue in response to the changing societal relationship, and consequently to ignore pressures for political change. In the foreseeable future, the Chinese Communist Party is expected to consistently highlight the priority of the country’s economic development, social harmony and stability, which enable the regime to hold a political monopoly.
Subjects
Democratic transition
China
Economic reform
Chinese Communist Party
Entrepreneur
Middle class
Type
thesis
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