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Chinese politics and comparative authoritarianism: institutionalization and adaptation for regime resilience

Review products

Bruce J.Dickson. The Dictator’s Dilemma: The Chinese Communist Party’s Strategy for Survival (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016), 352 pages, paperback, $25.43.
BarbaraGeddes, JosephWright, and EricaFrantz. How Dictatorships Work: Power, Personalization, and Collapse (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2018), 257 pages, paperback, $29.99.
MinYe, The Belt Road and Beyond: State-Mobilized Globalization in China, 1998–2018 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2020), 252 pages, hardcover, $99.99.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2021

Hiroki Takeuchi Open the ORCID record for Hiroki Takeuchi [Opens in a new window]  and
Saavni Desai
Hiroki Takeuchi*
Affiliation:
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
Saavni Desai
Affiliation:
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

China's authoritarian regime under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) remains resilient and responsive to domestic and international threats to its survival, especially considering the inherent instability of other authoritarian regimes. What strategies allow the CCP to stay in power? How do institutions help the CCP to sustain one-party rule, if at all? How does the regime maintain centralized rule over its vast population and territory? Finally, how does the regime respond to the people's demands and dissatisfactions? This review essay discusses how the growing literature of comparative authoritarianism helps (or does not help) us to answer these questions. It discusses three books – one on comparative authoritarianism and two on Chinese politics. In How Dictatorships Work: Power, Personalization, and Collapse, the authors (i.e., Barbara Geddes, Joseph Wright, and Erica Frantz) test various hypotheses exploring the issues regarding the central political processes that shape the policy choices of authoritarian regimes, such as seizing power, consolidation of elites, information gathering, and how dictatorships break down. Are their findings consistent or contradictory with observation of Chinese authoritarian politics? To answer this question, we draw empirical evidence from Bruce Dickson's The Dictator's Dilemma: The Chinese Communist Party's Strategy for Survival and Min Ye's The Belt Road and Beyond: State Mobilized Globalization in China, 1998–2018. These books suggest why China's authoritarian regime remains resilient.

Keywords

Chinacomparative authoritarianismparty-based dictatorship
Type
Review Article
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , December 2021 , pp. 381 - 392
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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