The Evolution of the Chinese Party-state in the Xi Jinping Era

Abstract

The existing literature on comparative authoritarianism claims that autocrats in institutionalized single-party autocracies usually adopt the strategies of “power sharing” and “social co-optation” in order to reduce the risk of “allies’ rebellions” from the ruling coalition and of “revolutionary threats” from the ordinary people. However, China turns from a typical example of the above argument to a deviant case after Xi Jinping (習近平) came to power in 2012. An answer to this puzzle sheds lights on the strength and weakness of the new Party-state in the years to come and contributes to both China studies and comparative authoritarian studies. This paper argues that this turn of political evolution results from the jointly effects of three factors: (1) a boost of social expectation on the need of a strong leader to handle complicated international and domestic challenges; (2) dramatic changes in the balance of power within the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP); and (3) Xi Jinping’s political personality and beliefs. The absence of any of the three factors may not lead the turn of political developments in the past seven years. The centralization of power in Xi’s hands and in the Party committee of all levels may give Xi more tools to deal with environmental challenges and political rivals. However, it also poses four new political challenges to the new Party-state.