Explaining Patterns in Global Adoption of Chinese Public Security Technology

• In Event: Mobilization and Repression under Authoritarianism

Abstract

Recent news coverage has highlighted the increasing use of Chinese surveillance and public security technology around the world. These stories highlight an underlying research question: what explains the global diffusion of repression technology? While international relations and security studies have examined patterns in the adoption of military technology, and comparative politics scholars have analyzed policy and democratic diffusion, much less is known about the diffusion of technologies related to domestic surveillance and security. This paper tests competing theories about drivers of Chinese public security technology: levels of crime or political instability in recipient states, recipient-state fiscal and organizational capacity, regime type, and strategic interest on the part of the supplier-state. It concludes by discussing scholarly and policy implications of the findings.

Author

• Sheena Chestnut Greitens, University of Missouri, Columbia