What Kind of Democracy Do Chinese People Want?

• In Event: Citizens' Perspectives on Democracy

Abstract

Popular perceptions of democracy, despite their importance to democratization in authoritarian regimes, have been understudied in the literature of comparative politics. The Chinese Communist Party frequently emphasizes its effort to build democracy with Chinese characteristics, however, it is still unclear what kind of democracy is expected by Chinese citizens. Using data from a nationwide survey conducted in 2015-2016, this study sets out to examine how Chinese people think about democracy. We combine Bayesian modeling and automated text analysis methods to explore the relationship between citizens’ characteristics and their responses to open-ended questions on democracy. The findings are twofold. First, respondents with higher education level, more frequent internet usage and higher household income are more likely to express their views on democracy; this finding corresponds to the modernization and democratization theory. Second, two kinds of procedural-oriented democracy — liberal democracy and consultative democracy with consent principle — are two main kinds of democratic perceptions among respondents. Since the most common perceptions of democracy among ordinary Chinese are different from the presentation of democracy in official discourse, we predict that in the long run, mainstream popular understanding could necessarily be in conflict with authoritarian governance. These findings can contribute to a better understanding of China’s future democratic development.

Authors

• Duancheng Yang, East China University of Political Science and Law

• Yuan Zhou, Kobe University

• Yun-han Chu