The Chinese party-state is currently adapting its governance strategy. The recent debate in China on the role of microblogs in the governance process, as documented in the reports issued by Chinese research institutes and advisory bodies, illustrates the efforts being undertaken by China's political elites to integrate microblogs into their new public management strategy. Mass protests and large-scale online criticism-voiced via microblogsdirectly threaten the regime's survival. As a consequence, legitimacy is no longer regarded as being inherent, but as something that has instead to be permanently regained and reaffirmed. To increase the system's efficiency and to generate a new kind of symbolic legitimacy, China's political elites tend to base the political decision-making process on strategic calculations intended to be reflective of public online opinion. The turn toward a more responsive way of governing by the Chinese party-state demonstrates once more the adaptability of authoritarian one-party states in the digital era.
After decades of policy learning and adoption of “Western” theories of international politics, the Chinese academic community has (re-)turned to the construction of a “Chinese” theory framework. This article examines the recent academic debates on theory with “Chinese characteristics” and sheds light on their historical and philosophical foundations. It argues that the search for a “Chinese” paradigm of international relations theory is part of China's quest for national identity and global status. As can be concluded from the analysis of these debates, “Chinese” theories of international politics are expected to fulfil two general functions – to safeguard China's national interests and to legitimize the one-party system.
This article discusses the recent renaissance of political Confucianism under the fourth and fifth generations of Chinese political leaders. By conducting a context-sensitive analysis of references to pre-modern state philosophy and political symbolism in official political statements, it argues that the seemingly “Confucian” turn in Chinese politics should rather be interpreted as a strategic element of the PRC’s ongoing legitimation campaign and its leaders’ quest to consolidate the power of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). While philosophical reflections and popular Confucianism are flourishing all over the country, political Confucianism as operationalized by the CCP remains clearly restricted to moral aspects of political rule and thus mainly defines abstract principles of good governance and harmonious order. Structural Confucianism as developed by Jiang Qing has so far not been included into the party’s official (administrative) reform agenda.
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