China and East Asian Democracy: Is CCP Rule Fragile or Resilient?

Abstract

Abstract: Is the PRC’s authoritarianism resilient or decaying? The answer to this question will depend on whether the CCP’s post-Tiananmen strategy of relying on economic growth and political repression continues to prove effective despite social and economic conditions that have changed drastically during the past two decades. The principal reasons for the CCP’s survival since Tiananmen have been robust economic performance and consistent political repression. Although it is true that the CCP may have improved its political tactics, its survival for the last two decades would have been unthinkable without these two critical factors—economic performance and political repression.