Expressions of Interest in Politics in Authoritarian China

Abstract

Abstract: Even though the public's interest in politics is an indispensable element of civic culture and is also important for the practice of democratic citizenship, it has different and local meanings in an authoritarian regime. This article analyses the dynamics of the public's interest in politics since the Communist Party of China took power and investigates the characteristics of people who express an overt interest in politics in China. The results present a sophisticated and nuanced picture of the interactions between the Chinese government and its people in contemporary China. On the one hand, as modernisation theory has predicted, people with higher levels of education and higher socio-economic status have greater levels of interest in politics. On the other hand, the expression of interest in politics in China is observed among people who adhere to authoritarian values and those who trust the national government. Conversely, citizens who are dissatisfied with the level of democracy in the current regime report low levels of interest in politics. The findings have important implications for China's future political development.