China’s Changing of the Guard: Authoritarian Resilience

Issue Date January 2003
Volume 14
Issue 1
Page Numbers 6-17
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The article explores four aspects of the Chinese communist regime’s institutionalization since 1989, which help explain its ability to survive: the increasingly norm-bound nature of its succession politics; the significant increase in meritocratic as contrasted to factional considerations in the promotion of political elites; the differentiation and functional specialization of institutions within the regime; and the establishment of channels for political participation and appeal that strengthen the Party’s legitimacy among the mass public.

About the Author

Andrew J. Nathan is Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University and a member of the steering committee of the Asian Barometer Survey. His books include China’s Search for Security (with Andrew Scobell, 2012).

View all work by Andrew J. Nathan