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Authoritarian Evolution: Agency and Institutional Change in the Controlled Chinese Press

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Abstract

What drives gradual change in authoritarian regimes? This paper argues the institutional turn in comparative authoritarianism benefits from more robust engagement with theories of endogenous change that give greater weight to the role of cognition, ideas, and agency. While structural accounts of elite bargaining at critical junctures are key to understanding authoritarian change they are indeterminate with respect to long-term outcomes. Empirically, this article addresses unexplained puzzles, such as the emergence of a relatively professional print media in the otherwise controlled environment of the Chinese press. This analysis thus highlights political factionalism, principle-agent problems, and horizontal selection of policy ideas as important additional mechanisms of institutional change in authoritarian systems.

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Notes

  1. Interviews with top editors, Beijing, June 18, 2013.

  2. Interview with editors of local party paper, Jiangsu, June 23, 2008.

  3. Interview with veteran editor of national party paper, Beijing, January 20, 2007.

  4. Interview with chief-editor of local party paper, Jiangsu, June 15, 2008.

  5. Interview with veteran editor of national publication, Beijng, June 18, 2013.

  6. Interview with former editor of provincial paper and freelance journalist, Guangdong, July 13, 2007.

  7. Interview with Chief-editor of local party paper, Jiangsu, June 15, 2008.

  8. Interview with editor of provincial level paper, Guangdong, July 13, 2007.

  9. Interview with media scholar and government official, Beijing, July 28, 2007.

  10. Interviews, journalists and editors, Guangdong, July 8–15 2007.

  11. Interview with Guangdong journalist, Guangdong, July 15, 2007.

  12. Interviews with award winning journalist for national paper, Beijing, April 5, 2007; June 4, 2008.

  13. Interviews with top editors, Beijing, June 18, 2013.

  14. Interview with media scholar and government official, Beijing, July 28, 2007.

  15. Interviews with top editors, Beijing, June 18, 2013.

  16. Interviews with top editors, Beijing, June 18, 2013.

  17. Interview with award winning journalist, Boulder, CO, April 11, 2008.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Zhang Yue for his excellent research assistance on this project, Jessica Teets and Sven Steinmo for their feedback on earlier drafts, and the anonymous reviewers of JCPS.

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  1. Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, USA

    Orion A. Lewis

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Lewis, O.A. Authoritarian Evolution: Agency and Institutional Change in the Controlled Chinese Press. J OF CHIN POLIT SCI 25, 311–338 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-017-9492-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-017-9492-9

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