The Return to Personalistic Dictatorship in China
After Mao Zedong's death, his successor, Deng Xiaoping, declared that China needed to move away from "over-concentration of authority" and establish a more institutionalized system of governance. Yet under Xi Jinping, contends Susan Shirk, China is moving back to personalized dictatorship. What explains this trend and what are its implications for China's future?
Susan Shirk is the chair of the 21st Century China Program and research professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy (formerly known as the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies) at UC San Diego. From 1997-2000, Shirk served as deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, with responsibility for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mongolia. She is the author of China: Fragile Superpower and The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China.
Professor Shirk’s Athenaeum talk is sponsored by the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies at CMC.
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