Journal Articles
One-party rule or multiparty competition? Chinese attitudes to party system alternatives
This article tests multifactor explanations for variance among Chinese citizens' attitudes to two related but separable party system concepts: the appropriateness of the current one-party system for China today, and the more abstract notion that multiple parties lead to chaos. Using data from The China Survey, conducted with a nationwide sample in 2008, the authors find that feelings of satisfaction with life and with the government contribute more to the explanation of support for China’s current one-party system, while more general attitudes concerning competition relate more strongly to judgments directed at the abstraction of multipartyism. The data also reveal that while a bare majority of those expressing an opinion accept the argument that multiple parties necessarily bring chaos, the vast majority support the one-party regime for China, suggesting that even if Chinese citizens were to adopt more pro-democratic attitudes, rejection of the current one-party rule would not necessarily follow.
No copy data
No other version available