Generations, Geography, and Governance in China

Spanning the history of the People’s Republic of China, this book analyzes sources of popular support for authoritarian governance and disinterest in promoting political liberalization. Disaggregating the population by age/generation and residential registration (hùkou) status, this book examines how these factors play into popular attitudes about political liberalization. Drawing on public opinion surveys, interviews, NGO reports, and Chinese government statistical sources, the book identifies two key requirements for a group to push for political liberalization: recognition of desirable and viable liberal political alternatives; and violation of group members’ elevated expectations of government. In the China, these requirements were met only from the late 1970s-1989, and only for two small groups: red generation sent down youths and early reform generation university students. Conversely, the books reveals why the formative experiences of other generation-hùkou cohorts have fostered dissatisfaction and, in some cases, large-scale and sustained protests, but little effort to promote liberal democratic ideals. Critical for China’s future, this includes most contemporary Chinese youths born since 1990. Overall, the book shows that multiple experiential avenues can lead to popular acceptance of authoritarian rule, while the confluence of factors leading to public promotion of political liberalization appears unusual and ephemeral.