Popular conceptions of democracy and democratic satisfaction in China
| Date | 01 March 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0192512118757128 |
| Published date | 01 March 2019 |
| Author | Yida Zhai |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512118757128
International Political Science Review
2019, Vol. 40(2) 246 –262
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0192512118757128
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Popular conceptions of
democracy and democratic
satisfaction in China
Yida Zhai
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Abstract
Evaluating attitudes to democracy in an authoritarian political system is complex. Several surveys suggest
that the majority of Chinese people feel satisfied with the level of democracy in China. In explaining this
intellectual puzzle, this study addresses how different understandings of democracy influence satisfaction
with the state of democracy. This study also investigates the relationships between liberal democratic
values and popular conceptions of democracy, and between liberal democratic values and satisfaction with
democracy. The results show that Chinese citizens who view elections and political rights as essential
to democracy are dissatisfied with the current state of democracy. People who hold liberal democratic
values are also dissatisfied with the current state of democracy. In other words, popular conceptions of
democracy make a difference in the people’s satisfaction with the democratic level in China. With a rise in
the population adhering to procedural conceptions of democracy, satisfaction with the level of democracy
in China may decline in the future.
Keywords
Popular conceptions of democracy, liberal democratic values, democratic satisfaction, China,
modernization
Introduction
The public’s satisfaction with the level of democracy is universally relevant, regardless of the
type of political system in the contemporary world. Satisfaction with democracy has an important
implication for regime legitimacy, transition, or collapse. Admittedly, evaluating attitudes to
democracy in an authoritarian regime is complex. In a context where liberal democracy does not
actually exist, however, what does the Chinese public’s satisfaction with democracy mean? From
a political scientist’s perspective, China is not a genuine liberal democracy. For example, the
Corresponding author:
Yida Zhai, School of International and Public Affairs, Xin Jian Hall, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Road,
Shanghai 200030, PR China.
Email: yidazhai@yahoo.com
757128IPS0010.1177/0192512118757128International Political Science ReviewZhai
research-article2018
Article
Zhai 247
Economist’s Democracy Index and Freedom House’s Democracy Index do not list China as a
democracy. The Chinese public’s perception of democracy is another thing, however, and is not
necessarily consistent with political scientists’ perspective on liberal democracy (Bratton and
Mattes, 2001; Lu and Shi, 2015; Shi, 2008). Even in authoritarian regimes, people can have an
understanding of democracy (Dalton et al., 2007; Lu, 2013) and popular understandings of
democracy provide the lens through which ordinary people evaluate the level of democracy in
their societies. Based on popular conceptions of democracy, ordinary Chinese people form a cer-
tain level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the state of democracy in China. In an authoritar-
ian regime, the public’s satisfaction with democracy relates to the level of popular demand for
democracy. Democratization movements would have lost their appeal if the people were satisfied
with the state of democracy. Hence, democratic satisfaction has immense implications for the
prospects of democratization.
Survey data have shown that there is a high level of satisfaction with democracy in China
(Shi and Lou, 2010). The Asian Barometer Survey (ABS) asked how satisfied or dissatisfied the
Chinese were with the way in which democracy worked in China. Based on popular concep-
tions of democracy, approximately 70% of respondents reported that they were satisfied with
Chinese democracy. An intuitive response to the empirical findings of a high level of demo-
cratic satisfaction among Chinese people is to see these as resulting from political fear. Many
respondents may fear that the government is monitoring their responses and refrain from
answering the questions honestly. Although political fear exists in China, Chinese citizens
overtly express fairly strong criticisms of some aspects of Chinese society, such as corruption
and environmental pollution (Wang, 2005). With regard to concerns about the validity of the
survey instruments, rigorous statistical tests demonstrate that political fear and cognitive defi-
ciency are not the main reasons for high levels of democratic satisfaction in China (Lu, 2013;
Manion, 2010; Shi, 2008).1
In interpreting the high level of satisfaction with democracy in China, people tend to assume
that the Chinese public mistake evaluating the degree of democracy for rating the government’s
performance. Some studies show that the public’s satisfaction with democracy is associated with
their approval of government performance (Canache et al., 2001; Linde and Ekman, 2003). It is
natural to assume that respondents confuse satisfaction with the government’s performance and
satisfaction with democracy in China. Chinese people may feel satisfied with the level of democ-
racy because the Chinese government has achieved a somewhat satisfying performance. Such an
explanation is not the whole story. This study examines how Chinese people’s satisfaction with
democracy is conditioned by popular conceptions of democracy. The results identify a group of
people who hold procedural conceptions of democracy. These people do not believe that good
economic performance makes an authoritarian government democratic, and they are less satisfied
with the state of democracy in China.
The structure of satisfaction with the level of democracy in an authoritarian political system is
complicated and remains unclear. Differing from the explanations of political fear and the public’s
confusion of democratic satisfaction with their approval of government performance, this study
alternatively argues that the ways in which the Chinese understand democracy affects their subse-
quent satisfaction with it.2 The present study seeks to investigate how higher levels of satisfaction
with democracy in China are conditioned by different patterns in how it is perceived. It will illus-
trate the mechanism of how satisfaction with democracy varies in China, and under what condi-
tions satisfaction with democracy would shift to dissatisfaction. The results show that procedural
conceptions of democracy and liberal democratic values are negatively correlated with satisfaction
with the state of democracy in China.
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