The Nature of Ideology in Urban China

Abstract

This article investigates whether the Chinese public possesses structured political preferences or ideology. We show that ideology in China is organized around a state- market economic dimension and an authoritarian-democratic political dimension. The most politically informed individuals are the least likely to constrain their ideological preferences to one dimension, which we argue is a product of the Party's propaganda efforts. We find that younger and better-educated individuals are the most likely to favor free markets and that while members of the Communist Party no longer possess any sort of distinct economic preferences, they are markedly more authoritarian. We conclude that the diffuse character of the Chinese public's preferences provides the Party with an opportunity to divide and rule.