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CONSTANT REVOLUTION: THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA’S REACTIONARY APPROACH TO POLITICAL LEGITIMIZATION Ann Cai TC 660H Plan II Honors Program The University of Texas at Austin December 8, 2016 ____________________________________________ Dr. James K. Galbraith Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations, LBJ School of Public Affairs Thesis Supervisor ____________________________________________ J. David Miller Finance Department, McCombs School of Business Second Reader Acknowledgements To Professor Galbraith, thank you for your support and patience, first when I sat in your classroom and later when I vacillated from topic to topic. I have always enjoyed our conversations and have found your anecdotes and old-school phrases a consistent source of bemusement and fascination. To Professor Miller, thank you for your friendship. I cannot begin to imagine why you put up with my jabbering for the past three years, other than that you are a genuinely kind person. I have treasured our chats, for you provided subtle mentorship that I must have stumbled upon by pure luck. I owe everything to my loving parents, who laugh as they comfort me over the same silly mistakes they taught me to avoid as a kid. Like the kids of generations before me, I learn that my parents are always right. As Chinese immigrants to the US, my parents influenced my thesis topic in ways I did not expect when I began the process. I now realize that their upbringing during the Cultural Revolution has had a subtle impact on me too. In part, my thesis is personally inspired, for I see the parallel between Mao’s influence on China and his unintended influence on me. To my dear friends, thank you for your encouragement throughout this entire journey. Your love has been reflected in the encouraging words you speak, the hugs you give, and the many times you have walked with me. You have been there for me at my weakest, and I am not sure I deserve it. Thank you. ABSTRACT Author: Ann Cai Title: Constant Revolution: The Communist Party of China’s Reactionary Approach to Political Legitimization Supervisor: Dr. James K. Galbraith Second Reader: J. David Miller This thesis traces the legitimization question that has plagued the Communist Party of China (CCP) since inception. Drawing inspiration from Weber’s three types of legitimacy, the narrative established by this paper describes the establishment of the CCP’s founding ideology and policies under Mao in the vein of charismatic-ideological legitimization and its role in birthing the economic-performance legitimization dogma that dominated the several decades preceding the Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping-led administrations. This thesis then argues that social issues, byproducts of the economic-performance legitimization system, incubated the CCP’s current moral-ideological legitimization strategy. By following the legitimization narrative, this thesis offers an explanation for the motivations underlying the policies put forward by the Xi Jinping administration. 1 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ 3 A BRIEF NOTE ON POLITICAL LEGITIMACY................................................................................................................ 4 PURPOSE OF THESIS ................................................................................................................................................... 5 DISCUSSION ROADMAP .............................................................................................................................................. 6 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................................... 8 OFFICIAL FRAMING .................................................................................................................................................... 8 MORALITY ................................................................................................................................................................. 9 CENTRAL & LOCAL GOVERNMENT DISTINCTION ....................................................................................................... 9 SYNTAX ................................................................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 1 CHARISMATIC-IDEOLOGICAL LEGITIMIZATION ......................................................... 12 MAO ZEDONG: AN EARLY PORTRAIT ...................................................................................................................... 12 THE LEGITIMIZATION STRATEGY OF THE NASCENT CCP ......................................................................................... 15 Crumbling Traditional Cultural Norms .............................................................................................................. 17 Maintaining the Revolutionary Spirit ................................................................................................................. 20 PROBLEMS CREATED UNDER CHARISMATIC-IDEOLOGICAL LEGITIMIZATION .......................................................... 21 AFTER MAO ............................................................................................................................................................. 23 CHAPTER 2 ECONOMIC-PERFORMANCE LEGITIMIZATION ............................................................. 25 ECONOMIC-PERFORMANCE LEGITIMIZATION AS A REACTION TO MAO ................................................................... 25 PROBLEMS CREATED BY ECONOMIC-PERFORMANCE LEGITIMIZATION .................................................................... 27 Market Instability ................................................................................................................................................ 27 Social Unrest....................................................................................................................................................... 29 Democracy ....................................................................................................................................................................... 29 Environmental & Food Safety .......................................................................................................................................... 30 THE DECLINE OF ECONOMIC-PERFORMANCE LEGITIMACY ...................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 3 MORAL-IDEOLOGICAL LEGITIMIZATION ...................................................................... 32 MORAL-IDEOLOGICAL LEGITIMIZATION AS A REACTION TO PERFORMANCE LEGITIMACY ...................................... 32 MORAL-IDEOLOGICAL LEGITIMIZATION STRATEGY ................................................................................................ 37 Ideology-Building Strategies .............................................................................................................................. 38 Magnification of Nationalism........................................................................................................................................... 38 Enhanced Media Controls ................................................................................................................................................ 40 Responsiveness to Issues of Social Concern ....................................................................................................... 41 Anti-Corruption Campaign ................................................................................................................................. 44 CASE STUDY: THE THREE GORGES DAM ................................................................................................................. 45 Relevance to Political Legitimization Strategy ................................................................................................... 45 Background of the Three Gorges Dam ............................................................................................................... 46 Central Government Framing of the Project under Performance Legitimacy ................................................... 47 Environmental Problems .................................................................................................................................... 48 Social Problems .................................................................................................................................................. 51 Corruption Issues ................................................................................................................................................ 52 Summary of Performance Legitimization Approach to the Three Gorges Dam ................................................. 53 2 Moral-Ideological Legitimization Reaction to Three Gorges Dam .................................................................... 54 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................................... 57 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................................................. 58 AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY 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