Trickle Through Democracy : Studies on Democratic Diffusion in China

Abstract

Since the early 2000s, democratic diffusion has increasingly attracted the attention of democratisation scholars. Previous research has been characterised by a dominance of quantitative studies investigating cross-state data as well as qualitative studies examining a relatively limited number of cases. The homogeneity of method and material in the literature suggests that there is a lack of knowledge on how democratic diffusion takes place on a more detailed and local level as well as in different geographical and cultural contexts. China is an especially understudied case, since almost no research has applied democratic diffusion theories when investigating the country’s politics. In this thesis, four sub-studies are conducted, examining democratic diffusion in three important spheres of Chinese politics; civil society networks in Southern China, dissent on social media and the Chinese Communist Party’s ideological strategies. The aim of the thesis is primarily to deepen the understanding of how democratic diffusion works in China and secondarily to increase the more general understanding of democratic diffusion. Unlike most previous research on democratic diffusion, the sub-studies rely on primary sources and more qualitative methods such as textual analysis and semi-structured interviewing. A multidimensional and liberal democracy concept is used to identify and compare small signs and varieties of democratic diffusion. The methodological approach enables an improved understanding of how democracy spreads in the empirical fields covered by the thesis. The results also contribute to the more general knowledge on how democratic diffusion works in China as well as in other stable authoritarian polities. All sub-studies indicate that China’s authoritarian system limits and prevents democratic diffusion relatively efficiently. Nevertheless, some components of democracy still manage to spread throughout the country.