Authoritarian Powers
The statistics detailing the socioeconomic growth of Russia and China are impressive. On some projections, China will be the worlds largest economy by 2050, and Russia will be the sixth largest. Yet despite this impressive record of economic growth, a striking feature of both countries is the inegalitarian nature of their development notwithstanding the (post)communist legacy. On most conventional measures, the two countries are now among the most unequal in the world, and the level of inequality has increased significantly since the 1990s. What effect does this endemic economic inequality have on political stability? From Aristotle onwards, observers have concluded that the greater the inequality within a society, the greater the likelihood of instability. This book addresses the relationship between economic inequality and political stability in Russia and China. Several chapters examine how economic performance has driven institutional reform, while others evaluate long term trends in public opinion to see how economic change has affected the publics views of politics. The conclusion is that both regimes have proved adept at adapting to rising inequality by managing the policy agenda, guiding public opinion and co-opting or repressing political opposition.
This book was book originally published as a special issue of Europe-Asia Studies.
Stephen White is Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of Glasgow, UK.
Ian McAllister is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at The Australian National University.
Neil Munro is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Politics at the University of Glasgow, UK.
Routledge Europe-Asia Studies Series
A series edited by Terry Cox
University of Glasgow
The Routledge Europe-Asia Studies Series focuses on the history and current political, social and economic affairs of the countries of the former communist bloc of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Asia. As well as providing contemporary analyses it explores the economic, political and social transformation of these countries and the changing character of their relationships with the rest of Europe and Asia.
Please find a full list of titles in this series at
https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Europe-Asia-Studies/book-series/REAS
Recent titles in this series include:
EU Conditionality in the Western Balkans
Edited by Florian Bieber
Reflections on 1989 in Eastern Europe
Edited by Terry Cox
Russia and the World
The Internal-External Nexus
Edited by Natasha Kuhrt
Civil Society and Social Capital in Post-Communist Eastern Europe
Edited by Terry Cox
New Media in New Europe-Asia
Edited by Vlad Strukov, Jeremy Morris and Natalya Rulyova
Many Faces of the Caucasus
Edited by Nino Kemoklidze, Cerwyn Moore, Jeremy Smith and Galina Yemelianova
Explaining Policy Change in the European Unions Eastern Neighbourhood
Edited by Julia Langbein and Tanja A. Brzel
Transition Economies after 2008
Responses to the Crisis in Russia and Eastern Europe
Edited by Martin Myant and Jan Drahokoupil
Self-Determination after Kosovo
Edited by Annemarie Peen Rodt and Stefan Wolff
State against Civil Society
Contentious Politics and the Non-Systemic Opposition in Russia
Edited by Cameron Ross
The State of Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe
A Comparative Perspective
Edited by Ramona Coman and Luca Tomini
The Ukraine Conflict
Security, identity and politics in the Wider Europe
Edited by Derek Averre and Kataryna Wolczuk
Russian Modernisation
Structures and Agencies
Edited by Markku Kivinen and Terry Cox
Authoritarian Powers
Russia and China Compared
Edited by Stephen White, Ian McAllister and Neil Munro
Authoritarian Powers
Russia and China Compared
Edited by
Stephen White, Ian McAllister and Neil Munro
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN, UK
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Chapters 13 & 5 2018 University of Glasgow
Chapter 4 2018 Neil Munro. Originally published as Open Access
Chapter 6 2018 Jane Duckett & Guohui Wang. Originally published as Open Access
With the exceptions of Chapters 4 and 6, no part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. For details on the rights for Chapters 4 and 6, please see the chapters Open Access footnotes.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 13: 9781138569935
Typeset in Times New Roman
by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
Publishers Note
The publisher accepts responsibility for any inconsistencies that may have arisen during the conversion of this book from journal articles to book chapters, namely the possible inclusion of journal terminology.
Disclaimer
Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders for their permission to reprint material in this book. The publishers would be grateful to hear from any copyright holder who is not here acknowledged and will undertake to rectify any errors or omissions in future editions of this book.
Contents
Citation Information
The chapters in this book were originally published in Europe-Asia Studies, volume 69, issue 1 (January 2017). When citing this material, please use the original page numbering for each article, as follows:
Chapter 1
Economic Inequality and Political Stability in Russia and China
Stephen White, Ian McAllister & Neil Munro
Europe-Asia Studies, volume 69, issue 1 (January 2017), pp. 17
Chapter 2
The Social Contract Revisited: Evidence from Communist and State Capitalist Economies
Linda J. Cook & Martin K. Dimitrov
Europe-Asia Studies, volume 69, issue 1 (January 2017), pp. 826
Chapter 3
Actual and Perceptual Social Inequality under Transformative Change in Russia and China
Elena Danilova
Europe-Asia Studies, volume 69, issue 1 (January 2017), pp. 2752
Chapter 4
Predictors of Support for State Social Welfare Provision in Russia and China
Neil Munro
Europe-Asia Studies, volume 69, issue 1 (January 2017), pp. 5375
Chapter 5
Economic Change and Public Support for Democracy in China and Russia
Ian McAllister & Stephen White
Europe-Asia Studies, volume 69, issue 1 (January 2017), pp. 7691
Chapter 6
Why do Authoritarian Regimes Provide Public Goods? Policy Communities, External Shocks and Ideas in Chinas Rural Social Policy Making
