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ID:
149172
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| Summary/Abstract |
The Chinese government has long enjoyed a higher level of popular trust in its central authority than in its local governments, which means that the Chinese public’s trust in government is hierarchical. While existing research has highlighted hierarchical trust’s role in issue_images_89_4_su-et-al_govt-trust-in-china-ea-image01bolstering the Chinese regime’s rule, the formation mechanism for such trust has not been adequately explored empirically. In this paper, we use data from the China General Social Survey (2010) to explore the formation mechanism of hierarchical government trust and find that economic development, adherence to traditional values, and high frequency of Internet usage all contribute to the decrease of hierarchical government trust. These findings challenge conventional views that cultural traditions and Internet use help sustain hierarchical government trust and show that propaganda is the only variable that sustains the pattern of hierarchical government trust. We further challenge existing literature that views hierarchical government trust as a natural outcome of China’s hierarchical administrative structure and empirically prove that such trust is in fact intentionally constructed by the central government through propaganda campaigns and an institutional design aimed at strengthening the central government’s authority and at guiding people to divert dissent to local governments. Our findings make an important contribution to the dialogue and highlight a new area of authoritarian durability.
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| 2 |
ID:
180449
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| Summary/Abstract |
China adopted rigorous lockdowns and restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19 from 23 January to 8 April 2020. Although the quarantine severely limited people’s freedom and caused multiple secondary disasters, most Chinese citizens tolerated it. Based on an online survey conducted at the beginning of the lockdown (from 31 January to 4 February 2020), we argue that local governments in many parts of the country gained more trust than usual, narrowing the trust gap with the central government. In the early stage of the pandemic, effective implementation of anti-COVID policies, official media propaganda, and public expectation all contributed to the public’s increased confidence in local governments.
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