The Attitudes of the Chinese Middle Class Towards Democracy

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Abstract Beyond the hopes placed in Africa's emergent middle class as an engine of economic growth, some analysts see this group as a bastion of political stability and enduring de-mocratisation across the continent. This paper's approach differs from that of most studies, which treat the middle class as a homogeneous group, through two key contributions. First, using cluster analysis, I propose a novel way of conceptualising social class that broadly draws on the Weberian idea of shared life chances. I apply this method to South Africa and identify five social classes characterised by their members' living standards, overall life satisfaction, and self-perceived upward mobility. Second, the empirical analysis reveals significant discrepancies in attitudes towards democracy between the downwardly and upwardly mobile strata of the middle class, which I term the "anxious" and the "climbers," respectively. On the one hand, the "climbers" show the highest generic support for democracy as a form of government, whereas the "anxious" middle class displays feelings of resignation. On the other hand, I find indicative evidence of a status-quo bias among the "climbers." Rather than assuming a more demanding or critical stance in politics, they allow their political priorities to be at least partly shaped by an interest in securing and expanding attained living standards; being upwardly mobile is even associated with a higher tolerance for government attempts to constrain freedom of information, opinion, or expression. Simone Schotte, M.A. is a doctoral research fellow at the GIGA and a member of the Globalisation and Development (GlaD) research training group at the University of Göttingen. In her dissertation she investigates the economic and political role played by the new middle classes in emerging and developing countries with a focus on South Africa. <simone.schotte@giga-hamburg.de> <www.giga-hamburg.de/en/team/schotte> GIGA Working Papers 304/2017

Voting in Local Political Elections by Urban Chinese Middle Class: Does Housing Matter?

“…Previous studies of democratic participations among urban Chinese middle class indicate mixed findings (Chen & Lu, 2006;Chen & Dickson, 2008;Tang, Woods, & Zhao, 2009). This study extended existing knowledge to the group living in newly erected commercial housing units.…”

“…However, the empirical evidence is mixed regarding the dynamic relationship between economic modernization and political democratization. On the one hand, studies show that Chinese middle class collectively demonstrated a higher democratic orientation compared to those who were categorized as lower class, which was defined by occupation or by self-identification, and not by income level (Tang, Woods & Zhao, 2009). Chen and Lu (2006) also echoed this conclusion.…”

The Political Behavior of the Chinese Middle Class

“…About the same time, Chen and Dickson published an article in China Quarterly in which they examine the level of regime support of Chinese private entrepreneurs, a group of the middle class [9]. The found that, contrary to Tang et al [45]'s findings, private entrepreneurs tend to support the party-state and prefer to the status quo.…”

“…In a similar vein, Tang, Woods, and Zhao published an article "The Political Attitudes of the Chinese Middle Class" in Journal of Chinese Political Science [45]. In that article, they comprehensively examined four dimensions of the attitudes of the Chinese middle class: the general affection for democracy, the support for democratic procedure, civic values, and the attitude about the authoritarian leadership.…”

“…As Kristof [27] stated, the China Hu Jintao rules "will follow Spain, Chile, and South Korea in fostering the educated middle class that will lead it to democracy." A prevailing assumption among schoars is that there is an inherent congruence between attitude towards the principles of economic freedom and attitudes toward political freedom [45]. It has been believed that because the Chinese middle class has been created by and benefited from increased freedom in economic activities, they will naturally demand freedom or democracy in political domain as well.…”