It’s still the party though (and increasingly the upper echelons of the party) that holds power. If they can maintain high approval, they get to keep the role (without resorting to coersion and/or violence). A good way to maintain high approval is to put the needs of the people first.
A friend of mine described his government/business trip to china a few years ago, and the feeling of a “bubble of power” as they were driven around by a high up party member in a black limosine (german, of course) where the driver would occasionally get out and yell at people to move, and they would very quickly clear the way. They visited farms, factories, universities and tech companies and saw all walks of life. Those black limosines are still very popular…
I think that connection to the working class is more tenuous than you believe. China still has a long way to go on the road of (edit: was “to”) socialism, and that is OK, so long as they are driving in the right direction and stay on a peaceful path. If not, the connection breaks and legitimacy will collapse.
I don’t really put much stock in what the friend of a random online stranger has to say. The CPC has 100 million members, and the NPC itself has a couple dozen capitalists out of thousands of people in it.
It’s still the party though (and increasingly the upper echelons of the party) that holds power. If they can maintain high approval, they get to keep the role (without resorting to coersion and/or violence). A good way to maintain high approval is to put the needs of the people first.
The party is run by the working class, which is why it has a direct connection to the needs of the people.
Uhuh.
A friend of mine described his government/business trip to china a few years ago, and the feeling of a “bubble of power” as they were driven around by a high up party member in a black limosine (german, of course) where the driver would occasionally get out and yell at people to move, and they would very quickly clear the way. They visited farms, factories, universities and tech companies and saw all walks of life. Those black limosines are still very popular…
I think that connection to the working class is more tenuous than you believe. China still has a long way to go on the road of (edit: was “to”) socialism, and that is OK, so long as they are driving in the right direction and stay on a peaceful path. If not, the connection breaks and legitimacy will collapse.
Socialist authoritarianism is when you yell at people to move out of the way and they do.
you hear that? people get out of the road when you yell at them to move
I don’t really put much stock in what the friend of a random online stranger has to say. The CPC has 100 million members, and the NPC itself has a couple dozen capitalists out of thousands of people in it.