1st Edition

Chinese Authoritarianism in the Information Age Internet, Media, and Public Opinion

Edited By Suisheng Zhao Copyright 2018
    264 Pages
    by Routledge

    264 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book examines information and public opinion control by the authoritarian state in response to popular access to information and upgraded political communication channels among the citizens in contemporary China. Empowered by mass media, particularly social media and other information technology, Chinese citizen’s access to information has been expanded. Publicly focusing events and opinions have served as catalysts to shape the agenda for policy making and law making, narrow down the set of policy options, and change the pace of policy implementation. Yet, the authoritarian state remains in tight control of media, including social media, to deny the free flow of information and shape public opinion through a centralized institutional framework for propaganda and information technologies. The evolving process of media control and public opinion manipulation has constrained citizen’s political participation and strengthened Chinese authoritarianism in the information age. The chapters originally published as articles in the Journal of Contemporary China.

    Part I: Internet Technology and Cyber China  Chapter 1 How "Networked Authoritarianism" was operationalized in China: Methods and Procedures of Public Opinion Control Wen-Hsuan Tsai Chapter 2 Cyber China, Upgrading Propaganda, Public Opinion Work and Social Management for the 21st Century Rogier Creemers  Chapter 3  Internet Exposure and Political Beliefs among Educated Youth in China  Shiru Wang Chapter 4 Does ICT Diffusion Increase Government Responsiveness in Autocracies? An empirical assessment of the political implications of China's Internet  Paul Minard Chapter 5 Consultative Authoritarianism: The drafting of China’s Internet Security Law and E-Commerce Law Jinting Deng, Pinxin Liu  Part II: Public Opinion and Information Management  Chapter 6 Public Focusing Events as Catalysts: An Empirical Study of "Pressure-Induced Legislations" in China  Xin Zhang, Xiaodong Ding  Chapter 7 Information Management during Crisis Events: A Case Study of Beijing Floods of 2012  Maria Repnikova  Chapter 8  Revisiting Political Wariness in China’s Public Opinion Surveys: Experimental Evidence on Responses to Politically Sensitive Questions  Xuchuan Lei & Jie Lu Chapter 9 Distortion and Credibility within China’s Internal Information System  Kezhou Xiao, Brantly Womack  Part III: Media Control and Policy Consequences  Chapter 10 Power Structure and Media Autonomy in China: The Case of Southern Weekend Xia Ying, Bing Guan and Gong Cheng  Chapter 11 Shanzhai Media Culture: Failed Intervention to the Disingenuous Neoliberal Logic of Chinese Media  Jian Xu Chapter 12 Support for Propaganda: Chinese perceptions of public service advertising Ashley Esarey, Daniela Stockmann & Jie Zhang Chapter 13 Acquiring Political Information in Contemporary China: Various Media Channels and Their Respective Correlates  Jie Lu  Chapter 14 Media and Chinese foreign policy Jianwei Wang and Xiaojie Wang

    Biography

    Suisheng Zhao is Professor and Director of the Center for China-US Cooperation at Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver and founding editor of the Journal of Contemporary China.