Protest and power structure in China/ Chia-Yu Tsai

This article examines protest in China and identifies causally how the power structure among political leaders affects protest frequency at the county level. Protest consists of two major factors: grievances (internal) and political opportunities (external), and the power structure can influence protest through both factors. On the one hand, in counties with a more concentrated power structure, there is little separation of power, leading to more grievances and protests. On the other hand, powerful county leaders can discourage people from protesting by lowering their expectation of success, which results in fewer protests. The empirical evidence shows that the external factor dominates the internal factor: people are less likely to protest under the rule of a powerful leader.

CHINA, SOCIAL, POLITICS, ECONOMICS, LEADERSHIP