Autocracy with Democratic Characteristics
Definition
Autocracy with Democratic Characteristics, coined by Yuen Yuen Ang (2018), explains why reform-era China achieved economic growth without becoming a Western-style democracy: it substituted political reforms with bureaucratic reforms that injected the “democratic characteristics” of accountability, competition, and partial limits on power into a single-party autocracy.
For more details, see glossary entry
Lectures
Ang, Y.Y. (2018). “How the West—and Beijing—Gets China Wrong.” Lecture at Camden Conference.
Ang, Y.Y. (2024). “China’s Hidden Political Revolution.” INET Video Lecture Series.
Interviews
Ang, Y.Y. (2023). “There’s Been a Revolution in How China is Governed.” Interview by Ezra Klein. The New York Times. 24 Jan 2023.
Media Mentions
Council of Foreign Affairs (2018). “A Global Report on the Decline of Democracy.”
Washington Post (2018). “Hong Kong Reminds Us of China’s Fragility.” By Fareed Zakaria.
The New York Times (2018). “The Land that Failed to Fail.” By Phillip Pan.
PBS Frontline (2019). “What is the China Model?” By Abby Johnston & Catherine Trautwein.
Selected Quotes
Another explanation for the party’s transformation lies in bureaucratic mechanics. Analysts sometimes say that China embraced economic reform while resisting political reform. But in reality, the party made changes after Mao’s death that fell short of free elections or independent courts yet were nevertheless significant… These seemingly minor adjustments had an outsize impact, injecting a dose of accountability — and competition — into the political system, said Yuen Yuen Ang. “China created a unique hybrid,” she said, “an autocracy with democratic characteristics.”
— The New York Times
What explains China’s almost unique path to wealth without democracy? Yuen Yuen Ang argues that over the past few decades, China has actually developed an “autocracy with democratic characteristics.” She notes that reforms have made the country’s vast administrative bureaucracy — once a stagnant, communist behemoth — more nimble, transparent and accountable. These changes should be considered a type of political reform, she argues.
— Washington Post (Fareed Zakaria)