Mary Gallagher | Admiring Authoritarians: Political Dissatisfaction and Views Toward China in the United States and Germany

This talk examines attitudes toward China in two advanced industrialized countries. Building off insights from the “China Shock” literature, much work in political science holds that attitudes toward China are partially determined by domestic factors, most importantly economic dissatisfaction connected to economic integration with China and its effects on offshoring and deindustrialization at home. Recent public opinion polling in both countries also indicates strongly negative views toward China. Through focus groups in the United States and Germany, however, we find evidence for “admiration for autocrats,” which is a bifurcated view that combines negative threat perceptions with positive admiration. We extend the inquiry using online surveys to explore correlations with ideology and political dissatisfaction. We find that political dissatisfaction with the home country is more strongly related to admiration than political ideology in both countries. These findings have important implications for research on authoritarianism, ethnocentrism, and political ideology.

Center on Contemporary China | View More Events
Co-hosted with: Princeton Institute for International & Regional Studies, Center on Contemporary China (OWNER)

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