The Chinese Communist Party has long depended on ideology to set the agenda, communicate its priorities, and legitimize its rule. The Pliant Public argues that for Chinese citizens, however, ideology is in short supply. Surveys show that public opinion is depolarized. Ordinary people have little sense of what ideological labels like “left” and “right” mean, and most of the people who put themselves on the right have the scale backwards. Since a depolarized public is ill-equipped to check the state, China’s leaders can make massive changes to government policy without triggering much backlash. 

But depolarization does not always strengthen the state. When citizens lack clear ideological commitments, it is easier for them to set aside their differences. If China’s leaders lost their performance legitimacy, then depolarization could facilitate a broader challenge to party rule.

Jason Y. Wu is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Indiana University.

Contents

List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgments    
1    Free of Ideology    
2    Categorical Confusion: Mistaking Right for Left    
3    The Nature and Organization of Mass Attitudes    
4    Preventing Mass Politics    
5    Sources of Ideology    
6    Depolarized and Demobilized    
7    The Value of Ideology    
Appendices    
A     Additional Results    
B    Measures of Political Knowledge    
C    The Spatial Valence Model    
Bibliography