Can Chinese Authoritarianism Stay Smart?

Xi was formally taking office for the third time, after altering the Chinese Constitution to make it possible. The move was a striking rejection of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) norms that had been designed to protect China from the personalism associated with Mao Zedong’s rule. The political and economic reforms of the post-Mao era supported China’s stunning economic rise from poverty to the world’s second-largest economy and succeeded in fostering innovation.

The man at the podium wore a dark suit and a red tie. Behind him sat rows of dignitaries in front of a vast wall, draped in gold, from which protruded a yellow hammer and sickle, framed on either side by 100-foot scarlet flags. In front of him, in the cavernous, red-carpeted hall, sat more than 2,000 delegates to the 20th People’s Party Congress in 2022. They listened attentively and took notes like their lives depended on it, which they may well have. The man, Xi Jinping, spoke for over two hours, during which his rapt audience occasionally erupted in ecstatic applause. The moment was both bland in its authoritarian predictability and a sea change in Chinese politics.

The man at the podium wore a dark suit and a red tie. Behind him sat rows of dignitaries in front of a vast wall, draped in gold, from which protruded a yellow hammer and sickle, framed on either side by 100-foot scarlet flags. In front of him, in the cavernous, red-carpeted hall, sat more than 2,000 delegates to the 20th People’s Party Congress in 2022. They listened attentively and took notes like their lives depended on it, which they may well have. The man, Xi Jinping, spoke for over two hours, during which his rapt audience occasionally erupted in ecstatic applause. The moment was both bland in its authoritarian predictability and a sea change in Chinese politics. The book cover for Autocracy 2.0

Xi was formally taking office for the third time, after altering the Chinese Constitution to make it possible. The move was a striking rejection of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) norms that had been designed to protect China from the personalism associated with Mao Zedong’s rule. The political and economic reforms of the post-Mao era supported China’s stunning economic rise from poverty to the world’s second-largest economy and succeeded in fostering innovation.

Many observers argue that autocracies are unable to cultivate innovation, which is essential for sustaining growth. But by pursuing what I call “smart authoritarianism,” China’s leaders, influenced by the experience of Singapore, adapted their tools of authoritarian control for a globalized information age. Recognizing the tension between political control and the conditions needed to encourage innovation, the CCP governed with more inclusive economic policies and low-intensity repression.

China’s smart authoritarianism, alongside a massive in