Public opinion, international reputation, and audience costs in an authoritarian regime

Xiaojun Li and Dingding Chen
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Xiaojun Li: Department of Political Science, University of British Columbia, Canada
Dingding Chen: Department of International Relations, Jinan University, China

Conflict Management and Peace Science, 2021, vol. 38, issue 5, 543-560

Abstract: Does the public in authoritarian regimes disapprove of their leaders’ backing down from public threats and commitments? Answers to this question provide a critical micro-foundation for the emerging scholarship on authoritarian audience costs. We investigate this question by implementing a series of survey experiments in China, a single-party authoritarian state. Findings based on responses from 5375 Chinese adults show that empty threats and commitments expose the Chinese government to substantial disapproval from citizens concerned about potential damage to China’s international reputation. Additional qualitative evidence reveals that Chinese citizens are willing to express their discontent of leaders’ foreign policy blunders through various channels. These findings contribute to the ongoing debate over whether and how domestic audiences can make commitments credible in authoritarian states.

Keywords: Audience costs; authoritarian regimes; China; survey experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:compsc:v:38:y:2021:i:5:p:543-560

DOI: 10.1177/0738894220906374

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