Problems of legitimacy are volatile elements in China’s political system, as in few other regimes. Driven to monopolise all sources of legitimacy, the Marxist-Leninist Party system suffers from a legitimacy deficit. Mechanisms geared to compensate for this deficit are easy to spot: personality cults, hyper- nationalism, megaprojects, factional struggle numerous forms, e.g. anti-corruption drives. China’s political system is not purely Marxist-Leninist, however; a renewal of the Party’s mandate may work to counteract the deficit and its consequences. The conflict may be seen represented in the video documentary 穹顶之下 (Qiongding Zhixia, “Under the Dome”) targeting political sources of air pollution.
About the speaker
Concurrently a Visiting Professor at Peking University, Dr. David Kelly leads the governance and law, and geopolitics teams at China Policy, a Beijing based research and advisory company. His interests encompass a sweep of issues affecting China’s domestic reforms and its strategic positioning, with a particular interest in the external impact of China’s governance model. His more than thirty years research on China combined with his early IT training, created the ChinaBase, a bilingual research tool specialized for tracking China’s policy realm.
Dr. Kelly holds an honours degree in anthropology and philosophy and a PhD in Chinese studies from the University of Sydney. A sought-after international media commentator, he frequently appears on the BBC, Voice of America, Australian ABC, Al Jazeera and in leading print media.
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Sponsor: Centre for Chinese Research
By: Dr. David Kelly, Research Director, China Policy
Type: Event
