Comparing Mass and Elite Subjective Orientations in Urban China

Abstract

Comparisons of mass and elite sociopolitical preferences and levels of their attitudinal consistency are critical for understanding mass-elite interaction and hence political development in such a rapidly changing society as China. Yet such studies are very scarce for urban China. Based on the responses to identical questions asked of both mass and elite interviewees in Beijing, this article submits four important findings. First, while the masses and elites shared similar views on government policy performance and the role of the individual in politics, they held quite different positions on issues of regime legitimacy, reform assessment, and democratic principles. Second, these two sets of political actors organized their subjective orientations to some issues similarly but to others differently. Third, in general, the elites in this study had low attitudinal consistency relative to their counterparts in many other studies. And, finally, such relatively low attitudinal consistency among the elites seemed to be caused at least in part by the ongoing decay of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) grassroots organizations. These findings have strong implications for the weakness and strength of the CCP’s rule and hence China’s sociopolitical stability.