Leadership Styles and Political Survival of Chinese Communist Party Elites

Abstract

Leadership is a crucial aspect of politics, but systematic evidence on how politicians lead and the consequences of their leadership styles remains scant. This study sheds light on these issues by analyzing a unique dataset of internal evaluation remarks for top provincial politicians in China. Latent class analyses on evaluation keywords reveal two distinct styles: an assertive, autocratic style that focuses on centralized decision-making and efficient execution, and a collegial, democratic style that respects dissents and fosters intra-elite collaboration. We further show that the two leadership styles are associated distinct governing strategies and that they both o er viable, but different, paths to achieve political survival. These findings enrich our understanding of survival tactics and selection dynamics in authoritarian regimes.