Nationalism with Chinese Characteristics: An Empirical Study of Nationalism and State Support in China

Abstract

Since its founding, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has repeatedly portrayed itself as the defender of the Chinese nation and the nation’s sole hope for national rejuvenation. Today, academics and media pundits alike point to the state’s invocation of popular nationalism as a hallmark of its legitimacy. Despite its importance, the nature of popular nationalism and its relationship with support for the Communist state has rarely been empirically studied. This thesis seeks to address gaps in the literature by conducting an empirical study of the nature, drivers, and consequences of popular Chinese nationalism.

Through devising and deploying an original online survey to Chinese netizens, I find that government influence is indeed a predictor of popular national attachment. However, the results for the relationship between popular nationalism and state support are mixed: while certain forms of nationalism are associated with state-supportive attitudes, other forms are not, and still others are associated with state-destabilizing outcomes such as support for democratic institutions. These findings complicate the existing narrative of popular Chinese nationalism as both state-led and state-supportive and highlight the need for a more nuanced understanding of Chinese national attachment to inform better policymaking.