2023/06/01 by Samantha A. Vortherms · 1 voice · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance #Chinese history and philosophy #Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics
paper · doi:10.5129/001041523x16847804956763
openalex publication_date 2023/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/14
Autocrats must redistribute to survive, but redistribution is limited and selective. Who is entitled to redistribution underlying the authoritarian bargain? I argue redistribution is a question of citizenship. Autocrats use citizenship institutions, especially particularistic membership, to strategically limit and extend socio-economic rights to ensure both security and economic development. I apply this framework to China, where control over particularistic membership decentralized in conjunction with development strategies. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, government policies, and a database of local citizenship policies in China, I trace how local citizenship creates closure while economic development incentivizes strategic inclusion. By evaluating how authoritarian citizenship functions, this framework increases our understanding of individual-staterelations in autocratic contexts.