When East European communist regimes fall China still stands: A comparative study of regime legitimacy.

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to answer the question: "Why did East European communist regimes fall but the Chinese communist regime, despite similar shocks at that same time, still stands?" It examines the roles of Marxism, Leninism, nationalism, and the traditional cultures of each the nine countries, in their recent crises of legitimacy. The principal findings are that all the following factors help to explain the successes or failures of these regimes in maintaining their legitimacy: (1) systematic differences between East European communist countries and China in the traditional religious beliefs and practices; (2) systematic differences between East European countries and China in the affective bases of their political communities; (3) systematic differences in their economic relationships within East European countries and China; and, (4) systematic differences in social relationships and political systems of East European communist countries and China, all contributed to the differences in the legitimacy of these nine communist regimes. In addition, the thesis also found that effectiveness of government performance can be an important factor in maintaining regime legitimacy.