2016 China#39;s Propaganda System - Institutions.pdfVIP

CHINA’S PROPAGANDA SYSTEM: INSTITUTIONS, PROCESSES AND EFFICACY David Shambaugh In China today, a daily battle is waged between the state and society over “what is fit to know”. This contest reflects and constitutes a central contradiction in Chinese politics—between the needs of a rapidly modernizing economy and pluralizing society on the one hand, and the desire by the Party-state to maintain absolute political power on the other. This article explores this contradiction, but primarily from the state side of the equation. Following a brief discussion of the history and roles of political propaganda in China and elsewhere , this article focuses on the scope, structure and mechanisms of the Chinese propaganda system today. It also considers the politics and personalities involved in the propaganda system, particularly in the Chinese Communist Party CCP Propaganda Department. Finally, it assesses the overall strength and efficacy of the propaganda system today, considering in particular the impact of market forces on the media. It concludes that, though the efficacy of China’s propaganda system has eroded considerably from its Orwellian past and is being buffeted by the information revolution and globalization, the system remains effective in controlling most of the information that reaches the Chinese public and officialdom. In many ways it epitomizes the broader processes of atrophy and adaptation that characterize the Party’s rule today.1 I am grateful for the comments on earlier drafts of this article by Kjeld Erik Br?dsgaard, Ashley Esarey, Donald Keyser and anonymous reviewers for The China Journal. 1 See David Shambaugh, China’s Communist Party: Atrophy and Adaptation Berkeley; Washington: University of California Press; Woodrow Wilson Center Press, forthcom