Varieties of Authoritarianism: Comparing China and Russia

Harvard University's Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies hosts Thomas Bernstein as part of the New England China Seminar.

The New England China Seminar:

5:15 pm Varieties of Authoritarianism: Comparing China and Russia

Russia’s “hybrid” authoritarianism contains democratic elements such as constitutionally-sanctioned multi-party elections that are not simply facades. While the incumbent rulers regularly win, in part because of their popularity and in part because of gross abuses of the process, there is still a potential for movement in a more democratic direction. China’s authoritarianism lacks this potential. Her rulers reject democracy as practiced not just in the West but in other Asian countries. Committed to preserving their monopoly of power, they foster a consultative style of governance, which is part of the “soft” side of their rule, more than balanced by its “hard” side. The “hard-soft” distinction indicates that in some respects there are similarities between the two cases.

Thomas P. Bernsteinis professor emeritus at Columbia University. He was educated at Harvard and Columbia (PhD 1970) in Russian and Chinese area studies. He taught at Indiana, Yale, and Columbia for a total of 41 years. He chaired Columbia’s department of political science from 1986-89 and l991-94. Among his publications are books on Chinese youth (1977), on Taxation without Representation in Contemporary Rural China, co-authored with Xiaobo Lu (2003), and a co-edited book with Hua-yu Li, China Learns from  the Soviet Union, 1949-Present (2010), for which he wrote the introduction. He has written numerous articles and book chapters on Chinese politics, Soviet and Chinese collectivization, and the Soviet and Chinese famines of l932-33 and l959-61. His most recent research compares the Gorbachev-Deng reforms and authoritarian rule in China and Russia.

6:30 pm – Dinner Option

We welcome participants who wish to attend both sessions of the New England China Seminar to join colleagues for a buffet dinner at 6:30-7:30 pm, in Room S030. The dinner cost is $15 per person ($10 for students). Due to space limitations, we will accept 30 reservations on a first come first serve basis. Advance reservation and payment is required. Please register before noon on Thursday, September 15, 2011, by clicking here.

7:30 pm – Lecture by Dorothy J. Solinger, University of California, Irvine, click here.(USCI)

Click here to view a video of Thomas Bernstein's talk at the USC U.S.-China Institute.