The Risk And Governance Of China's Cyber Populism

Populism is an anti-elitism ideology,regarding the people as the sole source of political legitimacy;advocating direct democracy and majority rule in politics.Moreover this movement opposes the representative system as well as the gap between the rich and the poor.Populists worship the grassroots in morality and culture,thinking that the civilian are the incarnation of “goodness” and “beauty.” They conduct social mobilization in an appealing but non-rational way,encouraging people to rebel against the political system and the ruling class in a radical manner.Populism is not only a political mentality and social ideology but also a social movement and political strategy by which some elites try to manipulate the masses.In recent years,populism has emerged rapidly as an influential political movement on the international stage,and it symbolizes an ethos that is increasingly worthy of attention in Chinese society.While populism currently does not dominate the political landscape of China,the movement has gained considerable traction within the Chinese cyber community,which has incorporated several seminal attributes of populism.It is a social ideological trend and protest movement presented in online public opinion.It takes the public sentiments in the real world and the long-term collective memory as the psychological basis;uses the Internet platform as the main carrier,and uses the anti-elitist,anti-establishment,anti-intellectual,anti-mainstream ideology as the main appeal.Moreover,Chinese cyber populism mobilizes an emotional appeal in attracting and enlisting new members.It focuses on current,not long-term agendas.Populists' behaviors are collective unconscious,irrational and polarized,without clear action plans.The proliferation of cyber populism have profound social causes,contain many social risks,and may even lead to serious political consequences at crucial moments.Therefore,the study of cyber populism has great theoretical significance and policy reference value.This thesis uses a combination of normative and empirical research methods.It will explore the causative factors of Chinese cyber populism,the implications for Chinese society and proposes solutions to mitigate populism's deleterious effects.This thesis will pose answers to the following questions:· Are there obvious populism symptoms in online public opinion in China?· If so,how does it perform on major social media platforms?· What are the main issues that it focuses on?· What are the characteristics of cyber populism?· What risks will it probably lead to in the political,economic, social,and cultural fields?· What caused populism?· What actions should the Chinese government take to avoid risks?The doctoral thesis consists of an introduction and five chapters.The introduction is divided into four sections.The first section is about the research background.In the second section,the basic concepts of the research are defined.In the third section,significance of the research is explained and three innovative points are illustrated.In the fourth section,the research process,methods and framework of the dissertation are explained.The first chapter,which discusses the theoretical basis and literature review,is divided into two sections.In the first section,theory tools are explored,which come from several academic fields: political science,communication science,sociology,and public administration.In the second section,relevant domestic and foreign academic literatures are reviewed.In the second chapter,from the two dimensions of diachronic and synchronic,comprehensive presentation is done about cyber populism in China.This chapter is divided into three sections.First,based on the timeline of social media,the development clues and expressions of cyber populism are sorted out.Then,in a synchronic environment,six main topics of cyber populism are summarized: namely,anti-elitism issues,anti-establishment issues,anti-intellectual issues,anti-mainstream ideological issues,national populism issues,and environmental populism issues.It highlights "opposition" attitude of cyber populism.Finally,the characteristics of the dissemination of cyber populism are summarized.The third chapter delineates the risks of cyber populism.This chapter is divided into four sections.It analyzes risks of populism in politics,economy,society,and culture.In politics: radical political participation challenges political system;“protest politics” and “veto politics” reduce the efficiency of governance;public opinion interferes the rule of law;International populism wave triggers a chain reaction.In economy: High welfare drags down the national economy;unfriendly atmosphere drives the elite to leave this country.In society: Populists divide society and violate individual rights.In culture,populism leads to the deterioration of the culture and the shrinkage of the public sphere.The fourth chapter examines the causes of cyber populism.It is analyzed from four aspects: the gap between the rich and the poor;the tension between open technology and conservative institutions;the lack of education among the citizenry;and the change in the communication landscape.The fifth chapter provides strategies to resolve and mitigate populism risks.This chapter offers five suggestions: promoting fairness;adhering to the rule of law;broadening participation channels;improving civic education;building public rationality through dialogue.