PhD defence

The construction of China’s national interest: Between top-down rule and societal ideas

• S. Mokry-Frey

Date

Tuesday 14 November 2023

Time

12:30 - 13:15 hour

Address

Academy Building
Rapenburg 73
2311 GJ Leiden

Supervisor(s)

• Prof.dr. D.C. Thomas
• Prof.dr. D. Stockmann (Hertie School, Berlin)
• Prof.dr. N. Blarel

Summary

The return of strongmen politics exemplified by Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin has led many to question whether societal actors can influence the foreign policy of authoritarian regimes. Nevertheless, despite tightening authoritarian rule, there are vibrant societal debates about foreign policy in China. Scholars have identified societal actors capable of influencing China’s foreign policy. Some have even uncovered channels through which these actors can exert influence. However, despite excellent work on foreign policy-making in China, we do not yet know under what conditions Chinese societal actors influence China’s foreign policy. In this dissertation, I examine under what conditions experts at Chinese foreign policy think tanks and Chinese International Relations scholars, the most likely societal actors to shape China’s foreign policy, influence the official construction of China’s national interest. I found that there was no perfect transmission belt between official and societal constructions of China’s national interest, which makes considering the intervening effect of domestic structures necessary. I argue that societal actors’ proximity to the state and the state’s openness to societal input facilitate and constrain societal actors’ influence on the official construction of the national interest. Through close observation of changes in political institutions and state-society relations under Xi Jinping, I uncovered how the state’s openness to societal input changed over time and in what ways it differed for think tanks and scholars. These insights allow us to reexamine societal actors’ influence on the foreign policy of authoritarian regimes.

PhD dissertations

Approximately one week after the defence, PhD dissertations by Leiden PhD students are available digitally through the Leiden Repository, that offers free access to these PhD dissertations. Please note that in some cases a dissertation may be under embargo temporarily and access to its full-text version will only be granted later.

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