A Comparative Analysis of Political Perceptions of China and the United States from International Public Opinion Surveys

ABSTRACT

The Communist Party of China has led the Chinese people in creating their country’s system of governance. This is an outstanding achievement whose outcome contrasts with the “Western chaos” exemplified by the United States. In this regard, China, the United States, and the international community have analyzed and evaluated the political path, institutional mechanisms, democratic forms, and other factors behind the rise of China and the decline of the United States. The results of more than 40 recent studies conducted by more than a dozen of Chinese and foreign institutions show that in realistic terms, China has recorded a significantly better performance and shown greater potential for development than the United States in five areas: trust in government; democracy and the rule of law; the effectiveness of governance; international influence; and national mentality. In the future development process, China’s system of political discourse needs to be constructed on the basis of a correct concept of democracy and comprehensive development. It is necessary to end the monopoly of the West in the area of democratic discourse; to break from dependence on the logic of Western-style democratic discourse; and to enhance China’s initiative and influence in the international struggle for public opinion.

KEYWORDS:

• Governance
• democracy
• political cognition
• China and US
• international public opinion polls

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the National Social Science Fund of China Project “A Study of the Political Values of Chinese Citizens and Their Mechanisms of Influence on National Stability” (21BZZ094).

Notes on contributors

Jianjun Zheng

Zheng Jianjun is Associate Professor in the School of Government at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a research fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He is the author of many books in Chinese on political psychology and behavior, including Political Psychology (2020), Political Man in Action—An Empirical Study of Citizen Political Participation in China (2020), and Public Psychological Status and Governance Effectiveness in Public Crisis (2022).

Shuhua Zhang

Zhang Shuhua is Professor in the School of Government at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Director of the Institute of Political Science, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He has published many works on Chinese politics, comparative politics and democratization. In 1999, he was awarded the “Award of Outstanding Contributions to International Scientific Cooperation” by the Russian Academy of Sciences. In recent years he has published a large number of research works in Chinese, including Study on the System of Awarding Medals and Honors and Recognition (2020), A New View of Democracy and All-Round Political Development (2018), and Paradoxes of Democratization (2015).