Xi's third way: illiberal institutionalization

The international literature on Xi’s ‘New Era’ presents him as a transformative leader who has substantially changed the way that China’s politics is run. Xi personalized political power to an extent unprecedented in the post-Mao period (‘strongman rule’). This chapter proposes a different interpretation through tackling four interrelated questions: What has Xi been doing? To what end is he doing it? How has he accomplished it (so far)? How does his approach affect local governance? It argues that Xi Jinping has instituted a vigorous program here conceptualized as illiberal institutionalization to bolster Party-rule. He managed to ram through these changes by applying a ‘shock-and-awe’ strategy with his anti-corruption drive and creating a leadership cult around his own person. In order to fully comprehend the consequences for local governance, we need to bring to bear both insights: that of increasing – though illiberal – institutionalization and that of a more personalized authority system.