Party Ideology, Public Discourse, and Reform Governance in China: Playing the Language Game

'This timely book offers valuable insights on key questions in Chinese governance, including the complex role of ideology in policy implementation, and the relationship between central decisionmakers and key state and non-state actors. Using case studies on state owned enterprise reform under Jiang Zemin and Xi Jinping, Kato's extensive research reveals how ideology can be used to mobilize consensus in support of reform initiatives or to obstruct such reforms by those with vested interests.'
- Stanley Rosen, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Southern California, USA



This book analyzes the operational dimension of the Chinese communist party’s ideology and reveals the complex relationship between ideology, language, governance, and political power in the broader context of China’s economic reforms. The book questions state-centric, legitimacy-focused, and content-based approaches to party ideology and analyzes its practice. Conceptualizing public discourse as a ‘language game’ played by the rules set by the party, the book examines how party ideology is operationalized by multiple state and non-state actors as political rhetoric for persuasion in contentious reform discourses. Through the case studies of the policy discourses over state-owned enterprise reforms under Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Xi Jinping, the book highlights ideology’s double-edged operational functions (consensus-inducing and conflict-inducing) and claims that ideology can be a double-edged sword for rulers: It is a vital resource to legitimate and sustain their rule; yet, it potentially destabilizes their rule as well. The book proposes new angles to study ideology, legitimacy, and governance and is aimed at political scientists who study authoritarian governance, policy process, and political communication. Its multi-disciplinary approach also appeals to sociologists, media/communication scholars, and linguists who work on rhetoric, political language, and media discourses.

Yayoi Kato is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Moravian College, Pennsylvania, USA, specializing in Chinese politics. Her research focuses on ideology and propaganda work of the Communist Party of China, political rhetoric, and discourse analysis of China’s reform policy debates.