Neoauthoritarianism (China)
[3] Its origin was based in reworked ideas of Samuel Huntington, who advised the post-Communist East European elite to take a gradualist approach towards market liberalization; hence, "new authoritarianism".
A rejection of the optimistic views on modernization theories,[4] it seeks faster reform of the socialist market economy[5] while the party remain ideologically and organizationally sound.
[4] Following the 1978 Third Plenum, which made Deng Xiaoping Paramount leader, China employed a variety of strategies to develop its economy, beginning the Chinese economic reform.
"[citation needed] Though the government took a clear stance against liberalization in December 1986, political discussions centered in Beijing would nonetheless emerge in academic circles in 1988 in the form of democracy and Neoauthoritarianism.
Henry He considers that, while June 4 halted the movement for democracy, because neoauthoritarianism avoids the issue of popular involvement, it would therefore be a downfall for it and General Secretary Zhao Ziyang as well.
[10] New Conservatism or neoconservatism (Chinese: 新保守主义; pinyin: xīn bǎoshǒu zhǔyì) argued for political and economic centralization and the establishment of shared moral values.
[14]: 53 A central figure, if not principal proponent of Neoauthoritarianism, the "well-connected"[7] Wu Jiaxiang was an advisor to Premier Zhao Ziyang,[4] the latter being a major architect of the Deng Xiaoping reforms.
In his 1994 article Zheng Yongnian elaborates that, Administrative power should be strengthened in order to provide favorable conditions, especially stable politics, for market development.
Given the dominance of the Chinese state, Zheng believes that, when it is finally implemented, democracy in China is more likely to be a gift from the elite to the society rather than brought about by internal[clarification needed] forces.
[5] Chinese-Canadian sociologist Yuezhi Zhao views the neoauthoritarians as having attempted to avoid an economic crisis through dictatorship,[16] and Barry Sautman characterizes them as reflecting the policy of "pre-revolutionary Chinese leaders" as well as "contemporary Third World strongmen", as part of ideological developments of the decade he considers more recognizable to westerners as conservative and liberal.
"[7] Li Cheng and Lynn T. White nonetheless regard the neoauthoritarians as resonating with technocracy emerging in the 1980s as a result of "dramatic" policy shifts in 1978 that promoted such to top posts.
