Populism as ‘pressure valve’ for an authoritarian regime: Online bottom-up populism in China

This paper argues that online populism in China, contrary to populism in Western democracies, has a more bottom-up nature, with citizens mobilizing against the rich, privileged, powerful, and ‘evil’ elites. In these grassroots movements, groups of online commenters seize discursive power by emphasizing the gap between the people and the elite. Based on the textual analysis of a case of bottom-up online populism, we argue that digital media and the surge of online populism function as a “pressure valve” for the current political system in China. Within certain restrictions, the regime allows common people, including those in rural areas, to express their discontent online in ways that challenge the traditional top-down monopoly of China’s power elite. This promotes, to some extent, the development of an anti-authority, populist discourse, one which pushes for a more transparent and justice society in China. However, when the emergence of online populism threatens the central government, it is curtailed as official discourses are introduced in news reports.

We address a gap in existing populism research that mainly focuses on how top-down populism by political leaders, parties and movements affects democratic systems in Western countries. From Evita Perón to Hugo Chávez, and from Sarah Palin to Donald Trump, many studies have researched how charismatic populist leaders try to rally public support. However, little research so far has explored bottom-up populism in a non-democratic society. We argue that in China a new type of populism is emerging that gives a voice to discontent towards the powerful elite, from a grassroots level and in the absence of a charismatic leader. This online populism channels antagonistic emotion among the people, and is evident on digital media in China.

This paper theoretically scrutinizes this new type of populism and contrasts it with conceptualizations of populism in modern democracies. It does so by studying a case of bottom-up online populism in China to analyze how populism emerges in online discourse and how officials respond to this power shift. To illustrate this, we take the following case into focus. On 17th January 2020, Sina Weibo user Lu posted several photos showing she and her friend posing with a luxury car inside the Forbidden City. These photos soon went viral and set off a public outcry. Weibo users not only criticized the women for potentially damaging the Forbidden City, which is one of the most important historical imperial palaces in China and is a world heritage site, but also openly wondered how Lu was able to enter the Forbidden City, as it was closed at the time.

This case attracted wide public attention, with many rumors disseminated online. The discourse quickly took shape as a critique of wealthy, privileged, and corrupt elites, and of those seen as close to the establishment. Applying a qualitative textual analysis of the discussion under 36 hashtags and 180 Weibo posts, our analysis reveals the function of rumors in online comments, and how these shape ground-up populist discourses, to understand the unique characteristics of online populism in China.