Adapting or Freezing? Ideological Reactions of Communist Regimes to a Post-Communist World

authored by: Alexander Dukalskis, Johannes Gerschewski
Abstract: This article studies the ideological reactions of communist regimes to the advent of a post-communist world. It examines two cases of reformed communist regimes (China and Vietnam) with two relatively unreformed cases (North Korea and Cuba) to understand different legitimation strategies employed during and after the downfall of the Soviet Union. Theoretically, the article compares two ideal-type approaches to ideology in autocratic regimes. The first approach emphasizes semantic 'freezing' over time. The consistency and coherence of ideology is underlined. The second approach argues that the success of an ideology lies in its ability to be a dynamic, adaptive force that can react with changing circumstances. Four parameters help to distinguish the freeze-frame end from the adaptation pole: (1) the autonomy over semantic changes, (2) the timing, (3) the velocity and (4) the distance that an ideology moves. Using qualitative case-based analysis that is enriched with quantitative text analysis of communist party documents, this article compares these contending conceptions of ideology with each other in the four cases. Sharing similar starting conditions in the 1970s, the article shows how China and Vietnam harnessed a flexible legitimation strategy while North Korea and Cuba adopted a comparatively rigid legitimation approach.
External Organisation(s): University College Dublin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin)
Type: Article
Journal: Government and Opposition
Volume: 55
Pages: 511-522
No. of pages: 12
ISSN: 0017-257X
Publication date: 10.2024
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Sociology and Political Science, Public Administration
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2018.40 (Access: Closed)
http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/18452/23032 (Access: Open)

BibTeX

@article{f3223503f76c4f3dbd4285a6d17753ac,
title = "Adapting or Freezing? Ideological Reactions of Communist Regimes to a Post-Communist World",
abstract = "This article studies the ideological reactions of communist regimes to the advent of a post-communist world. It examines two cases of reformed communist regimes (China and Vietnam) with two relatively unreformed cases (North Korea and Cuba) to understand different legitimation strategies employed during and after the downfall of the Soviet Union. Theoretically, the article compares two ideal-type approaches to ideology in autocratic regimes. The first approach emphasizes semantic 'freezing' over time. The consistency and coherence of ideology is underlined. The second approach argues that the success of an ideology lies in its ability to be a dynamic, adaptive force that can react with changing circumstances. Four parameters help to distinguish the freeze-frame end from the adaptation pole: (1) the autonomy over semantic changes, (2) the timing, (3) the velocity and (4) the distance that an ideology moves. Using qualitative case-based analysis that is enriched with quantitative text analysis of communist party documents, this article compares these contending conceptions of ideology with each other in the four cases. Sharing similar starting conditions in the 1970s, the article shows how China and Vietnam harnessed a flexible legitimation strategy while North Korea and Cuba adopted a comparatively rigid legitimation approach.",
keywords = "authoritarianism, China, communism, Cuba, ideology, legitimation, North Korea, Vietnam",
author = "Alexander Dukalskis and Johannes Gerschewski",
note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements. The authors would like to thank Orla Ni Cheallachain (UCD), Jirka Lewandowski (Berlin Social Science Centre, WZB) and Francois-Xavier Lefebure (UCD) for excellent research assistance. We acknowledge with gratitude financial support for research and/or dissemination from the UCD College of Human Sciences Research Fund, the School of Politics & International Relations Research Committee, the German Research Network {\textquoteleft}External Democracy Promotion{\textquoteright} of the Leibniz Association, and the WZB. ",
year = "2024",
month = oct,
doi = "10.1017/gov.2018.40",
language = "English",
volume = "55",
pages = "511--522",
journal = "Government and Opposition",
issn = "0017-257X",
publisher = "Cambridge University Press",
number = "3",
}