Resilient Rhetoric for Legitimacy: Analyzing Leaders’ Discourse on Democracy in China’s Reform Era

This study examined discourse on democracy among leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the reform era. It explored the meanings conveyed by the leaders when they mention the term “democracy” and analyzed their usage of democratic narratives throughout this period. A keyword-counting method was employed to extract phrases containing the term “democracy” from selected works of four top CCP leaders. The results reveal a strong alignment between the meanings of democratic phrases and three proposed narrative dimensions. By highlighting leaders’ discursive patterns, which reflect both continuity and change, this study explained how leaders’ strategically use democratic narratives to maintain their ruling legitimacy. The study enhances the understanding of the CCP’s political narratives and contributes to broader research on resilient authoritarianism and comparative authoritarianism.