The Sixth Lecture of the “Unmasking the CCP: History, Politics, and Society in Post-1949 China” Lecture Series

Title: Institutional Genes: The Origins of China’s Institutions and Totalitarianism

Speaker: Prof. Chenggang Xu (Center on China's Economy and Institutions, Stanford University)

Introductory Remarks: Prof. Kavita Bala (Provost, Cornell University)

Time: Thursday, March 13, 2025, 5:00–6:15 PM

Location: Physical Sciences Building 120

Abstract:

This talk will explore the themes and insights presented in Professor Xu's latest work, Institutional Genes: The Origins of China’s Institutions and Totalitarianism. Focusing on the core arguments and implications, Professor Xu will examine the origins and evolution of China’s institutions and the broader phenomenon of communist totalitarianism. At the heart of contemporary China's governance lies communist totalitarianism. In this talk, he will introduce and analyze the concept of Institutional Genes (IGs), a framework that helps explain how the IGs of Soviet Russia merged with those of the Chinese imperial system, ultimately shaping a durable totalitarian regime with Chinese characteristics. Institutional Genes are fundamental institutional elements that self-replicate, guide institutional changes, and are empirically identifiable.

During the talk, Professor Xu will explore the rise of communist totalitarian ideology in Europe and discuss how it led to the creation of a totalitarian system deeply influenced by Tsarist Russian IGs. He will also examine the origins and evolution of the IGs of the Chinese imperial system, highlighting the ways in which these IGs combined with the communist totalitarian IGs introduced to China by the Comintern. This fusion played a critical role in enabling the CCP to establish a totalitarian regime in China.

Furthermore, he will delve into the institutional changes during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, analyzing how the hybrid of Soviet totalitarian IGs and traditional Chinese IGs gave rise to a Regionally Administered Totalitarian (RADT) system. He will also consider how the RADT system facilitated China’s rapid economic development during the reform and opening-up period, not only saving the CCP but also transforming China into a totalitarian superpower. As he examines these developments, he will reflect on Mises’ warning that efforts to halt totalitarianism have failed. Understanding this trajectory is crucial for exploring potential strategies to counter totalitarianism today.

Institutional Genes has garnered widespread acclaim from the academic community and earned the endorsement of three Nobel Laureates in Economics.

Speaker’s Bio:

Prof. Chenggang Xu is an economist specializing in political economics, institutional economics, law and economics, and Chinese political economy. He is a Senior Research Scholar at SCCEI, Stanford University, a Board Member of the Ronald Coase Institute, and a Research Fellow at CEPR (Center for Economic and Policy Research). Before retiring from the University of Hong Kong, he was the Chung Hon-Dak Professor of Economics there, a Special-Term Professor at Tsinghua University, and a World-Class University Professor at Seoul National University. He was also a Reader (tenured) at the London School of Economics until 2009 and served as the President of the Asian Law and Economics Association, as well as a consultant for the World Bank and the IMF. He has frequently appeared in the media to analyze and comment on China’s political economy. Dr. Xu obtained his PhD in Economics from Harvard in 1991. He was the recipient of the 2013 Sun Yefang Prize and the first recipient of the Chinese Economics Prize in 2016.

The “Unmasking the CCP: History, Politics, and Society in Post-1949 China” Lecture Series is generously supported by the College of Arts & Sciences’ Office of Dean and cosponsored by the Department of History, The Einaudi Center, The East Asia Program, The Society for the Humanities, and The Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management.