Anti-Corruption and Political Legitimacy in China: Shifting Public Perceptions over Time

Chinese perceptions of corruption are characterized by a pyramidal structure, where corruption at the local government level is perceived as more prevalent than at the central government level. However, Xi’s anti-corruption campaigns are unintentionally reshaping this structure. This study traces the evolution of public perceptions of corruption in China from 2002 to 2019, revealing that anti-corruption campaigns have effectively reduced perceptions of corruption in local governments since the mid-2010s, but have not led to a decrease in perceived corruption at the central government level. While ordinary Chinese citizens acknowledge the leadership’s anti-corruption efforts and perceive a positive shift in the country’s corruption situation, the revelation of corruption cases during the campaign has undermined public trust in government officials. Although the Chinese leadership has consistently framed local governments as the primary actors responsible for corruption, the public’s positive evaluations of the government’s performance in corruption control, as intended by the campaigns, have paradoxically reduced the tendency to attribute blame to local governments, thereby posing a new challenge to the authoritarian regime.