In this episode, Chenggang Xu discusses the ideas behind Institutional Genes and how they explain the evolution of political systems from imperial China to modern authoritarian regimes. Join us for a deep dive into the hidden structures that shape power, governance, and global politics.

Chenggang Xu

Chenggang Xu is a Senior Research Scholar, Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions (SCCEI), and Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution.

His research spans institutional economics, political economy, and the Chinese political-economic system. He is known for the concept of regionally decentralised authoritarianism and, in his recent book Institutional Genes: Origins of China’s Institutions and Totalitarianism, explores why China’s institutions developed differently from other systems.

Chenggang Xu’s work is widely cited in both academic and policy circles, and he has been awarded the China Economics Prize and the Sun Yefang Economics Prize for his contributions.

Content

00:00 - Introduction

01:45 - Why this book? The story behind 'Institutional Genes'

06:34 - Defining 'institution' in the institutional genes framework

10:45 - Opening the black box: How institutional genes explain political change

16:29 - The concept of 'stemness' explained

20:01 - Imperial China vs European monarchies: Why China was more autocratic

28:28 - The three Russian genes that created Bolshevism

33:43 - Mao's fusion: Marx plus Qin Shi Huang

38:58 - Soviet vs Chinese communism: Key institutional differences

42:23 - Totalitarian or authoritarian? Defining modern China

48:35 - Tyrannical incentive-compatibility: How totalitarian systems motivate

53:01 - Will China face Soviet-style economic stagnation?

58:52 - Applying institutional genes to foreign policy

01:03:16 - Beyond domestic politics: Where else can we apply this framework?

Official Website:

https://irthinker.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.