The Enigma of Political Trust in China Survey Response Patterns and Preferences for Redistribution

In the growing research on Chinese political behavior, it is well known that Chinese survey respondents tend to show high levels of political trust, especially political trust in the central party-state. Scholars have debated about how to make sense of these high political trust levels. In this study, we draw on data from multiple surveys to advance the debate by developing a more nuanced and dynamic understanding of political trust and distrust in contemporary Chinese contexts. We demonstrate the value of employing a more conceptually variegated typology of trust by showing that such an approach can shed new light on preferences for redistribution, and thus help advance the understanding of the relationship between political trust patterns and redistributive preference formation under authoritarianism.