Chapter 13 examines the evolution of regionally administered totalitarianism (RADT) in post-Mao China. The reforms were implemented to safeguard totalitarianism within the boundaries of its core principles. Economic reforms, particularly those implemented in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, inadvertently strengthened the private sector and civil society under RADT, which ultimately saved the regime. Yet this development also unintentionally created a new liberal type of institutional genes and steered China in the direction of regionally decentralized authoritarianism (RDA). The chapter explores the tug-of-war between the old institutional genes of the RADT/RDA system and the new institutional genes, with the authoritarian system exerting force to suppress the nascent traits, followed by a subsequent shift back to rigid totalitarian control. Finally, the chapter assesses the economic constraints imposed by the totalitarian structure, the changes in the party-state incentives, the precarious position of the private sector, and the overarching influence of communist totalitarianism on China’s economic progress.

Chapter 11 focuses on the creation, expansion, and operating mechanism of the communist totalitarian regimes in China. Its coverage starts from the first of these regimes, the Chinese Soviet Republic, founded in 1931, up to the founding of the nationwide regime, the People’s Republic of China, and the establishment of a full-fledged classical totalitarian system. The key communist totalitarian strategies were state mobilization and domination, including land reform and the suppression of those deemed to be counterrevolutionaries. The chapter explores the regime’s progression from decentralized to centralized totalitarianism, detailing how power became more concentrated over time. The final section explores the “Sovietization” of the state, describing the construction of a classical totalitarian system, following the Soviet model, which was characterized by strict centralized control and ideological uniformity. This transformation laid the groundwork for the pervasive and enduring nature of the Chinese communist state.

Not only did the institutional genes of the Chinese imperial system facilitate the transplantation of totalitarianism from Soviet Russia to China, but they also guided China’s divergence into regionally administered totalitarianism (RADT), which localized and enhanced the adaptability of the Chinese Communist system. Chapter 12 traces the inception and entrenchment of RADT in China. It begins with the Anti-Rightist Movement that established the foundation for a divergence from the Soviet model by instituting a national reign of terror. The transition to RADT began with the Great Leap Forward, when poorly conceived regional competition, characteristic of the RADT regime, precipitated the Great Famine within the nascent People’s Commune system. The Cultural Revolution further entrenched the RADT regime, allowing it to establish its roots firmly within the Chinese political landscape.

This chapter, serving as the introduction, begins by posing a series of pivotal questions to engage the reader and by providing a summary of the key points. The section on institutional divergence paints a broad, motivating picture of the divergence in institutions since the late nineteenth century between Japan on the one side, and Russia and China on the other. Both Russia and China initially emulated Japan’s efforts toward a constitutional monarchy. After outlining the nature of China’s institutional evolution, the chapter then emphasizes how the concept of institutional genes, stemming from both China's imperial legacy and the institutional genes transplanted from Soviet Russia, can be utilized to explain the rise and development of communist totalitarianism in China.

The establishment of the Bolshevik communist totalitarian regime in Russia in 1917 was facilitated by the existing institutional genes necessary for totalitarian rule, including the autocratic Tsarist system, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the secretive political organizations. Chapter 7 studies the origins and evolution of these institutional genes and it also examines their role in the failure of the Russian constitutional reforms and the genesis of communist totalitarian ideology and organization in Russia.

This chapter explores the keju system – the imperial examination system, and Confucianism as essential components of imperial governance and societal structure in China, examining their origins, evolution, and impact on the development of China's imperial system. The keju system, which persisted from 124 bce to 1905 ce, served as an institutional gene that fused Confucian ideology with state governance, thereby solidifying the emperor’s absolute ideological dominance. It established a societal hierarchy and unconditional obedience that suppressed individual rights and paved the way for the introduction of totalitarianism. In contrast, the Church in Western Europe, while influential, preserved a clear separation from state functions.

Constitutionalism and communist totalitarianism are both foreign ideologies and institutions that were imported into China. The failure of China’s attempts at constitutionalism cleared the path for the rise of communist totalitarianism. This chapter examines the shortcomings of the constitutional reforms and the Republican Revolution, as dictated by China’s institutional genes of the time. It reviews the ineffective Hundred Days’ Reform and the impact of Social Darwinism, which found deep roots in China’s institutional genes and profoundly influenced the later Chinese reception of communist totalitarianism. The text also discusses the unsuccessful constitutional reforms that lacked popular support and chronicles the collapse of the Qing Empire following the Xinhai Revolution. Additionally, the chapter analyzes the failures of the Republican Revolution, attributing them to the absence of those institutional genes necessary for establishing constitutionalism as well as to the enduring institutional gene of “secret societies,” which deeply influenced the revolutionary parties.

This chapter addresses the origins and evolution of the fundamental institutional genes in Chinese society that aligned with and supported the adoption and establishment of totalitarianism in China. Based on the analysis here, Chapter 9 explains the reasons for the failure of the constitutional reforms and Republican Revolution in China; and Chapters 10 through 12 expand on how these institutional genes and their variations allowed Mao Zedong to adapt Soviet-style classic totalitarianism into a uniquely Chinese form – regionally administered totalitarianism (RADT).

This chapter, addressing the methodological issues in the book, begins by defining the primary components of the institutions under study: human rights, property rights, and collective decision-making power. Inspired by mechanism design theory, the chapter then introduces incentive-compatible institutional change as an analytical framework. Building on this foundation, it delves into the concept of institutional genes, including its connection with path-dependency theory.

Chapter 10 investigates the establishment and growth of China’s Bolshevik Party, the core element in the communist totalitarian revolution and regime, that was orchestrated by the Comintern. The chapter commences with an examination of the inception and operational dynamics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a Comintern offshoot. It also addresses the reorganization of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the formation of the CCP-KMT alliance as key strategies implemented by the Comintern to bolster the fledgling CCP.

The narrative underscores the essential role the Chinese secret societies played in the development of the CCP’s organizational and military forces, following the directives of the Comintern and their implementation in practice. Additionally, the chapter examines the introduction of totalitarian rules within the CCP and its military branches, which fostered a reign of terror and enabled the rise of a totalitarian leader. It traces the initial establishment of a totalitarian institutional structure within the CCP and assesses the Comintern’s decisive role in fortifying the CCP’s ultimate leadership, suggesting its profound and lasting impacts on the Chinese political landscape.

Totalitarian systems, marked by extreme violence, are fundamentally bound to an ideology, such as Marxism-Leninism, which is instrumental to their creation and persistence, from the Bolshevik revolution in Russia to modern China. The chapter examines the genesis of communist totalitarian ideology in early Christian communal equality, connecting it to Rousseau’s and Babeuf’s anti-property ideals, which ultimately influenced Marxism and its vision of a dictatorial society in the name of absolute equality. The enduring pull towards egalitarianism, when pushed to extremes, can encroach on private property rights, ironically culminating in totalitarian rule and unprecedented inequality.

The final chapter reiterates the challenges posed by totalitarianism. By conducting coherent theoretical and empirical research into the origins and expansion of totalitarianism, this work strives to address these significant challenges that Mises warned about decades ago. This chapter summarizes the key insights drawn from both the empirical evidence and the theoretical framework of institutional genes that constitute a comprehensive methodological approach. The literature review distinguishes this book from other works in the fields of China studies, institutional analysis, and social science methodology. The two most extensive sections of the chapter examine the institutional genes and their evolution in Taiwan and in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (FSU-EE). The former section sheds light on the pivotal role the institutional genes played in Taiwan’s transition from authoritarian rule to constitutional democracy, while the latter section explains the collapse of the totalitarian regimes in the FSU-EE countries and their divergent institutional transformations. The chapter also highlights the implications of the transitions in Taiwan and the FSU-EE countries for China’s future transformations.