The structural evolution of the Chinese Premier's Press Conference: a study in institutionalization

Abstract

A given political communication practice is firmly related to the structure it locates in. This paper concerns such communication in the Chinese context, with a focus on the case of the Chinese Premier’s Press Conference (CPPC). Informed by sociological institutionalism, it divides the CPPC’s evolution into three stages – habitualization, objectification, and sedimentation, each of which has different characteristics of structural evolution due to different historical and cultural conditions. It argues that the structure of the CPPC has evolved to a ‘semi-institutionalized’ one, involving both formal and informal components. The informal components within this structure lead to negotiations among different decision-makers on the information that is delivered at the CPPC and to the public. It reveals the nature of Chinese political structure today, that is, wherein every decision-making undergoes a bargaining process within the system.