Benevolent authority beliefs, democratic values, and public support: A comparative study of China and Japan

Abstract Emergencies and crises, such as the COVID‐19 pandemic, pose significant challenges to a country's governance, and public approval is crucial for effectively managing such crises. China and Japan are two East Asian countries that share Confucian cultural legacies but have undergone distinct political transformations since World War II. In light of these contextual differences, this study argues that the benevolent authority system of governance remains influential in China, while its influence has diminished in Japan, where public approval of the government is primarily rooted in democratic values. Using survey data from the general public in both countries, the results reveal that benevolent authority beliefs continue to sustain public approval in China, while their effects were insignificant in Japan. Democratic values were positively associated with public approval in Japan but negatively associated with that in China. Moreover, democratic values among younger generations in Japan were significantly lower than those of their older counterparts, whereas younger individuals in China exhibited higher levels of benevolent authority beliefs compared to the older generation. Economic recession and widening income inequality may help explain the conservative shift among younger generations.