As an autocracy, the Chinese government reacted swiftly to the Great Recession with a series of bold economic policies that they could institute without having to negotiate with multiple parties. As a result, China’s real GDP grew by 9% in 2009 while global GDP shrunk.

China's Response to the Great Recession

The scholarly literature on autocratic regimes and their response to the Great Recession mostly focuses on China’s response to the crisis. 

Wesleyan University

The perception that autocracies handled the 2008 financial crisis better than democracies—or at least that democracies performed poorly—is largely reinforced by the scholarly literature. Consequently, citizens’ support of democracy has declined across the world, much to the benefit of autocratic political candidates.

The Great Recession and Democracy's Decline in Popularity

The literature on regime type and economic crisis management generally finds that democracies are more resilient than autocracies in the face of economic shocks and crises. 

Regime Type and Economic Crises

Contrary to the literature on regime type and economic crisis management, the 2008 financial crisis generally demonstrated failures on the part of democracies to counter the Great Recession.

How Democracies Handled the Great Recession

Over the course of the economic crisis in Europe, support for democracy declined by 7% on average. Countries that were particularly hard-hit saw declines in support for democracy of up to 46%. By 2011, only 50% of Europeans reported being satisfied with the way democracy worked in their specific countries.


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