The Rise and Fall of Imperial China: The Social Origins of State Development — Power vs Capacity
A ruler can become more secure even while the state he governs becomes less capable.
Welcome to Crisis in Perception, where we examine the systems shaping our world.
Using The Rise and Fall of Imperial China: The Social Origins of State Development by Yuhua Wang as our lens, this episode investigates the long-term relationship between elite networks, ruler survival, and state capacity across imperial China.
Wang argues that the structure of elite social relations helped determine whether political elites supported a strong central state, challenged the ruler, or turned toward locally based…
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