Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Make Orwell Fiction Again: Authoritarian Regimes' Use Of Surveillance Technology In China And Russia, Nora Mahon Wheelehan

Senior Theses

This thesis demonstrates how different models of authoritarianism rely on surveillance technology as a part of the state’s capacity. Specifically, I look at the technology based mechanisms employed by China and Russia in their efforts to regulate their population and ensure their durability based on their historical ideology of surveillance. In the comparison of the two states, I demonstrate how the differences in the scope of their efforts reflects China’s long term authoritarian stability in contrast with Russia’s political turbulence. The two regimes have similar historical origins, nontax revenue structures, and political institutions, whereas they differ in their state’s capacity …