China's Age Cohorts: Differences in Political Attitudes and Behavior*

Objective The main objective of this article is to explore whether age seems to affect political attitudes and behavior in authoritarian China and, if so, whether “generation” seems to matter, in addition to “age” itself, in driving differences among age cohorts. Methods The primary analytical method of identifying “perturbations” (Watts, 1999) focuses on determining deviations from what are considered to be established Western democratic “baselines” for various age‐behavior/attitude relationships, drawing upon regime type and “generational differences” as primary factors in explaining the deviations. Results and Conclusion Among all of the results, the most consistent pattern and conclusion is that of a “One Child” generation that is markedly different from its predecessors, and not just due to youthfulness.