Xi Jinping is China's president and Communist Party leader who sustains regime legitimacy through populist anti-corruption campaigns, charismatic leadership, and economic performance, while using those same anti-corruption crackdowns to remove political rivals (AP Comp Gov Topic 1.9).
Xi Jinping is the most powerful figure in China's authoritarian regime. He holds the presidency, but his real power comes from leading the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In AP Comp Gov, Xi is your best modern example of how an authoritarian government maintains legitimacy without free and fair elections. He uses populist rhetoric about corruption to justify sweeping crackdowns, most famously the "Flies and Tigers" anti-corruption campaign that targeted both low-level officials (flies) and powerful elites (tigers).
Here's the move you need to see: the CED says reducing corruption reinforces legitimacy (LEG-1.B.2), and Xi's campaign does that in the public's eyes. But the same campaign conveniently removes his political opponents. So one policy does double duty. It builds popular support and consolidates personal power at the same time. Add in charismatic leadership (his ideas are written into party doctrine and he has built a strong personal image) plus China's record of economic growth, and you have a regime checking nearly every legitimacy box in LEG-1.B.1 except electoral ones.
Xi lives in Unit 1: Political Systems, Regimes, and Governments, specifically Topic 1.9 (Sustaining Legitimacy) under learning objective 1.9.A: explain how governments maintain legitimacy. The essential knowledge points map onto Xi almost one-to-one. Charismatic leadership and policy effectiveness (LEG-1.B.1)? That's Xi's personal cult and China's growth record. Reduced corruption reinforcing legitimacy (LEG-1.B.2)? That's the anti-corruption campaign. Increased corruption undermining legitimacy (LEG-1.B.3)? That's exactly the threat Xi claims to be fighting. China is one of the six AP Comp Gov course countries, so you'll reuse Xi as evidence across units whenever a question asks how authoritarian regimes hold power, manage dissent, or claim the right to rule.
Keep studying AP® Comparative Government Unit 1
Flies and Tigers campaign (Unit 1)
This is Xi's signature anti-corruption drive, and the names tell you the strategy. "Flies" are minor local officials and "tigers" are powerful elites. Punishing both makes the campaign look fair to the public, which boosts legitimacy, while the tiger hunts let Xi take down rivals.
Charismatic Leadership (Unit 1)
LEG-1.B.1 lists charismatic leadership as a source of legitimacy, and Xi is the course's clearest living example. His personal image and ideology are promoted throughout the party and state, so loyalty attaches to Xi himself, not just to institutions.
Economic Growth (Unit 1)
China's regime rests on performance-based legitimacy, meaning an unspoken deal where citizens accept one-party rule as long as living standards keep rising. Xi's anti-corruption push backs this up, because corruption is framed as a threat to that growth.
Cooptation (Unit 3)
Cooptation means pulling potential critics into the system instead of crushing them, like recruiting business elites into the CCP. Pair it with Xi's crackdowns and you get the full authoritarian toolkit, rewards for those who join and punishment for those who resist.
Xi Jinping has appeared on the actual exam. The 2017 short-answer question referenced him, and China shows up constantly across all question types because it's one of the six course countries. Expect multiple-choice stems describing an unnamed leader who "uses anti-corruption campaigns to remove political rivals" and asking which legitimacy concept it illustrates. On FRQs, Xi is high-value evidence for prompts about how authoritarian regimes maintain legitimacy or control elites. The skill the exam rewards is the two-sided analysis. Don't just say Xi fights corruption. Say the campaign reinforces legitimacy under LEG-1.B.2 and concentrates his personal power, and you're writing at the level the rubric wants.
Both are CCP leaders associated with personal cults, so it's easy to blur them. Mao was the revolutionary founder of the People's Republic in 1949 whose legitimacy came from revolutionary ideology and charisma. Xi is the modern leader who blends charismatic leadership with performance-based legitimacy, meaning economic growth and visible anti-corruption results. On the exam, Mao is your example of revolutionary or charismatic legitimacy at a regime's founding, while Xi is your example of how an established authoritarian regime sustains legitimacy today.
Xi Jinping leads China as both president and head of the Chinese Communist Party, and his party position is the real source of his power.
His anti-corruption campaign reinforces regime legitimacy (LEG-1.B.2 says reducing corruption builds legitimacy) while simultaneously eliminating his political rivals.
Xi is the course's go-to example of charismatic leadership as a legitimacy source in an authoritarian regime (LEG-1.B.1).
China under Xi relies on performance-based legitimacy, meaning citizens accept one-party rule largely because of sustained economic growth.
The strongest exam answers analyze Xi's actions from both angles, as genuine legitimacy-building and as power consolidation in one move.
Xi Jinping is China's president and the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. In AP Comp Gov he's the prime example for Topic 1.9, showing how an authoritarian regime sustains legitimacy through anti-corruption campaigns, charismatic leadership, and economic performance.
No. Xi is selected through internal Chinese Communist Party processes, not competitive national elections. That's exactly why he matters for Topic 1.9, since his regime must build legitimacy through performance, tradition, and charisma instead of free and fair elections.
Partly, but not only. The Flies and Tigers campaign did punish thousands of officials, which boosts public legitimacy, but it also targeted Xi's political rivals. The exam rewards you for explaining both functions, legitimacy-building and power consolidation.
Mao founded the People's Republic in 1949 and drew legitimacy from revolutionary ideology and charisma. Xi leads the established modern regime and combines charismatic leadership with performance-based legitimacy built on economic growth and visible anti-corruption results.
It's Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive targeting both low-level officials (flies) and powerful elites (tigers). It connects directly to LEG-1.B.2, which says reducing corruption reinforces legitimacy, while also serving as a tool to remove Xi's opponents.
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