Political Attitu Des of the New Social Class in China: A Measurement and Comparison Based on Survey Data of Six Provinces

The rise and growth of a new social class in China has gradually seized the attention of the public, and has also become one of the hot topics in the academic world. Based on survey data, this paper discusses how to evaluate political attitudes of the new social class, and then compares differences in political attitudes between this new class and other social classes, and differences within this class. Five indicators, i.e. trust in government, perception of social security, consciousness of rights, identification with authority, and awareness of inequality, are adopted to measure political attitudes of this new class. The results show that compared with the middle class “inside the system,” this class has significantly lower trust in government. It shows no obvious preference for liberalism or conservatism compared with the lower middle class. And within this class, freelancing intellectuals tend to be more liberal than private employees and employers.