Stein Ringen (born July 5, 1945) is a Norwegian sociologist and political scientist. He is Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the

Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford The Department of Social Policy and Intervention is an interdisciplinary centre for research and teaching in social policy and the systematic evaluation of social intervention based in the Social Sciences Division of the University of Oxford. ...

, and a Fellow of

Green Templeton College, Oxford Green Templeton College (GTC) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The college is located on the previous Green College site on Woodstock Road next to the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in North Oxford and ...

(formerly

Green College, Oxford Green Templeton College (GTC) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The college is located on the previous Green College site on Woodstock Road next to the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in North Oxford and ...

Early life and education

Ringen holds a magister degree in political science (a 7-year degree including 3 years of research) from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

(1972) and a dr. philos. degree from the University of Oslo (1987).

Career

He has been a Visiting Professor at Université de Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne (1995, 1996),

École Normale Supérieure de Cachan École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

(1996-1997),

Masaryk University Masaryk University (MU) ( cs, Masarykova univerzita; la, Universitas Masarykiana Brunensis) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno as the seco ...

(2003),

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

(2003),

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

(2004, 2006) and

Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung The WZB Berlin Social Science Center (german: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, WZB), also known by its German initials WZB, is an internationally renowned research institute for the social sciences, the largest such institution ...

(2006). He has written several books in Norwegian and English. He is also a regular contributor to Norwegian public debate.

Books

*2016: ''The Perfect Dictatorship: China in the 21st Century'' *2013: ''Nation of Devils: Democratic Leadership and the Problem of Obedience'', Yale Univ. Press *2009: ''The Economic Consequences of Mr Brown'' *2007: ''What Democracy Is For'' *2006: ''The Possibility of Politics'' (new edition) *2005: ''Citizens, Families, and Reform'' (new edition) *2004: ''Norges nye befolkning'' *2000: ''Veien til det gode liv *1999: ''Ordet som er'' (co-author) *1998: ''The Family in Question'' *1997: ''Reformdemokratiet''

Views on modern China

In his latest book ''The Perfect Dictatorship: China in the 21st Century,'' Ringen provides insights that explain how China's authoritarian system works and where the party-state may be moving. By pointing out Chinese Communist Party's priorities, i.e, self-preservation, stability and economic growth, Ringen argues that what concerns Party the most is the lack of political legitimacy. Ringen creates a word "controlocracy" to describe Party's governance through censorship and stability management etc. It does not depend on commanding most people in their daily lives and is able to mostly rely on their acquiescence and self-censorship. Ringen also believes that China's achievement is overestimated because of its bigness. From Ringen's point of view, "China Dream" is a dangerous ideology promoted by the Party because it makes national greatness and individual happiness inseparable. Based on the fact that China's economic growth is slowing down and social freedom is deteriorating, Ringen predicts that China may become a new Nazi state under Communist Party's consolidating power and absolute rule.

References

External links