Yes, but totalitarian regimes also tend to torture people, and that doesn't work in the long run. Being totalitarian doesn't make you competent, but it probably makes you less likely to carefully study your methods for efficacy.
So I wonder, is there any evidence that this works, or is it just a sop to angry old men in the politburo who don't like what they see online?
This is anecdotal, but from the time I spent working in Shanghai & Beijing with the current younger middle class, they're pretty aware of this and just don't really care that much.
In the U.S. we're very vigilant about our first amendment rights and feel violated if they're even slightly tampered with, but for some of the Chinese at least, they don't see it interfering with their lives as long as "things are going okay" for them.
As a counterpoint, my Chinese teacher said the other day that she is worried about the days of the Cultural Revolution returning.
She sees her relatives sharing propaganda pieces on WeChat and showed us a video of her aunt unironically performing the "Loyalty Dance" (as in loyalty to Mao) with her coworkers. They will also get angry at her when she tries to talk about China's worse points.
This might be an age thing though, maybe the younger generations have a different outlook on these things.
That was my experience too. We have to understand that the younger middle class is only a generation removed from the Cultural Revolution.
So they hear stories from their grandparents and parents about people starving to death because of the famines.
These things will take time. As the Chinese get more comfortable, those younger people will join the system and change it form within.
Remember that South Korea, Singapore, and even Taiwan were dictatorships that improved their quality of life significantly before they became democracies.
Singapore does not choose its Presidential candidates [1]
In Taiwan and South Korea, anyone with enough popular support can get on the ballot.
From the Singapore wiki,
"Potential candidates must obtain certificates of eligibility from the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC), the function of which is to ensure that such persons have the necessary qualifications to be nominated as a candidate for the election" [1]
So I wonder, is there any evidence that this works, or is it just a sop to angry old men in the politburo who don't like what they see online?