The Failure of the Suppression Strategy: Examining Zuo Xiong's Reform of the Recommendation System from the Perspective of Reformative Institutional Change

Abstract

Existing research summarizes the failure mechanism of reformative institutional change as a three-stage model of "design compromise–path dependence–institutional lock-in" which is suitable for explaining the failure of compromise-based institutional reforms. This article takes the reform of the recommendation system by Zuo Xiong in the Eastern Han Dynasty as an example to propose a second path to the failure of institutional reform—suppression-based failure. Zuo Xiong's reform directly suppressed the core interests of vested interest groups through measures such as age restrictions, introduction of examinations, and retroactive accountability. The reform was effective initially due to strong support from imperial power. However, with the interruption of authority following the death of Emperor Shun, vested interest groups quickly counterattacked, and the reform measures were abolished. This article constructs a three-stage model of "political suppression–authority interruption–old guard counterattack" to reveal the failure mechanism of the suppression strategy and further proposes that its success requires two conditions: stable and sustained political authority and the successful transformation of path dependence. This research enhances the study on the logic of failure in reformative institutional change, providing theoretical reference and historical lessons for the practice of institutional reform.