Abstract

This dissertation investigates the construction of state-led narratives on income inequality and evaluates their effectiveness in addressing public grievances, drawing on evidence from contemporary China. Through a computational analysis of millions of official posts extracted via large language models, the research maps patterns of institutional discourse, evaluates their divergence from public concerns, and assesses their broader impact on public opinion. The findings reveal that state media primarily utilize constructive framing by emphasizing governmental achievements and comparative external contexts to contextualize domestic structural challenges. However, this selective communication strategy generates a substantial divergence between institutional messaging and the multifaceted socioeconomic realities articulated by the public. Consequently, these informational approaches yield unintended consequences by amplifying public focus on distributive matters. This research advances the literature on distributive politics by demonstrating that state authorities cannot sustainably resolve distributive tensions solely through framing strategies. Instead, they need to adopt substantive policies to ease the tensions.