When the outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a cause-and-effect chain that creates a circuit, this is known as feedback loop. The system is considered to feed back on itself at this point. China like Russia is caught in an authoritarian feed back loop exposed by what is arguably the worst crisis in governance since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976. From Democracy Digest:

Are man-made crises like the one in Shanghai inevitable under China’s authoritarian system?

China is facing what is arguably the worst crisis in governance since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976. Even the 1989 Tiananmen uprising did not affect as many people as the Covid lockdowns, says analyst Anne Stevenson-Yang.

“With its increasing centralization of power, China has trapped itself in an authoritarian feedback loop (much like Russia’s),” she writes for Forbes. “Bad news is met with anger and withheld from leaders. Empowered central-government teams are parachuted in and confront local leaders. Policymakers are glorified and policy implementers excoriated.”

Read the full article here.