Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T23:21:06.108Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Strength of a Weak Organization: The Communist Youth League as a Path to Power in Post-Mao China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2019

Jérôme Doyon Open the ORCID record for Jérôme Doyon [Opens in a new window]
Jérôme Doyon*
Affiliation:
School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

How can a weak organization be a path to power? The Chinese Communist Youth League (CYL) lacks autonomy and coherence yet it is seen as the cradle for one of the main factions within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). To understand this tension, I provide a novel account of the role played by the CYL in the recruitment of leading cadres since the 1980s. Against explanations based on factional struggles, I argue that the rise of CYL-affiliated cadres is a by-product of the organization's weakness. As the Party appoints CYL heads, CCP leaders, at various levels and at different points in time, have used the League to accelerate the promotion of their protégés. For years, there has been little incentive for Party bosses to dismantle this promotion path. However, in his bid to consolidate his power, Xi Jinping has weakened this channel so that it may not be used by potential rivals.

摘要

摘要

一个薄弱的政治机构怎样成为主要的选拔途径？尽管中国共产主义青年团缺乏自治权与一致性，它还是被视为中国共产党内部主要派系之一。为了解释这个矛盾现象，我对共青团自1980年代开始在干部选拔中的角色提供了一个新的见解。与派系斗争解释不同，我认为共青团干部势力上升是共青团本身组织薄弱造成的。在指派共青团领导时，各地的共产党领导人以此为契机提挈自己的人马。正因为这样的安排，以往的共产党领导人没什么激励使这一上升通道解体。但是，考虑到这一通道会被潜在竞争者利用，习近平掌权后削弱了这一通道。

Keywords

Chinese Communist Partyelite renewalCommunist Youth Leaguepolitical mobilityfactions中共共青团派系政治精英干部选拔
Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 243 , September 2020 , pp. 780 - 800
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS University of London 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ai, Yanghua, and Chen, Xiaoming. 2009. Gongqingtuan shili (The Power of the Communist Youth League). Carle Place, NY: Mirror Books.Google Scholar
All-China Federation of Trade Unions. 2015. “Gonghui bumen yusuan” (Budget of the All-China Federation of Trade-Unions), 17 April, http://www.acftu.org/template/10041/file.jsp?cid=809&aid=90506. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
All-China Federation of Trade Unions. 2017. “Zhonghua quanguo zonggonghui lijie zhuxi mingdan” (List of previous chairmen of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions), 26 May, http://acftu.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0526/c412682-29302654.html. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
Bell, Daniel. 2018. The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Bo, Zhiyue. 2007. China's Elite Politics, Political Transition and Power Balancing. Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific.Google Scholar
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. 2016. “Zhongyang di'er xunshizu xiang gongqingtuan zhongyang fankui zhuanxiang xunshi qingkuang” (The second central inspection team gives feedback on the circumstances of the special inspection of the Central Communist Youth League), 4 February, http://www.ccdi.gov.cn/special/zyxszt/2015dsl_zyxs/fgqg_2015dsl_zyxs/201602/t20160219_74595.html. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. 2014. “Dangzheng lingdao ganbu xuanba renyong gongzuo tiaoli” (Working regulations for the promotion and appointment of leading Party and government cadres), 15 January, http://renshi.people.com.cn/n/2014/0116/c139617-24132478.html. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. 2019. “Dangzheng lingdao ganbu xuanba renyong gongzuo tiaoli” (Working regulations for the promotion and appointment of leading Party and government cadres), 17 March, http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2019-03/17/c_1124245012.htm. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
Central Communist Youth League. 2015. “Gongqingtuan zhongyang 2015 nian bumen yusuan” (Central Communist Youth League 2015 budget), 17 April, http://www.ccyl.org.cn/notice/201504/t20150417_738048.htm. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
Central Communist Youth League. 2016a. “Gongqingtuan zhongyang gaige fang'an” (Proposal for reform of Central Youth League), 2 August, http://www.ccyl.org.cn/notice/201608/P020160809382774540571.pdf. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
Central Communist Youth League. 2016b. “Gongqingtuan zhongyang 2016 nian bumen yusuan” (Central Communist Youth League 2016 budget), 15 April, http://www.ccyl.org.cn/notice/201604/t20160415_757233.htm. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
Central Government Portal. 2016. “Lijie tuan zhongyang” (Previous sessions of the central CYL), http://www.gov.cn/test/2006-01/27/content_173796_6.htm. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
Central Office of the Chinese Communist Party. 2014. “2014–2018 nian quanguo dangzheng lingdao banzi jianshe guihua gangyao” (Outline of the development programme to establish a national Party and state leadership for 2014–2018), 25 December, http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-12/25/c_127332880.htm. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
Chan, Hon S., and Gao, Jie. 2018. “The politics of personnel redundancy: the non-leading cadre system in the Chinese bureaucracy.” The China Quarterly 235, 622–643.10.1017/S0305741018000565CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, Yunzhe. 2016. The Relationship between the CCYL and the CCP 1920–2012: From Organizational Rival to Leadership Incubator. Whitley Bay: UK Book Publishing.Google Scholar
Ch'i, Hsi-sheng. 1991. Politics of Disillusionment: The Chinese Communist Party under Deng Xiaoping, 1978–1989. Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe.Google Scholar
Chinese Communist Party Organization Department. 1982. “Guanyu geji tuanwei lingdao ganbu nianling wenti de yijian” (Opinion regarding the ages of the CYL committee leading cadres at all levels), 14 May, http://www.law-lib.com/law/law_view.asp?id=122378. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
Congress of the Communist Youth League. 1982. “Zhongguo gongchanzhuyi qingnian tuan zhangcheng” (Charter of the Chinese Communist Youth League), 24 December, http://www.ccyl.org.cn/history/congress/documents/200612/t20061220_9712.htm. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
Congress of the Communist Youth League. 2013. “Zhongguo gongchanzhuyi qingnian tuan zhangcheng” (Charter of the Chinese Communist Youth League), 20 June, http://qnzz.youth.cn/gzdt/201306/t20130621_3399175_1.htm. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
Deng, Xiaoping. 2014. Deng Xiaoping wenxuan: di er ce (Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping: Vol. 2.). Beijing: People's Press.Google Scholar
Ding, Xueliang. 1994. The Decline of Communism in China: Legitimacy Crisis, 1977–1989. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Doyon, Jérôme. 2019. “Clientelism by design: personnel politics under Xi Jinping.” The Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 47 (3), 87–11.Google Scholar
Edin, Maria. 2003. “State capacity and local agent control in China: CCP cadre management from a township perspective.” The China Quarterly 173, 35–52.10.1017/S0009443903000044CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Funnell, Victor. 1970. “The Chinese Communist Youth Movement, 1949–1966.” The China Quarterly 42, 105–130.Google Scholar
Gold, Thomas B. 1991. “Youth and the state.” The China Quarterly 127, 594–612.Google Scholar
Goldman, Merle. 1994. Sowing the Seeds of Democracy in China: Political Reform in the Deng Xiaoping Era. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Granovetter, Mark. 1973. “The strength of weak ties.” American Journal of Sociology 78(6), 1360–80.10.1086/225469CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graziani, Sofia. 2014. “Youth and the making of modern China.” European Journal of East Asian Studies 13(1), 117–149.10.1163/15700615-01301008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, Junke. 2018. “Zai Zhongguo gongchanzhuyi qingnian tuan di shiba ci quanguo daibiao dahui shang de baogao” (Report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Youth League), 26 June, http://www.zzyedu.cn/ytw/78/69/c884a30825/page.htm. Accessed 29 July 2019.Google Scholar
Healy, Paul Michael. 1982. The Chinese Communist Youth League, 1949–1979. Nathan, Queensland: School of Modern Asian Studies, Griffith University.Google Scholar
Huntington, Samuel. 1968. Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Kou, Chien-Wen. 2007. “CYL cadres rising in the era of Hu Jintao: factional considerations or organizational mission of channeling cadres.” Prospect Journal 3, 77–116.Google Scholar
Kou, Chien-wen, and Tsai, Wen-Hsuan. 2014. “‘Sprinting with small steps’ towards promotion: solutions for the age dilemma in the CCP cadre appointment system.” The China Journal 71(1), 153–171.Google Scholar
Li, Cheng. 2001. China's Leaders: The New Generation. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Li, Cheng. 2016. Chinese Politics in the Xi Jinping Era: Reassessing Collective Leadership. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Li, Datong. 2007. “China's Youth League faction: incubus of power?” OpenDemocracy, 31 October, https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/democracy_power/china_inside/youth_league/. Accessed on 26 July 2017.Google Scholar
Li, Hui, and Gore, Lance L.P.. 2018. “Merit-based patronage: career incentives of local leading cadres in China.” Journal of Contemporary China 27(109), 85–102.Google Scholar
Liu, Jennifer. 2010. “Indoctrinating the Youth: Guomindang Policy on Secondary Education in Wartime China and Postwar Taiwan, 1937–1960.” PhD diss., University of California, Irvine.Google Scholar
Manion, Melanie. 1993. Retirement of Revolutionaries in China: Public Policies, Social Norms, Private Interests. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.10.1515/9781400863419CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nathan, Andrew J. 1973. “A factionalism model for CCP politics.” The China Quarterly 53, 34–66.10.1017/S0305741000500022CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pan, Teng. 2013. “Zhonggong nianqing ganbu tidui” (A cohort of young CCP officials). Phoenix Weekly 6(463), 25 February, http://www.ifengweekly.com/detil.php?id=1131. Accessed 6 November 2019.Google Scholar
Payette, Alex. 2016. “Factional pull: measuring the ‘tuanpai effect’ on elite formation from 1992 to 2012.” International Journal of China Studies 7(3), 319–350.Google Scholar
Rosen, Stanley. 1985. “Prosperity, privatization, and China's youth.” Problems of Communism 34, 1–28.Google Scholar
Shirk, Susan. 2018. “The return to personalistic rule.” Journal of Democracy 29(2), 22–36.10.1353/jod.2018.0022CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Svolik, Milan W. 2012. The Politics of Authoritarian Rule. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tsimonis, Konstantinos. 2018. “‘Keep the Party assured and the youth [not] satisfied’: the Communist Youth League and Chinese university students.” Modern China 44(2), 170–207.Google Scholar
Xi, Jinping. 2017. Xi Jinping guanyu qingshaonian he gongqingtuan gongzuo lunshu zhaibian (Compilation of Xi Jinping's remarks on youth and the work of the Communist Youth League). Beijing: Central Party Literature Press.Google Scholar
Zang, Xiaowei. 2004. Elite Dualism and Leadership Selection in China. London: Routledge Curzon.Google Scholar
Zeng, Qingjie. 2015. “Democratic procedures in the CCP's cadre selection process: implementation and consequences.” The China Quarterly 225, 1–27.Google Scholar
Zhang, Hua. 2013. Zhongguo gongchanzhuyi qingniantuan zhineng yanjiu (Studies on the Functions of the Communist Youth League of China). Beijing: People's Press.Google Scholar
Zheng, Changzhong. 2008. “Guanxi kongjian zaizao de zhengzhi luoji” (The political logic behind the restructuring of social spaces). Contemporary Youth Research 1, 21–28.Google Scholar