Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T14:31:23.410Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

CONTENTIOUS ELITES IN CHINA: NEW EVIDENCE AND APPROACHES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2016

Victor C. Shih
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The purges of former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang, former Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Xu Caihou, and the former head of the Central Committee Office Ling Jihua in 2014 re-excited a long-standing debate in the field of elite Chinese politics: how contentious is politics at the elite level? On the face of it, these purges, as well as the arrests of ninety nine senior officials associated with these three individuals and with other cases, seem to prove that elite politics remains highly contentious at the top (People's Daily 2015). This outcome was surprising considering that decades of institution building had taken place after the Cultural Revolution. However, proponents of institutionalized politics in the CCP argue that the leadership had a genuine desire to clean house, and that these arrests, even if politically motivated, instilled a renewed discipline in the party. Once the “bad apples” were eliminated, the leadership under Xi Jinping would have continued on the road of institutionalization (Li 2014). Cadre promotion institutions, regular meetings of the Politburo and its standing committee, party congresses, and retirement rules remain largely unaffected by the purges and will continue to ensure relatively harmonious decision making and predictable successions in the foreseeable future.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 16 , Issue 1: Contentious Elite in China: New Evidence and Approaches , March 2016 , pp. 1 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © East Asia Institute 2016 

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

REFERENCES

Acemoglu, Daron, Egorov, Georgy, and Sonin, Konstantin. 2006. “Coalition Formation in Political Games.” NBER Working Paper. Cambridge, MA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderlini, Jamil. 2012. “Beijing on Edge Amid Coup Rumors.” Financial Times, March 21.Google Scholar
Barnett, A. Doak, and Vogel, Ezra F.. 1967. Cadres, Bureaucracy, and Political Power in Communist China. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Baum, Richard. 1994. Burying Mao: Chinese Politics in the Age of Deng Xiaoping. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bo, Yibo. 2008. Ruogan Zhongda Juece yu Shijian de Huigu Shang (Recollections on Certain Important Decisions and Events). Vol. 2. Beijing: Party History Publisher.Google Scholar
Bo, Zhiyue. 2004. “The Institutionalization of Elite Management in China.” In Holding China Together: Diversity and National Integration in the Post-Deng Era, ed. Naughton, B. and Yang, D. L.. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Braun, Otto. 1982. A Comintern agent in China 1932–1939. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Cox, Gary W. 2009. “Authoritarian Elections and Leadership Succession, 1975–2004.” APSA 2009 Toronto Meeting Paper. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1449034.Google Scholar
Cui, Wunian. 2003. Wode 83 ge yue (My 83 Months). Hong Kong: Ko Man Publishing Co.Google Scholar
Debs, Alexandre. 2007. “The Wheel of Fortune: Agency Problems in Dictatorships.” Rochester Political Science Department Working Papers. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester.Google Scholar
Dittmer, Lowell. 1995. “Chinese Informal Politics.” China Journal 34: 1–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dittmer, Lowell. 1998. Liu Shaoqi and the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Rev. ed. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Economist. 2015. “The Devil, or Mr Wang.” The Economist, March 26.Google Scholar
Edin, Maria. 2003. “State Capacity and Local Agent Control in China: CCP Cadre Management from a Township Perspective.” China Quarterly 173: 35–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egorov, Georgy, and Sonin, Konstantin. 2011. “Dictators and their Viziers: Endogenizing the Loyalty–Competence Trade-Off.” Journal of the European Economic Association 9 (5): 903–930.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fewsmith, Joseph. 1994. Dilemmas of Reform in China: Political Conflict and Economic Debate. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Fewsmith, Joseph. 2001. China since Tiananmen: the Politics of Transition. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gandhi, Jennifer. 2008. Political Institutions Under Dictatorship. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gandhi, Jennifer, and Przeworski, Adam. 2006. “Cooperation, Cooptation, and Rebellion under Dictatorships.” Economics & Politics 18 (1): 1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gao, Hua. 2000. Hong taiyang shi zeme shengqide: Yan'an zhengfeng yundong de lailong qumai (How Did the Red Sun Rise: The Origin and Consequences of the Yan'an Rectification Movement). Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong Press.Google Scholar
Gao, Wenqian. 2003. Wan nian Zhou Enlai. 2nd ed.Carle Place, NY: Ming jing chu ban she.Google Scholar
Geddes, Barbara. 1999. “What Do We Know About Democratization After Twenty Years?” Annual Review of Political Science 2: 115–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ho, Pin, and Huang, Wenguang. 2013. “A Death in the Lucky Holiday Hotel: Murder, Money, and an Epic Power Struggle in China.” New York: Public Affairs.Google Scholar
Huang, Jing. 2008. “Institutionalization of Political Succession in China: Progress and implications.” In China's Changing Political Landscape: Prospects for Democracy, ed. Li, C.. Washington DC: Brookings Press.Google Scholar
Huang, Yasheng. 1996. Inflation and Investment Controls in China: The Political Economy of Central–Local Relations During the Reform Era. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jia, Ruixue, Kudamatsu, Masayuki, and Seim, David. 2014. “Complementary Roles of Connections and Performance in Political Selection in China.” CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP9523. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2284613.Google Scholar
Keller, Franziska Barbara. 2014. “Networks of Power: A Social Network Analysis of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, 1982–2012.” Paper Presented at the 2014 APSA Annual Conference, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Kuo, Warren. 1966. Analytical History of Chinese Communist Party. first ed. Taipei: Institute of International Relations.Google Scholar
Kuo, Warren. 1968. Analytical History of the Chinese Communist Party = Chung-kuo kung chʻan tang shih lun. second ed. Taipei: Institute of International Relations.Google Scholar
Lam, Willy Wo-Lap. 1999. The Era of Jiang Zemin. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Landry, Pierre F. 2008. Decentralized Authoritarianism in China: The Communist Party's Control of Local Elites in the Post-Mao Era. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, Cheng. 2014. “Rule of Law: Fourth Plenum Has Opened Up Discourse on Constitutionalism, Governance.” In China's Transition: The Third Plenum – One Year On, Bloomberg Briefs, October 2014 www.bloombergbriefs.com (accessed January 9, 2016).Google Scholar
Lieberthal, Kenneth, and Oksenberg, Michel. 1988. Policy Making in China: Leaders, Structures, and Processes. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linz, Juan J. 2000. Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes. New York: Lynne Rienner.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacFarquhar, Roderick, ed. 1997. The Coming of the Cataclysm, 1961–1966. Published for the Royal Institute of International Affairs Studies of the East Asian Institute. Oxford: Oxford University Press and New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
MacFarquhar, Roderick, and Schoenhals, Michael. 2006. Mao's Last Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manion, Melanie. 1993. Retirement of Revolutionaries in China: Public Policies, Social Norms, Private Interests. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, Alice L. 2008. “Institutionalization and the Changing Dynamics of Chinese Leadership politics.” In China's Changing Political Landscape: Prospects for Democracy, ed. Li, C.. Washington DC: Brookings Press.Google Scholar
Nathan, Andrew. 1973. “A Factionalism Model for CCP politics.” China Quarterly 53: 33–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nathan, Andrew J., and Tsai, Kellee S.. 1995. “Factionalism: A New Institutionalist Restatement.” The China Journal 34: 157–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oi, Jean Chun. 1999. Rural China Takes Off: Institutional Foundations of Economic Reform. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pantsov, Alexander, and Levine, Steven I.. 2012. Mao: The Real Story. 1st Simon & Schuster hardcover ed. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Party Central Office Secretariat. 2001. “Minutes of Important Meeting, May 21, 1989.” In The Tiananmen Papers, ed. Nathan, A. and Link, P.. London: Little, Brown & Company.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
People's Daily. 2015. “Shibadahou 99 ming fubuji yishang guanyuanhe junji yishang junguan luoma biao (A Chart of 99 Vice Ministerial Officials or Army Level Officers Who Were Arrested Since the 18th Party Congress)” People's Daily, 3/20/2015 http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2015/0320/c1001-26724381.html.Google Scholar
Pierson, Paul. 2000. “Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics.” American Political Science Review 94 (2): 251–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pomfret, John. 2000. “Chinese Tie Leaders to Smuggling: Party, Military Chiefs Among the Suspects.” Washington Post, 1/22, 01.Google Scholar
Posusney, Marsha Pripstein, and Angrist, Michele Penner. 2005. Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Regimes and Resistance. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pye, Lucian. 1980. The Dynamics of Factions and Consensus in Chinese Politics: A Model and some Propositions. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.Google Scholar
Pye, Lucian. 1981. The Dynamics of Chinese Politics. Cambridge, MA: Oelgeschlager, Gunn & Hain.Google Scholar
Saich, Tony, and Yang, Bingzhang. 1996. The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party: documents and Analysis. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Schoenhals, Michael. 1996. “The Central Case Examination Group, 1966–79.” China Quarterly 145: 87–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, Benjamin. 1949. “Marx and Lenin in China.” Far Eastern Survey 18 (15): 174–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shih, Victor. 2008a. Factions and Finance in China: Elite Conflicts and Inflation. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Shih, Victor. 2008b. “‘Nauseating’ Displays of Loyalty: Monitoring the Factional Bargain through Ideological Campaigns in China.” Journal of Politics 70 (4): 1177–1192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shih, Victor, Adolph, Christopher, and Mingxing, Liu. 2012. “Getting Ahead in the Communist Party: Explaining the Advancement of Central Committee Members in China.” American Political Science Review 106 (1): 166–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shirk, Susan. 1993. The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Svolik, Milan. 2012. The Politics of Authoritarian Rule. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Svolik, Milan, and Boix, Carles. 2007. “Non-Tyrannical Autocracies.” Working Paper. Washington, DC and Champaign, IL.Google Scholar
Swaine, Michael D. 2012. “China's Assertive Behavior, Part Three: The Role of the Military in Foreign Policy.” China Leadership Monitor, Issue 36 (Winter 2012) http://www.hoover.org/publications/china-leadership-monitor (accessed January 9, 2016).Google Scholar
Teiwes, Frederick. 1993. Politics and Purges in China: Rectification and the Decline of Party Norms, 1950–1965. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Teiwes, Frederick. 2001. “Normal Politics with Chinese Characteristics.” China Journal 45: 69–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Truex, Rory. 2015. “Making Autocracy Work: Representation and Information in Modern China.” Unpublished manuscript.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsou, Tang. 1976. “Prolegomenon to the Study of Informal Groups in CCP Politics.” China Quarterly 65: 98–114. With a reply by Nathan, Andrew J., pp. 114–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tullock, Gordon. 1987. Autocracy. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vogel, Ezra F. 2011. Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weingast, Barry R. 2005. “Persuasion, Preference Change, and Critical Junctures: The Microfoundations of a Macroscopic Concept.” In Preferences and Situations: Points of Intersection Between Historical and Rational Choice Institutionalism, ed. Katznelson, I. and Weingast, B. R.. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Whiting, Susan H. 2004. “The Cadre Evaluation System at the Grass Roots: The Paradox of Party Rule.” In Holding China Together: Diversity and National Integration in the Post-Deng Era, ed. Yang, D. L. and Naughton, B.. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Whitson, William W., and Huang, Chen-hsia. 1973. The Chinese High Command: a History of Communist Military Politics, 1927–71. New York: Praeger.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wittfogel, Karl. 1960. “‘Maoism’ – ‘Legend’ or ‘Legend of a “Legend”’?” China Quarterly 4: 88–101.Google Scholar
Xinjingbao. 2015. “Shishang zuiyan guanyuan caichan shenbao: gupiao daima, fangchan dizhi yeyaotian (The Strictest Wealth Disclosure in History: Stock Tickers and Addresses of Properties Need to be Filled Out).” Xinjingbao, May 20.Google Scholar
Yang, Dali L. 2004. Remaking the Chinese Leviathan: Market Transition and the Politics of Governance in China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ye, Yonglie. 2009. Si Renbang Xingwang (The Rise and Fall of the Gang of Four). Vol. 1. Beijing: People's Daily Publisher.Google Scholar
Zhang, Guotao. 1998. Wo de Huiyi Dierce (My Remembrance – Volume 2). Beijing: Dongfang Publisher.Google Scholar