Factional model-making in China: Party elites’ open political contention in the policy process

Main author: Cheung, Olivia
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-35297
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
topic J Political Science
description This article introduces the analytical framework of “factional model-making” to describe and explain the open political contention of Chinese Communist Party elites in the policy process. Party elites undertake factional model-making to express policy disagreements and to signal their power to the regime: by flouting the Party line publicly without punishment, they show that they can influence the Party line and therefore pressurize the regime into acknowledging their position in the opaque power structure. This article chronicles the history of factional model-making from the 1960s to 2012 and examines in detail the making of Henan's Nanjie Village into a re-collectivization model by the Party's left. The process began in the 1990s and ended soon after Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, which prompted Nanjie's patrons to recast the village as a Party model trumpeting Xi's line. The suppression of factional model-making under Xi is discussed in the conclusion.
format Journal Article
author Cheung, Olivia
author_facet Cheung, Olivia
authorStr Cheung, Olivia
author_letter Cheung, Olivia
title Factional model-making in China: Party elites’ open political contention in the policy process
publisher Cambridge University Press
publishDate 2022
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/35297/