Elite Competition, Factionalism and Strongman Governance in a Central China Village

Abstract

This study examines the elite political competition in a large agrarian village in Hubei Province. Although known locally as well-governed, this village was actually a bifurcated political community with a host of problems. The power struggle between a few members of the village’s political elite in the past two decades focused on the office of village Party secretary and produced a polarized politics of factionalism. The town Party committee played a crucial role in selecting the village’s Party secretary for economic development with dubious results. This study also examines how and why a strongman Party secretary could hold on to power for 16 years despite an increasing opposition. It reveals the governing dilemma for a village that was hard to govern and the unintended consequences of the Party’s recruitment policy for village leaders. Through the elite competition for the past two decades this study aims to capture a total picture of the village politics including its political ecology, agency and dynamics.