New Course in Chinese Domestic Politics: The Anatomy of Readjustment

Abstract

I the study of Chinese politics in general, and in particular seeking to trace the often bewildering zigzags of Chinese Communist domestic politics, we face one fundamental difficulty. Politics in China, at least since 1956-57, have taken such dramatic turns that the very moment when we thought that at least preliminary conclusions could be drawn, we have been forced to plunge back into the data in an effort to describe some new twist in developments. Consequently, we have thus far only been able to establish certain groundrules for a typology of intra-Party group formation,' reach some substantiated conclusions about the phenomenology of mass movements,2 and broaden our understanding of the socio-political structure of the upper leadership, namely, the Party Politburo and Central Committee.3 Yet, in spite of very promising explorations,4 we have still not sufficiently analyzed the inner rationale of political decision-making in the People's Republic of China. This brief essay suffers from precisely these shortcomings. It can only at-