Strong Political Party and Its Social Basis: The Mechanism Analysis of the Chinese Communist Party Taking Root in Beijing, 1949–1952

Abstract

Based on the archival research, the authors take the experience of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in urban governance (1949–1952) as the subject of research and select the city of Beijing as its case study. Focusing on the process of the CCP taking root in Beijing, the authors attempt to answer the following question: how the CCP achieved effective governance and orderly construction in the urban society where its power foundation was very weak at that time? The historical archives indicate that the CCP’s process of taking root in the city from 1949 to 1952 encompasses three mechanisms: (1) the Growing and Infiltrating Mechanism; (2) the Movement Embedding Mechanism; (3) the Interest Integrating Mechanism. Based on the analysis of those mechanisms and utilizing a Party-center perspective, this article draws inspiration from historical archives and argues that the CCP is a Strong Political Party. And the authors conclude that the sufficient condition for a Strong Political Party lies in three facets: (1) strong organizational network; (2) strong social mobilization; (3) strong social support. Investigating the CCP’s process of taking root in Beijing from 1949 to 1952 can help us to re-examine the governing logic of the CCP and reflect its uniqueness—maintaining independent superpower and gaining a consolidated social basis. This paper may provide a new interpretation of how the CCP could take root in Beijing, which may enrich our understanding of the CCP’s nature.