Turning the Party State Inside Out: CCP Intra-party Regulations as a Theoretical Challenge

Abstract

Abstract Scholarship on the Chinese party state commonly treats the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a black box: the Party acts in the world, using the law as its tool to achieve its political goals. The study of intra-party regulations turns this anthropomorphic image inside out, requiring scholars to regard the very notion of the Party and rule-based governance as ideologically and theoretically contentious matters. This article maps out—and criticizes—prominent approaches to the study of intra-party regulations and rule-based governance within the CCP. It is certainly possible to explain CCP intra-party regulations through external social theoretical perspectives, such as Ernst Fraenkel’s dual state model. However, such perspectives do not necessarily help one understand the CCP leaders’ and ideologues’ idiosyncratic approach to rule-based governance. Fraenkel’s dual state model, in particular, fails to fully describe the role of rule-based governance in the CCP’s governance project.