DOI
10.17077/etd.axp6o9eu
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Degree
Summer 2016
Degree Name
PhD (Doctor of Philosophy)
Degree In
Political Science
First Advisor
Wenfang Tang
First Committee Member
Frederick J Boehmke
Second Committee Member
Caroline J Tolbert
Third Committee Member
Frederick Solt
Fourth Committee Member
Kang Zhao
Abstract
How does the Chinese Communist Party tame factions from breaking it apart? Relying on thousands of biographies, the dissertation attempts to uncover the complex network of Chinese political elites and investigate how institutions constrain the expansion of factions.
First, it finds that the rule of avoidance has been effectively implemented. Native provincial officials are often assigned with secondary party positions, especially so in deeply indebted provinces that are heavily reliant on the central government for fiscal transfer. Second, the centralization of the disciplinary inspection system helps maintain the momentum of the anticorruption campaign since the 2012 leadership succession. Compared to native officials, the officials who were transferred from a different province or a central government agency are likely to investigate much more corrupt party cadres in their jurisdictions. Third, when it comes to promotions of provincial party secretaries, many performance-based criteria appear to be less important than factional ties. Good economic performance such as fast GDP growth does not increase a provincial party secretary’s odds to join the Politburo. However, the effects of factional ties are mixed. For example, family ties to a top party leader greatly increase the likelihood of promotion, but college ties disadvantage the candidates. Finally, the dissertation shows that network centrality in the Central Committee is a strong predictor of the outcomes of the Politburo turnover. The network centrality is positively associated with party seniority, but due to the age limits, it cannot grow without a ceiling.
Keywords
China, Elites, Faction, Institutions, Networks
Pages
vi, 110 pages
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 102-110).
Copyright
Copyright 2016 Yang Zhang
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Yang. "Taming factions in the Chinese Communist party." PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) thesis, University of Iowa, 2016.
https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.axp6o9eu