Abstract
Collective division of work and cooperation allows members of the Political Bureau Standing Committee to assume overall responsibility for the whole party and execute their core function of coordinated leadership. They achieve this both by representing different institutions and managing different areas of work, and by coordinating their efforts in order to promote the overall decision-making process.
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Notes
- 1.
The resolution of the Zunyi meeting and the division of work duties among the members after the Standing Committee were as follows. (1) The conference reorganized the central body of the CPC. Mao Zedong was elected member of the Standing Committee. Soon after the meeting, on the march from Zunyi to Weixin, Luo Fu replaced Bogu in the Standing Committee and undertook all of Bogu’s responsibilities. (2) In military matters, the three-member group was terminated (the three-member group refers to the decision-making body of the military command under three members of the Central Committee). Zhu and Zhou continued as military commanders; Zhou Enlai was responsible for carrying out the decisions of the military command. After a meeting of the enlarged Central Standing Committee, Mao Zedong was appointed assistant to Zhou Enlai in military matters. (See CCCPC Party Literature Research Office 1984). Two months later, in the area of Guizhou Yaxi, Gouba, a new three-member leadership group was formed, consisting of Mao Zedong, Wang Jiaxiang, and Zhou Enlai; this group was responsible for military actions by the People’s Liberation Army. Zhang Wentian led the party, though Zhou Enlai headed the military. See the article by Xinwen Liao (2012).
- 2.
See Zedong Mao (1964).
- 3.
Mao Zedong (1954). Mao Zedong pointed out in his speech, “The core force that leads us is the cause of the Communist Party of China. The theoretical basis that guides our thinking is Marxism and Leninism.”
- 4.
Deng Xiaoping pointed out, “We must continue with democracy, but we also need to have a focus. Now and perhaps for a rather long time to come, it is necessary to emphasize centralization where it is really required to increase efficiency. We have emphasized collective leadership. Now, the question of succession has become one of collective succession, and that is very good, very important. However, at the same time, we must set up a system for dividing responsibility. Collective leadership can solve major problems. It is necessary to make someone responsible over each particular area. Responsibility needs to be specialized.” What Deng meant by this was that the Secretariat had worked efficiently in the past. One of the reasons for this was that decisions had been made by a number of people; none of those individuals independently possessed great power or was able to solve the various problems alone. Deng further emphasized, “Collective leadership and division of responsibilities should be exercised at all levels.” See Deng Xiaoping (1994a).
- 5.
Deng Xiaoping pointed out, “When making decisions, it is necessary to strictly ensure that the minority is subordinate to the majority: one person one vote; every member has the right to only one vote; matters are not decided by the secretary-general. A decision made by the collective should be carried out at different levels, where there is an individual to take responsibility, and there can be no joint excuses. Delinquent behavior will be held to account. The collective leadership at all levels should be headed by the secretary-general of the Communist Party, who takes responsibility for the daily work. There is a need for individual responsibility to be emphasized among other members of the party.” See Deng Xiaoping (1994b).
- 6.
As general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPC, president, and chairman of the Central Military Commission, Hu Jintao also served as a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau; he was assisted in his work by Jiang Zemin, vice president, secretary, and vice chairman of the Central Military Commission Office.
- 7.
Li Changchun also serves as the director of the Spiritual Civilization Steering Committee.
- 8.
Scholar Zhu Guanglei has summarized the current political power structure of the Central Committee as the “6 + 1 + 2 system.” The 6 refers to the six leading bodies and the Central Committee (including the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, the Central Standing Committee of the Political Bureau, and the Secretariat of the Central Committee): the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the NPC and its Standing Committee, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, and the National Committee of the CPPCC. The 1 refers to the president. The 2 refers to the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. Together, these elements constitute the “four aspects” of the contemporary Chinese political system—the party, politics, the army, and the law (see Zhu Guanglei 2008). The president of the Supreme People’s Court and the president of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate are Central Committee members; the Central Committee of Political Science and Law, the Supreme People’s Court, and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate serve to guarantee cooperative relations. In this book, I therefore take the secretary of the Central Committee as a representative of the national judicial system in the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau.
- 9.
The White House Office is the office where the president of the United States deals with daily work; it also where the summarizing and drawing up of plans for decision making takes place. Senior officials of the White House Office are generally nominated during the U.S. presidential campaign. They are often close friends and confidants; only a small number of positions are held by outside scholars or experts. The agency exists for the president’s personal service, and the group is appointed by the president.
- 10.
One scholar of the Brookings Institution in the United States told me that in that country, President Obama wishes to do good things, but the American system will prevent him from doing good as well as evil. In China, though, President Hu Jintao wants to do good things, and the system can help him achieve that.
- 11.
The Chinese Communist Constitution was promulgated in 1982. It contains the following provisions relating to the basic principle of the democratic centralism of the party: (1) The individual party member is subordinate to the party organization; the minority is subordinate to the majority; the lower organizations are subordinate to the higher ones; the party organization and party members are subordinate to the Party Congress and the Central Committee. At all levels, the party leaders are elected, as are their representatives in party agencies and organizations. (2) The highest leading body is the NPC and the Central Committee which is elected by it. The leading bodies among the local party organizations are the local party congresses at all levels and the committees they elect. At all levels, party committees are responsible to and report on their work to the Congress. In solving problems, the higher party organizations should always listen to lower organizations and party members, and to the opinions of the masses. Lower party organizations receive instructions from the parent organization and report to it; they also have independent responsibility for conducting their duties within the scope of any problem that may arise. Subordinate organizations should exchange information, support and supervise one another. The party committees recognize that they are run by collective leadership combined with a system of individual responsibility. All major issues must be discussed by party committees in a democratic fashion. The party is prohibited from indulging in any form of personality cult. Party leaders should conduct their activities under the supervision of the people while preserving the interests of the party and maintaining their prestigious role as leader of the people.
Promulgated in 1982, the Constitution of the Republic of China stipulates that national institutions adhere to the basic principles of Democratic Centralism: the NPC and the local people’s congresses are democratically elected; they are responsible to the people and are under the people’s supervision. The state administrative, judicial, and procuratorial organs are responsible to the people’s congress and are supervised by it. In terms of their functions and powers, central and local state agencies follow the unified leadership of the central authorities, though they give full play to local initiatives and activities.
- 12.
“Several guidelines regarding inner-party political life” (the Communist Party of China Eleventh Central Committee fifth plenary session).
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Hu, A. (2014). Collective Division of Work and Cooperation. In: China’s Collective Presidency. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55279-3_3
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