How Resilient is the Chinese Communist Party?

Abstract

Under President Xi Jinping’s personalist rule, the CCP’s formula for authoritarian resilience has evolved, and so too have the risks it confronts. While Xi has drastically weakened some dimensions of institutionalization—particularly limits on his own power—he has not eliminated all of them. The CCP still commands a high-capacity and selectively adaptive bureaucracy; it has tightened political control; and U.S. animosity toward China has inadvertently helped Xi rally the party and nation behind him. Yet Xi’s concentration of personal power has reintroduced the risk of succession battles and amplifies the effects of his ideology and decisions, which are felt not only within the PRC but around the world.

Keywords: China, authoritarian resilience, institutionalization, adaptive bureaucracy, Chinese Communist Party