Organizational Hierarchy and the Cadre Management System

The basic Chinese political system shares with other Communist systems the following features of totalitarianism: an official ideology; mass participation in a single political party led by a single individual; the use of terror by political police; party monopoly of the tools of mass propaganda; party control of the military; and centralized control of the economy. The formal structure of the Chinese regime consists of three major bureaucracies—party, government, and military—operating at five levels—central, provincial, prefectural, county, and township. Within this framework, a system of political organization operates, which is divided throughout society into functional spheres called systems. Within the system of political organization, the CCP may be likened to the nervous system and the Central Committee to the brain, which directs the behavior of the skeleton, flesh, and blood, and nervous system. All social organizations in China are divided into six categories: party organs, government organs, military units, enterprises, institutions, and mass organizations.