Political Recruitment

Membership of the
Chinese Communist Party
 Political recruitment
• The process by which citizens are
selected for involvement in politics
• Party system is the most important
mechanism of political recruitment
 2 levels of recruitments
• Recruitment of power elite
– Party and government cadres
• Recruitment at the grassroots
– CCP membership
 Recruitment of cadres
• Rehabilitation of millions of cadres after
Cultural Revolution
• The Party’s new agenda of economic
construction
• Retirement of these cadres
• Recruitment of younger and better
educated cadres
 1982-84 Reforms
70
64 58

60
52

50

40
38

30

20

10 After

0
Before
Age

% College Educated
 The technocrats
• Higher education in engineering
• Disillusion with Maoist excesses
• Little commitment to ideology
• Pragmatic problem-solvers
• Not interested in Western values
 Recruitment at grassroots
Historical period Party recruit
1921 - 1949 Peasants, workers, &
revolutionary youths
1949 - 1965 Workers, peasants, &
liberated youths
1966 – 1978 Workers, students, &
rebellious youths
1979 - Professionals &
educated youths
 Political screening
Periods Class Political Political Clientelism
origin attitude participation
1921 -
1949
√ √
1949 -
1965
√ √
1966 -
1978
√ √
1979 -
√ √ √
 Class labels in Maoist years
• In countryside:
– Landlords
– Rich peasants
– Middle peasants
– Poor peasants
– Farm hands
 Role of education
Historical period Role of educational credentials in
recruitment
1921 - 1949 Irrelevant

1949 - 1965 Becoming positive

1966 - 1978 Becoming negative

1979 - Becoming important

Party membership
1921-2018
At the end of
2018, the
Chinese
Communist
Party has
90,594,000
card-carrying
members
 Education Level
• In 1949, 69% of Party members were
illiterate, as were 4/5 of China’s population
• Less than 1% of the 4.5 million Party
members in 1949 were high school
graduates
• In 2018, half of Party members had
college degrees or higher
 Party members 2005 and 2018
Total 70,800,000 90,594,000
(100%) (100%)
35 or younger 15,900,000 22,116,000
(22%) (24%)
Women 13,600,000 24,665,000
(19%) (27%)
3-year college 19,328,000 44,937,000
education or above (27%) (50%)
Minority nationalities 4,516,000 6,645,000
(6%) (7%)
Composition of Members 2004
Composition of Members 2010
Composition of Members 2018
Age Distribution of Party
Members (2018)
New Recruits
1989-2018
 New recruits 2005, 2010, 2018
Total 2,470,000 3,075,000 2,055,000
(100%) (100%) (100%)
35 or 1,980,000 2,516,000 1,644,000
younger (80%) (82%) (80%)
Women 815,000 1,184,000 846,000
(33%) (39%) (41%)
Students 734,000 1,260,000 704,000
(30%) (41%) (34%)