ABSTRACT
A contended issue currently debated is whether the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can adapt to the new era. There are two diverging views on this highly ideologically charged issue. One commonly held view is that the party cannot adapt mainly because Leninist institutions are not able, almost by definition, to survive large-scale changes and marketisation.1 The other view maintains that the party-state is already adapting. The government’s overall role in the economy has been reduced, and government agencies and personnel are being downsized as a result. The Chinese authorities have delegated many government functions to service organisation that perform administrative duties for them.2 China is remaking its public management3 and is also gradually transforming the internal functioning of the party-state.4 It is the latter view that has come to predominate, in particular among scholars who carry out empirical research. The former view that the CCP cannot adapt has, to some extent, been overtaken by development in China. Moving on from this particular issue of debate, the questions we pose should instead be: where is the party going and can the Chinese party-state solve the many urgent social problems it is presently facing?
