ABSTRACT
The presence of Party organizations inside enterprises is the legacy of the microrule of the CCP in the planned economy era, which is carried on with the Party’s insistence on its organizational presence at the center of business decision-making today. During the Cultural Revolution, Party organizations literally ran the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and most collective fi rms. However, once becoming businesses operating in the marketplace, these enterprises are forced to play by market rules and adopt market institutions, resulting in a power shift and a sharp decline of the enterprise Party. Recall from Table 2.2 that the rate of the Party’s organizational coverage in business enterprises was only 22.6 percent, compared to the 90 percent plus coverage rates in other areas where Party organizations were traditionally as strong. Further breakdown shows that the coverage rate remained high in SOEs-86.8 percent, while in private businesses it was only 15.9 percent. Transition to a market economy is melting down not only the “iron rice bowl” but also the institutional foundation of the Party’s grassroots organizations. In the fast-changing business world, enterprises no longer provide a
stable base of “carriers” for Party organizations to continue with their traditional form of existence and operation. Increasing cross-business, crossindustry, and cross-locality personnel mobility also atomizes the working class, perhaps more thoroughly (albeit differently) than danwei used to. The Chinese workers fi nd themselves having to pursue individualized survival strategies in wrestling with market forces that also undermine the organizational stability of the enterprise Party, making it diffi cult for the CCP to conduct its work among the working class-the class base it claims.
