ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to provide a cultural-institutional interpretation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and demonstrates how the CCP, conditioned by the Chinese culture, has been actively undertaking efforts to consolidate itself in the form of modern emperorship, namely, the one-party system, by institutionalizing its relations with other political and social actors. It defines the CCP as an open political process and identifies the institutions and means that the CCP uses to operate this process. The chapter explains why the CCP can be interpreted from a cultural perspective before it explores how the CCP has transformed itself from traditional emperorship to a modern organization. It discusses how the CCP in the contemporary era has developed into an organization characterized by what it calls “internal pluralism” which has enabled it to integrate Chinese traditional meritocracy and modern elements of democracy.
