ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the nature of Chinese rectification by contrasting it with Stalinist terror. It discusses the crucial role of small group methods during rectification movements. The chapter describes the various informal and formal disciplinary sanctions involved in the process, including their impact on the careers of high ranking officials. It assesses the effectiveness of rectification by examining factors enhancing and limiting this approach to elite discipline. Rectification movements prior to the Cultural Revolution were generally under strict Party control with targets carefully chosen, models of deviant behavior widely propagated, and sanctions meted out according to the seriousness of offences. The control necessary to manage "coercive persuasion" properly is not easily attained; the pressures of a unit's regular tasks can divert time and energy from small group activities. In the mildest form of "semi-purge", formal disciplinary measures have been applied to high ranking cadres without seriously damaging their careers.
