ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to explain how power is exercised within the Party by identifying the formal and informal rules as well as institutions relating to a group of political actors that occupy the key positions within the party-state: the party chiefs at sub-national levels, often known as the “first hand”. It provides an initial and broad analytical framework for understanding the role of party chiefs within the governance system. The chapter refers to not only the local state in the territorial sense, namely, the party-state at a county, city or provincial level, but also a governmental agency, such as a state ministry or a bureau of a provincial government. It also refers to the organizations that “belong” to the broader party-state, such as public institutions, state-owned enterprises, governmental non-governmental organizations (GONGOs) and others.
