ABSTRACT
The Chinese Communist Party is at the head of China’s political institutions, but the government bureaucracy and the People’s Liberation Army also have important roles. Nearly all analysts of the Chinese policy process agree that there are informal groups or factions among Chinese leaders that sometimes cooperate and sometimes contend with each other. In China, it is the responsibility of the Party to supervise the entire process. The role of the Party is seen to be that of making policy, while the work of state is to implement policy. During 1950–1954 and 1961–1967 the Party maintained several regional bureaus as administrative divisions. In 1976 there was discussion as to whether these regional organizations might be revived. During the Cultural Revolution, recruitment for Party membership was often associated with political activism. The primary source of recruitment prior to the Cultural Revolution was the Communist Youth League.
