ABSTRACT
This chapter starts with discussion of how rural economic reforms generated a dynamic of change in power relations. It examines the political outcomes of these changes in two ways – namely, the altered behavior patterns among the grass-root cadres and the political mentality and actions of the villagers. The chapter shows collectivization was the key institution through which cadres monopolized all economic, social, and political resources and thus controlled the life of villagers. Commune officials supervised all village work and always supported village cadres when conflicts occurred between cadres and villagers. Political struggle sessions and the use of village militia are the most common forms of mass dictatorship, and in many cases village cadres took advantage of these means to attack their personal foes. The immediate consequence of the departure from collective farming is that they have gained the status of independent legal persons.
