Introduction

Rectification, the distinctive approach to elite discipline developed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership under Mao Tse-tung in the early 1940s, occupies a key position in the Party's organizational norms. The revolutionary heritage and goals of the CCP demand ideological zeal, close ties to the masses of Chinese people, and strict discipline from members of the elite. Quite naturally, Chinese leaders subsequently applied rectification methods to major problems and conflicts which arose after the nationwide seizure of power. The conduct of rectification, and with it the whole structure of CCP organizational norms, has been affected by changing patterns of problems, goals and target groups. Most rectification movements were responses to problems arising outside the top Party leadership; in such instances relative unity or different degrees of division existed over the nature of the problems and the appropriate response. The target of the rectification process is broadly defined political elite composed of millions of individuals.