by Bo Zhiyue (East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore)

Table of Contents (85k)
Introduction:Toward a Power Balancing Model on Elite Politics in China (120k)

China's Elite Politics provides a new theoretical perspective on elite politics in China and uses this theoretical perspective to explain power transfer from Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao and political dynamics between different factional groups since the Sixteenth Party Congress of November 2002. It explains the transition in structural terms, presents characteristics of China's political elites, and analyzes the balance of power among formal institutions as well as among factional groups. It also examines political interactions between Jiang Zemin and his cronies on the one side and Hu Jintao and his allies on the other over a number of issues: the epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS); ideological institutionalization; the politics over economic overheating; Jiang Zemin's complete retirement; and Hu Jintao's power consolidation in both ideological and personnel terms.

• Introduction: Toward a Power Balancing Model on Elite Politics in China
• Political Transition and Power Balance:
  • Power Transfer from Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao at the Sixteenth Party Congress
  • The Sixteenth Central Committee: Technocrats in Command?
  • Balance of Formal Power
  • Balance of Factional Power
• Dynamics of Factional Politics:
  • Politics of SARS
  • Ideological Institutionalization and Politics of Development
  • Jiang Zemin's Complete Retirement
  • Hu Jintao's Power Consolidation
• Conclusion: Institutionalization and Political Transition