Think of it. A single organizational group of aging leaders trying to maintain their relevance in modern society while maintaining an iron grip on their people. This article had so many parallels, it completely absorbed me. I wish I could show you the photo that went with it. The snoozing conventioneers were priceless. Check out these quotes.
- For China's one party, a modern struggle to remain relevant
- Erik Eckholm The New York Times
- Wednesday, November 6, 2002
- Copyright 2002 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
People both young and old, in this jazzy coastal city and across China, say that the ... Party ... now seems almost irrelevant to their daily lives...the deepest challenge may be how to reinvent their moldy institution and foster the continued acceptance, if not love, of an increasingly diverse and assertive population. Among those who do pay attention to the party, nearly all agree that it has lost its ideological soul and is now groping for new ways to justify its monopoly on power.
But the benefits of party membership ... have not been evenly shared. ... the party's traditional base - are feeling more and more alienated by corruption, joblessness and the fraying of the social safety net. "The theory says that the party can represent both the exploited and the exploiters," said an official of a leading party institute in Beijing. "How do you do that? Just because you say you do?"
The party is by no means in danger of losing its grip... It remains the vital gatekeeper of routes to advancement for managers of the state enterprises. It controls the patronage that makes things happen in villages and small towns. But Beijing officials are well aware that, particularly in rural areas, the party is rotting under the weight of corruption and nepotism, and that the popular view of it is increasingly jaundiced.
Another noteworthy article on China,
- Will the Party Lose China?
- By DAVID SHAMBAUGH