Between Structural Stability and Personnel Fluidity: The Chinese Party-State in Light of Organizational Mobility

Name: Between Structural Stability and Personnel Fluidity: The Chinese Party-State in Light of Organizational Mobility
Start: 2025-02-03T16:30:00-05:00
End: 2025-02-03T18:00:00-05:00
Location: Louis A. Simpson International Building, Room A71

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Lecture

Mon, Feb 3, 2025

4:30 PM – 6 PM EST (GMT-5)

Louis A. Simpson International Building, Room A71

Princeton, NJ 08544, United States

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Flyer for Between Structural Stability and Personnel Fluidity: The Chinese Party-State in Light of Organizational Mobility

The party-state is the foundation of the Soviet model of authoritarianism, with the party apparatus dominating state organizations. We develop a conceptualization of dualism between structural stability and personnel fluidity to make sense of the party-state of China in operation. Focusing on personnel management practice, we examine empirical patterns of personnel flow across the party and government sectors in a large Chinese bureaucracy. Our findings show that the party and the government offices and positions have noticeable interfusion in the bureaucratic setting, with variations across bureaucratic levels and functional areas. We account for these observed patterns in light of the interplay between the logic of political control and incentive provision, mediated by other organizational mechanisms.

Where

Louis A. Simpson International Building, Room A71

Princeton, NJ 08544, United States

Speakers

Xueguang Zhou

Xueguang Zhou is a Professor of Sociology, the Kwoh-Ting Li Professor in Economic Development, a Senior Fellow at Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and the Faculty Director of the Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University. His book The Logic of Governance in China: An Organizational Approach (Cambridge University Press, 2022) summarizes his decade-long research on the institutional logic and practice of governance in contemporary China. Professor Zhou’s current research examines patterns of personnel flow in the Chinese bureaucracy and historical origins of the bureaucratic state in China.

Hosted By

Center on Contemporary China | View More Events
Co-hosted with: Princeton Institute for International & Regional Studies, Center on Contemporary China (OWNER)