Communist Party of China

The Communist Party of China ({{zh-stp |s=????? |t=????? |p=Zh?ngguó Gòngch?nd?ng}}) is the ruling party of the People's Republic of China. The party was founded in 1921, and fought the Kuomintang during the Chinese Civil War. With more than 63 million members, the Communist Party of China (CPC; CCP for the unofficial name Chinese Communist Party; or the somewhat derogatory Chicom) is the largest political party in the world. Men and college educated are more likely to join because of economic benefits. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/china/v002/2.2walder.html Authoritarian in structure and ideology, it continues to dominate the government. In periods of relative liberalization, the influence of people and organizations outside the formal party structure has tended to increase.

Policies

Officially the guiding ideology of the CCP is Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, however since 1978, the party has embarked on a series of Chinese economic reform leading to what it calls a socialist market economy. The pragmatic nature of the CCP's economic policies have lead many to question its socialist credentials and ask whether the party is in fact supporting capitalism.

Related Topics:
Marxism-Leninism - Mao Zedong Thought - Chinese economic reform - Socialist market economy - Capitalism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Party also supports a one-party authoritarian system rejecting pluralistic liberal democracy. Since the 1990's, as its commitment to Marxist ideology has seen to weaken, the party has begun to increasingly invoke Chinese nationalism as a legitimizing principle. This has led to strong opposition to independence movements such as Taiwan independence and Tibetan independence, but has also led since 2003 to a warming of relations with its former enemy the Kuomintang.

Related Topics:
Liberal democracy - Chinese nationalism - Taiwan independence - Tibetan independence - Kuomintang

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~