Abstract: Through a revisit to the concept of “redistribution，” this paper overrides the overpaid attention to the differentiation of the elite from the ordinary in the previous research on social stratification in the socialist states and proposes a new model of social stratification. This paper argues that the stratification structure in socialist society is determined by the conflict between the state ideal of egalitarianism and the bureaucratic system of particularism. Redistribution itself does not generate inequality； it is the bureaucracy and the bureaupolitical behaviors in the process of redistribution that produce social inequality in socialism. One's distance from the center of redistribution determines not only his/her rank in the redistributive system， but also the magnitude of the bureaupolitical influence that he/she receives. In the transition period， the bureaucrats at the grassroots levels will continue to have their advantages in the redistribution and the overall social stratification structure will be further differentiated apart.

Key words: bureau-political behaviors, redistribution, social stratification structure