Chinese Journal of Sociology ›› 2016, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (3): 32-63.

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Seeking out the Party: A Study of the CCP Membership Recruitment among Chinese College Students

XIE Guihua1, ZHANG Yangyang2   

  1. 1. Department of Sociology, the School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China;
    2. Department of Sociology, Peking University
  • Online:2016-05-20 Published:2016-05-20
  • Supported by:

    The research was supported by HKUST Research Project Competition (RPC07/08.HS02),General Research Fund of Hong Kong Research Grants Council (644510),and Scientific Research Fund of Renmin University of China(2009030080、20100030415).

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Abstract:

Being recruited to the Chinese Communist Party begins with a self-initiated application. Prospective candidates are selected from the applicant pool by the Party and will then go through an evaluation process of at least 12 months long. Only those who meet the expectation will be allowed to join the Party. This study examines the impact of factors such as political attitude, personality, family background and college ranking on university students' eagerness to join the Party and their prospect of being accepted. The data is based on the College Student Panel Survey in Beijing, 2009-2012. We find that both applicants and selected candidates are typically top academic performers who are student leaders, active in community service and popular with fellow students. However, in comparison to non-applicants, both groups score lower in self-assurance, ambition and career-mindedness. Furthermore, Party membership applicants tend to be more socially conscientious and less pragmatic, more obedient to institutional rules and decisions, and less independent-minded. These traits do not seem to affect applicants' chance of Party membership admission. Instead, we find that college ranking has replaced family background to become a major factor in determining application and acceptance of the CCP membership among college students.

Key words: Party recruitment of university students, double-selection, individual characteristics, discrete-time event history analysis