中共菁英甄補與政權屬性：改革開放時期的貫時性分析

Abstract

對極不透明的共黨國家來說，「政治菁英」成為外界瞭解其政治過程的重要管道。基於中共政權的根本屬性，本文嘗試發展「有限活化」的概念來捕捉中國大陸改革開放時期菁英甄補的特色。本文認為由於中共改革開放的調整路線主要來自於領導人更換下的偏好改變。在一黨專政前提未鬆動之下，任何因應黨路線而來的人事調整，則必須限制在維持黨專政的根本目的內。如此政治生存的邏輯，也反應在改革開放時期中共菁英甄補的模式上。透過中共黨政正部級菁英人事資料庫與貫時性的實證分析，本文發現雖然中共黨政菁英隨著時間演變不斷出現活化的現象，包括年輕化、高學歷與多元專長等；但透過政治忠誠篩選黨職菁英的甄補模式卻未出現系統性的改變。如此專政維持的考量也反應在不同條件菁英的仕途發展上。這些有限活化的菁英甄補特色不僅透露出政治生存邏輯如何主導中共改革開放時期的菁英甄補模式，也反映出其政權演變的根本邏輯與侷限。Patterns of elite recruitment provide information about the political process and institutions in communist countries. In this paper, the author develop a concept of limited renewal, constructed based on the nature of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) regime, to describe the characteristics of elite recruitment in China's reform era. Since the CCP did not fundamentally abandon its communist feature of one-party dictatorship, but only modified the party line by redefining its policy priority from class struggle to economic construction. This logic of political survival constrains any adjustment of elite recruitment and promotion corresponding to reform policies, so as not to endanger the rule of the CCP. As revealed by a longitudinal dataset on the top Chinese leaders, the composition of Chinese political elites has renewed over time with younger average age, higher educational level and more diverse academic background, but the screening of political loyalty-institutionalized as the appointment of party position-still functions as the critical determinant for elites’ career advancement. These features of the limited dimension represent how the logic of political survival drives the CCP's elite recruitment during the reform era.