Organization and Response in Communist China

Communist China today is marked by two great processes: industrialization and organization. Organization is total, reaching from the top of society down to its lowest levels. Everyone is recruited into some group organized and controlled by the regime. At its lowest level, organization consists of numerous small groups, usually numbering no more than twenty people. These are the "study" and work groups. It is through these small groups that the masses are controlled and manipulated according to definite organizational principles uni formly applied throughout the society. These principles call for the development of strong internal solidarity in the small groups as well as disciplined obedience to orders from above (manipulability), both of which are to some extent mutually exclusive. Hence the Communists consistently and universally use certain mechanisms, mainly "study," to maintain a dynamic balance between the two. "Study" is the intensive application of group and self-criticism to individual group mem bers. The considerable success of the Communists in eliciting "response" in the small groups is due not only to coercion but also, possibly, to a tradition in China of participation in small, tightly knit associations.