A policy-driven elite transformation and its outcomes: A case study of the new local elites in China

Elite transformation is usually achieved through either an evolutionary or a revolutionary process, but China in the 1980s experienced a nationwide leadership turnover through peaceful policy implementation over a relatively short period of time. The major objective of the cadre rejuvenation policy was to replace aged revolutionary veterans in leadership positions with younger, better-educated, and more reform-minded cadres in order to facilitate further reforms and the nation's modernization. The new leaders were in this sense promoted as "change agents." Based on data from one rural county, this dissertation examines new local leaders from a policy outcome perspective within the overall context of the reforms. The primary proposition is that the new leaders who were promoted by the rejuvenation policy into the local leadership would be likely to fulfill policy expectations in their post-promotion behavior. A further proposition is that the likelihood of the local leaders' taking change-oriented priorities and actions after taking office would to a large extent depend on the patterns of their perceptions about the policy expectations. A review of the changes in local elite composition indicates that the policy has indeed produced a relatively better-equipped leaders for local development. The analysis of value positions of the local leaders also reveals certain signs of change in their value orientations. As anticipated, leaders who benefited directly from the rejuvenation policy in terms of their career advancement conformed more closely to the policy expectations in their perceptions than those who did not benefit very much. The results of statistical tests reveal that the closer the leaders' perceptions to the policy expectations, the more likely they would engage in change-oriented activities after promotion.