The Party runs the show: How the CCP controls the state and towers over the government, legislature and judiciary

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the cornerstone of the Chinese political system and, in many ways, is the political system, since all decisions are made in the Party and carried out by Party cadres, whether they work in the CCP apparatus, the government, the legislature, the judiciary or the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The main organization principles of the Party look very democratic: democratic centralism, collective leadership and election of leaders. In that context, the Party's control of the military constitutes a distinct and probably trickier issue. The PLA's integration into the Party-state structure has remained specific and somewhat problematic. The PLA remains a Party-led military and any danger of "nationalization", although sometimes mentioned as a terrible bete noire in the official media, seems very remote. The Chinese Communist Party tightly controls the state institutions, particularly the government, the legislative and the judiciary.