The Rise of the Legal Profession in the Chinese Leadership
(An article by Cheng Li , posted on Brookings.edu) Abstract: Crucial to any analysis of China’s political trajectory is an understanding of the kind of leadership that is governing the country. This is even more important now given the emergence of new political elites with distinct educational and professional credentials who will be running the country for the next decade and beyond. Throughout PRC history, changes in the composition of the political elite have often reflected—and sometimes heralded—broad social, economic, political, and ideological changes in the country at large. This essay examines the rapid rise of “lawyers” and legal professionals in both Chinese higher courts and the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Focusing on the 52 leaders who hold law degrees in the newly formed 376-member Central Committee of the 18th Party Congress, this essay identifies three distinct sub-types of this elite group for further analysis. This study links the tr...