The Rise of the Discipline and Inspection Commission, 1927-2012: Anticorruption Investigation and Decision-Making in the Chinese Communist Party

This article traces and analyzes the longitudinal changes in the operative structure, rules, and practices of the Chinese Communist Party's disciplinary institution not for the purpose of appraising its performance in corruption control but to demonstrate how the party regulates its own enforcement agency through institutionalizing the disciplinary decision-making process. To that end, this article identifies and explains the exact measures the party has used to delegate authority to the party's disciplinary institution in a systematic and institutionalized manner without losing control over disciplinary outcomes. It also identifies three features of the institutionalization process: concentration and centralization of disciplinary power and further depoliticization of disciplinary activities.