, Columnist
This Chinese Dynasty Needs a Name
Naming political parties is a tricky business. And history isn't much help.
Not so Communist.
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The Communist Party of China, it is frequently asserted, is a misnamed organization. That's because, since the party began experimenting with private enterprise in the 1970s, it has shed much of the intellectual baggage associated with Marx, Lenin and that ilk.
Not all the baggage, mind you. As Richard McGregor explains in his book, “The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers”: