Brown, Kerry

Abstract
The CPC puts a lot of effort into crafting its ideological message, in fact, and this is testified by the network of Party Schools across the country, at the central and provincial level, the time devoted to training even the most senior cadres in ideological work and the imperatives of both the fourth- and fifth generation leaders to get their ideological messages right. This article explores what is meant by ideology, how it manifests itself in contemporary Chinese elite leaders’ language and political behavior, and in the end, why it matters to them and those outside China.