ABSTRACT
In the last chapter, we noted that the professionalizing trend of 1945-59 was paralleled by a declining percentage of military men on the CC. Even at its lowest (the Eighth CC, which was 23.7% PLA), however, PLA representation in the CC has been quite high. This is unlikely to change as long as the leaders of the revolution remain alive. For them, the distinction between military and civilian was largely meaningless up to 1949, and remains far from clear-cut. Even in the long run, though PLA representation on the CC may diminish, top officers will continue to sit at the innermost circles of power. Institutional arrangements at the top—especially the importance of the Military Affairs Commission (MAC) of the Central Committee in the making of national security policy—force PLA leaders to participate and compete at the apex of the political-military structure.
