Referred to as the “ten lost years,” the Cultural Revolution, and Mao’s dictatorship more generally, left China and the CCP in shambles. The party possessed little organizational strength, despite having been in power for nearly three decades. Personalist politics, rather than formal institutions, determined political outcomes. Factional splits and personal enmities shaped internal party politics rather than meaningful policy differences. Political power was vested in individuals as opposed to institutional rules.
