To examine the logic of governance in China, we begin with an inquiry into the relationship between the Chinese state and the Chinese bureaucracy. As outlined in Chapter 1, governance in China has been characterized by the encompassing role of the central authority, whose power is uninhibited and whose reach is unlimited over its people and its vast territory. In Chinese history, the Chinese bureaucracy provided the organizational basis for the state to exercise its power. In the People’s Republic of China since 1949, the Chinese bureaucracy has undergone considerable transformation to become the organizational weapon of the party-state and to become entrenched in all corners of the society. For ordinary citizens today, the Chinese bureaucracy is the Chinese state.