The People's Republic of China (PRC) is an authoritarian state in which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the paramount source of power. At the national and regional levels, party members hold almost all top civilian, police, and military positions. Retired senior leaders retain considerable power, but the top leadership announced in mid-1995 that ultimate authority had been passed to the younger generation of Communist Party leaders that makes up the 21-member Politburo. Economic decentralization has increased the authority of regional officials. Socialism continues to provide the ideological underpinning of Chinese politics, but Marxist ideology has given way to pragmatism in recent years. The party's authority rests primarily on the success of economic reform, its ability to maintain stability, appeals to patriotism, and control of the security apparatus.