Some Western observers have long portrayed the institutional design of the Communist Party of China as an opaque "black box." Roland Boer, professor at the School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China, disagrees. "It's not a black box at all," he says. For Boer, the key to understanding the CPC's organizational logic lies in "democratic centralism": The central leadership of the Party is strengthened through democratic processes, while those democratic processes are strengthened through unified implementation. He also points to the CPC's emphasis on "merit and competence" in appointing people, arguing that this helps build an efficient and capable structure that can "renew itself generation after generation."