In Leninist party-states, the list of leading posts whose holders are appointed, moved and removed by the ruling party, and by extension the officials who hold them.
In more detail
The system originated in the Soviet Union and was adopted in China, Vietnam and North Korea. In China the CCP Organization Department manages appointments to leading posts in government, state enterprises, universities and the media, each level supervising the level below. Pierre Landry shows how this personnel control allowed the reform-era party to decentralise economic management without losing control of local elites. Because careers depend on superiors rather than voters, the nomenklatura makes officials responsive upwards; studies of cadre evaluation debate whether it rewards performance or loyalty.