Upholding and Developing Socialist Democratic Politics

3. Practical requirements for the political development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics

Comrade Xi Jinping clearly pointed out: “The key to adhering to the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics is to adhere to the organic unity of the party’s leadership, the people’s mastery of the country, and the rule of law.” 2 The party’s leadership, the people’s mastery of the country, and the rule of law are the basic elements of China’s socialist democratic politics, and the three are interrelated and interact to form an intrinsically unified and inseparable whole, which is a major political judgment and inevitable requirement that must be deeply understood and grasped to adhere to the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics.

The most fundamental thing is to uphold the party’s leadership. The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the greatest advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and the most important guarantee for the development of socialist democratic politics in China. The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the fundamental point of political stability, economic development, ethnic unity and social order, and the fundamental guarantee for the people to be masters of their own country and to govern the country according to law. Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out: “Only by adhering to the party’s leadership can the people’s mastery of the country be fully realized, and the institutionalization and rule of law of state and social life can be promoted in an orderly manner.” 3 The Communist Party of China has always represented the fundamental interests of the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country and shouldered the historical mission of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The purpose of leading the people to establish a people’s republic is to support and organize the people to manage state and social affairs according to law.

The party’s proposition is highly consistent with the people’s will, and the realization of the people’s interests and will cannot be separated from the party’s leadership. The Party leads the people in formulating the Constitution and laws, the Party leads the people in implementing the Constitution and laws, and the Party leads the people to defend the dignity of the Constitution and laws. The people’s ownership is the fundamental starting point and destination. Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out: “The people’s mastery is the essence and core of socialist democratic politics. People’s democracy is the life of socialism. Without democracy, there would be no socialism, no socialist modernization, and no great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.1 The original intention and mission of the Communist Party of China is to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. Upholding the party’s leadership is, in the final analysis, the purpose of realizing the right and fundamental interests of the masses of the people to be masters of their own affairs. The people’s mastery of the country is the essential feature of socialist democratic politics, and to lead the people to effectively govern the country, it is necessary to “expand the orderly political participation of citizens at all levels and in all fields, and develop a broader, fuller and more sound people’s democracy.” 2 The essence of socialist democracy is people’s democracy, and its core content is that the people are masters of their own country. So far, the form of democracy before socialism was essentially the rule of a minority, and only socialist democracy was the form of democracy that achieved the rule of the greatest majority. In the final analysis, the development of socialist democratic politics is aimed at satisfactorily realizing, safeguarding and developing the democratic rights of the masses of the people and safeguarding the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people. Comrade Jiang Zemin pointed out: “We are not developing socialist democracy for anyone in the West to see, but to truly safeguard and develop the fundamental interests of the Chinese people and ensure and promote China’s stability and development.” We cannot shake this, whether the West accepts it or not, no matter what they say.”3 Governing the country according to law is the basic way for the party to lead the people to govern the country. Governing the country according to law not only guarantees that the people are masters of their own country in terms of legal system and procedures, but also guarantees the ruling position of the party in terms of legal system and procedures. The fundamental purpose of adhering to the rule of law is to protect the rights and interests of the people, and the realization of the rule of law must be for the people, rely on the people, benefit the people, and protect the people.

To solve a series of major problems facing the development of the cause of the party and the country, liberate and enhance social vitality, promote social fairness and justice, maintain social harmony and stability, ensure the long-term peace and stability of the party and the country, and ensure the happiness and well-being of the people, we must comprehensively promote the rule of law. In order to ensure the unity of the country, the legal system, the unity of government decrees, and the unity of the market, and to achieve economic development, political clarity, cultural prosperity, social justice, and good ecology, the party must uphold the criterion of law and make good use of the rule of law.

The organic unity of the party’s leadership, the people’s mastery of the country, and the rule of law, which contains the positioning of the relationship between the party and the people, the party and the state, and the state and the people, is a scientific summary of the practice of socialist democratic political construction with Chinese characteristics, and reflects the fundamental law of the political development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It is necessary to give better play to the party’s role as the core of leadership in controlling the overall situation and coordinating all parties, strengthen the party’s centralized and unified leadership, and support people’s congresses, governments, CPPCC, courts, and procuratorates in performing their functions, carrying out work, and playing their roles in accordance with the charter. It is necessary to better realize that the people are the masters of the country, effectively ensure that the people enjoy broader and more fulfilling rights and freedoms, ensure that the people widely participate in national and social governance, let the people be the masters of the country take root and gather the majestic power of development. It is necessary to better safeguard the unity, dignity and authority of the national legal system, comprehensively promote the rule of law, and accelerate the construction of a socialist country ruled by law. Only by adhering to the organic unity of the three and developing socialist democratic politics can we effectively regulate political relations, enhance national cohesion, and ensure the long-term peace and stability of the country.

To adhere to the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics, we must have firm political self-confidence. The path of political development of socialism with Chinese characteristics is essentially different from the “three powers” and “multi-party system” in foreign countries, and can achieve “six practical preventions”: effectively prevent the phenomenon of leaderless and scattered sand, earnestly prevent the phenomenon of overflowing promises made during elections and no one cares about them after elections, effectively prevent the phenomenon of party disputes and mutual rivalries, earnestly prevent the phenomenon of ethnic estrangement and ethnic conflicts, earnestly prevent the phenomenon of people having formal rights but actually have no power, and earnestly prevent the occurrence of mutual restraints and restraints. Serious internal friction. To strengthen self-confidence in the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, we must first strengthen our confidence in the socialist political system with Chinese characteristics and enhance our confidence in taking the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics. It is necessary to unify firm institutional self-confidence with continuous reform and innovation, and continuously promote the improvement and development of the institutional system on the basis of adhering to the fundamental political system and basic political system.

We must persist in proceeding from our own national conditions and reality, grasp the historical inheritance formed over a long period of time, grasp the development path we have traveled, the political experience we have accumulated, and the political principles we have formed, and we must also grasp the requirements of reality and focus on solving practical problems. As Comrade Xi Jinping said: “The key to developing socialist democratic politics is to increase and expand our advantages and characteristics, not to weaken and shrink our advantages and characteristics.“1 Section 2: Improve the institutional system in which the people are masters of their own affairs Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out in the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China: “Developing socialist democratic politics is to embody the will of the people, protect the people’s rights and interests, stimulate the people’s creative vitality, and use the system to ensure that the people are masters of their own country.“2 In his important speech at the celebration of the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, he further emphasized: “We must improve the democratic system, broaden democratic channels, enrich democratic forms, improve the guarantee of the rule of law, and ensure that the people enjoy extensive, full, true and concrete benefits in accordance with the law. Functioning democratic rights3 The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee clearly proposed to uphold and improve the system of the people being masters of the country and develop socialist democratic politics. The specific requirements are: We must uphold the people’s status as the main body, unswervingly follow the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics, and ensure that the people manage state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings, and social affairs through various channels and forms in accordance with the law. It is necessary to uphold and improve the fundamental political system of the people’s congress system, the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, consolidate and develop the broadest patriotic united front, uphold and improve the system of regional ethnic autonomy, and improve the system of vigorous grassroots mass autonomy.

It can be seen from this that the institutional system in which the people are masters of their own country, including the country’s fundamental political system, basic political system and a series of specific institutional arrangements, is the result of long-term development, gradual improvement and endogenous evolution on the basis of China’s historical inheritance, cultural tradition and economic and social development.