Upholding and Developing Socialist Democratic Politics

2. Promote the extensive and multi-level institutionalization of socialist consultative democracy

Socialist consultative democracy is an important form of democracy under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, in which all aspects of the people conduct extensive consultations before and during the implementation of decisions on major issues of reform, development and stability and practical issues involving the vital interests of the masses, and strive to form consensus. 2 “Socialist consultative democracy is a unique form and unique advantage of China’s socialist democratic politics, an important embodiment of the party’s mass line in the political field, and an important content of deepening the reform of the political system"3 Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out: “China’s socialist consultative democracy has enriched the form of democracy, expanded the channels of democracy, and deepened the connotation of democracy. ”

It is necessary to strengthen the construction of the socialist consultative democratic system and ensure the extensive, sustained and in-depth participation of the people in all aspects of state and social affairs.

Xi pointed out that “consultative democracy is a unique, unique and unique form of democracy in China’s socialist democratic politics.”2 Deliberative democracy constitutes a unique and beautiful landscape of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics, with a profound cultural, historical, theoretical and practical foundation. Consultative democracy stems from the excellent political culture of the Chinese nation that has long been formed by the Chinese nation, such as serving the public in the world, being inclusive, and seeking common ground while reserving differences. The spirit of consultation embodied in traditional Chinese culture is a valuable cultural resource of socialist consultative democracy. Consultative democracy is a great creation jointly realized by all parties, organizations, nationalities, strata and people from all walks of life in the political system since the founding of New China. Consultative democracy is an important embodiment of the mass line of the Communist Party of China in the political field. The Communist Party of China insists on building the party for the public and ruling for the people, adhering to the mass line, and insisting that all power belongs to the people. Whether the Communist Party of China is in power or the state organs are administering, upholding the people’s dominant position and closely relying on the people, they are inseparable from consultative democracy. Consultative democracy is deeply embedded in the whole process of socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics, and continues to develop with the in-depth advancement of socialist democratic politics.

Socialist consultative democracy has unique advantages. Socialist consultative democracy not only upholds the leadership of the Communist Party of China but also plays a positive role in all quarters; upholds the people’s dominant position and implements the leadership system and organizational principle of democratic centralism; and upholds the principle of people’s democracy and the requirements of unity and harmony. The advantage of socialist consultative democracy is that it can effectively regulate national political relations. Comrade Xi Jinping comprehensively summarized this unique advantage: “The greatest consensus on decision-making and work can be widely reached, and the drawbacks of parties and interest groups competing with each other or even fighting each other for their own interests can be effectively overcome; channels for various interest demands and demands to enter the decision-making process can be widely unblocked, and the drawbacks of different political forces stubbornly holding their own opinions and excluding dissidents in order to safeguard and fight for their own interests can be effectively overcome; mechanisms for discovering and correcting mistakes and mistakes can be widely formed, and the drawbacks of unclear circumstances and self-righteousness in decision-making can be effectively overcome;

It can widely form a mechanism for the people’s participation in management and governance at all levels, effectively overcome the drawbacks that the people cannot express and participate in in the country’s political life and social governance; it can extensively pool the wisdom and strength of the whole society to promote reform and development, and effectively overcome the drawbacks of low consensus on various policies and work and inability to implement. ”1 Improve the institutional system and working mechanism of socialist consultative democracy. Under the new historical conditions, “we must insist on discussing more when there is something, discussing more when things happen, discussing more when doing things, and discussing as much as possible as deeply as possible.”2 To improve the socialist consultative democracy system, it is necessary to promote the extensive and multi-level institutionalization of consultative democracy. Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out that “it is necessary to broaden the consultation channels of the Communist Party of China, the People’s Congress, the people’s government, the People’s Political Consultative Conference, democratic parties, people’s organizations, grassroots organizations, enterprises and institutions, social organizations, various think tanks, etc., and carry out in-depth consultations such as political, legislative, administrative, democratic, social, and grassroots consultations” 3 .Extensive consultations were held on major issues of reform, development and stability, especially those concerning the vital interests of the masses of the people. In the concrete practice of improving the socialist consultative democratic system, attention should be paid to respecting the wishes of the majority and taking into account the reasonable demands of the minority, and combining the diversity of levels with the appropriateness of scale. Consultations should be carried out extensively among the masses of the people in a locality concerning matters involving the interests of a part of the masses and the interests of a specific mass; and matters involving the interests of the masses at the grassroots level should be extensively discussed among the masses at the grassroots level. Only by giving full play to the role of various consultation subjects as a platform can we better uphold the status of the people as the main body, ensure the orderly participation of citizens in the country’s political life, effectively integrate social forces, coordinate social relations, and effectively ensure that the people are masters of their own country.

To improve the working mechanism of socialist consultative democracy, it is necessary to carry out extensive consultation in various forms before and during the implementation of decision-making. Due to the different scope, channels and forms of consultations, the content and focus of consultations are also different. In consultation with political parties, it is necessary to strengthen thematic consultations between the CPC and democratic parties on important principles and policies and major issues of the party and the state

Improve the system for the central committees of democratic parties to make proposals directly to the CPC Central Committee, strengthen the establishment of mechanisms for consultation and guarantee of political parties, and consolidate and develop harmonious relations between political parties. People’s congress consultations should carry out in-depth consultations in legislative work, give play to the role of people’s congress deputies in consultative democracy, encourage grassroots people’s congresses to carry out consultations in accordance with the law in the course of performing their duties, and support and guarantee the people’s exercise of state power through people’s congresses. In government consultations, it is necessary to enhance the transparency of decision- making and public participation, explore the formulation and publication of a catalogue of consultation matters, enhance the breadth and pertinence of consultations, improve the government consultation mechanism, and improve the capacity and level of government governance. In CPPCC consultations, it is necessary to clarify the main contents of CPPCC consultations, improve CPPCC meetings and other forms of consultations, strengthen the effective connection between CPPCC consultations and the work of party committees and governments, strengthen the construction of the CPPCC system, and continuously improve the level of the democratic system of CPPCC consultation, standardization and procedure. People’s organization consultations should focus on doing a good job of the party’s mass work in the new situation, better organize and represent the masses with whom they are connected to participate in public affairs, effectively reflect the wishes and interests of the masses, and give play to the role of people’s organizations as a bridge and link between the party and the government and the masses. Grassroots consultations should, in accordance with the requirements of consultation for the people and consultation for the people, establish and improve mechanisms for coordination and linkage in the construction of grassroots consultative democracy, better solve the actual difficulties and problems of the people, resolve contradictions and disputes in a timely manner, and promote social harmony and stability. Generally speaking, to improve the socialist consultative democratic mechanism, it is necessary to continuously establish and improve various consultation methods to ensure that the people’s democratic rights are effectively realized in participating in the country’s political and social life management.