China’s Whole-process People’s Democracy
Feng Yanli
P eople’s democracy as the inherent attribute and funda-
贷字组词mental requirement of social-ism rves as the lifeline promoting the development of the great cau of socialism with Chine character-istics. General Secretary Xi Jinping stresd the readiness to “develop the whole-process people’s democracy” at the grand gathering celebrating the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). As a summary of the successful explora-tion by the Chine people under the leadership of the CPC on the way to democratic politics and an important theoretical achievement of social-ist democratic politics with Chine characteristics, the whole-process people’s democracy highlights the new development and breakthrough of the Chine democratic politics in the new era, and is the Chine wis-dom of democratic political civiliza-tion of mankind. History has proven that people’s democracy is the right democracy suitable for both the
Chine people and the reality of
China’s development, and only the
whole-process people’s democracy is
the democracy that can most widely
safeguard the fundamental interests
of the people.
WHOLE-PROCESS PEOPLE’S
DEMOCRACY: CPC’S SUCCESSFUL
EXPLORATION ON THE WAY TO
DEMOCRATIC POLITICS
Bad on the outstanding practice
of the entire Chine people, social-
ism is bound to take the road of peo-
ple’s democracy. As Karl Marx once
pointed out, in democracy, no link
has a significance different from its
own; in fact, each link is only that of
the whole people. The CPC, founded
and developed among the Chine
people, “has always reprented the
fundamental interests of all Chine
people; it stands with them through
thick and thin and shares a common
fate with them. The Party has no spe-
cial interests of its own—it has never
reprented any individual interest
group, power group, or privileged
stratum.” This determines that the
CPC will inevitably choo people’s
democracy in its exploration of dem-
ocratic system and model.
The whole-process people’s de-
mocracy is a socialist democracy led
by the CPC as well as a democracy
that truly belongs to the people
themlves. The centenary history
of the CPC is one about leading
and uniting the Chine people to
constantly explore and improve
the democratic system suitable for
China’s realities in the process of
revolution, construction and develop-
ment. After the October Revolution,
Marxism-Leninism was introduced
into China and brought a new demo-
cratic thought to the Chine people.
Under the leadership of the CPC, the
Chine people have been united in
exploring a new form of state and a
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CONTEMPORARY WORLD
path of democratic politics path suit-able for China’s realities and repre-nting the Chine people’s own in-terests in the arduous revolutionary struggle. The Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee made a strategic decision to shift the focus of the work of the whole Party and the whole country to socialist modernization, which laid a solid economic foundation for the build-ing of socialist democratic politics and allowed the rapid development of the people’s democracy in the right direction. In the great practice of reform and opening up, the Party has attached great importance to the building of socialist democratic politics, always adhered to safeguard-ing the fundamental interests of the people as the fundamental starting point and foothold of the construc-tion of democratic politics, and con-tinuously promoted the construction of socialist democratic politics on the basis of adhering to the coordinated integration of the Party’s leadership, the people being the masters of the country and the rule of law. Since the CPC’s 18th National Congress, the Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has attached great importance to the construction of democratic politics and built the whole-process people’s democracy in the process of constantly improving democratic system, enriching demo-cratic forms and unblocking demo-cratic ch
annels, which has opened up a new era of socialist democratic politics with Chine characteristics. History has provided enough evi-dence that the whole-process people’s democracy created by the Chine people under the leadership of the CPC through their own practices is a democracy model that best meets the needs of China’s development and the interests of the Chine peo-ple.
With its distinguished theoreti-cal wisdom and practical ability, the
CPC has jumped out of the impris-onment of the western democracy model and successfully t around and surpasd the inherent defects of the western democracy model. The world is undergoing great changes unen in a century with both do-mestic and international situation in profound changes. In particular, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has a profound impact on the pro-cess of economic globalization and the world political situation. Western countries led by the United States have displayed many problems in economic, political, social and other aspects.
On the one hand, the United States and many western countries are faced with frequent social prob-lems, prominent ethnic conflicts, sustained sluggish economic devel-opment, and further widened gap between rich and poor. In particular, when facing with the COVID-19 pan-demic, the United States and some western countries lack a n of responsibility to ensure the fulfill-ment of the basic living rights of the people.
On the other hand, the United States and some western countries wantonly export the western democ-racy model to developing countries, trying to shape it as the so-called “universal values” of global demo-cratic politics. In fact, the western “universal values” have brought ap-parent and countless human rights disasters to Latin America, the Mid-dle East and North Africa. At prent, the inherent defects of the western democracy model are becoming in-creasingly prominent, and its hypo-critical esnce has come out in the wash.
Under the guidance of Marx-ist theory on democracy, the CPC by standing on China’s realities of
落荒而逃的意思revolution and development has cast off the limitation of the western
最亮的星星Left:会计准则委员会
On March 5, 2021, the fourth ssion of the 13th National People's Congress opens at the Great Hall of the People. (Photo/Xinhua)
Right:
On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters oppos Biden’s election in front of the Capitol. (Photo/Xinhua)
democracy and opened up a path of democracy that truly belongs to the Chine people. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his keynote address at the CPC and World Politi-cal Parties Summit,“democracy is also the right of all peoples, rather than an exclusive privilege of the few. There are multiple ways and means to realize democracy, instead of a single stereotype. The judgment on whether a country is democratic or not should be made by their peo-ple, not by the handful of others.” The whole-process people’s democ-racy is the theoretical and practical innovation of the CPC in leading and uniting the Chine people to arch for the democratic politics. To continuously adhere to, develop and improve the whole-process people's democracy, we must adhere to the strong leadership of the CPC. IDEA OF PEOPLE-CENTERED DEVELOPMENT: CORE CONCEPT OF DEVELOPING WHOLE-PROCESS PEOPLE’S DEMOCRACY
According to General Secre-tary Xi Jinping, the CPC will put in practice the idea of people-centered development and develop whole-process people’s democracy. Bad on the people, the whole-process people’s democracy will eventually return to the people. The whole-process people’s democracy rves as an important measure to ensure that the people are the true masters of the country. It not only ensures that the people exerci their legal rights, but also enables the implementation of people’s democracy in the whole process of consultation, decision-making, mana
gement and supervi-sion. The whole-process people’s de-mocracy reprents the fundamental interests of all the Chine people and is therefore an important politi-cal guarantee for them to achieve their own interests. The development
of whole-process people’s democracy
is the adherence to and practice of
the idea of people-centered develop-
ment, which is of great significance
to fully stimulate the enthusiasm,
initiative and creativity of all the peo-
ple in managing and developing the
country.
The whole-process people’s de-
mocracy is a new form of democ-
racy that enables all the people to
participate in the development of
socialist democratic politics and be-
longs to the people. General Secre-
tary Xi Jinping noted that, “the most
extensive and profound foundation
for the comprehensive rule of law is
the people; we must adhere to rv-
ing and relying on the people; the
people's interests, wishes, rights and
well-being shall be safeguarded, ful-
filled and improved in all fields and
the whole process of ruling of law in
an all-round way.” Under the leader-
ship of the CPC, from winning the
victory of the new democratic revo-
lution, to founding of the China, and
then to developing socialism with
Chine characteristics, the people
have always been the main force and
played a core motive role, putting
in practice the values of the whole-
process people’s democracy. It is fair
to say that it is the Chine people
who have created and developed the
奉禄socialist democratic politics with Chi-
ne characteristics.
On the contrary, the esnce of
the western-style democracy adopted
by western countries led by the
United States is in fact an “elite de-
mocracy” and a “money democracy”
arbitrarily manipulated by capitals.
In western capitalist countries, the
ordinary people who account for the
vast majority of the population are
no longer the main body of democ-
racy. The western-style democracy
covers up the capital operation be-
hind it under the gui of electoral
democracy. In western capitalist
countries, the ordinary people who
account for the vast majority of the
population are no longer the main
body of democracy. The western-style
democracy covers up the capital op-
eration under the gui of electoral
democracy. In fact, major capital
groups resort to form of donation
to support the chon agents who
better safeguard their interests in
the election. After being elected, the
agents will reward their supporters
according to the contribution. Thus,
the state power no longer belongs
to the people, instead it is controlled
by capital groups. In 2010 and 2014,
the U.S. federal court ruled to cancel
the ban on direct contributions to
candidates by groups and the upper
limit of individual contributions, so
that capital can more wantonly in-
terfere with and replace democracy.
Apparently the western democracy
通讯员
manipulated by capital and money
is fraudulent and hypocritical that
are difficult to abolish. The western-
style election system is only a matter
of form. The capital elites in western
countries turn the people into vot-
ers by manipulating capitals, and
孟姜女调
the power to manage the country is
gradually concentrated in the hands
of large capital groups. Election has
become a tool for them to obtain
benefits.
China’s whole-process people’s
democracy is conducive to converg-
ing social connsus widely, ensuring
适合朗诵的诗
that all the people fully express their
political will and safeguarding the
fundamental interests of the people
esntially. General Secretary Xi once
said, “This country is its people; the
people are the country. As we have
fought to establish and consolidate
our leadership over the country, we
have in fact been fighting to earn
and keep the people’s support. The
Party has in the people its roots, its
lifeblood and its source of strength.”
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In the past one hundred years since its founding, the CPC has always put ensuring the people’s wellbeing in the first place in saving the country by revolution, governing and rejuve-nating the country and developing a powerful country . Since the Party’s 18th National Congress, the main social contradictions in China have shifted, and the people’s longing for a better life in political area is mainly reflected in the pursuit of a n of democratic participation, fulfill-ment and achievement. The whole-process people’s democracy actively responded to and highly met the people’s new needs for people’s de-mocracy, and accurately focud on the true meaning of people’s democ-racy, which means that “things can be ttled through discussion, and people’s things should be discusd by people”. Therefore, the esntial
difference between the whole-process people’s democracy and western-style democracy is that the former aims to safeguard the fundamental interests of all the people, while the latter aims to safeguard the interests of a very small number of large capi-tal groups and capitalists.
WHOLE-PROCESS PEOPLE’S DEMOCRACY: A DEMOCRACY CONSTANTLY DEVELOPING AND IMPROVING ITSELF
Democracy as a basic compo-nent of the political development and social governance symbolizes a
country’s political background. The whole-process people’s democracy is a mechanism that embodies the peo-ple’s will, protects the people’s rights and interests as well as stimulates the people’s creativity. It is a model
of democratic politics created and lected by the Chine people in social practice. Along with that, the CPC has been contributing theoreti-cal wisdom and practical contents for the realization of whole-process people’s democracy .
General Secretary Xi once point-ed out: “No two political systems are entirely the same, and a political system cannot be judged in abstrac-tion without regard for its social and political context, its history, and its cultural traditions. No one political system should be regarded as the only choice; and we should not just mechanically copy the political sys-tems of other countries.” The whole-process people’s democracy is a mod-el of democratic politics bad on the political and cultural tradition of the Chine nation and China’s specific
reality, with profound historical her-Photo taken on September 14, 2020 shows CPC reprentatives and CPPCC members hold discussions with local fishermen in Lianyungang, Jiangsu for solutions to garbage disposal to protect marine ecological environment. (Photo/)
itage and mass foundation. During the CPC’s exploration in the past cen-tury and new China’s development over more than 70 years, the whole-process people’s democracy has con-tinuously displayed its strong politi-cal vitality and influence. Meanwhile, the CPC has actively undertaken the historical mission of fulfilling the new needs and requirements of the people’s democracy in keeping with the times.
General Secretary Xi stress that, “Socialist democracy with Chine characteristics is a new and good thing. Of cour, this does not mean that China’s political system is perfect and does not need to be developed and improved.” Any democratic po-litical system, once stagnating and no longer developing, will be knocked out by history and the people. At the beginning of its establishment, the western democratic system was advanced compared with the feudal system and had played a positive role in the development of human society. However, with the development of capitalism, the western democracy had gradually become a tool for capi-tal competition, and thus developed rather slowly and eventually showed its intrinsic disadvantages. Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, earth shaking changes have taken place in international politics, and the world socialist movement has fallen into a low tide. A s a result, western countries regarded western democracy as the “sole solution” of the democratic system of hu-
man society. Francis Fukuyama, a well-known American scholar once claimed that “it was hard to imagine a fundamentally better world than ours, or a future that was not bad on democracy and capitalism.” However, today’s world development situation has proven that human history does not end in the western-style democ-racy. On the contrary, this democracy
continues to decline and stagnate.
Even Fukuyama has to admit that
“what really gets wor is American
capitalism”; on the contrary, “China is
rising and will continue to ri. China
is bound to change the world in one
way or another”.
In contrast, under the strong lead-
ership of the CPC, the Chine peo-
ple have made continuous progress
towards the overall goal of building
a socialist country ruled by law, pro-
moted the continuous development
of socialist democracy and the rule
of law with Chine characteristics,
modernized the national governance
system and governance capacity, and
constantly burst out the vitality of the
whole-process people's democracy.
All the have provided a solid guar-
antee of democracy and rule of law
for achieving the goal of building a
great modern socialist country in all
respects. In particular, since the CPC’s
18th National Congress, the whole-
process people’s democracy has dis-
played a prominent efficiency. When
faced with major emergency cris
such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Chi-
na’ socialist democratic politics has
played a much stronger institutional
advantage over western democracy in
social governance and in the cohesion
of people’s minds and efforts. All in
all, with a lasting vitality in its contin-
uous development and improvement,
the whole-process people’s democracy
will provide inexhaustible institution-
al vitality to building a great modern
socialist country in all respect as well
as the Chine dream of realizing the
great rejuvenation of the Chine na-
tion.
——————————————
Feng Yanli is Deputy Director and
Professor of Institute of Philosophy,
Chine Academy of Social Sciences,
Editor-in-Chief of the World Philosophy,
and Specially Appointed Professor of
the Rearch Institute for 21st-Century
Marxism of Nankai University.
Photo taken on January 1, 2021 shows citizens reading the Civil Code of China and related books in Rugao City, Jiangsu Province. (Photo/IC photo)
