Promoting the Development of Whole-Process People’s Democracy through the Party’s Mass Line

Since the New Era, the Communist Party of China has continuously deepened its understanding of the construction of democratic politics and put forward the innovative concept of whole-process people’s democracy. In the report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC, whole-process people’s democracy was written into the title of the Party Congress report for the first time, and it was pointed out that “whole-process people’s democracy is one of the essential requirements of Chinese-path modernization.” This reflects the Party’s latest understanding of democratic theory innovation and institutional innovation. Many scholars have pointed out the uniqueness of whole-process people’s democracy compared with Western democracy, and how the Party leads whole-process people’s democracy. However, the relative lack of analysis of whole-process people’s democracy from the perspective of the Party’s mass line may cause the innovative concept of whole-process people’s democracy to lack historical roots.

新时代以来，中国共产党不断深化对民主政治建设的认识，提出全过程人民民主的创新概念。在党的二十大报告中，全过程人民民主首次写入党代会报告的标题中，并指出“全过程人民民主是中国式现代化的本质要求之一”，这体现出党对民主理论创新与制度创新的最新认识。许多学者指出全过程人民民主相对于西方民主的独特性，以及党如何领导全过程人民民主，然而相对缺乏从党的群众路线的角度分析全过程人民民主，可能导致全过程人民民主的创新理念缺乏历史根基。

The mass line is a fine tradition formed by the Chinese Communists represented by Mao Zedong in the course of practical exploration. Many scholars have conducted research from multiple levels, such as the proposal of the mass line theory and its conceptual characteristics. Other scholars have also carried out extensive research on the historical evolution, practical path, and practical dilemmas of the mass line. However, overall, research on the mass line mainly studies its necessity and great significance from an ought-to-be perspective, primarily analyzing it from the angle of political requirements and fine work style, and rarely examines the mass line within the framework of whole-process people’s democracy construction.

群众路线是以毛泽东为代表的中国共产党人在实践探索中形成的优良传统。许多学者从群众路线理论的提出、概念特征等多个层面展开研究，还有学者从群众路线的历史沿革、实践路径、现实困境等展开大量研究。然而，整体来说，关于群众路线的研究主要从应然的角度研究其必要性和重大意义，主要从政治要求和优良作风的角度分析，而很少将群众路线放在全过程人民民主建设的框架下审视。

Since the New Era, the world situation, national conditions, and Party conditions have undergone profound and complex changes. The people’s demands for democracy, the rule of law, and other aspects are growing day by day. Party-mass relations are facing many new changes. It is necessary to promote the in-depth development of democratic politics and the mass line. In the New Era, whole-process people’s democracy should be analyzed within the development process of the mass line, continuously enrich the concept of whole-process people’s democracy, and promote the innovative development of the mass line in the New Era and the gradual deepening of whole-process people’s democracy.

新时代以来，世情、国情和党情发生深刻复杂变化，人民群众对民主、法治等方面的要求日益增长，党群关系面临诸多新变化，必须推动民主政治和群众路线深入发展。在新时代要将全过程人民民主放在群众路线的发展历程下分析，不断丰富全过程人民民主理念，推动新时代群众路线的创新性发展和全过程人民民主的逐步深化。

I. The Development of Whole-Process People’s Democracy Is Inseparable from the Party’s Mass Line

一、发展全过程人民民主离不开党的群众路线

The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC states, “Whole-process people’s democracy is the essential attribute of socialist democratic politics, and it is the most extensive, most genuine, and most effective form of democracy.” Adhering to the innovative concept of whole-process people’s democracy is inseparable from the Party’s mass line. The Party’s mass line promotes the construction of a socialist democratic state, realizes the unity of Party leadership and people’s democracy, and enriches the democratic value of whole-process people’s democracy.

党的二十大报告提出，“全过程人民民主是社会主义民主政治的本质属性，是最广泛、最真实、最管用的民主。”坚持全过程人民民主的创新理念离不开党的群众路线，党的群众路线推动社会主义民主国家建设，实现党的领导和人民民主的统一，丰富了全过程人民民主的民主价值。

(1) The Party’s Mass Line Promotes the Construction of a Socialist Democratic State

（一）党的群众路线推动社会主义民主国家建设

The Opium War caused the collapse of the traditional political structure and a crisis of overall order. The Xinhai Revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic in form, and experimented with Western forms such as the multi-party system and presidential elections, but it failed to complete modern state building. Sun Yat-sen lamented: “Since the Xinhai Revolution up to the present, China’s situation has not only shown no progress but has been deteriorating day

鸦片战争造成传统政治结构的瓦解和整体秩序的危机。辛亥革命推翻了帝制，在形式上建立了共和制，尝试了西方的多党制与总统选举等形式，但是却无法完成现代国家建设。孙中山感叹：“自辛亥革命以后，以迄于今，中国之情况不但无进步可言，且有江河日下之势。军阀之专横，列强之侵蚀，日益加厉，令中国深入半殖民地之泥犁地狱。”孙中山曾至少25次提到“一片散沙”，2次提到“一盘散沙”，8次提到“散沙”，来描述辛亥革命后缺乏组织化的政治形态。孙中山认为原因在于“尚未能获一有组织、有纪律、能了解本身之职任与目的之政党故也”。

Since its founding, the Communist Party of China has taken as its own mission the realization of the Chinese people being masters of the country and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It has always held high the clear banner of people's democracy, continuously enriched democratic forms and participation mechanisms, and used the Party's mass line to mobilize all social forces that can be united. In 1928, at the Sixth National Congress of the CPC, the meeting pointed out that when the revolution was at a low ebb, "the Party's general line is to win over the masses," to do arduous mass work in order to accumulate strength. In 1929, Mao Zedong emphasized in the "Resolution of the Ninth Congress of the Fourth Red Army of the Communist Party of China" that all work must be "carried out through the mass line after discussion and resolution by the Party." Through the mass line, the CPC combined the traditional peasant revolution with the modern workers' movement, "transforming it into a proletarian revolution capable of bearing the mission of national revolution and democratic revolution." In this process, the historical course of the Agrarian Revolution, the War of Resistance Against Japan, and the War of Liberation revealed the vivid magic weapon of the CPC in mobilizing the people, namely the mass line. Through the mass line, hundreds of millions of people achieved organized mobilization, converged into a revolutionary force, and ultimately realized the modern state construction of "nation-state" and "democracy-state," establishing the People's Republic of the people's democratic dictatorship.

中国共产党自成立以来，就将实现中国人民当家作主和中华民族伟大复兴作为己任，始终高擎人民民主这一鲜明旗帜，不断丰富民主形式和参与机制，利用党的群众路线动员一切可以团结的社会力量。1928年在中共六大上，会议指出在革命处于低潮时“党的总路线是争取群众”，做艰苦的群众工作，以积蓄力量。1929年，毛泽东在《中国共产党红军第四军第九次代表大会决议案》中强调，一切工作要“在党的讨论和决议之后，再经过群众路线去执行”。中国共产党通过群众路线将传统的农民革命与现代工人运动结合，“使其转变为能够承载民族革命与民主革命使命的无产阶级革命”。在这个过程中，土地革命、抗日战争和解放战争的历史进程中揭示了中国共产党动员人民的生动法宝即群众路线。通过群众路线，亿万人民群众得以实现组织化动员，汇聚成了革命性力量，最终实现了“民族——国家”和“民主——国家”的现代国家建构，建立了人民民主专政的人民共和国。

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong believed that compared with the dictatorship of the proletariat, the people's democratic dictatorship was more in line with China's class situation, had broader inclusiveness, and emphasized that the people's democratic dictatorship must rely on the mass line and rely on the masses. Mao Zedong pointed out, "Implementing the mass line under the leadership of the Party committee, especially the dictatorship over the entire reactionary class, must rely on the masses and rely on the Party." "Without democracy, without mobilizing the masses, without supervision by the masses, it is impossible to effectively exercise dictatorship over reactionaries and bad elements." Under the state system of the people's democratic dictatorship, China implemented the political system of the people's congress system. Although the mass line was formed and developed by the CPC during the revolution, it is highly compatible with the people's congress system, centrally embodying the Party's "popular sovereignty" and "people-oriented" principle. The Party's mass line constructed the state system and political system of the socialist democratic country, laying the foundation for the construction of democratic politics.

中华人民共和国成立以来，毛泽东认为相比于无产阶级专政，人民民主专政更加符合我国的阶级现状，具有更广泛的包容性，并强调人民民主专政必须依靠群众路线，依靠群众。毛泽东指出，“实行党委领导下的群众路线，特别是对于整个反动阶级的专政，必须依靠群众，依靠党”，“没有民主，没有把群众发动起来，没有群众的监督，就不可能对反动分子和坏分子实行有效的专政”。在人民民主专政的国体下，中国实行了人民代表大会制度的政体。尽管群众路线是中国共产党在革命过程中形成和发展的，但是与人民代表大会制度高度契合，集中体现了党的“人民主权”和“以民为本”。党的群众路线建构了社会主义民主国家的国体和政体，为民主政治建设奠定了基础。

(II) The Party's Mass Line Achieves the Unity of Party Leadership and Whole-Process People's Democracy

（二）党的群众路线实现了党的领导和全过程人民民主的统一

The mass line is not only the Party's fundamental working line but also a leadership method, a leadership method that is an internal organic unity of worldview, epistemology, and methodology. It is by relying on the mass line that the CPC always upholds Party leadership and fully exerts the principal position of the people to achieve the unity of Party leadership and people's democracy. The key to whole-process people's democracy is to achieve a high degree of unity between Party leadership and people's democracy. The formation of the mass line itself is the result of the CPC practicing people's democracy, and the mass line plays an important role in the process of forming and perfecting whole-process people's democracy.

群众路线不仅是党的根本工作路线，也是一种领导方法，是世界观、认识论和方法论内在有机统一的领导方法。中国共产党正是依靠群众路线，始终坚持党的领导，并充分发挥人民主体地位，来实现党的领导和人民民主的统一。全过程人民民主的关键就是实现党的领导与人民民主的高度统一，群众路线本身的形成就是中国共产党践行人民民主的结果，群众路线在全过程人民民主形成和完善过程中发挥着重要作用。

The Party's mass line contains a dual dimension, namely from the perspective of the political party as an active subject and from the perspective of the masses as acting subjects. From the perspective of the political party, the mass line emphasizes the vanguard party nature of the CPC, emphasizing that the Party must help the masses identify and establish their fundamental interests, and then help the masses realize their fundamental interests. In this process, it is necessary through the mass line to prevent, on the one hand, "bureaucratism and formalism," and on the other hand, to prevent "tailism" which pleases the masses without principle. Therefore, after the formation of the Party's mass line, it profoundly shaped the Party's stance towards the masses in governing the country, constructing in reality a view of the masses distinct from Western populism and elitism. Western populism seemingly places ordinary people at the center of political life, but it has a romanticized imagination of the masses' abilities and virtues, while also doubting that any institutional system can reflect and handle the people's interests and demands. Elitism emphasizes restraining the emotional impulses and pursuit of short-term interests of the masses, holds a pessimistic view of the masses' abilities and virtues, and believes that elites must be relied upon to overcome the prejudices of the people. The Party's mass line effectively unifies ordinary people and governing elites, enabling better realization of the Party's overall leadership and safeguarding the people's democratic rights.

党的群众路线包含着双重维度，即从政党作为能动主体的角度和作为行动主体的群众的角度。从政党的角度来说，群众路线强调中国共产党的先锋队政党属性，强调党必须帮助人民群众识别和确立根本利益，并进而帮助人民群众实现根本利益。在这个过程中必须通过群众路线一方面防止“官僚主义、形式主义”，另一方面又必须防止“尾巴主义”没有原则的讨好民众。因此，党的群众路线形成后深刻形塑了党在治国理政中对待人民群众的立场，从现实上建构出有别于西方民粹主义和精英主义的人民群众观。西方民粹主义看似将普通民众放到政治生活的中心，但是对群众的能力、德性具有浪漫化的想象，又怀疑任何制度体系能够反映并处理民众利益诉求。精英主义强调要克制人民群众的情感冲动和对短期利益的追求，对人民群众的能力和德性持有悲观的认识，认为必须依赖精英来摆脱民众的偏见。党的群众路线很好地将普通民众和执政精英统一起来，能够更好地实现党的全面领导，保障人民群众民主权利。

From the subject perspective of the masses, the mass line emphasizes the leadership of the Party, but it does not mean doing everything for the masses on their behalf. The mass line inherently contains the democratic value of people's democracy. The implementation of the mass line requires leading cadres to possess a democratic work style, achieving the unity of intra-Party democracy and people's democracy, and demanding that cadres of the Communist Party of China must mobilize the initiative of the masses. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "On our path forward, there are many difficulties and problems... Different ideas and methods can be discussed from different perspectives. But the fundamental one is to mobilize the masses and rely on the masses." Through the mass line, the Party can achieve "relying on the masses in everything," persist in drawing wisdom and strength from the masses, further close the relationship between cadres and the masses, enhance its governing capacity and leadership level from the masses' experience, and better become the leading core in all undertakings.

从人民群众的主体视角，群众路线强调党的领导，但并不是替人民群众包办。群众路线内在包含着人民民主的民主价值，群众路线的贯彻要求领导干部具有民主作风，实现党内民主与人民民主的统一，要求中国共产党的干部必须发动人民群众的积极性。习近平总书记指出，“在我们前进的道路上有许多困难和问题……从不同的角度可以谈出不同的思路和方法来。但根本的一条，就是要发动群众，依靠群众。”党通过群众路线可以做到“一切依靠群众”，坚持从人民群众中汲取智慧和力量，进一步密切干群关系，并从群众的经验中提升执政能力和领导水平，更好地成为各项事业的领导核心。

(III) The Party's Mass Line Enriches the Democratic Value of Whole-Process People's Democracy

（三）党的群众路线丰富了全过程人民民主的民主价值

Western scholars believe that democracy mainly refers to competitive elections in the political sphere. In fact, this view severely undermines the richness of democracy. Mao Zedong pointed out: "Democracy must be multifaceted—political, military, economic, cultural, Party affairs, and international relations—all of these require democracy." The richness of democratic forms stems from the richness of the interests of the masses and also from the richness of the content guaranteed by the mass line. Mao Zedong pointed out, "We must pay close attention to the problems of the masses' livelihood, from issues of land and labor to problems of daily necessities like fuel, rice, oil, and salt; we must care about the masses' pains and itches, sincerely seek benefits for the masses, and solve their problems of production and life." Both whole-process people's democracy and the Party's mass line are directed toward realizing the fundamental interests of the masses. The mass line is essentially the line of people's democracy, and the mass line is the fundamental line for realizing whole-process people's democracy.

西方学者认为，民主主要指的是政治领域的竞争性选举。实际上这种看法严重削弱了民主的丰富性。毛泽东指出：“民主必须是各方面的，是政治上的、军事上的、经济上的、文化上的、党务上的以及国际关系上的，一切这些，都需要民主。”民主形式的丰富性来自于人民群众利益的丰富性，也来自于群众路线保障内容的丰富性。毛泽东指出，“要深刻地注意群众生活的问题，从土地、劳动问题，到柴米油盐问题；要关心群众的痛痒，真心实意地为群众谋利益，解决群众的生产和生活的问题。”全过程人民民主和党的群众路线都指向人民群众根本利益的实现，群众路线在本质上就是人民民主路线，群众路线是实现全过程人民民主的根本路线。

The Party's mass line emphasizes democratic value, but the "democratic" value embodied in the mass line is not the "democracy" of the individual in the Western liberal sense, but rather a "democracy" that is dialectically unified with "centralism," a "democracy" under the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee. The Constitution of the Communist Party of China clearly stipulates that "democratic centralism is the application of the Party's mass line in Party life"; at the same time, democratic centralism is also the fundamental system of the People's Republic of China. This dual logic and dual-track linkage determine the democratic value of the mass line. The mass line and democratic centralism have inherent consistency in theoretical foundation and practical form. The organizational principle and institutional form of whole-process people's democracy is democratic centralism, which is also the application of the mass line in intra-Party political life. Democratic centralism cannot do without the mass line; otherwise, democratic centralism would become a mere formality. The mass line is the key intermediary ensuring the dual-track linkage of "democracy" and "centralism." Through the "whole-process" characteristic of the mass line, the masses can be attracted to participate in the "five major democratic processes" [1]1 The "five major democratic processes" (民主选举、民主协商、民主决策、民主管理、民主监督) are democratic elections, democratic consultation, democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic oversight. across the many fields of the "Five-Sphere Integrated Plan," thereby truly embodying the rich connotation of democratic value. By implementing the mass line, the interest demands of the masses receive responses, and the emotional connection between the Party and the masses is also strengthened, providing a rational and emotional basis for political trust. By encouraging mass participation, the mass line also enhances the masses' political efficacy, thereby comprehensively improving political trust. Furthermore, the mass line, through "from the masses, to the masses," helps strengthen the social foundation of governance, enhances the public's political cognition and political emotions, cultivates an orderly structure of political participation, truly realizes democratic value, and promotes substantive democracy to be implemented in concrete political practice.

党的群众路线强调民主价值，但群众路线体现的“民主”价值并非西方自由主义意义上个体的“民主”，而是与“集中”辩证统一的“民主”，是坚持党中央集中统一领导之下的“民主”。《中国共产党章程》明确规定“民主集中制是党的群众路线在党的生活的运用”；同时，民主集中制也是中华人民共和国的根本制度，这种双重逻辑和双轨链接决定了群众路线的民主价值。群众路线和民主集中制在理论基础和实践形式上具有内在一致性。全过程人民民主的组织原则和制度形式就是民主集中制，这也是群众路线在党内政治生活的运用。民主集中制离不开群众路线，否则就会使得民主集中制流于形式。群众路线是保障“民主”和“集中”双轨链接的关键中介。通过群众路线的“全过程”特征，可以吸引民众参与到“五位一体”诸多领域的“五大民主”环节，由此真正体现民主价值的丰富内涵。通过实行群众路线，民众的利益诉求得到回应，还密切了党群之间的情感关联，这为政治信任提供了理性和情感基础，群众路线通过鼓励民众参与还提高了民众的政治效能感，由此全面提升了政治信任。此外，群众路线通过“从群众中来”也有助于强化执政的社会基础，“到群众中去”有助于提升公众的政治认知、政治情感，培养有序的政治参与结构，真正实现民主价值，促使实质性民主落到具体的政治实践中。

II. Practice of the Mass Line Promoting Whole-Process People's Democracy since the 18th National Congress of the CPC

二、党的十八大以来群众路线推进全过程人民民主的实践

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the mass line. On April 19, 2013, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting, deciding to launch, starting from the second half of 2013, a Party-wide mass line education and practice campaign [2]2 The mass line education and practice campaign (党的群众路线教育实践活动) was a Party-wide campaign launched in 2013 to strengthen ties with the masses and combat bureaucratism and formalism. to be carried out in batches from top to bottom over about one year, uniting the people with fine work style. The report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC pointed out the need to "implement the mass line in all activities of governance," emphasizing the promotion of democratic political development and national governance through the institutionalization of the mass line. The Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee summarized the century-long journey of the CPC leading the people to realize whole-process people's democracy. The mass line is the historical and practical origin of whole-process people's democracy, containing the "five major democratic processes." Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party has adhered to using the fine tradition of the mass line to enrich the innovative concept of whole-process people's democracy, embedding the Party's mass line into the entire process of the "five major democratic processes" of socialist democracy.

党的十八大以来，习近平总书记反复强调群众路线的重要性。2013年4月19日，中共中央政治局召开会议，决定从2013年下半年开始，用一年左右时间，在全党自上而下分批开展党的群众路线教育实践活动，以优良作风凝聚人民群众。党的十九大报告指出，要“把群众路线贯彻到治国理政全部活动之中”，强调通过群众路线制度化推动民主政治发展和国家治理。党的十九届六中全会总结了中国共产党领导人民实现全过程人民民主的百年历程。群众路线是全过程人民民主的历史与实践起源，包含着“五大民主环节”。党的十八大以来，党坚持用群众路线的优良传统来丰富全过程人民民主的创新理念，将党的群众路线嵌入到社会主义民主“五大民主”全过程中。

(I) The Mass Line Promotes the Coordinated Development of Democratic Elections and Democratic Consultation

（一）群众路线推动民主选举与民主协商协调发展

The institutionalization of the mass line requires that the Party's mass line should not only be a requirement of work style but also must be implemented in all activities of governance. Democratic elections emphasize the legitimacy of the source of public power, while democratic consultation emphasizes the coherence and coordination of the operation process of public power. The institutionalization of the mass line promotes the coordinated development of democratic elections and democratic consultation.

群众路线制度化要求党的群众路线不仅应该是作风上的要求，还要求党的群众路线必须贯彻到治国理政全部活动。民主选举强调公共权力来源的正当性，民主协商强调公共权力运行过程的贯通性和协调性，群众路线制度化推动民主选举与民主协商协调发展。

The mass line promotes the realization of high-quality democratic elections. Democratic elections can provide a legitimacy foundation and mass foundation for public power, reflect the will of the majority through the principle of majority rule, and provide legitimacy support for the operation of public power. The head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee pointed out regarding the election work for delegates to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, "We must fully promote intra-Party democracy, adhere to the mass line, and extensively solicit opinions from grassroots Party organizations, delegates to Party congresses, Party members, and the masses." Through the mass line, the fairness and institutionalization of democratic elections can be continuously improved, promoting the participation of the masses in state management, using democratic elections as an important channel for cultivating modern citizens with democratic concepts. The mass line is a powerful guarantee for doing a good job in the selection of delegates and the exercise of democratic rights. The system of people's congresses is an institutional guarantee for maintaining close ties with the masses and an institutional form of the mass line. The system of people's congresses is the best and highest form of realizing the mass line. By adhering to the Party's mass line, Party leadership can be exerted and mass work can be done well in all links such as recommendation and nomination, organizational review, candidate selection, and conference elections, helping to promote high-quality democratic election work.

群众路线推动实现高质量民主选举。民主选举能够为公共权力提供正当性基础和群众基础，通过多数决定原则反映多数人的意愿，能够为公共权力运行提供正当性支持。中央组织部负责人就党的二十大代表选举工作指出，“要充分发扬党内民主，坚持走群众路线，广泛听取基层党组织、党代会代表、党员和群众的意见。”通过群众路线能够不断提升民主选举的公正性和制度化，推动人民群众参与国家管理，将民主选举作为培养具有民主理念的现代公民的重要渠道，群众路线是做好代表产生和实践民主权利的有力保障。人民代表大会制度是密切联系群众的制度保证，是群众路线的制度形态，人民代表大会制度是群众路线的最好实现形式和最高实现形式。通过坚持党的群众路线，能够在推荐提名、组织考察、确定人选、会议选举等各个环节发挥党的领导、做好群众工作，有助于推动高质量做好民主选举工作。

The mass line promotes the realization of deep-level democratic consultation. Democratic consultation is an important channel for the institutionalization of the mass line. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "Socialist consultative democracy is an important manifestation of the CPC's mass line in the political field." The Party's mass line helps mobilize multiple subjects to participate in democratic consultation, helps realize full consultation of interests, thereby changing the preferences of interest subjects and better resolving complex interest conflicts. Especially in situations where interest conflicts are frequent and diverse interests coexist, it is precisely through the top-down and bottom-up communication of the Party's mass line, "from the masses, to the masses," that broad, genuine, comprehensive, and in-depth consultation can truly be achieved, promoting democratic consultation to play an important role in the fields of technological innovation and venue innovation. Consultative democracy provides an institutional carrier and support for the mass line, while the mass line provides mass resources for consultative democracy. The two mutually align and promote each other in multiple aspects, such as the leading core, practical needs, and ultimate goals. For example, the "Zhejiang Provincial Standardized Guidelines for Village-level Deliberative Consultation" passed by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Civil Affairs states that relevant interest subjects, based on the principles of equality, fairness, openness, and rationality, should actively engage in deliberative consultation and communication.

群众路线推动实现深层次的民主协商。民主协商是群众路线制度化的重要渠道，习近平总书记指出，“社会主义协商民主是中国共产党的群众路线在政治领域的重要体现”。党的群众路线有助于动员多元主体参与民主协商，有助于实现利益的充分协商，进而改变利益主体偏好，更好解决复杂的利益冲突。尤其是在利益冲突多发、利益多元共存的情况下，正是通过党的群众路线“从群众中来”和“从群众中去”的上下沟通，才能真正实现广泛的、真实的、全面的、深入的协商，推动民主协商在技术创新领域和场域创新领域发挥重要作用。协商民主为群众路线提供制度化载体和依托，而群众路线为协商民主提供群众资源，两者在领导核心、现实实践需求和最终实现目标等多方面相互契合并互相推动。例如，浙江省民政厅通过的《浙江省村级议事协商规范指引》指出，相关利益主体基于平等、公正、公开和理性原则，积极主动进行议事协商和沟通交流。

The mass line helps promote democratic elections and democratic consultation to complement and supplement each other. In the context of socialist public politics in the New Era, interest conflicts among the masses are widespread, yet there is also consistency of interests, providing the realistic possibility for consultation. By coordinating democratic consultation and democratic elections through the Party's mass line, the applicable scope and scenarios of democracy can be expanded, achieving deep linkage between the masses and Party organizations, and ensuring that whole-process people's democracy can simultaneously handle simple, rapid information processing and complex, diverse information processing.

群众路线有助于推动民主选举和民主协商相辅相成、互为补充。在新时代社会主义公共政治的背景下，人民群众的利益冲突大量存在，同时又具备利益的一致性，具有协商的现实可能性。通过党的群众路线协调民主协商和民主选举，可以扩展民主的适用范围和场景，实现民众和党组织的深度关联，确保全过程人民民主能够同时处理简单的快速的信息处理和复杂的多元的信息处理。

It is undeniable that in the field of democratic elections there still exist practical problems such as low enthusiasm for participation among the masses, and in the link of democratic consultation there also exist issues such as a weak atmosphere for consultative democracy and casual consultation practices. For example, in some localities, major issues concerning economic and social development are excluded from "consultation," or the enthusiasm of the masses for participation in consultation is overlooked.

不可否认，在民主选举领域还存在着群众参与热情不高等现实问题，在民主协商环节也存在着协商民主氛围不浓厚，协商随意化等问题，如有的地方事关经济社会发展的重大问题被排除在“协商”之外，或者忽视了人民群众的协商参与热情。

(II) The Mass Line Enhances the Level of Democratic Decision-Making

（二）群众路线提升民主决策水平

Persisting in implementing the Party's mass line throughout the entire process of public decision-making can achieve deep embedding in the key links of public power operation. Theoretically, the participation of more subjects in democratic decision-making may increase decision-making time and reduce decision-making efficiency. However, considering the different preferences of relevant stakeholders in advance can reduce the phenomena of policy wrangling and repeated decision-making, avoid decision-making errors and the failure to implement decisions, thereby lowering the overall cost of public policy and ultimately better satisfying the fundamental interests of the masses. By adhering to the Party's mass line, attracting broad participation from stakeholders and experts and scholars, and repeatedly engaging in policy selection through the process of "from the masses, to the masses," it helps to raise the level of democratic decision-making.

坚持将党的群众路线贯彻到公共决策的全过程，可以实现对公共权力运行关键环节的深度嵌入。从理论来说，更多主体参与民主决策可能增加决策时间、降低决策效率，但是提前考虑相关利益主体的不同偏好，可以减少政策扯皮、反复决策的现象，避免决策失误和决策无法落地，从而降低公共政策的整体成本，并最终更好地满足人民群众的根本利益。通过坚持党的群众路线，吸引利益相关者、专家学者的广泛参与，并通过反复的“从群众中来到群众中去”进行政策选择，有助于提升民主决策水平。

The public decision-making process includes links such as information collection, problem identification, agenda setting, policy selection, policy implementation, and policy evaluation. Persisting in embedding the Party's mass line throughout the entire process of public decision-making enables the policy implementation and policy evaluation of public policies to conform to the value orientation and institutional arrangements of public policy. At the same time, it allows most major decisions to be smoothly passed and approved with extremely high approval rates, reflecting China's high degree of policy consensus. The embedding of the mass line into the public policy process enables the decision-making process to transcend the traditional bureaucratic structure, forming a self-organizing network for policy implementation and evaluation among the Party and society, and between the Party and the market. This ensures that the entire process of public policy is a closed loop with connected endpoints, and that policy selection and evaluation in the next stage will not undergo drastic changes due to changes in leadership, nor will they completely change course or negate each other, thus guaranteeing policy continuity and enforceability.

公共决策过程包含着信息收集、问题识别、议程设置、政策选择、政策实施和政策评估等环节，坚持将党的群众路线嵌入公共决策全过程，能够让公共政策的政策执行和政策评估符合公共政策的价值定位和制度安排，同时使得大多数重大决策能够以极高的通过率顺利表决通过，反映出中国高度的政策共识。群众路线嵌入公共政策过程，使得决策过程超越了传统科层结构，在政党与社会、政党和市场之间构成了一整套政策执行和评估的自组织网络，确保了公共政策全过程是首尾连接的闭环，下一个阶段的政策选择和政策评估不会由于领导的变更而出现剧烈变动，更不会彻底改弦易辙、互相否定，保证了政策的连续性和可执行性。

In the internet era, with the emergence of online political inquiry platforms and government affairs microblogs, the masses can provide feedback on policies more easily. Through the online mass line, they can be deeply embedded in policy feedback channels, transforming policy evaluation from a single stage of policy formulation into a "debate over the entire policy life cycle." The democratic value of the mass line is further highlighted. The "Interim Regulations on Major Administrative Decision-Making Procedures" promulgated by the State Council states clearly in its general provisions that major administrative decisions must follow the principle of democratic decision-making, thereby continuously raising the institutionalization level of the mass line and promoting scientific decision-making.

在互联网时代，伴随着网络问政平台和政务微博等的出现，人民群众对于政策的反馈更加容易，能够通过网络群众路线深度嵌入政策反馈渠道，对政策的评估从政策制定环节变为了“全政策生命周期的辩论”，群众路线的民主价值进一步凸显。国务院颁布的《重大行政决策程序暂行条例》在总则部分就开宗明义，指出重大行政决策要遵循民主决策原则，使得群众路线制度化水平不断提升，并推动决策科学化。

However, there still currently exist problems such as insufficient levels of democratic decision-making on major matters, the phenomenon of the "top leader" making decisions by patting their head [3]3 "Patting their head" (拍脑袋) is a colloquial Chinese idiom referring to arbitrary, impulsive decision-making made without proper investigation or consultation, often by a single leader., the phenomenon of "no meetings for major matters, big meetings for minor matters," obstructed channels for public participation, formalistic expert participation in some matters, and the issue of how to balance expert participation and public participation in decision-making. Additionally, some local governments do not place sufficient emphasis on policy feedback from the internet, affecting the effectiveness of democratic decision-making.

然而，当前仍然存在着重大事项民主决策程度不足，存在“一把手”拍脑袋的现象，存在“大事不开会，小事开大会”现象，民众参与渠道不通畅，部分事项专家参与形式化，以及在决策中专家参与和民众参与如何平衡的问题。另外，部分地方政府对互联网的政策反馈重视程度不够，影响了民主决策的效果。

(III) The Mass Line Promotes Democratic Management and Democratic Supervision in Grassroots Governance

（三）群众路线推动基层治理中的民主管理与民主监督

Whole-process people's democracy not only emphasizes the scientific nature of democratic concepts but also emphasizes that democracy can be implemented throughout the entire process of governance. Democratic management and democratic supervision most prominently reflect that whole-process people's democracy possesses extremely high governance effectiveness. It is a "problem-oriented" democracy, a "useful" democracy capable of solving problems. Persisting in embedding the Party's mass line more comprehensively into various links of grassroots governance can promote the implementation of democratic management and democratic supervision in practice, thereby enhancing governance effectiveness.

全过程人民民主不仅强调民主理念的科学性，还强调民主能够贯彻到治理全过程。民主管理与民主监督最突出体现出全过程人民民主具有极高的治理效能，是“以问题为导向”的民主，是能够解决问题的“管用”的民主。坚持将党的群众路线更全面地嵌入到基层治理的诸多环节，能够推动民主管理与民主监督落到实处，提升治理效能。

Adhering to the Party's mass line helps to practically realize the principal position of the masses in democratic management. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC proposed improving the grassroots mass self-governance mechanism led by grassroots Party organizations, strengthening grassroots organization construction, perfecting the system and working mechanisms of direct grassroots democracy, and enhancing the effectiveness of self-management, self-service, self-education, and self-supervision among urban and rural communities. By implementing the mobilizing requirements of the Party's mass line into specific governance processes, it is possible to better mobilize the enthusiasm of the masses for participation, reshape the relationship among the Party, government, and the masses through the Party's mobilizing role, and promote the formation of a benign relationship between the government and the people.

坚持党的群众路线，有助于将民主管理中人民群众的主体地位切实落到实处。党的二十大报告提出，健全基层党组织领导的基层群众自治机制，加强基层组织建设，完善基层直接民主制度体系和工作体系，增强城乡社区群众自我管理、自我服务、自我教育、自我监督的实效。通过将党的群众路线的号召性要求贯彻到具体治理过程，可以更好地调动人民群众的参与积极性，通过政党的动员作用来重塑政党、政府和群众的关系，助推良性政民关系的形成。

Adhering to the Party's mass line can achieve more efficient democratic supervision. By adhering to the Party's mass line and promoting the masses to exercise their democratic supervision rights, it can encourage the masses to participate in grassroots self-governance practices and unleash their initiative and enthusiasm. Furthermore, emphasizing the right of democratic supervision through the mass line can ensure the scientific and efficient operation of public power and ensure that the exercise of public power does not harm the practice of citizens' rights. In practice, democratic supervision can rely on forms such as people's congress supervision and direct feedback to regulate the operation of power, and can also utilize platforms such as the internet to expose phenomena of irregular and disorderly power operation. This explores new forms of online anti-corruption alongside campaign-style anti-corruption, institutional anti-corruption, and power-based anti-corruption.

坚持党的群众路线，可以实现更高效的民主监督。通过坚持党的群众路线，推动群众实施民主监督权利，可以推动群众参与基层的自治实践，发挥群众的主动性和积极性。此外，通过群众路线强调民主的监督权利，能够确保公共权力的运行科学高效，确保公共权力的行使不伤害公民权利的实践。在实践中，民主监督可以依靠人大监督、直接反应等形态规范权力运行，也可以利用互联网等平台曝光权力运行不规范和失序的现象，由此在运动反腐、制度反腐、权力反腐之外探索出网络反腐的新形态。

However, there still currently exist problems such as "the government works while the masses watch," "the government works very hard but the masses do not identify with it," low enthusiasm for mass participation, obstructed participation channels, and insufficient effectiveness of political participation. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, while effectively implementing "Party committee leadership, government responsibility," the "social coordination" aspect has been inadequate, and the level of co-construction and co-governance is not high. Additionally, issues such as the incomplete institutionalization and standardization of democratic supervision, some leaders' lack of attention to and insufficient understanding of democratic supervision, and the insufficient substantive effectiveness of democratic supervision have also plagued the in-depth development of democratic supervision.

然而，当前仍然存在着“政府干群众看”“政府很努力、群众不认同”的问题，群众参与热情不高，参与渠道不畅，政治参与的成效不足的现象仍然存在。在党的十八大以来有效实行“党委领导、政府负责”的同时，“社会协同”不到位，共建共治程度不高。另外，民主监督的制度化、规范化不完善，部分领导对民主监督不重视、认识不足，民主监督的实效性不足等问题也困扰了民主监督的深入发展。

III. Further Developing the Mass Line to Advance Whole-Process People's Democracy

三、进一步发扬群众路线推进全过程人民民主

The mass line and people's democracy are highly compatible. It is precisely because the mass line is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people that China's form of democracy manifests as a people's democracy. Professor Yang Guangbin believes that the mass line is a special form of democracy. As a fine tradition of the Party, the mass line has practiced the concept of whole-process people's democracy from multiple dimensions and enriched democratic values. In the New Era, it is necessary to further develop the mass line to advance whole-process people's democracy.

群众路线与人民民主高度契合，正是由于群众路线深入人心，中国的民主形态呈现出人民民主的民主形态。杨光斌教授认为，群众路线是一种特殊形态的民主形式。群众路线作为党的优良传统，从多个维度践行了全过程人民民主的理念，丰富了民主价值。在新时代，必须进一步发扬群众路线推进全过程人民民主。

(I) Adhering to the Party's Mass Line to Better Realize the Party's Overall Leadership over Whole-Process People's Democracy

（一）坚持党的群众路线，更好发挥党对全过程人民民主的全面领导

Whole-process people's democracy represents the latest theoretical achievement of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics and also transcends Western democracy. Its most essential feature is the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The Party's mass line was formed in the process of the Communist Party of China leading the masses. Adhering to the Party's mass line helps to better realize the Party's leadership role and promote the development of whole-process people's democracy.

全过程人民民主代表着中国特色社会主义民主的最新理论成果，也超越了西方民主，其中最本质的特征就是中国共产党的领导。党的群众路线是中国共产党在领导人民群众的过程中形成的，坚持党的群众路线有助于更好地发挥党的领导作用，并推动全过程人民民主的发展。

The "Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century" [4]4 The "Resolution on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century" was adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC in November 2021. It is a landmark document summarizing the Party's 100-year history., in summarizing and outlining the great achievements of the New Era, points out that "the Party's political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social appeal have been significantly enhanced." It is precisely under the Party's overall leadership that the Party ensures the exercise of democratic rights and the implementation of the mass line can have the correct development direction and scientific theoretical guidance, can truly raise the masses' enthusiasm for participation, and can mobilize the masses to continuously strive for Chinese-path modernization. Adhering to the Party's mass line can guide the transformation of the masses' opinions into "correct and systematic" opinions, thereby avoiding the chaos of "discussing without deciding" and the Western "vetocracy." Only under the Party's mass line, by leading the masses, organizing the masses, and mobilizing the masses to better realize the Party's leadership role, can the Party lead the masses to make decisions that better align with long-term and fundamental interests, and choose the correct form of democracy and democratic tools.

《中共中央关于党的百年奋斗重大成就和历史经验的决议》在概括和总结新时代的伟大成就时指出，“党的政治领导力、思想引领力、群众组织力、社会号召力显著增强”。正是在党的全面领导下，党保证了民主权利的发挥和群众路线的贯彻能够具有正确的发展方向、科学的理论指引，能够真正提高群众的参与热情，号召群众为中国式现代化而不断奋斗。坚持党的群众路线，可以引导将群众的意见转化为“正确的系统的”意见，从而避免“议而不决”的乱象和西方的“否决性政体”。只有在党的群众路线下，通过引领群众、组织群众、号召群众更好地发挥党的领导作用，党才能领导人民群众作出更符合长远利益和根本利益的决策，选择正确的民主形态和民主工具。

The Communist Party of China, as the leading force of socialism with Chinese characteristics, plays a role in coordinating state and society and integrating various political forces, forming a public governance structure led by a single principal subject with participation by multiple subjects, combining action-oriented governance with bureaucratic governance, and effectively ensuring the substantive justice of the people. Through the Party’s mass line, the CPC can better exert its leadership role, continuously integrate the people, enhance the Party organization’s discipline and cohesion, steadily improve the Party’s leadership capacity and governance level, and better promote the adherence to whole-process people’s democracy. In the New Era, it is necessary to better uphold the Party’s leadership, enrich the mechanisms and institutions of organizational leadership, absorption and integration, and supervision and guarantee, so as to ensure that the rights of the people are implemented in practice. It is precisely under the Party’s leadership that whole-process people’s democracy distinguishes itself from Western populism: on the one hand, it develops democracy on the basis of safeguarding the overall interests of the state, avoiding the drawbacks of neglecting democracy; on the other hand, it avoids the problem in some Western countries of excessively pandering to the short-term demands of the populace while neglecting “centralism,” thereby harming the state’s long-term interests, ultimately achieving the unity of the people’s fundamental, long-term interests with their concrete, immediate interests.

中国共产党作为中国特色社会主义的领导力量，发挥着协调国家与社会，整合各种政治力量的作用，形成了一元主体主导、多种主体参与的公共治理结构，统合了行动性治理与科层治理，切实保障人民群众的实质正义。中国共产党通过党的群众路线，能够更好发挥党的领导作用，能够不断整合人民群众，提升党组织的纪律性和凝聚力，不断提升党的领导能力和执政水平，更好推动坚持全过程人民民主。在新时代，必须更好地坚持党的领导，丰富组织领导、吸纳整合与监督保障机制与制度，确保民众的权利落到实处。正是在党的领导下，全过程人民民主区别于西方的民粹主义，一方面在保证国家整体利益基础上发扬民主，避免忽视民主的弊端，另一方面避免了部分西方国家过分讨好民众短期诉求而忽视“集中”损害国家长期利益的问题，最终实现人民群众根本利益、长远利益与具体利益、眼前利益的一致。

(II) Adhering to the Party’s Mass Line to Better Realize the People’s Aspiration for a Better Life

（二）坚持党的群众路线，更好实现人民群众对美好生活的向往

After socialism with Chinese characteristics entered the New Era, the principal contradiction in society underwent a transformation. In further promoting whole-process people’s democracy, it is necessary to comprehensively grasp the overall changes brought about by this transformation. Once the people’s need for a better life emerges, it must be expressed toward public power subjects through institutionalized means, and it is necessary to delve deeply into the masses by adhering to the Party’s mass line to scientifically grasp the diverse needs of the people. The demands mentioned in the report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC [5]5 The "online mass line" (网络群众路线) refers to the adaptation of the traditional Party mass line—the principle of maintaining close ties with the people and soliciting their opinions—to digital and online platforms, enabling interaction between the Party/government and citizens through internet channels. concerning “democracy, rule of law, fairness, justice, security, environment” and other aspects are the institutionalized expression of needs in the “economic, political, cultural, social, ecological” and other spheres. Some scholars, using relevant data, have found that since reform and opening up, residents’ demands for leisure time, democratic institutions, income fairness, and environmental protection have been growing. At the same time, the internet has profoundly influenced the economic and social activities of the people, and the diverse needs of the people are also expressed on internet social platforms and online political inquiry platforms. The institutionalized expression of the people’s needs embodies “from the masses, to the masses”; citizens’ needs, from their generation as individuals to their entry into political interaction mechanisms, constitute the logical starting point for the construction of whole-process people’s democracy.

中国特色社会主义进入新时代后，社会主要矛盾发生转化，在进一步推动全过程人民民主过程中必须全面把握社会主要矛盾转化带来的全局性变化。人民群众对于美好生活的需要产生后，需通过制度化手段面向公共权力主体进行表达，必须通过坚持党的群众路线深入群众科学把握人民群众的多样化需求。党的十九大报告中提及的“民主、法治、公平、正义、安全、环境”等方面的要求就是“经济、政治、文化、社会、生态等方面”需要的制度化表达。有学者利用相关数据，发现自从改革开放以来，居民对休闲时间、民主体制、收入公平和环境保护方面的需求日益增长。同时，互联网已经深度影响了人民群众的经济和社会活动，人民群众的多样化需求也会在互联网社交平台、网络问政平台表现出来。人民群众需要的制度化表达体现着“从群众中来”，公民需求从个体生成到进入政治互动机制，构成了全过程人民民主建设的逻辑起点。

Due to the constraints of “unbalanced and inadequate development,” some of the people’s needs cannot be met within the existing institutional framework, giving rise to various contradictions among the people. This requires the Party to grasp them by “going to the masses” through the mass line, to establish more comprehensive and inclusive institutional goals to ensure the realization of citizens’ needs, and to prompt the government to enhance its willingness and capacity to respond to the people. The people’s aspiration for a better life becomes the internal driving force for whole-process people’s democracy. The “Guiding Opinions of the State Council on Strengthening the Construction of Digital Government” states that in the process of digital government construction, meeting the needs of the people must be taken as the starting point and ultimate goal, solving the practical difficulties of the people.

由于“不平衡不充分的发展”的限制，人民群众的部分需求在现实制度中无法满足，形成种种人民内部矛盾，这就要求党通过群众路线“到群众中去”加以把握，设立更加全面、具有兼容性的制度目标保证公民需求实现，并促使政府提升回应公民的意愿与能力。人民群众对美好生活的向往成为推动全过程人民民主的内在动力。《国务院关于加强数字政府建设的指导意见》提出，数字政府建设过程中需要将满足人民群众需求作为出发点和落脚点，解决人民群众的现实难题。

Therefore, in the New Era, continuously promoting the Party’s mass line and scientifically grasping the principal contradiction in society in the New Era cannot remain merely at the level of verbal propaganda. Instead, the people’s needs must be taken as the logical starting point for the Party’s governance of the state, promoting whole-process people’s democracy through the dynamic process of “need generation—institutionalized expression of needs—form of contradiction—governance response.” It is necessary to adhere to the Party’s mass line, to identify governance problems from the concrete needs of the people, and to respond to the people’s demands in order to promote the satisfaction of their needs and enhance their sense of gain, happiness, and security, thereby promoting the unity of democratic governance and governance democracy in whole-process people’s democracy.

因此，在新时代不断推动党的群众路线，科学把握新时代社会主要矛盾，不能仅仅停留在口头宣传，而是要将人民群众的需求作为党治国理政的逻辑起点，从“需要产生—需求制度化表达—矛盾形态—治理回应”的动态过程中推动全过程人民民主。必须坚持党的群众路线，从人民群众的具体需求中去识别治理问题，并为了推动人民群众的需求满足，为了提升获得感、幸福感、安全感去回应民众诉求，推动全过程人民民主实现民主治理与治理民主的统一。

(III) Adhering to the Online Mass Line to Enrich the Forms of Whole-Process People’s Democracy

（三）坚持网上群众路线，丰富全过程人民民主的形式

With the continuous development of the internet field, the number of netizens has been increasing. By the end of 2023, the scale of netizens in China reached 1.092 billion, making netizens an important force among the people. The Party Central Committee has proposed innovating the mass work mechanism in the internet era, requiring the extension of the mass line into cyberspace. The “whole-process” nature of whole-process people’s democracy is also reflected in the fact that the vast space of the internet cannot be ignored. Under the new technological environment, promoting the mass line and exercising democratic rights must make good use of internet technology and follow the online mass line well in the New Era.

随着互联网领域的不断发展，网民数量不断增多，截至2023年底，我国网民规模达10.92亿，网民成为人民群众中的重要力量。党中央提出创新互联网时代群众工作机制，要求将群众路线扩展到互联网空间。全过程人民民主的“全过程”也体现在不能忽视互联网的巨大空间。在新的技术环境下推动群众路线和践行民主权利必须利用好互联网技术，走好新时代的网上群众路线。

By following the online mass line well, citizens’ rights to participation and expression are better implemented, reflecting the new characteristic of “technological empowerment.” By practicing the mass line in online life, the mass line can combine “handling major affairs” such as establishing the united front with “handling minor affairs” of solving the people’s specific problems, organically integrating grassroots self-governance with the bureaucratic system, and achieving benign embedding with the political system. Furthermore, the Party Central Committee established dedicated channels for soliciting online opinions during the formulation of the 14th Five-Year Plan and the drafting of the report for the 20th National Congress of the CPC, demonstrating the deep embedding of the online mass line with real-world politics and fully respecting the voices of the masses.

通过走好网上群众路线，公民的参与和表达权利得到更好的落实，体现出“技术赋权”的新特点。通过在网络生活中践行群众路线，群众路线能够将建立统一战线这样的“办大事”和解决人民群众具体问题的“办小事”相结合，将基层群众自治和科层体系有机结合，实现与政治制度的良性嵌入。此外，党中央在制定十四五规划、起草党的二十大报告过程中都设立有专门的网络意见征集渠道，显示出网络群众路线与现实政治的深度嵌入，充分尊重群众声音。

Moreover, the strong interactivity and transcendence of time and space of the internet reduce the difficulty of interaction between the government and the people. People can directly express their interests and demands to higher-level governments, and the people become sharers of governance information. The Party and government not only use “two microblogs and one client” [6]6 The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012, marking the beginning of Xi Jinping’s leadership and the launch of the comprehensive deepening of reform and opening up. for government transparency and government-citizen interaction but also directly set up official online political inquiry platforms and mayor’s mailboxes, incorporating internet-based government-citizen interaction into formal institutions. For example, various provinces have issued formal regulations to better respond to online appeals, laying an institutional foundation for practicing the online mass line, and the actual political system also influences the government’s response to online public opinion. Compared with Western countries, China can more quickly grasp online appeals and transform citizens’ online demands into public policies. Scholars have used methods such as list experiments to prove that local government civil servants in China fully consider the opinions

不仅如此，互联网的强互动性、超时空性降低了政府和民众互动的难度，民众可以直接向更高层级政府表达自身利益诉求，民众成为治理信息的分享者。党和政府不仅利用“两微一端”进行政务公开和政民互动，还直接设置官方化的网络问政平台、市长信箱，将互联网渠道的政民互动纳入正式制度。例如，各省份为了更好回应网络上诉求出台正式规章，为践行网络群众路线奠定了制度基础，现实的政治制度也影响了政府对网络民意的回应。相较于西方国家，中国能够更快速把握网络上的诉求，并将公民的网络诉求转化为公共政策。学者利用列举实验等方法证明中国地方政府公务员在制定民生福利政策时候会充分考虑本地网民意见。[46]因此，网络群众路线绝不仅仅是政府利用网络进行政务公开，而是产生了实质性的政治后果，将互联网技术与政治制度进行了深度嵌入，保障了公民的参与权利和民生福利，保障落实真正的民主价值。

The emergence of the internet has expanded the scope of application and mode of operation of whole-process people's democracy in two respects. On the one hand, the online mass line has extended the working scope of the traditional mass line, providing a broader field for the exercise of democratic rights. After the emergence of the internet, the masses can interact with Party committees and governments anytime and anywhere, across time and space and across regions, which inevitably requires the government to change its corresponding organizational form and working methods. On the other hand, Party committees and governments can also use internet technology to empower the government, better grasp the needs of the masses, better carry out mass work, and improve governance capacity. For example, by establishing and improving a big-data-assisted decision-making mechanism, combining modern big-data analysis and application with traditional research and investigation methods, the government can mine the current state and patterns of popular needs from the data-rich resources it possesses, more quickly utilize expert resources and think tank achievements, and effectively enhance the quality of government decision-making. The emergence of the internet has greatly reduced the technical difficulty of institutionalizing the mass line and lowered the cost of realizing democratic rights. Through online platforms, it is possible to avoid the layer-by-layer information filtering of the bureaucratic hierarchy, making it easier to conduct the investigation and collection of mass opinions, the debate and integration of mass opinions, and public feedback on public policies.

互联网的产生从两个方面拓展了全过程人民民主的应用范围和运行方式，一方面网络群众路线拓展了传统群众路线的工作范围，给民主权利的发挥提供更广阔的场域，互联网产生后群众可以全时空、跨地域地随时随地与党委政府进行互动，这就必然要求政府改变相应的组织形态和工作方式；另一方面，党委和政府也可以利用互联网技术赋能政府，更好把握人民群众的需求，更好做好群众工作，提高治理能力。例如，通过建立健全大数据辅助决策机制，将现代的大数据分析应用与传统的调研研究方法结合起来，政府可以从掌握的数据富矿中挖掘民众需求现状与规律，更快速利用专家资源与智库成果，切实提升政府决策的质量。互联网的产生大大降低了群众路线制度化的技术难度，降低了实现民主权利的成本，通过网络平台可以避免科层制的层层信息筛选，更加容易进行群众意见的调查收集、群众意见辩论整合、公共政策的民众反馈。

IV. Conclusion

四、总结

With the arrival of the New Era, the social environment and technological environment in which mass work is carried out have undergone fundamental changes, and the demands and needs of the masses have also become more extensive and diverse. This requires us not only to focus on practicing the work style of the mass line but also to regard the mass line as a driving force for democratic political construction and the promotion of governance innovation, continuously enriching whole-process people's democracy.

伴随着新时代的到来，群众工作面临的社会环境和技术环境发生了根本性变化，群众诉求和需要也有着更加广泛、多元的特点。这就要求我们不仅要注重践行群众路线的工作作风，还要将群众路线视为民主政治建设和推动治理创新的动力，不断丰富全过程人民民主。

The Party’s mass line and democratic political construction possess a logical internal consistency. The mass line is an important means by which the Party leads the masses to participate in democratic politics and the governance of the state; whole-process people’s democracy is an innovative embodiment of the fine tradition of the mass line in the field of democracy. The Party’s mass line can collect the voices of the masses and pool their wisdom from the vast number of mass demands, identify public policy issues from scattered mass opinions, and promote the transformation of democratic values into concrete practices of governance. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Communist Party of China has achieved fruitful results in adhering to the Party’s mass line to realize whole-process people’s democracy, although some problems still exist. On the new journey of the New Era, it is necessary to unswervingly adhere to the Party’s mass line, combine the fine tradition of the mass line with the innovative practice of whole-process people’s democracy, promote the innovative development of the mass line as a fine tradition in the New Era, continuously raise the institutionalization level of the mass line in the New Era, and promote the institutionalization of the values and stance of the mass line, running through the entire process of governance, thereby promoting the realization of the democratic rights of the masses and continuously improving the Party’s leadership capacity and governance level.

党的群众路线与民主政治建设具有逻辑的内在一致性。群众路线是党领导人民群众参与民主政治和治国理政的重要方式，全过程人民民主是群众路线的优良传统在民主领域的创新型体现。党的群众路线能够从海量的群众诉求中收集群众声音、凝聚群众智慧，从分散的群众意见中识别公共政策议题，推动民主价值转向治国理政的具体实践。党的十八大以来，中国共产党在坚持党的群众路线实现全过程人民民主方面取得了丰硕的成果，当然仍然存在一些问题。在新时代新征程，必须毫不动摇地坚持党的群众路线，将群众路线的优良传统与全过程人民民主的创新实践相结合，推动作为优良传统的群众路线在新时代的创新性发展，不断提升新时代群众路线的制度化水平，推动群众路线的价值、立场制度化，贯穿于治国理政全过程，从而推动人民群众民主权利的实现，不断提高党的领导能力和执政水平。

Source: *Journal of China Executive Leadership Academy Jinggangshan*, Issue 2, 2024

文章来源：《中国井冈山干部学院学报》2024年第2期

Online editor: Jing Mu

网络编辑：静穆