Grasping the Distinctive Advantages of Whole-Process People’s Democracy from the Practical Dimension

Whole-process people’s democracy is the great creation of the Communist Party of China uniting and leading the people in pursuing, developing, and realizing democracy. It is the broadest, most genuine, and most effective socialist democracy, providing powerful impetus and institutional guarantees for further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese-path modernization. Reviewing the CPC’s more than one hundred years of democratic exploration and practice, and basing ourselves on reality to gain insight into the institutional procedures and participatory practices of whole-process people’s democracy, helps us profoundly understand its practical value and scientifically grasp its distinctive advantages.

全过程人民民主是中国共产党团结带领人民追求民主、发展民主、实现民主的伟大创造，是最广泛、最真实、最管用的社会主义民主，为进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化提供了强大动力和制度保障。回顾中国共产党百余年民主探索实践，立足现实洞悉全过程人民民主的制度程序和参与实践，有助于我们深刻理解全过程人民民主的实践价值、科学把握其显著优势。

Whole-process people’s democracy is the wisdom crystallized from the Party’s long-term democratic practice and exploration led by the people. For over a century, the CPC has always kept in mind its original aspiration and founding mission, held high the banner of people’s democracy, and carried out a series of practical explorations to realize the people being the masters of the country, enabling the Chinese people to truly become the masters of their own country, society, and destiny. During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, democratic explorations such as the Shen-Gan-Ning Border Region Council System and the North China Provisional People’s Congress were the embryonic forms of the people’s congress system and important practical forms of people’s democracy in China. After the founding of New China, the First Session of the First National People’s Congress, convened in 1954, adopted the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China. At the same time, under the leadership of the Party, the people’s congress system, the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, and the system of regional ethnic autonomy were established, providing institutional guarantees for the people being the masters of the country. During the new period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, our Party upheld the organic unity of Party leadership, the people being the masters of the country, and law-based governance, developed socialist democratic politics, formulated a new constitution, and built a socialist country under the rule of law. Entering the New Era, our Party actively developed whole-process people’s democracy, improved the comprehensive, broad, and organically linked institutional system for the people being the masters of the country, constructed diverse, unimpeded, and orderly democratic channels, enriched democratic forms, and expanded people’s orderly political participation at all levels and in all fields, so that various systems and national governance better reflect the people’s will, protect the people’s rights and interests, and stimulate the people’s creativity. In November 2019, during an inspection of the Gubei Civic Center on Hongqiao Street in Changning District, Shanghai, General Secretary Xi Jinping first proposed that “people’s democracy is a whole-process democracy.” The Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee [1] wrote “actively develop whole-process people’s democracy” into its resolution. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC emphasized “developing whole-process people’s democracy and ensuring the people are the masters of the country.” The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee [2] made “improving the institutional system for whole-process people’s democracy” an important deployment for further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese-path modernization. Whole-process people’s democracy is the empirical crystallization of the Party’s continuous promotion of theoretical, institutional, and practical innovation in Chinese-style democracy, and is an important landmark achievement in China’s socialist democratic political construction and the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity since the New Era.

全过程人民民主是党领导人民进行长期民主实践探索的智慧结晶。一百多年来，中国共产党始终牢记初心使命，高举人民民主旗帜，为实现人民当家作主开展了一系列实践探索，使中国人民真正成为国家、社会和自己命运的主人。新民主主义革命时期，陕甘宁边区参议会制度、华北临时人民代表大会等民主探索，是人民代表大会制度的雏形，也是人民民主在中国的重要实践形式。新中国成立后，1954年召开的第一届全国人民代表大会第一次会议，通过了《中华人民共和国宪法》。同时，在党的领导下确立了人民代表大会制度、中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度、民族区域自治制度，为人民当家作主提供了制度保证。改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期，我们党坚持党的领导、人民当家作主、依法治国有机统一，发展社会主义民主政治，制定新宪法，建设社会主义法治国家。进入新时代，我们党积极发展全过程人民民主，健全全面、广泛、有机衔接的人民当家作主制度体系，构建多样、畅通、有序的民主渠道，丰富民主形式，从各层次各领域扩大人民有序政治参与，使各方面制度和国家治理更好体现人民意志、保障人民权益、激发人民创造。2019年11月，习近平总书记在考察上海市长宁区虹桥街道古北市民中心时，第一次提出“人民民主是一种全过程的民主”。党的十九届六中全会将“积极发展全过程人民民主”写入决议。党的二十大报告强调，“发展全过程人民民主，保障人民当家作主”。党的二十届三中全会把“健全全过程人民民主制度体系”作为进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的重要部署。全过程人民民主是党不断推进中国式民主理论创新、制度创新、实践创新的经验结晶，是新时代以来我国社会主义民主政治建设、国家治理体系和治理能力现代化建设取得的重要标志性成果。

Whole-process people’s democracy has complete institutional procedures and participatory practices. On the one hand, a complete institutional system is an important guarantee for realizing whole-process people’s democracy. The Party leadership institutional system provides fundamental guarantees and directional guidance for developing whole-process people’s democracy; the people’s congress system provides reliable institutional guarantees for developing whole-process people’s democracy, and its design, arrangement, operation, and practice all embody the requirements of whole-process people’s democracy; the new type of political party system, with cooperation, participation, and consultation as its basic spirit and unity, democracy, and harmony as its essential attributes, has important functions of political participation, interest expression, social integration, democratic supervision, and maintaining stability, and is an important institutional vehicle for developing whole-process people’s democracy; the system of grassroots self-governance enhances the democratic awareness and capacity of grassroots people, cultivates their democratic habits, fully demonstrates the breadth and authenticity

全过程人民民主具有完整的制度程序和参与实践。一方面，完备的制度体系是实现全过程人民民主的重要保障。党的领导制度体系为发展全过程人民民主提供了根本保证和方向指引；人民代表大会制度为发展全过程人民民主提供了可靠制度保障，其设计和安排、运行和实践都体现了全过程人民民主的要求；新型政党制度以合作、参与、协商为基本精神，以团结、民主、和谐为本质属性，具有政治参与、利益表达、社会整合、民主监督和维护稳定的重要功能，是发展全过程人民民主的重要制度载体；基层群众自治制度增强了基层群众的民主意识和民主能力，培养了基层群众的民主习惯，充分彰显了中国民主的广泛性和真实性，为发展全过程人民民主提供广泛的实践舞台。另一方面，完整的参与实践使全过程人民民主具体地、现实地体现在党治国理政的政策措施上，具体地、现实地体现在党和国家机关各个方面各个层级工作上，具体地、现实地体现在实现人民对美好生活向往的工作上。全过程人民民主将民主选举、民主协商、民主决策、民主管理、民主监督等环节贯通，形成了民主实践链条的完整闭环，使国家政治生活与社会生活各环节、各方面都能体现人民意愿、倾听人民声音，彰显了中国特色社会主义民主实践的广泛性、真实性和有效性。

Whole-process people’s democracy possesses powerful practical value. Marx and Engels pointed out: “What is democracy? It must have a certain meaning, otherwise it cannot exist.” Whole-process people’s democracy extends the connotation of democracy from the political sphere to many fields such as the economy, culture, society, and the building of an ecological civilization. Through diverse, unimpeded, and orderly democratic channels, it effectively ensures that all the people, in accordance with the law, manage state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings, and social affairs through various channels and forms. This better embodies the people being the masters of the country in national political life and social life, realizes the broad and sustained participation of the vast majority of the people, finds the greatest common divisor of the will and demands of the whole society, and can truly address the people’s growing demands for democracy, the rule of law, fairness, justice, security, and the environment. It effectively stimulates social vitality and the people’s creativity, thereby gathering wisdom and pooling strength for the realization of Chinese-path modernization. At the same time, whole-process people’s democracy is a transcendence of Western-style democracy. It pays attention to both the process and the results of democracy, values both the procedures and the substance of democracy, and cherishes both the representativeness of democracy and the participation of the people. This ensures that the people not only have the right to elect and vote but also the right to extensive participation; not only can they express their will, but they can also effectively realize it; not only do they promote national development, but they also share in the fruits of development. Whole-process people’s democracy not only has distinct Chinese characteristics but also embodies the common pursuit of democracy by all of humanity; it not only promotes the development of China’s democratic politics but also enriches the forms of human political civilization, contributing Chinese wisdom and a Chinese approach to the development of human democratic endeavors.

全过程人民民主具有强大的实践价值。马克思、恩格斯指出：“民主是什么呢？它必须具备一定的意义，否则它就不能存在。”全过程人民民主将民主的内涵从政治领域扩展到经济、文化、社会、生态文明建设等诸多领域，以多样、畅通、有序的民主渠道，有效保证全体人民依法通过各种途径和形式管理国家事务、管理经济和文化事业、管理社会事务，使人民当家作主更好体现在国家政治生活和社会生活之中，实现最广大人民的广泛持续参与，找到了全社会意愿和要求的最大公约数，能够真正解决人民群众日益增长的对民主、法治、公平、正义、安全及环境等方面的要求，有效激发社会活力、人民创造力，进而为实现中国式现代化凝聚智慧、汇聚力量。与此同时，全过程人民民主是对西式民主的超越，既关注民主的过程又关注民主的结果，既重视民主的程序也重视民主的实质，既珍视民主的代表性又珍视民众的参与性，使人民不仅有选举、投票的权利，也有广泛参与的权利；不仅能表达自己的意愿，也能有效实现；不仅推动国家发展，也共享发展成果。全过程人民民主既有鲜明的中国特色，也体现了全人类对民主的共同追求；既推动了中国民主政治发展，也丰富了人类政治文明形态，为人类民主事业发展贡献了中国智慧和中国方案。

(Authors: Zhang Chunzhao and Feng Yinghong are, respectively, an Associate Professor at the Guangdong Institute of Socialism, and the Deputy Director and Professor of the Academic Committee of the Guangdong Institute of Socialism.)

（作者：张春照、冯颖红，分别系广东省社会主义学院副教授，广东省社会主义学院学术委员会副主任、教授）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心