The Meaning of the “People’s Character” of Deputies to People’s Congresses

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “The key to the strong vitality and notable superiority of the system of people’s congresses lies in its deep roots among the people.” [1]1 Xi Jinping, speech at a meeting marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the National People’s Congress, 5 September 2014. “People-centeredness” is the essential requirement and notable advantage of the system of people’s congresses. Deputies to people’s congresses are the component members of state power organs; they represent the interests and will of the people and participate in the exercise of state power in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and laws.

习近平总书记指出：“人民代表大会制度之所以具有强大生命力和显著优越性，关键在于深深植根于人民之中。”“以人民为中心”是人民代表大会制度的本质要求和显著优势。人大代表是国家权力机关的组成人员，代表人民的利益和意志，依照宪法和法律的规定，参加行使国家权力。

On March 11, the Third Session of the 14th National People’s Congress adopted a decision on amending the Organic Law of the National People’s Congress and Local People’s Congresses at All Levels of the People’s Republic of China. This is the fourth amendment to the Organic Law since its promulgation and implementation in 1992, and the first amendment made by the National People’s Congress itself. The newly amended Organic Law clearly upholds the principle of people-centeredness and the principle of close contact between deputies to people’s congresses and the masses, expands and deepens the institutional mechanisms of the “Two Contacts,” [2]2 “Two Contacts” (两个联系) refers to the institutional mechanisms for strengthening ties between state organs and deputies to people’s congresses, and between deputies to people’s congresses and the masses. and enriches the content and forms of contact between deputies to people’s congresses and the masses. This not only highlights the meaning of the “people’s character” of deputies to people’s congresses but also perfects the legal system for implementing the “people’s character” of deputies to people’s congresses.

3月11日，十四届全国人大三次会议通过关于修改《中华人民共和国全国人民代表大会和地方各级人民代表大会代表法》的决定，这是代表法自1992年颁布施行以来的第四次修改，也是第一次由全国人民代表大会作出的修改。新修改的代表法明确坚持以人民为中心和人大代表密切联系人民群众的原则要求，拓展和深化“两个联系”制度机制，丰富人大代表联系人民群众的内容和形式，不仅彰显了人大代表的“人民性”意涵，还完善了落实人大代表“人民性”的法律制度体系。

Upholding the Value Goal of People-Centeredness

坚持以人民为中心的价值目标

When the scale of the nation-state makes direct democracy no longer feasible, “the people” take “representation” as their intermediary, forming “representative democracy.” How to make the representative system realize popular sovereignty and make representatives act to realize the interests and will of the people has become the essence of modern democratic politics.

当民族国家的规模使得直接民主制度不再现实时，“人民”便以“代表”为中介，形成“代表制民主”。如何让代表制落实人民主权，让代表为实现人民利益和意志而行动，成为现代民主政治的要义。

In our country, the “people’s character” of deputies to people’s congresses is the foundation of socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics, encompassing the dual meanings of “people-centeredness” and the “Two Contacts.” The newly amended Organic Law stipulates: “Deputies to the National People’s Congress and local people’s congresses at all levels shall adhere to a people-centered approach, practice whole-process people’s democracy, always maintain close ties with the masses, faithfully represent the interests and will of the people, and consciously accept the supervision of the people.” This is an implementation of the major concept of whole-process people’s democracy and a development and improvement of the connotation and requirements of the “people’s character” of deputies to people’s congresses.

在我国，人大代表的“人民性”是中国特色社会主义民主政治的根基，包括“以人民为中心”和“两个联系”双重意涵。新修改的代表法规定：“全国人民代表大会和地方各级人民代表大会代表应当坚持以人民为中心，践行全过程人民民主，始终同人民群众保持密切联系，忠实代表人民的利益和意志，自觉接受人民监督。”这是贯彻全过程人民民主重大理念，对人大代表“人民性”内涵和要求的发展完善。

The people being the masters of the country is the essence and core of socialist democratic politics. The system of people’s congresses is an important pathway and the highest form of realization for the Chinese people being the masters of the country, and an important institutional vehicle for realizing whole-process people’s democracy. Our country’s Constitution stipulates that all power in the state belongs to the people; the National People’s Congress and local people’s congresses at all levels are the organs through which the people exercise state power; they are produced through democratic elections, are responsible to the people, and are subject to the supervision of the people. Deputies to people’s congresses adhering to a people-centered approach is both an inherent requirement for the legitimacy of the status of deputies to people’s congresses and a solid foundation and key pathway for realizing the advantages of the system of people’s congresses and ensuring that the people are the masters of the country.

人民当家作主是社会主义民主政治的本质和核心。人民代表大会制度是中国人民当家作主的重要途径和最高实现形式，是实现全过程人民民主的重要制度载体。我国宪法规定，国家一切权力属于人民，全国人民代表大会和地方各级人民代表大会是人民行使国家权力的机关，由民主选举产生，对人民负责，受人民监督。人大代表坚持以人民为中心，既是人大代表身份正当性的内在要求，也是实现人民代表大会制度优势、保证人民当家作主的坚实基础和关键途径。

Upholding the Principle of Close Contact between Deputies and the Masses

坚持代表密切联系人民群众的原则

The system of contact by deputies is an important experience and feature of our country’s system of people’s congresses. After the founding of New China, Comrade Mao Zedong placed great emphasis on the role of the system of contact by deputies. He stressed that the meeting method of the people’s congresses “is a method of democratic centralism, a method of the mass line.” [3]3 Mao Zedong, “Methods of Work of Party Committees,” 13 March 1949. After reform and opening up, the 1979 Organic Law of the Local People’s Congresses and Local People’s Governments at All Levels of the People’s Republic of China and the 1982 Organic Law of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China clearly stipulated that deputies to the National People’s Congress should maintain close ties with the electoral units that elected them and with the people, and listen to and reflect the opinions and demands of the people. The 1992 Organic Law further emphasized the need to strengthen ties between people’s congresses at all levels and the masses, and stipulated “maintaining close ties with the voters of the electoral district that elected them or the electoral unit that elected them and with the masses” as a legal obligation of deputies to people’s congresses.

代表联系制度是我国人民代表大会制度的一个重要经验和特征。新中国成立后，毛泽东同志极为重视代表联系制度作用的发挥，他强调人民代表大会的会议方法，“是一个民主集中制的方法，是一个群众路线的方法”。改革开放后，1979年《中华人民共和国地方各级人民代表大会和地方各级人民政府组织法》和1982年《中华人民共和国全国人民代表大会组织法》明确规定，全国人民代表大会代表应当同原选举单位和人民保持密切联系，听取和反映人民的意见和要求。1992年代表法进一步强调要密切各级人大与群众的联系，并将“与原选区选民或者原选举单位和人民群众保持密切联系”规定为人大代表的法定义务。

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has continuously advanced theoretical and practical innovation in the system of people’s congresses. The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC proposed strengthening the capacity building of the work of deputies to people’s congresses and strengthening the ties between deputies to people’s congresses and the masses. The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Promoting Chinese-Path Modernization, adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC, proposed enriching the content and forms of contact between deputies to people’s congresses and the masses, and improving the working mechanisms for absorbing public opinion and gathering popular wisdom. The newly amended Organic Law summarizes practical experience and further perfects the relevant institutional mechanisms of the “Two Contacts.”

党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央持续推进人民代表大会制度理论和实践创新。党的二十大报告提出，加强人大代表工作能力建设，密切人大代表同人民群众的联系。党的二十届三中全会通过的《中共中央关于进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的决定》提出，要丰富人大代表联系人民群众的内容和形式，健全吸纳民意、汇集民智工作机制。新修改的代表法总结实践经验，进一步完善了“两个联系”相关制度机制。

The “Two Contacts,” namely, strengthening ties between state organs and deputies to people’s congresses, and strengthening ties between deputies to people’s congresses and the masses, are the concrete requirements for deputies to people’s congresses to adhere to a people-centered approach and the practical pathway for the “people’s character” of deputies to people’s congresses. Within the “Two Contacts,” strengthening ties between deputies to people’s congresses and the masses is the prerequisite and foundation for deputies to people’s congresses to be able to represent the interests and will of the people, and is an important guarantee of the “people’s character” of deputies to people’s congresses; strengthening ties between state organs and deputies to people’s congresses is an important pathway for deputies to people’s congresses to be able to represent the people in participating in the exercise of state power and realizing the interests and will of the people. Through the institutional mechanisms of the “Two Contacts,” the characteristic advantages of deputies to people’s congresses coming from the people and taking root among the people are fully utilized, the bridging role of deputies to people’s congresses at all levels as the link between the Party and the state and the masses is fully played, the demands of the masses are reflected in the process of state governance, and the institutional advantages of the system of people’s congresses are transformed into the effectiveness of state governance.

“两个联系”即密切国家机关同人大代表的联系、密切人大代表同人民群众的联系，是人大代表坚持以人民为中心的具体要求，是人大代表“人民性”的实践路径。“两个联系”中，密切人大代表同人民群众的联系，是人大代表能够代表人民利益和意志的前提和基础，是人大代表“人民性”的重要保障；密切国家机关同人大代表的联系，是人大代表能够代表人民参加行使国家权力、实现人民利益和意志的重要路径。通过“两个联系”的制度机制，充分发挥人大代表来自人民、扎根人民的特点优势，充分发挥各级人大代表作为党和国家联系人民群众的桥梁作用，将人民群众的需求反映到国家治理过程中，把人民代表大会制度优势转化为国家治理效能。

Upholding the Organic Unity of Voter Interests and the People’s Interests

坚持选民利益与人民利益的有机统一

The relationship between representative and represented is based on elections. Marx believed that representatives must strictly observe the precise instructions of the voters and can be recalled at any time. [4]4 Reference to Marx’s analysis of the Paris Commune in *The Civil War in France* (1871), where he praised the principle of imperative mandate and immediate recall of delegates. Representatives are elected by voters; they can retain their representative status only if they continue to gain the trust of the voters; otherwise, representatives are either recalled by the voters at any time or are no longer elected in the next election. The fact that voters can decide the retention or removal of representatives and control and supervise representatives from the source of power is a manifestation of the people’s status as masters of the country. Articles 76, 77, and 102 of our country’s Constitution, and Articles 8 and 10 of the Organic Law, clearly stipulate that deputies to people’s congresses at all levels should maintain close ties with the voters of the electoral district that elected them or the electoral unit that elected them and with the masses, and listen to and reflect the opinions and demands of the people; deputies to people’s congresses at all levels are subject to the supervision of the voters of the electoral district that elected them or the electoral unit that elected them. It can be seen from this that faithfully reflecting the interests and will of voters is the primary duty of deputies to people’s congresses and an important manifestation of the “people’s character” of deputies to people’s congresses.

代表与被代表的关系是以选举为基础的。马克思认为，代表必须严格遵守选民的确切训令，并且随时可以撤换。代表是由选民选举产生的，只有继续得到选民的信任才可以保有其代表身份，否则代表要么随时被选民罢免，要么在下次选举中不再被选任。选民可以决定代表的去留，并从权力来源上控制和监督代表，是人民群众国家主人翁地位的体现。我国《宪法》第76条、第77条、第102条，《代表法》第8条、第10条明确规定，各级人大代表应当与原选区选民或者原选举单位和人民群众保持密切的联系，听取和反映人民的意见和要求；各级人大代表受原选区选民或者原选举单位的监督。由此可见，忠实地反映选民的利益和意志，是人大代表的首要职责，也是人大代表“人民性”的重要体现。

The value goal of the system of people’s congresses is to be people-centered, to ensure that the people are the masters of the country, and to realize the common interests and unified will of the people. This requires that deputies to the National People’s Congress and local people’s congresses at all levels must both faithfully reflect the interests and will of voters and effectively respond to the interests and will of the people. However, the interests of the people are not a simple aggregation of the interests of voters; the interests of voters from different groups and regions may be inconsistent.

人民代表大会制度的价值目标是以人民为中心，保证人民当家作主，实现人民的共同利益和统一意志。这就要求全国人民代表大会和地方各级人民代表大会代表既要忠实地反映选民的利益和意志，又要有效地回应人民的利益和意志。然而，人民利益并不是选民利益的简单并合，不同群体、地域选民的利益可能是不一致的。

Deputies to people’s congresses need to unify voter interests and the people’s interests through two pathways. First, deputies to people’s congresses should transcend the narrow interests of their electoral districts and act for broader, long-term, and fundamental interests. For example, the scope of deputies’ close contact with the masses is not limited to their electoral districts. Second, the collective body of deputies responds to the overall interests of the entire people. That is, by leveraging the structural function of representation, so that all ethnic groups have their own deputies in people’s congresses at all levels, thereby ensuring that the collective body of deputies can fully reflect and concentrate the demands of all sectors of society, enabling the people’s congresses to have the broadest representation of the people, and realizing the organic unity of voter interests and the people’s interests.

人大代表需通过两种途径统一选民利益与人民利益。一是人大代表应超越选区的狭隘利益，为更加广泛、长期和根本的利益而行动。例如，代表密切联系人民群众的范围不限于选区。二是由全体代表回应全体人民的整体利益。即通过发挥代表的结构性功能，使各民族在各级人民代表大会中有自己的代表，从而保证全体代表可以充分反映和集中社会各方面的要求，使人民代表大会具有最广泛的人民代表性，实现选民利益与人民利益的有机统一。

Institutional Guarantees for the “People’s Character” of Deputies to People’s Congresses

人大代表“人民性”的制度保障

The value requirements of the “people’s character” of deputies to people’s congresses need to be effectively realized by relying on the institutional system stipulated by the Constitution, the Organic Law, and other constitutional laws. The Organic Law is the basic law that regulates and guarantees that deputies to people’s congresses exercise their representative functions and powers, fulfill their representative obligations, and play their representative role in accordance with the law. The amendment and improvement of the Organic Law have further perfected the institutional mechanisms for the “people’s character” of deputies to people’s congresses.

人大代表“人民性”的价值要求，需要依托宪法、代表法等宪法法律规定的制度体系来有效实现。代表法是规范和保障人大代表依法行使代表职权、履行代表义务、发挥代表作用的基本法律，代表法的修改完善，进一步健全了人大代表“人民性”的制度机制。

First, the electoral system and the part-time deputy system guarantee the “people’s character” foundation of People’s Congress deputies. The National People’s Congress and local people’s congresses at all levels are not only produced through democratic elections, but also implement a part-time deputy system in which deputies do not withdraw from their respective production and work. Only when deputies put themselves in the same production and living environment can they develop “empathy” with those they represent. The part-time deputy system for People’s Congress deputies implemented in our country is precisely intended to enable deputies, while participating in production, work, and social activities, to understand the people’s wishes, needs, and voices, and thereby truly reflect and realize the people’s interests.

首先，选举制度和兼职代表制度保证了人大代表的“人民性”底色。全国人民代表大会和地方各级人民代表大会不仅是由民主选举产生，还实行不脱离各自的生产和工作的兼职代表制。代表只有在同样的生产、生活环境中设身处地，才能与被代表者产生“共情”。我国实行的人大代表兼职制度，就是要让代表在参加生产、工作和社会活动中，了解人民的愿望、需求和呼声，进而真实地反映和实现人民的利益。

Second, the deputy liaison system is an important experience of our country’s People’s Congress system and the People’s Congress deputy system, and is an important institutional design that ensures the “people’s character” of People’s Congress deputies does not fade. The deputy liaison system includes three aspects: deputies’ liaison with voters or the original electoral unit, deputies’ liaison with the people, and state organs’ liaison with deputies.

其次，代表联系制度是我国人民代表大会制度和人大代表制度的重要经验，是保证人大代表“人民性”不褪色的重要制度设计。代表联系制度包括代表联系选民或者原选举单位、代表联系人民群众和国家机关联系代表三个方面。

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the content and forms of deputies’ liaison with voters and the people have been continuously enriched; institutional innovations such as “deputy liaison stations” and “grassroots legislative contact points” have expanded the channels for deputy liaison, and the connection between People’s Congress deputies and the people has become closer. This revision of the Organic Law of the National People’s Congress and the Local People’s Congresses at All Levels [5]5 The Chinese text refers to the 代表法 (Organic Law of the National People’s Congress and the Local People’s Congresses at All Levels), which governs the work and duties of People’s Congress deputies. has improved the system for state organs to liaise with deputies, adding provisions that standing committees of people’s congresses at and above the county level and the presidium of township people’s congresses should maintain close ties with deputies, and, in accordance with the principle of proximity to the locality, regularly organize deputies to carry out activities to liaise with the people, establishing and improving the working mechanism for members of the standing committee, special committees, and working bodies of the standing committee to liaise with deputies; improving the liaison system between the “one government, one commission, one court, and one procuratorate” [6]6 “One government, one commission, one court, and one procuratorate” refers to the people’s government, the supervisory commission, the people’s court, and the people’s procuratorate at the same level of government. and deputies, inviting deputies to participate in relevant work and activities and listening to deputies’ opinions and suggestions according to the overall arrangements of the standing committee of the people’s congress at the corresponding level.

党的十八大以来，代表联系选民和人民群众的内容、形式不断丰富，“代表联络站”“基层立法联系点”等制度创新拓展了代表联系的渠道，人大代表与人民群众的联系变得更加密切。此次代表法修改完善了国家机关联系代表的制度，增加规定县级以上各级人大常委会和乡镇人大主席团应当密切同代表的联系，并按照就地就近原则，定期组织代表开展联系人民群众的活动，建立健全常委会组成人员和各专门委员会、常委会工作机构联系代表的工作机制；完善“一府一委两院”联系代表制度，根据本级人大常委会的统筹安排，邀请代表参与相关工作和活动，听取代表的意见和建议。

Finally, the supervision system for deputies is a safety valve that guarantees the “people’s character” of People’s Congress deputies. The newly revised Organic Law of the National People’s Congress and the Local People’s Congresses at All Levels stipulates that People’s Congress deputies at all levels should consciously accept supervision by the people; the main methods of supervision include answering inquiries from voters of the original electoral district or the original electoral unit regarding deputies’ work and activities, reporting to voters of the original electoral district on the performance of their duties, and lawfully recalling deputies elected by themselves. Among these, recall is a fallback supervision method and also the most severe means of supervising deputies. Our country’s Constitution, Electoral Law, and Organic Law of the National People’s Congress and the Local People’s Congresses at All Levels all stipulate the system for voters to recall deputies. Recall is a supplement to and extension of the right to vote; from the electoral system to the recall system, the institutional guarantee for the “people’s character” of People’s Congress deputies forms a closed loop.

最后，对代表的监督制度是保证人大代表“人民性”的安全阀。新修改的代表法规定，各级人大代表应自觉接受人民监督，监督的主要方式包括回答原选区选民或者原选举单位对代表工作和代表活动的询问、向原选区选民报告履职情况、依法罢免自己选出的代表等。其中，罢免是兜底式监督方式，也是对代表实行监督的最严厉手段。我国宪法、选举法、代表法都规定了选民对代表的罢免制度。罢免是对选举权的补充和延伸，从选举制度到罢免制度，人大代表“人民性”的制度保障形成了闭环。

(The author is a researcher at the Institute of International Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

（作者系中国社会科学院国际法研究所研究员）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心