A Systematic Understanding of How the Chinese Communist Party Can Achieve Long-Term Governance

General Secretary Xi Jinping has warned the entire Party that “how to achieve long-term

习近平总书记告诫全党，“如何实现长期执政，是我们必须回答好、解决好的一个根本性问题”。中国共产党作为使命型政党的价值定性决定了其本身具备长期执政的先天基因。纵观世界政党，能够实现长期有效执政的政党并不多见，但中国共产党却以其卓越的执政能力，成为创造长期稳定执政奇迹的杰出范例。党的二十届三中全会明确提出要“聚焦提高党的领导水平和长期执政能力”。回顾中国共产党的执政历程，之所以能够长期执政并终将长期执政的根本原因在于其始终将政治逻辑、历史逻辑和实践逻辑相统一，形成了独特的执政优势体系。近年来，学界主要围绕中国共产党长期执政为什么能、如何实现和长期执政话语演变等视角展开了系统研究，为进一步研究奠定了坚实基础。不足之处在于，其更多阐释的是如何实现长期执政和长期执政的必要性，并未系统地阐释清楚为何能够长期执政。本研究则从党的领导、自我革命、人民至上、社会主义制度和“两个结合”五个方面对中国共产党何以能够实现长期执政进行系统分析，构建起“政党权威—政党适应—价值共识—制度韧性—文明基因”的复合型理论分析范式。

I. Construction of Party Authority: Upholding the Party’s Leadership Is the Political Foundation of the Chinese Communist Party’s Long-Term Governance

一、政党权威构建：坚持党的领导是中国共产党长期执政的政治基础

In the course of long-term governance, the Chinese Communist Party continuously constructs Party authority through the transformation of governance effectiveness and the breakthrough of civilizational paradigms. How can the Party’s overall leadership be consistently upheld to ensure Party authority during the process of achieving long-term governance? First, always uphold the Party’s centralized, unified leadership; second, establish and improve the Party’s leadership system.

中国共产党在长期执政中通过治理效能转化和文明范式突破持续构建政党权威。如何在实现长期执政过程中始终坚持党的全面领导以确保政党权威？一是始终坚持党的集中统一领导；二是建立健全党的领导制度体系。

(A) The Political Advantage of the Party’s Long-Term Governance Is Concentrated in Always Upholding the Party’s Centralized, Unified Leadership

（一）党长期执政的政治优势聚焦于始终坚持党的集中统一领导

The Party’s centralized, unified leadership is the basic political requirement for the Chinese Communist Party to achieve long-term governance. On the one hand, the Party’s centralized, unified leadership ensures that the Party possesses extraordinary strategic planning stability and overarching strategic thinking in the process of governance. Whether it is the “three-step” development strategy, the “two-step” strategic arrangement for comprehensively building a great modern socialist country, or the “five-year plans” formed during the Chinese Communist Party’s governance, all fully demonstrate the Party’s significant advantage in mobilizing the enthusiasm of all parties and concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks. On the other hand, the Party’s centralized, unified leadership can achieve broad social mobilization. Our Party’s organizational system, which extends horizontally to every border and vertically to every base level, not only realizes in Party-government and Party-mass relations that “the Party exercises leadership over everything in all areas, from the central to the local levels,” but also forms a leadership pattern of “exercising overall leadership and coordinating the efforts of all sides” within the national governance system. In terms of vertical historical comparison, the Party’s centralized, unified leadership has ensured that the Chinese Communist Party can successfully complete the industrialization process that took developed countries several hundred years within a development environment where risks and challenges coexist. In terms of horizontal international comparison, it is truly rare in world party politics for a party like the Chinese Communist Party to achieve the two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability over an extended period, forming an extremely sharp contrast with the “chaos of the West.” As Deng Xiaoping pointed out: “A socialist country has one greatest superiority: when it decides to do something, once it makes a resolution, it is immediately implemented without being held back.” This benefits from strong centralized, unified leadership. In addition, the most direct manifestation of upholding the Party’s centralized, unified leadership is upholding the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Without the authority of the Party Central Committee as the sole decision-making body, if decisions made by the Party Central Committee are not followed, and everyone still speaks their own words and does their own things, then nothing can be accomplished.” It can be seen that without authority, unified action is impossible. Comrade Mao Zedong repeatedly emphasized the great significance of the entire Party obeying the Central Committee for Party unity and unified leadership, and pointed out that “Party members must obey the organization and obey the Party’s resolutions.” Comrade Deng Xiaoping also stressed that the Central Committee must have authority; “with this authority, great things can be accomplished even in difficult times.” Overall, the Party’s centralized, unified leadership and the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee explain how the Chinese Communist Party can uphold the Party’s leadership in the process of long-term governance, proving that only by always upholding the Party’s leadership can the political foundation for achieving long-term governance and ultimately long-term governance be consolidated.

党的集中统一领导是中国共产党能够长期执政的基本政治要求。一方面，党的集中统一领导确保党在执政进程中拥有超常战略规划定力与统揽全局的战略思维，无论是“三步走”发展战略，还是全面建成社会主义现代化强国的“两步走”战略安排，抑或中国共产党执政中形成的“五年规划”，都充分体现出中国共产党具备调动各方积极性，集中力量办大事的显著优势。另一方面，党的集中统一领导能够实现广泛的社会动员。我们党横向到边、纵向到底的组织体系，不仅在党政、党群关系上实现了“党政军民学，东西南北中，党是领导一切的”，更在国家治理体系中形成了“总揽全局、协调各方”的领导格局。就纵向历史比较而言，党的集中统一领导确保了中国共产党能够在风险与挑战并存的发展环境下成功实现了发达国家用几百年走过的工业化进程；就横向国际比较而言，像中国共产党这样能够在长时间跨度内实现经济快速发展和社会长期稳定两大奇迹，在世界政党政治中实属罕见，与“西方之乱”形成了极为鲜明的对比。正如邓小平指出：“社会主义国家有一个最大的优越性，就是干一件事情，一下决心，一做出决议，就立即执行，不受牵扯。”这得益于强有力的集中统一领导。除此之外，坚持党的集中统一领导最为直接的体现就是坚持党中央集中统一领导。习近平总书记指出，“如果没有党中央定于一尊的权威，党中央决定了的事都不去照办，还是各说各的话、各做各的事，那就什么事情也办不成了”。可见，没有权威，就不可能有一致行动。毛泽东同志反复强调全党服从中央对于党的团结和统一领导的重大意义，并指出“党员就要服从组织，服从党的决议”。邓小平同志也强调中央要有权威，“有了这个权威，困难时也能做大事”。总体而言，党的集中统一领导和党中央集中统一领导诠释了中国共产党长期执政过程中何以能坚持党的领导，证明了只有始终坚持党的领导才能够筑牢实现长期执政和终将长期执政的政治基础。

(B) The Political Advantage of the Party’s Long-Term Governance Is Implemented in Establishing and Improving the Party’s Leadership System

（二）党长期执政的政治优势落地于建立健全党的领导制度体系

Whether the Party’s leadership system is sound concerns the strength of the Party’s leadership capacity and is directly related to whether the Chinese Communist Party can achieve long-term governance. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party’s leadership system has undergone systematic evolution. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee clearly defined the national governance system as a system of institutions for managing the country under the Party’s leadership; the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee made clear arrangements for strengthening the construction of intra-Party regulations and institutions; the 19th National Congress explicitly proposed accelerating the formation of an intra-Party regulations and institutions system covering all aspects of the Party’s leadership and Party building, prominently emphasizing the content requirement of “upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership”; the Plan for Deepening the Reform of Party and State Institutions adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee proposed “improving the system for upholding the Party’s overall leadership” and “establishing and improving the leadership systems and mechanisms of the Party for major work.” To this end, the Party Central Committee has adopted a series of important measures, actively improving the institutional arrangements for the Party’s overall leadership, and striving to build a Party and state institutional functional system in which the Party exercises overall leadership and coordinates the efforts of all sides. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee made special important arrangements for upholding and improving the Party’s leadership system in the New Era, expanding the Party’s leadership system into an institutional integration with comprehensiveness, systematicness, and holism, marking a theoretical leap in the understanding of the laws of governance and forming a top-level design paradigm for enhancing governance effectiveness through institutional advantages. Practice shows that the most fundamental principle for the Chinese Communist Party to achieve long-term governance is to always uphold and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership. On the new journey, improving the Party’s leadership system must transform institutional advantages into governance effectiveness through systematic institutional innovation. First, strengthen institutional integration and innovation, with the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee as the core, deepen the reform of Party and state institutions, improve the systems and mechanisms for exercising overall leadership and coordinating the efforts of all sides, and promote systematic optimization and structural adjustment of the institutional system; second, promote the standardized operation of institutions, by improving the normalization mechanism of political supervision, perfecting the evaluation system for the implementation of intra-Party regulations, and strengthening the orientation of performance assessment for leading cadres, to build a full-chain closed-loop institutional implementation guarantee system; third, stimulate the endogenous driving force of institutions, focusing on the reform of the cadre and personnel system and the construction of grassroots Party organizations, building a dynamic adjustment system that enables promotion and demotion, and empowering the enhancement of institutional effectiveness with organizational advantages. Ultimately, only by enhancing the consciousness and firmness of upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership, and continuously improving the capacity and level of institutional implementation, can we ensure that institutions take root and release positive institutional effectiveness, effectively providing a fundamental guarantee for upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership.

党的领导制度健全与否事关党的领导能力的强弱，更直接关系到中国共产党是否能够实现长期执政。党的十八大以来，党的领导制度体系经历了系统演进。党的十八届三中全会明确国家治理体系是在党领导下管理国家的制度体系；党的十八届四中全会对加强党内法规制度建设作出明确部署；党的十九大明确提出要加快形成覆盖党的领导和党的建设各方面的党内法规制度体系，突出强调“坚持和加强党的全面领导”的内容要求；党的十九届三中全会通过的《深化党和国家机构改革方案》提出，“完善坚持党的全面领导的制度”“建立健全党对重大工作的领导体制机制”。为此，党中央采取了一系列重要举措，积极完善党的全面领导的制度安排，努力构建党总揽全局、协调各方的党和国家机构职能体系。党的十九届四中全会就新时代坚持和完善党的领导制度体系专门作出重要部署，将党的领导制度体系拓展为兼具全面性、系统性、整体性的制度集成，标志着对执政规律的认识实现理论跃升，形成了以制度优势提升治理效能的顶层设计范式。实践表明，中国共产党实现长期执政最根本的原则就是要始终坚持和加强党的全面领导。新征程上，健全党的领导制度体系必须通过系统性制度创新将制度优势转化为治理效能。一是要强化制度集成创新，以党中央集中统一领导为核心，深化党和国家机构改革，完善总揽全局、协调各方的体制机制，推动制度体系实现系统性优化与结构性调适；二是推进制度规范运行，通过健全政治监督常态化机制、完善党内法规执行评估体系、强化领导干部政绩考核导向，构建全链条闭环式制度执行保障系统；三是激发制度内生动力，聚焦干部人事制度改革与基层党组织建设，构建能上能下的动态调整体系，以组织优势赋能制度效能提升。归根到底，只有增强坚持和加强党的全面领导的自觉性和坚定性，不断提升制度执行能力与水平，才能确保制度落地生根、释放正向制度效能，切实为坚持和加强党的全面领导提供根本保障。

II. Party Adaptation and Innovation: Upholding Self-Revolution Is the Strong Support for the Chinese Communist Party’s Long-Term Governance

二、政党适应革新：坚持自我革命是中国共产党长期执政的强大支撑

Self-revolution is the most distinctive Party character and the greatest political advantage of the Chinese Communist Party. The Party’s long-term governance capacity building and self-revolution have a dialectical relationship in which values and goals are highly aligned, functions and structures mutually promote each other, and theory and practice are organically unified. To deeply understand the major proposition of “what kind of long-term governing Marxist party to build and how to build a long-term governing Marxist party,” it is necessary to correctly recognize that “the longer the governance, the more we must not lose the本色 of a Marxist party, the more we must not forget the Party’s original aspiration and founding mission, and the more we must not lose the spirit of self-revolution.” Self-revolution ensures that the Party can timely adjust itself to better adapt to the needs of the times, always maintaining the Party’s advanced nature and purity.

自我革命是中国共产党最为鲜明的政党品格和最大的政治优势。党的长期执政能力建设和自我革命具有价值与目标高度契合、功能与结构相互促进、理论与实践有机统一的辩证关系。要深刻理解“建设什么样的长期执政的马克思主义政党、怎样建设长期执政的马克思主义政党”这一重大命题，就必须正确认识到“越是长期执政，越不能丢掉马克思主义政党的本色，越不能忘记党的初心使命，越不能丧失自我革命精神”。自我革命确保党能够适时调整自身以更加适应时代需求，始终保持党的先进性和纯洁性。

(A) Promoting the Party’s Self-Revolution Can Continuously Innovate the Party’s Governance Concepts

（一）推进党的自我革命能够不断创新党的执政理念

The Chinese Communist Party “is a party adept at summing up historical experience, a party adept at relying on its own strength to correct its own mistakes and thereby become mature and strong.” During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, the CCP’s self-revolution focused on ideological building, discipline building, and work style building. In ideological building, it corrected various non-proletarian ideas within the Party through the Gutian Congress, the Yan’an Rectification Movement [13]13 A classical Chinese saying from the *Guanzi* (管子), an ancient political text attributed to the philosopher Guan Zhong (c. 720–645 BCE), expressing the principle that popular support determines the rise and fall of a regime., and other measures, thereby unifying ideological understanding. In discipline building, it seriously dealt with violations of discipline, carried out Party consolidation movements, established a system of requesting instructions and submitting reports, and strengthened disciplinary education. In work style building, it established the Central Supervisory Commission, implemented the intra-Party inspection tour system, promulgated regulations such as the “Regulations on Punishing Corruption and Waste,” and severely punished corrupt elements. This period reflected the Party’s profound understanding of and firm determination for self-revolution, demonstrated the Party’s strong capacity for self-purification, self-improvement, self-renovation, and self-enhancement in a complex environment, and laid a solid ideological foundation for subsequent revolutionary practice. After the founding of New China, the change in the CCP’s identity and position objectively determined that the Party must “maintain a high degree of vigilance and focus on preventing the degeneration and corruption of Party cadres,” constantly preserving its own advanced nature and purity. During this period, the Chinese Communists, with Comrade Mao Zedong as their chief representative, launched Party consolidation and rectification movements nationwide, continuously strengthened the Party’s governance capacity building, resolutely opposed corruption, and further advanced self-revolution through a series of measures such as correcting deviations and rectifying discipline. For example, they promulgated and formulated the “Instructions on Launching a Rectification Movement in the Entire Party and Army” and the “CCP Central Committee Regulations on Handling the Party Membership of Criminally Sentenced Communist Party Members,” which had positive significance for improving the Party’s work style and purifying the intra-Party political ecosystem, effectively ensuring the health and purity of the Party’s own body, and accumulating preliminary experience in strengthening the Party’s self-revolution under conditions of governance. After reform and opening up, facing profound changes in various environments, the CCP “understood, strengthened, and improved itself under the new circumstances of reform and opening up.” Through ideological emancipation, improving democratic centralism, innovating intra-Party educational activities, and deepening the fight against corruption, it pushed the Party’s self-revolution deeper. In other words, “reform is China’s second revolution, and also another profound self-revolution of the CCP.” Our Party continuously deepened its understanding of self-revolution, forming a series of important theoretical achievements that systematically answered, at a macro level, the major questions of why our Party must engage in self-revolution, why it can engage in self-revolution, and how to advance self-revolution. Over more than a century, the CCP has integrated the spirit of self-revolution into the course of revolution, construction, and reform, using practice to prove that the Party’s self-revolution is the second answer to escaping the historical cycle of rise and fall [14]14 The "North Paradox" refers to the theory of Douglass North, a Nobel laureate in economics, who argued that state-led economic development often fails because the state's pursuit of revenue maximization can undermine property rights and economic efficiency. Here, the term is used to describe how the Chinese Communist Party claims to have overcome this tension by aligning economic growth with social equity. and the key to solving the unique problems of a major party.

中国共产党“是一个善于总结历史经验的党，是一个善于依靠自身力量纠正自己的错误从而走向成熟和强大的党”。新民主主义革命时期，中国共产党的自我革命聚焦在思想建设、纪律建设和作风建设上。思想建设方面，通过古田会议、延安整风运动等纠正党内存在的各种非无产阶级思想，进而统一思想认识；纪律建设方面，对违反纪律的行为进行严肃处理，开展整党运动、建立请示报告制度和加强纪律教育等措施；作风建设方面，成立中央监察委员会，落实党内巡视制度、颁布《关于惩治贪污浪费行为》等法规、严惩贪腐分子。这一时期体现了党对自我革命的深刻认识和坚定决心，彰显了党在复杂环境中自我净化、自我完善、自我革新、自我提高的强大能力，为后续革命实践奠定了坚实的思想基础。新中国成立后，中国共产党身份地位的转换客观上决定了党必须“高度警惕并着力防范党员干部腐化变质”，时刻保持自身先进性和纯洁性。在这一时期，以毛泽东同志为主要代表的中国共产党人，在全国开展整党整风运动，不断加强党的执政能力建设、坚决反对贪污腐败，通过纠偏整饬等一系列措施进一步开展自我革命。比如颁布制定了《关于在全党全军开展整风运动的指示》《中共中央关于处理受刑事处分的共产党员党籍问题的规定》等，对改进党的作风、净化党内政治生态具有积极意义，有力保证了党自身肌体的健康与纯洁，积累了执政条件下加强党的自我革命的初步经验。改革开放后，中国共产党面对各类环境的深刻变化，“在改革开放的新形势下认识自己、加强自己、提高自己”，通过思想解放、完善民主集中制、创新党内教育活动、深入推进反腐败斗争等手段，推进党的自我革命走向深入。换言之，“改革是中国的第二次革命，也是中国共产党又一次深刻的自我革命”。我们党不断深化对自我革命的认识，形成了一系列重要理论成果，从宏观上系统回答了我们党为什么要自我革命、为什么能自我革命、怎样推进自我革命等重大问题。中国共产党百余年来将自我革命精神融入革命、建设、改革历程中，用实践证明了党的自我革命是跳出历史周期率的第二个答案，是破解大党独有难题的关键。

(II) The Fundamental Purpose of the Party’s Self-Revolution Is to Ensure the Party’s Long-Term Governance

（二）党的自我革命的根本目的是确保党的长期执政

“An advanced Marxist political party is not born naturally, but is forged through continuous self-revolution.” Facing the prominent problems of the “Four Tests” and “Four Dangers” [15]15 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the fine traditional Chinese culture, a key theoretical formulation under Xi Jinping Thought. under conditions of long-term governance, as well as the real problems strongly reflected by the masses, there are easily risks and challenges of losing the governing position. To better maintain the Party’s revolutionary character and consolidate its governing foundation, it is necessary to construct a governance mechanism that coordinates internal and external efforts. This focuses both on the institutional external shaping of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, proceeding from the unity of transforming the objective world and transforming the subjective world, and relies even more on the subjective internal reflection of self-revolution, which unremittingly forges the political character and governing capacity of the Party for long-term governance. But fundamentally, implementing this arduous task requires fundamental guidance and solid internal drive; this is the inherent requirement and value orientation of the CCP’s self-revolution. From the logic of practice and the logic of value, the Party’s self-revolution focuses on the systematic forging of governing capacity. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Self-revolution means strengthening the bones and nourishing the body, detoxifying and sterilizing, cutting off one’s own wrist to remove rot and grow new flesh, constantly clearing out the viruses that erode the Party’s healthy body, continuously improving its own immunity, and preventing the ruin of the state and the death of the Party.” This all the more requires severely punishing corruption and advancing the “Three Mechanisms for Not Daring, Not Being Able, and Not Wanting to Be Corrupt” [16]16 Mao Zedong, “The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War,” 1938. in an integrated manner. Through the connection between the intra-Party regulations system and the national legal system, the deterrence of “not daring to be corrupt” is transformed into the constraint of “not being able to be corrupt.” Through the normalization and long-term effectiveness mechanism of thematic education, the consciousness of “not wanting to be corrupt” is sublimated into a value belief. In the final analysis, it is necessary to continuously purify the intra-Party political ecosystem, effectively improve the Party’s ability to coordinate all aspects and lead all parties, strengthen the Party’s centralized and unified leadership, implement Party leadership in all aspects and links of the Party’s and the state’s undertakings, and transform the greatest advantage of the Party’s self-revolution into a powerful support and important guarantee for enhancing the Party’s long-term governance capacity and level.

“先进的马克思主义政党不是天生的，而是在不断自我革命中淬炼而成的。”面对党长期执政条件下存在的“四大考验”“四种危险”的突出问题及人民群众反映强烈的现实问题，很容易出现失去执政地位的风险和挑战。为更好地保持党的革命特质和巩固党的执政根基，就必须构建起内外协同的治理机制，既侧重于从改造客观世界与改造主观世界的统一性出发的全面从严治党的制度性外塑，更依托于不懈锻造党长期执政的政治品格和执政能力的主体性内省的自我革命。但究其根本，落实好这个艰巨任务需要进行根本性的引领和坚实的内在驱动，这是中国共产党自我革命的内在要求与价值导向。从实践逻辑和价值逻辑看，党的自我革命聚焦于执政能力的系统性锻造。正如习近平总书记指出：“自我革命就是补钙壮骨、排毒杀菌、壮士断腕、去腐生肌，不断清除侵蚀党的健康肌体的病毒，不断提高自身免疫力，防止人亡政息。”这更加需要严厉惩治腐败、一体推进“三不腐”机制，通过党内法规体系与国家法律体系的衔接，将“不敢腐”的震慑转化为“不能腐”的约束，通过主题教育常态化长效化机制，使“不想腐”的自觉升华为价值信仰。归根结底，不断净化党内政治生态，切实提高党总揽全局、协调各方能力，强化党的集中统一领导，把党的领导落实到党和国家事业各方面各环节，使党的自我革命的最大优势转化为提升党长期执政能力和执政水平的强大支撑和重要保证。

III. Reconstructing Value Consensus: Upholding the People as the Supreme Is the Value Advantage of the CCP’s Long-Term Governance

三、价值共识再造：坚持人民至上是中国共产党长期执政的价值优势

General

习近平总书记指出：“为人民而生，因人民而兴，始终同人民在一起，为人民利益而奋斗，是我们党立党兴党强党的根本出发点和落脚点。”中国共产党作为马克思主义使命型政党，在长期执政过程中确立坚持人民至上的价值基础，完成了从“代表人民”到“成为人民”的范式转换。这种以人民为中心的执政范式关键在于回答好“我是谁、为了谁、依靠谁”，本质上是通过制度化的政治参与机制实现“人民意志”向“治理效能”的创造性转化。与西方多党制和三权分立模式相异，中国共产党以最广大人民利益为目标的价值追求不同于西方政党专注于谋求一党私利或少数群体之利的狭隘利益观。正是这一本质性差异，决定了人民群众为何选择中国共产党长期执政。

(I) The value advantage of the Party’s long-term governance is rooted in the fundamental value pursuits of Marxism

（一）党长期执政的价值优势植根于马克思主义的基本价值追求中

Marxism has always taken the realization of each individual’s free and comprehensive development as the core yardstick for measuring social progress. In the *Communist Manifesto*, Marx and Engels pointed out, “In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.” This indicates that the proletarian association takes the safeguarding of individual rights and development as its starting point and ultimate goal. Lenin emphasized that the Bolshevik Party is the vanguard of the proletariat and must serve “the millions of working people,” a thesis that broke through the elitist rut of representative democracy. “A government thrives when it follows the will of the people; a government fails when it goes against the will of the people.”[n13] The Chinese Communist Party has inherited and developed this idea. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “No matter what difficulties and challenges we encounter, as long as we have the support and participation of the people, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome, and no hurdle that cannot be crossed.” Since entering the New Era, the Chinese Communist Party has, through the institutional design of whole-process people’s democracy, realized a paradigm shift in the people’s political participation from a “proxy-type” to a “present-type.” This shift elevates the people’s subjectivity from the epistemological category to the ontological level, making the Chinese Communist Party’s governance both conform to the laws of development and meet the expectations of the masses. In essence, the people-centered value concept is deeply rooted in the scientific theory of Marxism. This scientific theory is not only the scientific guide for the Chinese Communist Party to consistently adhere to the people-centered value concept, but also the key to the Chinese Communist Party’s ability to achieve long-term governance.

马克思主义始终将实现每个人的自由而全面地发展作为衡量社会进步的核心标尺。在《共产党宣言》中，马克思、恩格斯指出，“代替那存在着阶级和阶级对立的资产阶级旧社会的，将是这样一个联合体，在那里，每个人的自由发展是一切人的自由发展的条件”。这表明了无产阶级联合体是以维护个体权益和发展为出发点和落脚点。列宁强调，布尔什维克党是无产阶级的先进部队，要“为千千万万劳动人民”服务，这一论断突破了代议制民主的精英主义窠臼。“政之所兴在顺民心，政之所废在逆民心”。中国共产党继承和发展了这一思想。习近平总书记指出，“无论遇到任何困难和挑战，只要有人民支持和参与，就没有克服不了的困难，就没有越不过的坎”。进入新时代以来，中国共产党以全过程人民民主制度设计实现了人民政治参与从“代理型”向“在场型”的范式转换。这种转换将人民主体性从认识论范畴提升至本体论高度，使中国共产党的执政既符合发展规律，又满足人民群众期待。究其本质，坚持以人民为中心的价值理念深深植根于马克思主义科学理论中。这一科学理论既是中国共产党始终坚持以人民为中心价值理念的科学指南，也是中国共产党能够实现长期执政的关键所在。

(II) The value advantage of the Party’s long-term governance is practiced throughout the more than one hundred years of the Chinese Communist Party’s history

（二）党长期执政的价值优势实践于中国共产党的百余年历史之中

Serving the people wholeheartedly is the distinctive hallmark that distinguishes a proletarian political party from all other political parties. During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, the Chinese Communist Party, in leading the Chinese people in the tasks of striving for national independence and the liberation of the people, consistently adhered to the value of serving the people and, through a series of practices, advanced the localization of the Marxist view of the masses. In 1942, Mao Zedong, in his "Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art," pointed out, "We stand in the position of the proletariat and the masses of the people. For Party members, this means standing in the position of the Party, standing in the position of Party spirit and Party policy." This clearly indicates that the position of the Chinese Communist Party represents the position of the people. In 1945, in the article "On Coalition Government," Mao Zedong again emphasized: "Closely unite with the Chinese people and serve the Chinese people wholeheartedly—this is the sole purpose of this army." It was precisely by consistently adhering to the people's position that the Chinese Communist Party led the people in exploring the revolutionary path of encircling the cities from the countryside and seizing state power by armed force, ultimately overthrowing feudal autocracy and achieving the great leap of China from several thousand years of feudal autocratic politics to people's democracy. Entering the period of socialist construction and reform, the Chinese Communist Party, in practice, insisted on and emphasized placing the people in the most crucial position. The construction of the state form of the people's democratic dictatorship enabled the category of "the people" to transcend class boundaries and develop into a dynamic political community encompassing multiple subjects. Since reform and opening up, the dialectical unity of developing productive forces and improving people's livelihoods has driven the transformation of the governing mode from a "revolutionary mobilization type" to a "performance development type." Deng Xiaoping pointed out, "A genuine Marxist political party, after taking power, must devote itself to developing the productive forces and, on this basis, gradually raise the people's living standards." Jiang Zemin put forward that the Chinese Communist Party always represents the fundamental interests of the broadest majority of the Chinese people; Hu Jintao proposed that the core of the Scientific Outlook on Development is putting people first. Thus it can be seen that the value principle of putting the people first, which the Chinese Communist Party adheres to, has been continuously perfected and enriched in long-term practice, and through continuous institutional adjustment, the value advantage of the people-first concept has been creatively transformed into a governance advantage.

全心全意为人民服务是无产阶级政党区别于其他一切政党的显著标志。新民主主义革命时期，中国共产党在带领中国人民谋求民族独立和人民解放的任务中，始终坚持为人民服务价值观，并通过一系列实践推进马克思主义群众观的本土化转换。1942年，毛泽东在《在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话》中指出，“我们是站在无产阶级的和人民大众的立场。对于共产党员来说，也就是要站在党的立场，站在党性和党的政策的立场”。这清晰地表明中国共产党的立场代表的就是人民的立场。1945年，在《论联合政府》一文中，毛泽东再次强调：“紧紧地和中国人民站在一起，全心全意地为中国人民服务，就是这个军队的唯一的宗旨。”正是始终坚持人民立场，中国共产党带领人民探索出了农村包围城市、武装夺取政权的革命道路，最终推翻封建专制，实现了中国从几千年封建专制政治向人民民主的伟大飞跃。进入社会主义建设和改革时期，中国共产党在实践中坚持和强调要把人民放在最为关键的位置，人民民主专政的国家形态构建使人民范畴突破阶级界限，发展为包含多元主体的动态政治共同体。改革开放以来，发展生产力与改善民生辩证统一推动执政方式从“革命动员型”向“绩效发展型”转变。邓小平指出，“一个真正的马克思主义政党在执政以后，一定要致力于发展生产力，并在这个基础上逐步提高人民的生活水平”。江泽民提出了中国共产党始终代表中国最广大人民的根本利益；胡锦涛提出了科学发展观的核心是以人为本。由此可见，中国共产党坚守的人民至上的价值原则在长期实践中不断得到完善和丰富，并且通过持续的制度调适推进人民至上理念这一价值优势向治理优势创造性转化。

(III) The Institutional Advantage of Transforming the Value Advantage of the Party's Long-Term Governance into the Effectiveness of National Governance

（三）党长期执政的价值优势转化为国家治理效能的制度性优势

The value advantage of the Chinese Communist Party's long-term governance constructs a dynamic mechanism for the transformation of national governance effectiveness through institutional internalization, "promoting the transformation of the 'good choices' embedded in top-level design into the 'realization of good' in governance practice." Since the New Era, the Party Central Committee has consistently run the people-centered fundamental value orientation through the entire practice of state governance, including reform, development, and stability; internal affairs, foreign affairs, national defense; and governing the Party, the state, and the military, continuously opening up a new era for socialism with Chinese characteristics. For example, through the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan, it has achieved a systematic restructuring of people's livelihood politics, transforming economic growth indicators into measurable indicators of the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security; relying on the effective connection between targeted poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, it has constructed an institutionalized guarantee system to prevent large-scale return to poverty, forming an innovative mechanism for sharing the fruits of development. It can be said that the Chinese Communist Party has maintained high-quality economic development while fulfilling the value commitment of social fairness and justice, successfully resolving the "North Paradox" [14]14 The "North Paradox" refers to the theory of Douglass North, a Nobel laureate in economics, who argued that state-led economic development often fails because the state's pursuit of revenue maximization can undermine property rights and economic efficiency. Here, the term is used to describe how the Chinese Communist Party claims to have overcome this tension by aligning economic growth with social equity., fully demonstrating the organic unity of party ethics and governance technology. In contrast, in recent years, Western countries promoting "democratization" reforms in the Middle East, driven by the logic of capital, have fallen into a vicious cycle of "electoral politics—welfare contraction," where the political system is completely disconnected from the improvement of people's livelihoods, leading to many serious problems such as the rise of populism, the surge of anti-globalization, and the rise of right-wing forces. Overall, the people-first value concept has achieved a paradigm reconstruction of governance rationality through the embedding of institutional ethics and the transformation mechanism of governance effectiveness, constructing a value isomorphism of the national governance system. This logic essentially takes the will of the people as the fundamental basis for the legitimacy of governance, achieving a modern leap in the form of political civilization through institutionalized, procedural, and mechanized governance innovation.

中国共产党长期执政的价值优势通过制度内化而构建起国家治理效能转化的动力机制，“推动顶层设计蕴含的‘善的选择’转化为治理实践的‘善的实现’”。新时代以来，党中央始终把坚持以人民为中心的根本价值取向贯穿于改革发展稳定、内政外交国防、治党治国治军等治国理政的实践之中，不断开辟中国特色社会主义新时代。比如，通过“五位一体”总体布局实现民生政治的系统性重构，将经济增长指数转化为民众获得感、幸福感、安全感的可衡量指标；依托精准扶贫和乡村振兴有效衔接，构建起防止规模性返贫的制度化保障体系，形成发展成果共享的创新机制。可以说，中国共产党在保持经济高质量发展的同时实现了社会公平正义的价值承诺，成功破解了“诺斯悖论”，充分彰显了政党伦理与治理技术的有机统一。反观近年来西方国家在中东推动“民主化”改革，在资本逻辑支配下陷入“选举政治—福利收缩”的恶性循环，政治制度与民生改善完全脱节，造成民粹崛起、逆全球化高涨、右翼势力抬头等许多严峻问题。总体而言，人民至上的价值理念通过制度伦理的内嵌与治理效能的转化机制实现了治理理性的范式重构，建构起了国家治理系统的价值同构性。这一逻辑本质上是将人民意志作为治理合法性的本源依据，通过制度化、程序化、机制化的治理创新实现政治文明形态的现代跃升。

IV. Generation of Institutional Resilience: The Socialist System is the Institutional Foundation for the Chinese Communist Party's Long-Term Governance

四、制度韧性生成：社会主义制度是中国共产党长期执政的制度基础

The socialist system is neither a copy of the Western capitalist system nor a re-creation of the Soviet-style highly centralized socialist system; "it is a completely new system in the history of human institutional civilization, an institutional civilization with originality." In the process of building a modern socialist country, it has played a fundamental role in the Party's long-term governance and the nation's enduring peace and stability.

社会主义制度既非西方资本主义制度的复制，也非苏联式高度集中社会主义制度的重制，“它是人类制度文明史上的一种全新的制度，是具有原创性的制度文明”，在建设社会主义现代化国家进程中对党长期执政、国家长治久安起到了根本性作用。

(I) The Socialist System is Based on the Party's Scientific Guiding Ideology

（一）社会主义制度是以党的科学指导思想为基础

The October Revolution in Russia proved to China's advanced intellectuals the scientific nature and reality of scientific socialism. A group of advanced elements differentiated from within China's intellectual community, guided by scientific socialism and Lenin's theory of party building, organized a Marxist political party in China, which grew and matured in a complex revolutionary environment, becoming the leading force in China's revolution, construction, and reform. "This is the logical and historical starting point for the party building chosen by China's advanced elements." This guiding ideology, with its scientific nature, continuously guides the resolution of the principal contradiction in socialist modernization and enhances the well-being of the people. It is noteworthy that the reform and improvement of the socialist system proceed simultaneously with the resolution of the principal contradiction and the satisfaction of the people's needs, reflecting the consistency between institutional advantages and the development of the guiding ideology, and demonstrating the significant advantages of this system. A political party is a key link in the national institutional system, and its ruling status and governing methods are directly influenced by the specific national political system. Deng Xiaoping pointed out, "Good institutions can prevent bad people from acting arbitrarily, while bad institutions can prevent good people from fully doing good deeds, and may even drive them to the opposite." Thus it can be seen that in political change, good institutions are key; only through institutional solutions can fundamental solutions be achieved. Examining world politics, the Chinese governance paradigm under the guarantee of the socialist system has broken away from the existing theoretical trajectory of the West regarding political modernization, successfully resolving the dilemma between modernization and democratization. It has not only created two miracles—rapid economic development and long-term social stability—but has also presented a "Chinese solution" for modernization to late-developing countries. It can be said that this advantage is reflected in the historical progressiveness, social adaptability, and consistency with the people's interests of the system, possessing significant advantages over the capitalist system.

俄国十月革命向中国先进知识分子证明了科学社会主义的科学性和现实性。中国知识分子群体中分化出来一批先进分子以科学社会主义和列宁建党学说为指导组建起了中国的马克思主义政党，在复杂的革命环境中成长壮大，成为中国革命、建设、改革的领导力量，“这是中国先进分子选择的政党建设的逻辑起点和历史起点”。这一指导思想以其科学性不断在指引社会主义现代化建设中解决社会主要矛盾，增进人民福祉。值得注意的是，社会主义制度的改革与完善和社会主要矛盾的解决、人民需要的满足同步进行，体现出了制度优势与指导思想发展的一致性，展现出这一制度的显著优势。政党是国家制度体系中的一个关键环节，其执政地位和执政方式都受到特定国家政治制度的直接作用。邓小平指出，“制度好可以使坏人无法任意横行，制度不好可以使好人无法充分做好事，甚至会走向反面”。由此可见，在政治变迁中，好的制度是关键，通过制度的解决才是根本的解决。审思世界政治，社会主义制度保障下的中国治理范式跳出了西方关于政治现代化的既有理论轨迹，成功解决了现代化与民主化之间的难题，不仅创造了经济快速发展和社会长期稳定的两大奇迹，更向后发国家展示了现代化的“中国方案”。可以说，这一优势体现在制度的历史进步性、社会适应性、人民利益一致性上，相较于资本主义制度具有显著优势。

(II) The Socialist System Was Formed and Perfected in the Course of the Party's Governance

（二）社会主义制度形成和完善于党的执政历程中

The establishment of the socialist system is the most profound social change in Chinese history, laying the fundamental political prerequisite and institutional foundation for all development and progress in contemporary China. During the period of the New Democratic Revolution, the Chinese Communist Party, imitating the model of the Russian October Revolution, led uprisings in the cities, but all ended in failure. Subsequently, it turned to the path of encircling the cities from the countryside and seizing state power by armed force, establishing people's political power in the base areas, exploring the new democratic system, and accumulating experience for the construction of New China. After the founding of New China, the Chinese Communist Party began to emphasize independence and self-reliance, exploring a socialist path suited to national conditions, establishing the state system, the form of government, and the state structure, and building the basic socialist political system. Although the entire formation process experienced twists and turns, it ultimately successfully opened up and developed socialism. Since reform and opening up, and especially since entering the New Era, China has consistently adhered, in the process of socialist construction, to the starting point of institutional construction being suited to China's national conditions and respecting the people's creativity, and the end point being to guarantee and advance socialist modernization. History and practice show that the socialist system with Chinese characteristics is a rational choice suited to China's national conditions, providing a solid institutional guarantee for China's modernization process.

社会主义制度的建立，是中国历史上最为深刻的社会变革，为当代中国的一切发展进步奠定了根本政治前提和制度基础。新民主主义革命时期，中国共产党仿效俄国十月革命模式，在城市领导起义，但均以失败告终。随后转向农村包围城市、武装夺取政权的道路，在根据地创建人民政权，探索新民主主义制度，为新中国建设积累经验。新中国成立后，中国共产党开始强调独立自主，探索符合国情的社会主义道路，确立了国体、政体和国家结构，建立了社会主义基本政治制度。尽管整个形成过程历经曲折，但最终成功开辟和发展了社会主义。改革开放特别是进入新时代以来，我国在社会主义建设过程中始终坚持制度建设的出发点适合中国国情、尊重人民创造，落脚点保障和推进社会主义现代化建设。历史和实践表明，中国特色社会主义制度是符合中国国情的理性选择，为中国现代化进程提供了坚实的制度保障。

(III) The Advantages of the Socialist System Are Key to Ensuring the Party's Long-Term Governance

（三）社会主义制度优势是确保党长期执政的关键

The distinctive features and advantages of the socialist system are embodied in the Party’s governing status. In terms of characteristics, the advantages of the socialist system reflect the unity of gradualness and stability, the unity of endogeneity and constructiveness, and the unity of independence and structure. From a holistic perspective, the advantages of the socialist system have undergone a developmental transformation from doctrinal advantage to efficacy advantage, from latent advantage to manifest advantage, and from what ought to be advantage to what is advantage, forming a logical structure supported by fundamental institutions, basic institutions, important institutions, and specific institutions. From a vertical perspective, this system consists of institutions at different levels, each with distinct positions and functions within the system. Fundamental institutions occupy the highest level and play a commanding and defining role over other institutions; basic institutions are concrete manifestations of the social nature and institutional characteristics, serving as the deepening and concretization of fundamental institutions; important institutions reflect and embody fundamental and basic institutions, playing a key bridging role; specific institutions manifest as various systems and mechanisms, representing the concretization and detailing of the institutional system, and play an important regulatory and normative role in social life. The two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability achieved over the more than seventy years since the founding of New China are fundamentally due to the Chinese Communist Party leading the people in establishing and perfecting the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, with its powerful institutional advantages, is forged into all aspects of the Party’s leadership and national governance. On the new journey, it is necessary to continuously improve systems and mechanisms in all areas, fully leverage the systematic, holistic, and synergistic nature of institutions in the Party’s long-term governance process, and give full play to the superiority of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

社会主义制度的显著特点和优势体现在党的执政地位上。就特征而言，社会主义制度优势体现了渐进性和稳定性的统一、内生性和建构性的统一、独立性和结构性的统一。在整体性视角下，社会主义制度优势经历了从主义优势到效能优势、从潜在优势到显性优势、从应然优势到实然优势的发展转变，形成了以根本制度、基本制度、重要制度和具体制度为支柱的逻辑结构。在纵向视角下，这一体系由不同层次的制度构成，各层次制度在体系中的位置和功能各不相同。根本制度处于最高层次，对其他制度具有统领和规定作用；基本制度是社会性质和制度特征的具体体现，是根本制度的深化和具体化；重要制度反映和体现根本制度和基本制度，起到承上启下的关键作用；具体制度则表现为各种体制机制，是制度体系的具体化和细节化，对社会生活具有重要的调节和规范作用。新中国成立七十余年来取得的经济快速发展和社会长期稳定两大奇迹，根本原因是中国共产党领导人民建立和完善了中国特色社会主义制度。中国特色社会主义制度以强大的制度优势熔铸于党的领导和国家治理的各方面。新征程上，需持续完善各方面体制机制，充分发挥制度在党的长期执政进程中的系统性、整体性、协同性，充分发挥中国特色社会主义制度的优越性。

V. Recombination of Civilizational Genes: Adhering to the “Two Integrations” Is the Inevitable Path for the Chinese Communist Party’s Long-Term Governance

五、文明基因重组：坚持“两个结合”是中国共产党长期执政的必由之路

The major thesis of the “Two Integrations” [15]15 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the fine traditional Chinese culture, a key theoretical formulation under Xi Jinping Thought. centrally reflects the profound grasp by Chinese Communists in the New Era of the laws governing the development of Marxism, profoundly elucidates the internal mechanism of Marxism’s innovative development in China, expands the connotations and pathways of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, and enriches the theoretical connotations of the Chinese Communist Party’s realization of long-term governance.

“两个结合”的重大论断，集中反映了新时代中国共产党人对马克思主义发展规律的深刻把握，深刻阐明了马克思主义在中国创新发展的内在机理，拓展了马克思主义中国化时代化的内涵和途径，丰富了中国共产党实现长期执政的理论内涵。

(I) The “Two Integrations” Are the Historical Experience and Inheritance of the Times for the Party’s Long-Term Governance

（一）“两个结合”是党长期执政的历史经验和时代传承

Because Chinese traditional politics has never been severed, Chinese civilization exhibits an ultra-stable continuity, achieving an ultra-stable complete structure through continuous internal adjustment. Reviewing the Party’s century-long history, during the period of the New Democratic Revolution, the Chinese Communist Party not only interpreted, disseminated, and studied Marxism in national forms, but also used the basic principles of Marxism to summarize and analyze traditional culture, emphasizing that “we are Marxist historicists and should not sever history.” [16]16 Mao Zedong, “The Role of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War,” 1938. During the period of socialist revolution and construction, Mao Zedong emphasized that we “must believe that Marxism is the correct method of thought, which does not mean we neglect the value of China’s cultural heritage and non-Marxist foreign thought.” [17]17 Mao Zedong, “Talks at the Hangzhou Conference,” 1957. The Eighth National Congress of the CPC proposed that “all beneficial cultural knowledge from China’s past and from foreign countries must be inherited and absorbed,” [18]18 Resolution of the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China on the Political Report, 1956. reflecting the firm stance of Chinese Communists in promoting the integration of Marxism with fine traditional Chinese culture. Since reform and opening up, the Chinese Communist Party has continuously drawn historical wisdom and experience in governing the country from fine traditional Chinese culture. Deng Xiaoping believed that “all progressive and excellent things” in traditional Chinese culture “should be referenced and learned from.” [19]19 Deng Xiaoping, “Uphold the Four Cardinal Principles,” 1979. Jiang Zemin explicitly pointed out the need to “apply and develop the essence of national culture under new historical conditions to serve socialist modernization.” [20]20 Jiang Zemin, “Speech at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 14th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection,” 1996. Hu Jintao emphasized vigorously promoting Chinese culture, stating that “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will inevitably be accompanied by the flourishing and prosperity of Chinese culture.” [21]21 Hu Jintao, Report to the 17th National Congress of the CPC, 2007. Thus, it can be seen that the Sinicized and modernized Marxist theory of Party building has continuously developed, actively integrating beneficial elements from fine traditional Chinese culture. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to fine traditional Chinese culture, elevating the “Second Integration” to the level of “the greatest magic weapon for achieving success” and “another ideological emancipation.” [22]22 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage,” 2023. It is evident that “only by basing ourselves on the magnificent five-thousand-year history of Chinese civilization can we truly understand the historical inevitability, cultural connotations, and unique advantages of the Chinese path,” [23]23 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage,” 2023. and only then can the Marxist theory of Party building achieve a historical transformation from “external” to “internal,” from “Sinicizing China” to “Sinicization and modernization.” The century-long historical practice of the Chinese Communist Party fully proves that achieving long-term governance must be based on the history and practice of over five thousand years of Chinese civilization, continuously advancing the adaptation of Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. This is an indispensable cultural resource for the Chinese Communist Party’s ability to achieve long-term governance and its eventual long-term governance.

中华文明由于中国传统政治未曾断裂过，呈现出超稳定的连续性，以持续的内部调整方式实现了超稳定的完整架构。回顾党的百余年历程，新民主主义革命时期，中国共产党不仅以民族形式阐释、传播和研究马克思主义，而且运用马克思主义基本原理总结和分析传统文化，强调“我们是马克思主义的历史主义者，我们不应当割断历史”。社会主义革命和建设时期，毛泽东强调，我们“要信奉马克思主义是正确的思想方法，这并不意味着我们忽视中国文化遗产和非马克思主义的外国思想的价值”。党的八大提出“对于中国过去的和外国的一切有益的文化知识，必须加以继承和吸收”，体现了中国共产党人在促进马克思主义与中华优秀传统文化融合过程中的坚定立场。改革开放以来，中国共产党持续从中华优秀传统文化中汲取历史智慧与治国理政的经验。邓小平认为，中华传统文化中“一切进步的和优秀的东西，都应当借鉴和学习”。江泽民明确指出，“在新的历史条件下运用和发展民族文化的精华，为社会主义现代化建设服务”。胡锦涛强调要大力弘扬中华文化，指出“中华民族伟大复兴必然伴随着中华文化繁荣兴盛”。由此可见，中国化时代化的马克思主义建党学说持续发展，积极融合中华优秀传统文化中的有益元素。党的十八大以来，习近平总书记高度重视中华优秀传统文化，将“第二个结合”上升到“取得成功的最大法宝”“又一次的思想解放”的高度。可见，“只有立足波澜壮阔的中华五千多年文明史，才能真正理解中国道路的历史必然、文化内涵与独特优势”，马克思主义建党学说才能实现从“外来”到“内在”、从“化中国”到“中国化时代化”的历史转变。中国共产党的百余年历史实践充分证明，实现长期执政必须立足于拥有五千多年中华文明的历史和实践基础上持续推进马克思主义中国化时代化，这是中国共产党能够长期执政和终将长期执政不可或缺的文化资源。

(II) The “Two Integrations” Are the Principled Achievements of the Party’s Innovative Theory of Long-Term Governance

（二）“两个结合”是党长期执政创新理论的原理性成果

The proposition of the “Two Integrations” reflects the Party’s deepening understanding of the laws governing the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism. It is a strategic choice for the Chinese Communist Party to decipher the laws of governance and consolidate the foundation of its governance on the new journey of the New Era. From a diachronic perspective of theoretical innovation, the integration of the basic principles of Marxism with China’s specific realities ensures that theory responds to the questions of the times, continuously resolving the tension between theory and practice, and between the subjective and the objective in practice. For example, the proposal of major theories such as the “New Development Concept” and “Chinese-path Modernization” are products of the deep integration of the Marxist view of contradiction and development with China’s structural reform practice. The integration of Marxism with fine traditional Chinese culture reconstructs the governing discourse system from the root level of civilization. For instance, elevating the concept of “Great Harmony under Heaven” (天下大同) into the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind not only endows traditional culture with modern value but also allows Marxism to receive nourishment from excellent culture, forming an ideological discourse with Chinese characteristics. From the practical perspective of long-term governance, the “Two Integrations” provide a dual answer to breaking the historical cycle of rise and fall. [24]24 The “historical cycle of rise and fall” (历史周期率) refers to the traditional Chinese pattern of dynastic cycles of founding, flourishing, decline, and collapse, a concept famously discussed by Mao Zedong and Huang Yanpei in 1945. On the one hand, through the “First Integration,” a self-revolution mechanism is constructed, incorporating comprehensive and strict governance of the Party into the national governance system, using institutional innovation to solve governance problems such as power supervision and interest coordination. On the other hand, the “Second Integration” activates the governance wisdom in traditional culture, such as transforming “rule by virtue and law together” (德法共治) into the combination of law-based governance and rule by virtue, and developing “selecting the worthy and appointing the capable” (选贤任能) into the criteria for cadre selection in the New Era, forming an institutional advantage that combines modern governance efficiency with cultural identity. This two-way interaction enables the Party to grasp the changing laws of the principal contradiction in society while maintaining value resonance with the people, thereby preserving strategic focus in responding to global changes and deepening reforms to tackle tough issues. In summary, facing the dual challenges of international order restructuring and domestic transformation, the Chinese Communist Party’s practice of promoting theoretical innovation through the “Two Integrations” not only provides ideological and theoretical weapons for breaking institutional obstacles but also, by creating a new form of human civilization, endows the Party’s long-term governance with dual support from historical inevitability and moral legitimacy.

“两个结合”这一命题反映了党对推进马克思主义中国化时代化规律性认识的深化，是中国共产党在新时代新征程上破解执政规律、巩固执政根基的战略选择。从理论创新的历时性视角分析，马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际相结合确保理论回应时代之问，持续解决实践中理论与实践、主观与客观的张力问题。例如，“新发展理念”“中国式现代化”等重大理论的提出，是将马克思主义矛盾观、发展观与中国结构性改革实践深度结合的产物；马克思主义同中华优秀传统文化相结合，是从文明根脉层面重构执政话语体系。比如将“天下大同”升华为人类命运共同体理念，不仅赋予传统文化现代性价值，也使马克思主义获得优秀文化滋养，形成具有中国特色的意识形态话语。从长期执政的实践视角分析，“两个结合”提供了破解历史周期率的双重答案。一方面，通过“第一个结合”构建自我革命机制，将全面从严治党纳入国家治理体系，以制度创新解决权力监督、利益协调等执政难题；另一方面，“第二个结合”激活传统文化中的治理智慧，如将“德法共治”转化为依法治国和以德治国相结合，将“选贤任能”发展为新时代干部选拔标准，形成兼具现代治理效能与文化认同的制度优势。这种双向互动使党既能把握社会主要矛盾的变化规律，又能维系与人民群众的价值共鸣，从而在应对全球变局、深化改革攻坚中保持战略定力。概言之，面对国际秩序重构与国内转型的双重挑战，中国共产党通过“两个结合”推动理论创新的实践，不仅为破解体制性障碍提供思想和理论武器，更通过创造人类文明新形态使党的长期执政获得历史必然性与道义正当性的双重支撑。

(III) The “Two Integrations” Are a New Cultural Life Form Forged by the Party’s Long-Term Governance

（三）“两个结合”是党长期执政造就的新的文化生命体

Through the deep mutual construction of the basic principles of Marxism and fine traditional Chinese culture, the “Two Integrations” have forged a new cultural life form that combines scientific rationality with the roots of civilization, constructing a multi-dimensional support system for the Chinese Communist Party’s long-term governance.

“两个结合”通过马克思主义基本原理同中华优秀传统文化的深度互构，造就了兼具科学理性与文明根脉的新的文化生命体，为中国共产党长期执政构筑了多维支撑体系。

Specifically, the Marxist worldview and the modern transformation of fine traditional Chinese culture not only provide scientific methods for the Chinese Communist Party to solve the problems of modernization, but also embed the logic of governance into the national spiritual genealogy, forming a value resonance that spans time and space. For example, the theory of the transformation of the principal contradiction guides supply-side structural reform, and a community with a shared future for mankind reconstructs the discourse of global governance, promoting the deep cultural identification of governance concepts. At the same time, the new cultural life-form provides a dual path for long-term governance: “turning the blade inward” [25]25 “Turning the blade inward” (刀刃向内) is a metaphor used in the context of the Party’s self-revolution, meaning to direct reform and disciplinary efforts against the Party itself, rather than outward against society. and “civilizational innovation.” Marxist contradiction analysis guides comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, establishing a coordination mechanism between Party discipline inspection and supervision and state supervision, demonstrating the institutional capacity for self-purification. The spirit of discarding the old and establishing the new (革故鼎新) in fine traditional Chinese culture promotes innovation in the governance system, constructing an institutional paradigm that integrates traditional wisdom with modern governance. This two-way interaction enables the Party to grasp the laws of modernization while maintaining the continuity of civilization, effectively responding to the “four major tests” and the “four dangers.” [26]26 The “four major tests” (四大考验) refer to the tests of governance, reform and opening up, the market economy, and the external environment. The “four dangers” (四种危险) refer to the dangers of mental slackness, incompetence, disengagement from the people, and corruption. These are standard formulations in CPC political discourse. In the final analysis, the new cultural life-form is directly related to the Party’s governing vitality; its essence is the creative integration of the laws of governance and the laws of civilizational development, forming a cultural guarantee that supports long-term governance.

具体而言，马克思主义世界观和中华优秀传统文化的现代转化，不仅为中国共产党破解现代化难题提供了科学的方法，而且将执政逻辑嵌入民族精神谱系中，形成跨越时空的价值共鸣。比如，以社会主要矛盾转化论指导供给侧结构性改革，以人类命运共同体重构全球治理话语，推进执政理念获得深层次文化认同。与此同时，新的文化生命体为长期执政提供了“刀刃向内”与“文明创新”的双重路径。马克思主义矛盾分析法指导全面从严治党，建立党内监督与国家监察协同机制，彰显制度性自我净化能力。中华优秀传统文化中的革故鼎新精神推动治理体系创新，构建起传统智慧与现代治理相融合的制度范式。这种双向互动使党既能把握现代化规律，又能维系文明连续性，有效应对“四大考验”“四种危险”。归根结底，新的文化生命体直接关系党的执政生命力，本质是执政规律与文明发展规律的创造性融合，形成支撑长期执政的文化保障。

VI. Conclusion

六、结语

As the world’s largest Marxist governing party, the Chinese Communist Party has moved from partial governance to comprehensive governance and then to creatively proposing the path of Chinese-path modernization. It has not only achieved the two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, but has also surpassed the development models of Western modernized countries, forming “China’s governance” (中国之治) and providing Chinese wisdom for world development. To summarize, the reasons why the Chinese Communist Party can achieve long-term governance are based on five aspects: first, upholding the unity of Party leadership and long-term governance; second, upholding the unity of putting the people first and long-term governance; third, upholding the unity of institutional construction and long-term governance; fourth, upholding the unity of cultural integration and long-term governance; fifth, upholding the unity of self-revolution and long-term governance. On the new journey, China faces the uncertainties and governance risks caused by the accelerated evolution of the world’s changes unseen in a century; the arduous and heavy tasks of reform, development, and stability pose severe tests for the Party’s long-term governance; and if its own difficulties remain unresolved for a long time, it can easily lead to the risk of internal deterioration, discoloration, and spoilage. Based on this, in the face of new situations and new challenges, the Chinese Communist Party needs to continuously deepen the construction of its governance capacity. It must not only consolidate social consensus by upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership, but also continuously enhance risk awareness, firmly stand on the people’s side, and strive to solve the unique difficulties of a large party and the difficulties of social governance. Only in this way can it continuously improve its own governance capacity and governance level in the process of realizing the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

中国共产党作为当前世界上最大的马克思主义执政党，从局部执政到全面执政再到创造性提出中国式现代化道路，不仅实现了经济快速发展和社会长期稳定两大奇迹，而且对西方现代化国家发展模式实现超越，形成“中国之治”，为世界发展提供了中国智慧。集中概括起来，中国共产党之所以能够长期执政基于五个方面：第一，坚持党的领导与长期执政相统一；第二，坚持人民至上与长期执政相统一；第三，坚持制度建设与长期执政相统一；第四，坚持文化结合与长期执政相统一；第五，坚持自我革命与长期执政相统一。新征程上，中国面临世界百年变局加速演进所导致的不确定性和执政风险，改革发展稳定任务艰巨繁重对党长期执政形成严峻考验，自身难题如果长期不能解决很容易出现内部变质变色变味的风险。基于此，面对新形势新挑战，中国共产党需持续深化执政能力建设，既要通过坚持和加强党的全面领导以凝聚社会共识，又要不断增强风险意识、站稳人民立场，着力破解大党独有难题与社会治理难题。唯有如此，方能在中华民族伟大复兴这一目标实现进程中不断提升自身执政能力和执政水平。

About the authors: Jian Jiaojie, Lecturer in the Department of Party Building, Party School of the Shandong Provincial Committee of the CPC (Shandong Academy of Governance), and researcher at the Research Center for the Development of “Two New” Organizations and Party Building, East China Normal University; Liu Jingbei, former Vice President of the China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong, and Distinguished Professor at the School of Marxism, East China Normal University.

作者简介：简皎洁，中共山东省委党校（山东行政学院）党的建设教研部讲师，华东师范大学“两新”组织发展与党建研究中心；刘靖北，中国浦东干部学院原副院长，华东师范大学马克思主义学院特聘教授。