Lenin’s Thought on Strengthening the Party’s Political Building and Its Contemporary Value

The political building of the Party is the fundamental building of the Party; it determines the direction and effectiveness of Party building and bears on the overall advancement of the great struggle, the great project, the great cause, and the great dream. The 19th National Congress of the CPC incorporated political Party building into the overall plan of Party building for the first time, emphasizing that political Party building must be given top priority. The 20th National Congress of the CPC further clarified that “political Party building shall guide all other aspects of Party building” and set forth explicit requirements for strict political discipline and political rules and for improving the “three political capabilities” [1]1 The “three political capabilities” (政治三力) refer to the political judgment, political understanding, and political execution capabilities of Party organizations and cadres, a concept formally introduced by Xi Jinping. of Party organizations and Party cadres at all levels. From a historical perspective, although the classical Marxist writers did not explicitly use the term “political building of the Party,” they put forward a series of ideas and viewpoints on the political building of the Party in the course of guiding the building of proletarian parties and advancing revolution. As an important developer of Marxist theory, Lenin’s thought on strengthening the political building of the Party represents the creative development of Marxist party theory in the practice of the Russian revolution and constitutes the core content of the theory of building a new type of proletarian party in Russia. In the great struggle to lead the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) [2]2 The Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (俄共(布)) was the name in seizing and consolidating proletarian state power, Lenin profoundly elucidated the historical mission of the proletarian party to lead the exploited working masses in establishing Soviet power and building a new type of proletarian state. Centering on this major issue, Lenin, in conjunction with revolutionary practice, explored ways to strengthen the political building of the Party and put forward a series of important principles for strengthening it. Lenin’s important explorations on strengthening the political building of the Party not only guided the Russian revolution to victory but also provided an important theoretical foundation and valuable practical experience for the CPC to strengthen its political building on the new journey of the New Era.

党的政治建设是党的根本性建设，决定党的建设方向和效果，事关统揽推进伟大斗争、伟大工程、伟大事业、伟大梦想。党的十九大首次把党的政治建设纳入党的建设总体布局，强调要把党的政治建设摆在首位。党的二十大进一步明确“以党的政治建设统领党的建设各项工作”,对严明政治纪律和政治规矩、提高各级党组织和党员干部“政治三力”等提出明确要求。从历史的角度来看，马克思主义经典作家虽然没有明确使用“党的政治建设”这一术语，但他们在指导无产阶级政党建设、推动革命的实践中，提出了一系列关于党的政治建设的思想观点。作为马克思主义理论的重要发展者，列宁关于加强党的政治建设的思想是马克思主义政党理论在俄国革命实践中的创造性发展，构成了俄国新型无产阶级政党建设理论的核心内容。在领导俄共(布)夺取和巩固无产阶级政权的伟大斗争中，列宁深刻阐明了无产阶级政党必须领导被剥削劳动群众建立苏维埃政权、建设新型无产阶级国家的历史使命。围绕这一重大课题，列宁结合革命实践对加强党的政治建设进行了探索，提出了一系列加强党的政治建设的重要原则。列宁关于加强党的政治建设的重要探索不仅指导俄国革命取得了胜利，也为中国共产党在新时代新征程上加强党的政治建设提供了重要理论基础和宝贵实践经验。

I. Emphasizing Politics Is the Fundamental Prerequisite for the Political Building of the Party

一、讲政治是党的政治建设的根本前提

A political party is the core carrier of party politics; its essential characteristic distinguishing it from ordinary social organizations lies in its highly organized political attribute and clear pursuit of power. All actions of a political party have a distinct political orientation; political essence is the fundamental characteristic of a political party. All political parties possess a distinct political attribute; their essential differences are manifested in three dimensions: the value orientation of their political stance (whom they serve), the direction of their political alliances (with whom they march), and the practical mode of their political line (how it is realized). These together constitute the core dividing line of party politics. Lenin always firmly believed that “a class cannot maintain its rule if it does not correctly view problems from a political perspective” [3]3 “What Is to Be Done?”: A 1902 political pamphlet by Lenin in which he argued for the necessity of a centralized vanguard party of professional revolutionaries to lead the working class.; abandoning a political stance or being timid in political struggle would not only cause the loss of revolutionary state power but also bring all work, including the political building of the Party, to a standstill. Therefore, building the Party from a political perspective is the primary foundation and fundamental guideline for Party building.

政党是政党政治的核心载体，其区别于一般社会组织的本质特征在于其高度组织化的政治属性与明确的权力诉求。政党的一切行动都具有鲜明的政治导向，政治本质是政党的根本特性。所有政党都具有鲜明的政治属性，其本质区别体现在政治立场的价值取向(为谁服务)、政治联盟的归属方向(与谁同行)以及政治路线的实践方式(如何实现)三个维度，共同构成了政党政治的核心分野。列宁始终坚信，“一个阶级如果不从政治上正确地看问题，就不能维持它的统治”,放弃政治立场或怯于政治斗争，不仅会使革命政权丧失，更将使包括党的政治建设在内的一切工作陷入停滞。因此，坚持从政治上建设党是党的建设的首要基础和根本遵循。

The core essence of Lenin’s thought on strengthening the political building of the Party lies in establishing the Party’s absolute leadership position in the proletarian cause. After the victory of the October Revolution in 1917, faced with the major issue of consolidating the newborn Soviet state power and ruling position, the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) urgently needed to explore effective paths for strengthening the political building of the Party. The resolution of this epochal question was related not only to the consolidation of revolutionary achievements but also determined the direction of development of the socialist state power, becoming a major political test that the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) had to confront at that time. In the early period of the Russian revolution, Lenin had proposed the idea of multiple parties “sharing state power,” but at the same time emphasized the core leadership role of the Bolshevik Party within the state power. In early 1918, political differences over major issues such as the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk [4]4 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, Vol. 39, p. 21. [This is a standard citation format for Lenin’s works; the specific volume and page number are provided as in the original Chinese text.] led to the breakdown of the multi-party coalition government, ultimately forming a political system of one-party rule by the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks). During this historical turning point, the issue of the Party’s leadership position sparked widespread controversy: on the one hand, opposition forces in society raised the political slogan “Soviets without Bolsheviks”; on the other hand, different voices emerged within the Party calling for the transfer of state leadership to an “All-Russian Congress of Producers.” These debates essentially reflected different understandings of the model of party politics under the conditions of the dictatorship of the proletariat. In response to these erroneous views, Lenin, in his article “On Proletarian Culture,” explicitly put forward the important idea that the Party’s leadership is “general leadership” [5]5 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, Vol. 18, p. 357. [Standard citation format.]; “general leadership” is the highest leadership of an overall nature, requiring that “under the general leadership of the Soviet authorities … and the Russian Communist Party, [one’s] own tasks be fulfilled as part of the tasks of the dictatorship of the proletariat.” [6]6 The “Two Tactics” refers to Lenin’s 1905 work “Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution,” which argued for the proletariat’s leading role in the bourgeois-democratic revolution. In Lenin’s view, the Party is the highest form of proletarian unity, playing a leadership role in the proletarian revolution and construction; upholding the centralized and unified leadership of the Party is the fundamental guarantee for the success of the proletarian revolutionary cause and for establishing and consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat. He put forward the important thesis that “the dictatorship of the proletariat is the leadership of politics by the proletariat.” [7]7 “Left-Wing” Communism: An Infantile Disorder is Lenin’s 1920 polemic against sectarian and ultra-leftist tendencies in the international communist movement. Lenin’s theory on establishing the Party’s absolute leadership position in the proletarian cause profoundly clarifies that, as the highest form of proletarian organization, the Party not only bears the historical mission of leading the revolutionary struggle but is also the fundamental political guarantee for consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat. Lenin particularly emphasized that upholding the centralized and unified leadership of the Party is both the key to winning the revolution and the fundamental prerequisite for the smooth progress of the socialist construction cause.

列宁关于加强党的政治建设思想的核心要义，在于确立党在无产阶级事业中的绝对领导地位。1917年十月革命胜利后，面对巩固新生苏维埃政权和执政地位的重大课题，俄共(布)迫切需要探索加强党的政治建设的有效路径。这一时代命题的解决，既关系革命成果的巩固，也决定着社会主义政权的发展方向，成为当时俄共(布)必须应对的重大政治考验。列宁在俄国革命初期曾提出多党“分掌政权”的构想，但同时强调布尔什维克党在政权中的核心领导作用。1918年年初，围绕布列斯特和约等重大问题的政治分歧导致多党联合执政格局破裂，最终形成俄共(布)一党执政的政治体制。在这一历史转折时期，关于党的领导地位问题引发了广泛争议：一方面，社会上的反对势力提出“要苏维埃，不要布尔什维克”的政治口号；另一方面，党内也出现了要求将国家领导权移交给“全俄生产者代表大会”的不同声音。这些争论实质上反映了对无产阶级专政条件下政党政治模式的不同认识。针对这些错误观点，列宁在《关于无产阶级文化》一文中明确地提出党的领导是“总的领导”的重要思想，“总的领导”是全局性的最高领导，要“在苏维埃政权……和俄国共产党的总的领导下，把自己的任务当做无产阶级专政任务的一部分来完成”。在列宁看来，党是无产阶级联合的最高形式，在无产阶级革命和建设中发挥着领导作用，坚持党的集中统一领导是无产阶级革命事业取得成功和建立、巩固无产阶级专政的根本保证，他提出了“无产阶级专政就是无产阶级对政治的领导”的重要论断。列宁关于确立党在无产阶级事业中的绝对领导地位的理论深刻阐明，作为无产阶级组织的最高形式，党不仅肩负着领导革命斗争的历史使命，更是巩固无产阶级专政的根本政治保证。列宁特别强调，坚持党的集中统一领导，既是夺取革命胜利的关键所在，也是社会主义建设事业顺利推进的根本前提。

As the vanguard of the proletariat and the highest form of political organization, the proletarian party is the core force leading the various mass organizations of the proletariat in revolutionary struggle and ultimately in seizing state power. Lenin pointed out that only when “the highest form of class unity of the proletarians, that is, the revolutionary party of the proletariat” [8]8 The “Left” Communists were a faction within the Russian Communist Party and the international communist movement around 1918-1920 that opposed any compromise with capitalist states or non-communist forces. is established can the proletariat undergo a qualitative change; its establishment transforms the proletariat from a “class-in-itself” into a “class-for-itself.” [9]9 The October Revolution refers to the Bolshevik-led seizure of power in Russia in November 1917 (October in the old Russian calendar). By integrating various organizational resources, the proletarian party builds a powerful system of political mobilization, becoming the command center for leading the proletariat and the broad masses of the people in revolutionary struggle. In Lenin’s view, long-term practice of class struggle led the proletariat, in order to meet the needs of struggle in different fields, to successively create various organizational forms such as trade unions, producers’ cooperatives, youth vanguards, women’s associations, and revolutionary armed forces. These mass organizations played a unique role in uniting and educating the masses in specific fields, together constituting the organizational system of the proletarian revolution and laying a solid organizational foundation for overthrowing the rule of the bourgeoisie. Among them, the proletarian party always occupies the leading position, integrating these scattered forces into a unified revolutionary whole through its political program and organizational principles. In this regard, Lenin pointed out: “The Party is the directly ruling vanguard of the proletariat; it is the leader.” [10]10 The Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was the name of the ruling party in Soviet Russia from 1918 to 1925. This “leader” is reflected not only in the “political leadership” of mass organizations but also in the Party’s comprehensive leadership over the Soviet state power, covering all fields such as politics, economy, culture, and society, and implementing unified leadership over the work of all state organs. Therefore, within the Party’s system of comprehensive leadership, political leadership must occupy the primary position; its essential requirement is to ensure the correct political direction of national development. Lenin’s innovative theory of “political leadership” emphasizes the theses that “the dictatorship of the proletariat is the leadership of politics by the proletariat” and that “politics cannot but take precedence over economics,” [11]11 The 20th National Congress of the CPC was held in October 2022. which not only embodies the ruling requirements of the proletarian party but also provides the fundamental guideline for correctly handling the relationship between the Party and the state, namely, that all state organs and mass organizations should consciously uphold and submit to the Party’s political leadership. This is the fundamental political principle of socialist state governance.

无产阶级政党作为无产阶级先锋队和最高政治组织形式，是领导无产阶级各类群众组织进行革命斗争、最终夺取国家政权的核心力量。列宁指出，只有“当无产者的阶级联合的最高形式，即无产阶级的革命政党”建立起来，无产阶级才能发生质的变化，它的建立使无产阶级从“自在阶级”转变为“自为阶级”。无产阶级政党通过整合各类组织资源，构建起强大的政治动员体系，成为领导无产阶级和广大人民群众进行革命斗争的指挥中枢。在列宁看来，长期的阶级斗争实践，使得无产阶级为适应不同领域的斗争需要，先后创建工会组织、生产合作社、青年先锋队、妇女联合会、革命武装等多种组织形式。这些群众性组织在特定领域发挥着团结教育群众的独特作用，共同构成了无产阶级革命的组织体系，为推翻资产阶级统治奠定了坚实的组织基础。其中，无产阶级政党始终居于领导地位，通过政治纲领和组织原则将这些分散的力量整合为统一的革命整体。对此，列宁指出：“党是直接执政的无产阶级先锋队，是领导者。”这种“领导者”,不仅体现为对群众性组织的“政治领导”,还表现在党对苏维埃政权实行的全面领导上，涵盖了政治、经济、文化、社会等各领域，并对所有国家机关工作实施统一领导。因此，在党的全面领导体系中，政治领导必须居于首要地位，其本质要求是确保国家发展的正确政治方向。列宁的“政治领导”创新理论，强调“无产阶级专政就是无产阶级对政治的领导”和“政治同经济相比不能不占首位”的论断，既体现了无产阶级政党的执政要求，又为正确处理党政关系提供了根本遵循，即所有国家机关和群众性组织都应当自觉维护和服从党的政治领导，这是社会主义国家治理的根本政治原则。

II. It Is Necessary to Closely Adhere to the People’s Hearts, the Biggest Politics

二、要紧扣民心这个最大的政治

Based on the fundamental principles of Marxism, Lenin pointed out that the fundamental purpose of a proletarian party lies in representing and safeguarding the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of working people; this is its essential characteristic that distinguishes it from other parties. This thorough class nature and people-centered character determine that, on the one hand, the party’s advanced nature originates from its flesh-and-blood ties with the masses, enabling it to scientifically grasp the laws of historical development, while the party’s political legitimacy is likewise built on the practical foundation of “working for the interests of the vast majority,” rather than serving special interest groups; on the other hand, the party’s historical mission is embodied in achieving the comprehensive liberation of humanity and social fairness and justice through organizing mass revolution. In this regard, Lenin pointed out that “being able to maintain ties, to approach, and to a certain extent even to merge with the broadest masses of working people, first and foremost with the proletarian working masses, but also with the non-proletarian working masses” was one of the conditions for the victory of the Russian proletarian dictatorship. This value orientation enables the proletarian party to become the vanguard force through which the masses understand and transform the world.

列宁基于马克思主义基本原理指出，无产阶级政党的根本宗旨在于代表和维护最广大劳动群众的根本利益，这是其区别于其他政党的本质特征。这种彻底的阶级性和人民性决定了，一方面党的先进性源于其同人民群众的血肉联系，能够科学把握历史发展规律，而党的政治合法性同样建立在“为绝大多数人谋利益”的实践基础上，而非服务于特殊利益集团；另一方面党的历史使命体现为通过组织群众革命，实现人的全面解放和社会公平正义。对此，列宁指出，“善于同最广大的劳动群众，首先是同无产阶级劳动群众，但同样也同非无产阶级劳动群众联系、接近，甚至可以说在某种程度上同他们打成一片”是俄国无产阶级专政取得胜利的条件之一。这种价值取向使无产阶级政党能够成为人民群众认识世界和改造世界的先锋力量。

In Lenin’s view, the party is the vanguard of the proletariat and the working masses, the core force representing the people’s interests and leading the revolutionary struggle; Communists should “go wherever there are masses to work.” He repeatedly and sharply criticized the erroneous tendency to narrowly ossify party organizations into small groups or closed circles, pointing out that this tendency confined the party to factional interests and limited perspectives, causing it to lose its essential attribute as the vanguard of the proletariat and the political representative of the broad working masses, and rendering it unable to truly play its leading core role in revolutionary practice. Lenin pointed out that Communists should carry out mass work in all organs, associations, and societies where there are proletarian or semi-proletarian masses, and should conduct propaganda and agitation in a planned, persistent, steadfast, and patient manner within workers’ organizations that have a broad mass base, even if these organizations are extremely reactionary. For example, on the question of whether to participate in reactionary trade unions and conduct mass work within them, Lenin criticized the erroneous proposal of “Left” Communists to withdraw from trade unions on the grounds that the upper echelons of the unions were reactionary and counter-revolutionary, pointing out that this was a political infantile disorder and, moreover, a behavior of breaking away from the masses. Using the scientific methods of historical materialism and dialectical materialism, Lenin made a comprehensive and profound evaluation of trade union organizations. He fully affirmed the historical progressiveness of trade unions in the development of the workers’ movement, while also soberly recognizing their historical limitations. On the one hand, he believed that the establishment of trade unions was a great step forward for the working class, realizing the initial class unity of workers. On the other hand, he believed that trade unions could not yet avoid the influence of trade unionism; with the establishment and development of the proletarian revolutionary party, trade unions inevitably revealed certain reactionary colors, giving rise to problems such as reactionary leaders, a “workers’ aristocracy,” agents of the bourgeoisie who broke away from the majority of workers, and even the emergence of “bourgeoisified workers.”

在列宁看来，党是无产阶级和劳动群众的先锋队，是代表人民利益、领导革命斗争的核心力量，共产党人应当做到“哪里有群众，就一定到哪里去工作”。他曾多次尖锐批判那种将党组织狭隘地固化为小团体或封闭小组的错误倾向，指出这种倾向使党囿于宗派利益和有限视野，丧失了作为无产阶级先锋队和广大劳动群众政治代表的本质属性，无法在革命实践中真正发挥领导核心作用。列宁指出，共产党人应该在一切有无产阶级群众或半无产阶级群众的机关、社团和协会中开展群众工作，要在拥有广泛群众基础的工人组织中有计划地、坚持不懈地、坚定不移地、充满耐心地进行宣传和鼓动工作，哪怕这些组织是极端反动的。例如，在是否参加反动工会，并在反动工会里做群众工作的问题上，列宁曾批判“左派”共产党人以工会上层分子反动反革命为理由，提出要退出工会的错误主张，指出这是一种政治上的幼稚病，更是一种脱离群众的行为。列宁运用历史唯物主义和辩证唯物主义的科学方法，对工会组织作出了全面而深刻的评价。他既充分肯定工会在工人运动发展中的历史进步性，又清醒认识到其存在的历史局限性。一方面，他认为建立工会是工人阶级的一大进步，实现了工人初步的阶级联合。另一方面，他认为工会还不能避免工联主义的影响，随着无产阶级革命政党的建立和发展，工会不可避免地暴露出某些反动色彩，出现了反动领袖、“工人贵族”、资产阶级的代理人等脱离大多数劳动者的问题，甚至出现了“资产阶级化了的工人”的问题。

In response to the above problems, Lenin emphasized in his discussion of revolutionary strategy that the proletarian vanguard must go deep into reactionary trade unions to carry out mass work. Through systematic propaganda, education, and organizational work within the trade unions, it can effectively win over those backward workers who are still in the process of political awakening. On this basis, it helps the working masses recognize the essence of class struggle in practice. For example, on the question of whether to participate in bourgeois parliaments, “Left” Communists believed that parliamentarism was politically obsolete and resolutely refused to participate. Lenin, however, believed that the revolutionary proletarian party must participate in parliamentary elections and parliamentary struggle. Standing on the standpoint of the working masses, Lenin elaborated two reasons: first, “we cannot consider that what is obsolete for us is also obsolete for the class, for the masses”; the actual level of political consciousness of the entire proletariat and all working masses must be taken as the basis for consideration, not limited to the narrow scope of the Communist vanguard and advanced elements, but this does not mean lowering the revolutionary movement to the level of the backward strata of the proletariat; second, the “purpose of participation is precisely to educate the backward strata of one’s own class, precisely to awaken and enlighten the rural masses who are of a low level, downtrodden, and benighted,” thereby using parliamentary activity as an important form of struggle to accumulate revolutionary forces, educate the masses, and expose the hypocritical nature of bourgeois democracy.

针对上述问题，列宁在论述革命策略时强调，无产阶级先锋队必须深入反动工会开展群众工作，通过在工会内部进行系统的宣传教育和组织工作，能够有效地争取那些尚处于政治觉醒过程中的落后工人群众。在此基础上，帮助工人群众在实践中认清阶级斗争的本质。例如，在是否参加资产阶级议会的问题上，“左派”共产党人认为议会制在政治上已经过时了，坚决拒绝参加。列宁则认为革命无产阶级政党必须参加议会选举，参加议会斗争。列宁站在劳动群众的立场上，阐述了两点原因：一是“不能认为对于我们已经过时的东西，对于阶级、对于群众也已经过时”,要以整个无产阶级和全体劳动群众的实际觉悟程度为基础进行考量，而不仅限于共产主义先锋队和先进分子的狭窄范围之内，但这也并不意味着把革命运动降低到无产阶级落后群众的水平；二是参加议会的“目的正是在于教育本阶级的落后阶层，正是在于唤醒和启发水平不高的、备受压抑的和愚昧无知的农村群众”,从而将议会活动作为积蓄革命力量、教育群众和揭露资产阶级民主虚伪本质的重要斗争形式。

In addition, Lenin also pointed out that to win the trust of the masses and effectively educate them, the proletarian party must adhere to the working method of “going among the masses,” maintaining close ties with the masses, listening to their voices, and conducting propaganda and education in conjunction with their immediate interests, so that the party’s policies and propositions are truly understood and grasped by the masses. First, it must maintain close ties and merge with the masses of its own class and the broad working masses, whether proletarian working masses or non-proletarian working masses. The proletarian working masses are the class foundation of the Communist Party, and the non-proletarian working masses are also an important force that the party should unite with and cannot ignore. Second, attention must be paid to methods of mass work. It must be good at conducting propaganda and organization in the most clear and vivid manner; in actual revolutionary movements, it must flexibly use various means of struggle according to specific circumstances to achieve the best results in mass work. Third, it must correctly treat the mistakes the party itself has made and correct them. “The attitude of a political party towards its own mistakes is one of the most important and most reliable criteria for measuring whether the party is serious and whether it truly fulfills its obligations to its own class and to the working masses.” A mature and serious party will not evade its own mistakes; instead, it will have the courage to openly admit them, carefully analyze the environment and causes of the mistakes, accurately grasp the essence and impact of the mistakes, seriously discuss methods for correcting them, deeply reflect on and sum up the lessons learned, and avoid repeating similar mistakes. The Communist Party must be good at using mistakes to make the party recognize its own shortcomings, continuously promote self-improvement and self-innovation; this is also a good opportunity for the party to demonstrate its sincerity and responsibility to the outside world, to educate and train the proletariat and the broad working masses, thereby enhancing the masses’ trust in and support for the party.

除此之外，列宁还指出无产阶级政党要赢得群众的信任并有效地教育群众，必须坚持“到群众中去”的工作方法，通过密切联系群众、倾听群众呼声、结合群众切身利益开展宣传教育，使党的政策主张真正为群众所理解和掌握。一是要与本阶级群众和广大劳动群众保持密切联系、打成一片，无论是无产阶级劳动群众，还是非无产阶级劳动群众。无产阶级劳动群众是共产党的阶级基础，非无产阶级劳动群众也是党应该团结和不可忽视的重要力量。二是要注意群众工作方式。善于用最明白且生动的方式进行宣传、组织，在实际革命运动中，要根据具体情况灵活运用各种斗争手段，达到最佳的群众工作效果。三是要正确地对待党自身所犯的错误并改正错误。“一个政党对自己的错误所抱的态度，是衡量这个党是否郑重，是否真正履行它对本阶级和劳动群众所负义务的一个最重要最可靠的尺度。”一个成熟且郑重的政党，不会回避自身的错误，而是会勇于公开承认错误，仔细剖析产生错误的环境与原因，准确把握错误的本质和影响，认真讨论改正错误的方法，深入反思总结经验教训，避免类似错误再次发生。共产党要善于利用错误，使党认识到自身存在的不足，不断推动自我完善和自我革新，也是党向外界展现自身坦诚与责任、教育和训练无产阶级以及广大劳动群众的良好契机，从而增强群众对党的信任和支持。

III. Ensuring that the Party Always Possesses Strong Political Leadership

三、要确保党始终具备强大的政治领导力

A stable leading group is the core guarantee for a party to maintain cohesion and achieve sustained development. This group is usually composed of the party’s most prestigious, experienced, and strategically minded members, who are granted the title of “leaders” and become the hub of organizational operation and the guide of ideology. When exercising power, they reach basic political consensus through collective decision-making mechanisms, coordinate resource allocation, and provide authoritative decisions in times of crisis. In his article “What Is to Be Done?”, Lenin pointed out that establishing “an organization of professional revolutionaries, led by the genuine political leaders of the entire people,” that is, a centralized and unified all-Russian party, was an urgent task. As the political leadership core of the party, the party’s leaders and a stable leading group play a vital role in strengthening the party’s political leadership and enhancing the party’s political stability by analyzing the situation, formulating policies, consolidating forces, and guiding the direction.

一个稳定的领导集团是政党保持凝聚力和持续发展的核心保障。这一集团通常由党内最具威望、经验与战略眼光的成员组成，他们被赋予“领袖”的称号，成为组织运转的中枢和意识形态的引领者。在行使权力时，他们通过集体决策机制，达成基本政治共识，统筹资源配置，并在危机中提供权威决断。列宁在《怎么办?》一文中指出，建立“一个由职业革命家组成而由全体人民的真正的政治领袖们领导的组织”即一个全俄的集中统一的政党是当务之急。作为党的政治领导核心，党的领袖和一个稳定的领导集团通过研判形势、制定政策、凝聚力量、引领方向等，在增强党的政治领导、增强党的政治稳定性方面发挥着至关重要的作用。

Proletarian leaders are both the advanced representatives of the masses and ordinary members of the revolutionary ranks. The fundamental reason they can become the guides of the revolutionary cause lies in their constant sharing of the breath and destiny of their class brothers, and their most thorough representation of the fundamental interests of the proletariat and the working masses. It is precisely this class character of being closely linked with the masses that enables leaders to concentrate the wisdom of the masses, grasp the laws of history, and display extraordinary political foresight and organizational ability in revolutionary practice, thereby winning the heartfelt love and following of the masses and leading the revolutionary cause from victory to new victories. In Lenin’s view, “the masses are divided into classes… classes are led by political parties; parties are usually run by more or less stable groups of the most authoritative, influential, and experienced members, who are elected to the most important positions and are called leaders.” [4]4 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, Vol. 39, p. 21. [This is a standard citation format for Lenin’s works; the specific volume and page number are provided as in the original Chinese text.] First, the Party’s leaders must have rich political experience. “To train a group of experienced and highly authoritative Party leaders is a long and difficult task.” Party leaders must undergo long-term, arduous training and testing in revolutionary practice; the more they participate in revolutionary practice, the deeper their understanding of the laws of revolutionary development and the more experienced they themselves become. Second, Party leaders must be politically mature and capable. Lenin pointed out that Party leaders must have “the necessary knowledge, the necessary experience, the necessary (in addition to knowledge and experience) political instinct to quickly and correctly resolve various complex political problems.” Party leaders should stand higher and see farther than ordinary people; on the basis of correctly understanding the laws of social development, they should point out the direction forward for the proletariat and its party, guiding the people step by step to seize victory.

无产阶级领袖既是人民群众的先进代表，又是革命队伍中的普通一员。他们之所以能够成为革命事业的领路人，根本在于始终与阶级兄弟同呼吸、共命运，最彻底地代表无产阶级和劳动群众的根本利益。正是这种与人民群众血肉相连的阶级本色，使领袖们能够集中群众智慧、把握历史规律，在革命实践中展现出非凡的政治远见和组织才能，从而赢得人民群众发自内心的爱戴与追随，领导革命事业从胜利走向新的胜利。在列宁看来，“群众是划分为阶级的……阶级是由政党来领导的；政党通常是由最有威信、最有影响、最有经验、被选出担任最重要职务而称为领袖的人们所组成的比较稳定的集团来主持的”。第一，党的领袖要有丰富的政治经验。“造就一批有经验、有极高威望的党的领袖是一件长期的艰难的事情。”党的领袖必须在革命实践中经历长期的艰苦的锻炼和考验，并且参加革命实践越多，对革命发展规律的认识就越深刻、自身就越有经验。第二，党的领袖要在政治上成熟且有才干。列宁指出，党的领袖要有“必要的知识、必要的经验、必要的(除了知识和经验之外)政治嗅觉，来迅速而正确地解决各种复杂的政治问题”。党的领袖应该比一般人站得高、看得远，在正确认识社会发展规律的基础上，为无产阶级及其政党指明前进方向，引导人民一步一步地夺取胜利。

In Lenin’s view, the stability of the Party’s leading core is the fundamental guarantee of the Party’s vitality and combat effectiveness, directly affecting the Party’s governing capacity and advanced nature building; the Party’s leading group must maintain a high degree of unity and stability. Only by ensuring a high degree of consistency in the leading core regarding political direction, organizational principles, and major decisions can the Party’s centralized unity be effectively maintained, ensuring unified thinking and coordinated action throughout the Party, forming an invincible leadership, and promoting the steady progress of the Party’s and people’s cause along the correct path. From its founding in 1898 until 1912, when the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks) became an independent Marxist party and gained a dominant position, the Party’s leading core was always in an unstable state. It was only through Lenin’s struggles with Plekhanov, Martov, Trotsky, Bukharin, and others that the leading group represented by Lenin was gradually established, and the leading group of the Party’s central leading organs gradually stabilized. At the same time, there must also be a core within the leading group; among the leaders in the leading group, they are not parallel and equal; there is always a “first violinist” and a “second violinist.” The core figure in the leading group possesses the strongest judgment, the highest decision-making power, and the greatest influence; they can usually grasp the overall situation, discern the situation, make accurate judgments on key issues, and better foresee future development trends; they bear the responsibility of leading the entire Party’s work and have the power to decide all major issues; they can enhance the cohesion and centripetal force of the leading group and lead the entire leading group to jointly respond to various challenges and difficulties.

在列宁看来，党的领导核心的稳定是党的生命力和战斗力的根本保证，直接关系党的执政能力和先进性建设，党的领袖集团必须保持高度团结稳定。只有确保领导核心在政治方向、组织原则和重大决策上的高度一致，才能有效维护党的集中统一，确保全党思想统一、步调一致，形成无坚不摧的领导力，推动党和人民事业沿着正确方向稳步前进。俄国社会民主工党自1898年成立，一直到1912年俄国社会民主工党(布尔什维克)成为独立的马克思主义政党并取得主导地位，党的领导核心始终处于不稳定的状态，列宁经过与普列汉诺夫、马尔托夫、托洛茨基、布哈林等人进行斗争，才逐渐确立了以列宁为代表的领袖集团，党的中央领导机关的领袖集团才逐步稳定下来。同时，领袖集团中也要有一个核心，在领袖集团中，每一位领袖也不是并列平行的，总要有“第一小提琴手”“第二小提琴手”。领袖集团中的核心人物具有最强的判断力、最高的决策权、最大的影响力，通常能够把握大局，洞察形势，对关键问题作出准确判断，能够更好地预见未来发展趋势；担负领导全党工作的责任，拥有决定一切重大问题的权力；能够增强领袖集团的凝聚力和向心力，能够带领整个领袖集团共同应对各种挑战和困难。

In the historical process of building a proletarian party, there has always been an erroneous tendency to oppose leaders to the masses. Lenin provided a profound dialectical explanation of this, pointing out that the relationship between leaders and the masses is essentially a unified organic whole. On the one hand, the leaders of a proletarian party must always be rooted in the class foundation and the soil of the masses; their leading authority comes from a deep understanding and conscious practice of the masses’ position as the main body of history. On the other hand, the revolutionary practice of the masses also requires a collective of leaders who master scientific theory as the political core; otherwise, the revolutionary movement will fall into spontaneity and blindness. This dialectical relationship requires: while resolutely opposing the feudal remnants of deifying leaders and engaging in personality cults, always maintaining a clear-headed understanding of historical materialism; it is also necessary to guard against the nihilistic tendency to completely negate the historical role of leaders, scientifically evaluating the important contributions of leaders under specific historical conditions. Only by accurately grasping this dialectical unity in theory and practice can a proletarian party ensure both correct political direction and a solid mass base. As Lenin said: “Worker leaders are not angels, not saints, not heroes, but ordinary people. They make mistakes, and the Party corrects these mistakes. The German workers’ party even corrected the opportunist mistakes of such a great leader as Bebel.” This scientific attitude opposes both the tendency to deify leaders through personality cults and the nihilism that completely negates the historical contributions of leaders, reflecting the theoretical sobriety and political maturity that Marxists should possess when evaluating historical figures.

在无产阶级政党建设的历史进程中，始终存在着将领袖与群众对立起来的错误倾向。列宁对此作出了深刻的辩证阐释，指出领袖与群众的关系本质上是统一的有机整体。一方面，无产阶级政党的领袖必须始终扎根于阶级基础与群众土壤，其领导权威来源于对人民群众历史主体地位的深刻认知与自觉践行。另一方面，人民群众的革命实践也需要以掌握科学理论的领袖集体为政治核心，否则革命运动就会陷入自发性和盲目性。这种辩证关系要求：既要坚决反对神化领袖、搞个人崇拜的封建残余思想，始终保持历史唯物主义的清醒认识；也要警惕全盘否定领袖历史作用的虚无主义倾向，科学评价领袖在特定历史条件下的重要贡献。只有在理论与实践上准确把握这种辩证统一关系，才能确保无产阶级政党既保持正确的政治方向，又拥有坚实的群众基础。正如列宁所言：“工人领袖不是天使，不是圣人，不是英雄，而是普通的人。他们犯了错误，党就去纠正这些错误。德国工人党甚至纠正过像倍倍尔这样伟大的领袖所犯的机会主义错误。”这种科学态度既反对将领袖神化的个人崇拜倾向，也反对全盘否定领袖历史贡献的虚无主义，体现了马克思主义者在评价历史人物时应有的理论清醒和政治成熟。

IV. To Formulate and Adhere to a Correct Political Program

四、要制定和坚持正确的政治纲领

A political program is the basic action guideline and policy overview formulated by a political party, organization, or government to achieve its political goals. Profound historical experience shows that a scientific and correct political program is the fundamental basis for unifying the thinking, will, and action of the entire Party; it can gather powerful forces to overcome difficulties and push the revolutionary and construction cause from victory to victory. Conversely, a political program divorced from reality will demoralize the fighting spirit, miss opportunities, and cause serious losses to the Party’s and the state’s cause. Therefore, in Lenin’s view, “to build a party, it is not enough to just shout ‘unity’; there must also be a political program, a program of political action,” [5]5 V. I. Lenin, *Collected Works*, Vol. 18, p. 357. [Standard citation format.] and its degree of scientific completeness is of decisive significance for ensuring that the Party’s political leadership advances in the correct direction.

政治纲领是一个政党、组织或政府为实现其政治目标而制定的基本行动方针和政策总览。历史经验深刻表明，科学正确的政治纲领是统一全党思想意志行动的根本遵循，能够凝聚起攻坚克难的强大力量，推动革命和建设事业不断从胜利走向胜利；而脱离实际的政治纲领则会涣散斗志、贻误战机，给党和国家事业造成严重损失。因此，在列宁看来，“要建设党，光会叫喊‘统一’是不够的，还要有一个政治纲领，政治行动的纲领”,其科学完备的程度对于保证党的政治领导沿着正确方向前进具有决定性意义。

In Lenin’s view, the Party’s political program is the concentrated expression of the Party’s political views, a political declaration proclaimed to the whole of society, determining the Party’s goals and direction of advance. In its struggle against opportunism, the Mensheviks, and other political factions, the Bolshevik Party led by Lenin always adhered to a clear political program; this unity of principle and strategy became an important guarantee for the victory of the Russian revolution. At the Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903, Lenin led the formulation of the Party’s minimum program, clearly proposing the revolutionary goals of overthrowing the tsarist autocracy, completing the bourgeois-democratic revolution, and establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat. After the victory of the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolshevik Party led the people in smashing the counterattacks of reactionary forces at home and abroad, successfully defending Soviet power. With the development of the revolutionary situation, the Eighth Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1919 timely adjusted the minimum program, determining the Party’s stage-by-stage task as realizing the transition from capitalism to socialism, opening a new journey of socialist revolution and construction.

在列宁看来，党的政治纲领是政党政治主张的集中体现，是向全社会宣示的政治宣言，决定着政党的奋斗目标和前进方向。列宁领导的布尔什维克党在与机会主义、孟什维克等政治派别的斗争中，始终坚持鲜明的政治纲领，这种原则性与策略性的统一成为俄国革命胜利的重要保证。1903年在俄国社会民主工党第二次代表大会上，列宁主导制定了党的最低纲领，明确提出推翻沙皇专制制度、完成资产阶级民主革命、建立无产阶级专政的革命目标。1917年十月革命胜利后，布尔什维克党领导人民粉碎国内外反动势力的反扑，成功捍卫了苏维埃政权。随着革命形势的发展，1919年俄共(布)八大适时调整最低纲领，将党的阶段性任务确定为实现从资本主义向社会主义的过渡，开启了社会主义革命和建设的新征程。

Lenin always held that formulating and adhering to correct strategy and tactics was the key link and concrete path for implementing the Party’s political program. In his early theoretical construction, Lenin once elevated the issue of tactics to the strategic level for elaboration, encompassing content such as forms of struggle, working methods, and means of implementation. In 1905, in his article “Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution,” Lenin argued: “The adoption of correct tactical decisions is of enormous importance for a party that wants to lead the proletariat in accordance with the firm principles of Marxism and not merely to trail in the wake of events.” In 1920, in his article “Left-Wing” Communism: An Infantile Disorder, Lenin began to distinguish between strategy and tactics, pointing out that “the correctness of the political leadership exercised by this vanguard, the correctness of its political strategy and tactics, provided the broadest masses, through their own experience, are convinced of this correctness” was one of the conditions for the success of the Russian revolution. At the same time, Lenin pointed out that when formulating strategy and tactics, a proletarian party should flexibly employ forms of struggle such as legal and illegal, peaceful and violent, parliamentary and mass-based. For example, in response to the erroneous view of the “Left” Communists who categorically denied all compromises, Lenin argued that one must size up the situation and distinguish between two types of compromise: one is a necessary compromise forced by objective conditions, which is a need of the revolutionary struggle, a flexible expression of revolutionary strategy, a tactic of making a roundabout advance, which does not harm the fundamental interests of the proletariat and in no way weakens or shakes the workers’ firm revolutionary conviction and their determination for sustained struggle; the other is a traitor’s compromise, a manifestation of an unsteady revolutionary stance and revolutionary principles, which nevertheless shifts the cause and responsibility onto objective conditions.

列宁始终认为，制定和坚持正确的战略和策略是落实党的政治纲领的关键环节和具体路径。在早期理论建构中，列宁曾一度将策略问题提升至战略层面进行阐述，涵盖了斗争方式、工作方法和实施手段等内容。1905年，列宁在《社会民主党在民主革命中的两种策略》一文中认为：“制定正确的策略决议，这对一个想根据马克思主义的坚定原则来领导无产阶级而不仅是跟在事变后面做尾巴的政党来说，是有巨大意义的。”1920年，列宁在《共产主义运动中的“左派”幼稚病》一文中开始对战略和策略进行区分，指出“靠这个先锋队所实行的政治领导正确，靠它的政治战略和策略正确，而最广大的群众根据切身经验也确信其正确”是俄国革命取得成功的条件之一。同时列宁指出，无产阶级政党在制定战略和策略时，应灵活运用合法的与非法的、和平的与暴力的、议会的与群众的等斗争形式。例如，针对“左派”共产党人笼统否定一切妥协的错误观点，列宁认为要审时度势，分清两种妥协之间的差别：一种是为客观条件所迫而作的必要的妥协，这种妥协是革命斗争的需要，是革命策略的灵活表现，是进行迂回进攻的策略，不会危害无产阶级的根本利益，也丝毫不会削弱和动摇工人对革命的坚定信念和持续斗争的决心；而另一种则是叛徒的妥协，是革命立场和革命原则不坚定的表现，却把原因与责任归咎于客观条件。

V. Political Discipline and Political Rules Must Be Placed in a Prominent Position

五、要把严明政治纪律和政治规矩摆在突出位置

Political discipline is the lifeline of the Party, the most important, most fundamental, and most crucial discipline, and the fundamental guarantee for maintaining the Party’s unity and solidarity. Strictly observing the Party’s political discipline is the core requirement for observing all of the Party’s discipline, and the fundamental prerequisite for upholding the Party’s political leadership and ensuring ideological unity and coordinated action throughout the Party. “The strictest centralisation and the strictest discipline within the proletarian party are essential.” Lenin consistently adhered to strict disciplinary principles during the periods of revolution and construction. Whether facing the arduous struggle of the civil war period or the complex tasks of the socialist construction period, the Party maintained a high degree of ideological unity and organizational solidarity, thereby demonstrating strong combat effectiveness and cohesion, becoming an important guarantee for promoting revolutionary victory and achieving construction achievements.

政治纪律是党的生命线，是最重要、最根本、最关键的纪律，是维护党的团结统一的根本保证。严守党的政治纪律，是遵守党的全部纪律的核心要求，是坚持党的政治领导、保证全党思想一致、步调统一的根本前提，“无产阶级政党的内部就必须实行极严格的集中和极严格的纪律”。列宁在革命和建设时期始终贯彻严格的纪律原则，无论是面对国内战争时期的艰苦斗争，还是面对社会主义建设时期的复杂任务，党内都保持了高度的思想统一和组织团结，从而展现出强大的战斗力和凝聚力，成为推动革命胜利和取得建设成就的重要保障。

The distinctive feature that distinguishes a proletarian party from other parties lies in the “iron” requirements of its political discipline. As the vanguard organization of the working class, the proletarian party shoulders the historical mission of overthrowing the rule of the bourgeoisie, establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat, leading socialist construction, and ultimately realizing communism. The long-term, complex, and arduous nature of this mission fundamentally determines that the Party must implement the strictest political discipline. First, iron discipline is necessary to defeat powerful enemies and win the complete victory of the proletarian revolution. Lenin pointed out, “The absolute centralisation and the strictest discipline of the proletariat are one of the fundamental conditions for victory over the bourgeoisie.” This is Lenin’s summary of the experience of the Bolshevik Party in leading the Russian revolution to victory. Without strict discipline, the proletariat cannot even speak of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Second, after the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the Party still needs iron discipline. Iron discipline is necessary not only for seizing power and establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat but also for consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat. Lenin pointed out, “If our Party had not had the strictest, truly iron discipline… then the Bolsheviks would not have been able to hold power for two and a half months, let alone two and a half years.” Lenin believed that after the establishment of the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat, class struggle does not end but continues under new conditions. After the victory of the October Revolution, it was precisely because the Bolshevik Party had iron discipline that it was able to defeat domestic and foreign reactionary armed interventionists, organize the Soviet people to restore the national economy, and relatively smoothly carry out socialist economic construction.

无产阶级政党区别于其他政党的鲜明特征，在于其政治纪律具有“铁”一般的要求。作为工人阶级的先锋队组织，无产阶级政党肩负着推翻资产阶级统治、建立无产阶级专政、领导社会主义建设直至实现共产主义的历史使命。这一使命的长期性、复杂性和艰巨性，从根本上决定了党必须实行最严格的政治纪律。第一，铁的纪律是战胜强大敌人，夺取无产阶级革命彻底胜利的需要。列宁指出，“无产阶级实现无条件的集中和极严格的纪律，是战胜资产阶级的基本条件之一”,这是列宁对布尔什维克党领导俄国革命取得胜利的经验总结，无产阶级如果没有严格的纪律，就谈不上无产阶级专政。第二，建立无产阶级专政后，党仍然需要有铁的纪律，铁的纪律不仅是夺取政权建立无产阶级专政所必需的，而且也是巩固无产阶级专政所必需的。列宁指出，“如果我们党没有极严格的真正铁的纪律……那么布尔什维克别说把政权保持两年半，就是两个半月也保持不住”。列宁认为，无产阶级专政国家建立后，不是阶级斗争的结束，而是阶级斗争在新形势下的继续。十月革命胜利后，布尔什维克党正因为有了铁一般的纪律，才战胜了国内外反动武装干涉者，才得以组织苏联人民恢复国民经济，较顺利地进行社会主义经济建设。

The most fundamental aspect of strictly enforcing the Party’s political discipline is resolutely upholding the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership. Political discipline requires that all Party members and Party organizations at all levels maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee in political stance, political direction, political principles, and political path. In the organizational system of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), whether it was central organizations, local organizations, or grassroots organizations, all had to strictly follow the principle of democratic centralism. Among them, the Party’s central organization, as the leadership core of the entire Party, represents and centrally embodies the unified will of the entire Party. Historical experience shows that without the constraint of iron discipline, the Party will lose its cohesion and combat effectiveness, the line, principles, and policies of the Party Central Committee will be difficult to implement effectively, and the Party will be unable to shoulder the historical mission of leading the cause of revolution and construction. Any behavior that undermines the centralized unity of the Party, such as engaging in duplicity, being a person of two faces, practicing “selective implementation” from higher authorities, or paying lip service while acting in opposition and going one’s own way, must be resolutely corrected and seriously dealt with. In this regard, Lenin emphasized, “Refusal to submit to the leadership of the central body is tantamount to refusing to remain in the Party, it is tantamount to destroying the Party.” Lenin always waged an uncompromising struggle against behavior that undermined the Party’s political discipline with firm principle, resolutely opposing any form of decentralism, localism, and liberalist tendencies. By strengthening the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee and the guarantee of iron discipline, he ensured that the entire Party maintained a high degree of consistency politically, ideologically, and organizationally, achieving the unity of will and unity of action of the proletarian party.

严明党的政治纪律，最根本的是坚决维护党中央权威和集中统一领导。政治纪律要求全体党员和各级党组织在政治立场、政治方向、政治原则、政治道路上同党中央保持高度一致。在俄共(布)的组织体系中，无论是中央组织、地方组织还是基层组织，都必须严格遵循民主集中制原则，其中，党的中央组织作为全党的领导核心，代表和集中体现全党统一意志。历史经验表明，没有铁的纪律约束，党就会丧失凝聚力和战斗力，党中央的路线方针政策就难以得到有效落实，党就无法肩负起领导革命和建设事业的历史使命。对于任何搞两面派、做两面人，搞上有政策、下有对策，以及阳奉阴违、自行其是等破坏党的集中统一的行为，都必须予以坚决纠正和严肃处理。对此，列宁强调，“拒绝服从中央机关的领导，就等于拒绝留在党内，就等于破坏党”。列宁始终以坚定的原则性同破坏党的政治纪律的行为进行毫不妥协的斗争，坚决反对任何形式的分散主义、地方主义和自由主义倾向，通过加强党中央集中统一领导和铁的纪律保障，确保全党在政治上、思想上和组织上保持高度一致，实现无产阶级政党的意志统一和行动一致。

VI. The Contemporary Value of Lenin’s Thought on Strengthening the Party’s Political Construction

六、列宁关于加强党的政治建设思想的当代价值

Under the background of the New Era, strengthening the Party’s political construction is a major strategic task for advancing comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, and it is also an inevitable choice for the Communist Party of China to respond to changes unseen in a century in the world and the challenges of the times. Deeply understanding and scientifically grasping the essence of Lenin’s thought on the political construction of the proletarian party has important theoretical value and practical guiding significance for the Communist Party of China in its new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, using the Party’s self-revolution to lead social revolution, and deeply advancing the great new project of Party building in the New Era.

新时代背景下，加强党的政治建设是推进全面从严治党的重大战略任务，也是中国共产党应对世界百年未有之大变局和时代挑战的必然选择。深刻理解和科学把握列宁关于无产阶级政党政治建设的思想精髓，对于中国共产党在全面建设社会主义现代化国家新征程上，以党的自我革命引领社会革命，深入推进新时代党的建设新的伟大工程具有重要的理论价值和实践指导意义。

First, we must adhere to the principle that “the Party is the highest political leadership force.” General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out in the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC: “The Communist Party of China is the highest political leadership force. Upholding the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee is the highest political principle.” The newly revised Constitution of the Communist Party of China, adopted by the 20th National Congress of the CPC, also explicitly enshrines the major thesis that “the Party is the highest political leadership force.” This thesis is the result of combining Marxist party leadership theory with China’s concrete realities and is an important development in the theory of Party building in the New Era. It means that whether it is Party organizations at all levels, state organs, the people’s armed forces, or people’s organizations and social organizations, whether it is the central level or local levels, the eastern coastal areas or the western regions, the Party’s overall leadership runs through all fields, all aspects, and all links. This scientific thesis not only clarifies the political status of the Party as the leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics but also provides a fundamental guideline from the practical level for upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership in the New Era.

一是要坚持“党是最高政治领导力量”。习近平总书记在党的二十大报告中明确指出：“中国共产党是最高政治领导力量，坚持党中央集中统一领导是最高政治原则。”党的二十大通过的最新修订的《中国共产党章程》也明确载入了“党是最高政治领导力量”这一重大论断。这一论断是马克思主义政党领导理论与中国具体实际相结合的成果，是新时代党的建设理论的重要发展。它意味着无论是各级党组织、国家机关、人民军队，还是人民团体、社会组织，无论是中央还是地方，东部沿海还是西部地区，党的全面领导都贯穿于各领域、各方面、各环节。这一科学论断不仅明确了党作为中国特色社会主义事业领导核心的政治地位，更从实践层面为新时代坚持和加强党的全面领导提供了根本遵循。

The Party’s political leadership occupies a commanding position in the Party’s leadership system; it is the foundation of the Party’s leadership and determines the direction and effectiveness of the Party’s ideological leadership and organizational leadership. The Party’s political leadership is essentially a construction of political authority based on the historical materialist view of mass history. At the value level, it establishes a people-centered political direction; at the institutional level, it builds mechanisms and systems that ensure the implementation of the Party’s line, principles, and policies; at the practical level, it forms an operational model that exercises overall leadership and coordinates all quarters. The Party’s political leadership is not only strategic, holistic, and guiding, but also, through institutional and legal confirmation, transforms the Party’s line, principles, and policies into the will of the state and the actions of the people, thereby ensuring the stability and authority of the Party’s political leadership. In an era of change where risks and challenges coexist, the Party’s political leadership is concentratedly manifested in its ability to grasp major political directions and to prevent and respond to complex political risks. This requires that the vast majority of Party cadres and members continuously improve their political judgment, political understanding, and political execution, and build a systematic political capability system, so as to accurately assess the situation in a complex and changing political environment, grasp the overall situation, prevent and defuse political risks, and ensure that the cause of the Party and the state always advances in the correct direction. On the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country and marching toward the second centenary goal [12]12 The second centenary goal refers to the goal of building China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by the middle of the 21st century, following the completion of the first centenary goal (building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2021)., only by unswervingly upholding the centralized and unified leadership of the Party can it be ensured that Chinese-path modernization always advances in the correct direction. The Party’s political leadership is the fundamental political guarantee for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Only by fully leveraging the Party’s core leadership role of exercising overall leadership and coordinating all quarters can the wisdom and strength of over 1.4 billion Chinese people be effectively consolidated, forming a mighty force of unity and overcoming difficulties. On the new journey of the New Era, it is necessary to uphold and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership with higher standards and stricter requirements, continuously improve the Party’s leadership system, enhance the Party’s governing capacity and leadership level, and provide a strong political guarantee for comprehensively building a great modern socialist country.

党的政治领导在党的领导制度体系中居于统领地位，是党的领导的根本所在，决定着党的思想领导和组织领导的方向与成效。党的政治领导本质上是一种基于历史唯物主义群众史观的政治权威建构，它在价值层面确立了以人民为中心的政治方向，在制度层面构建确保党的路线方针政策执行的体制机制，在实践层面形成总揽全局、协调各方的运行模式。党的政治领导不仅具有战略性、全局性和指引性，而且通过制度化、法律化的确认，将党的路线方针政策转化为国家意志和人民行动，确保了党的政治领导的稳固和权威。在风险与挑战并存的变革时代，党的政治领导集中体现在对重大政治方向的把握能力和对复杂政治风险的防范能力上，这就要求广大党员干部不断提高政治判断力、政治领悟力、政治执行力，构建起系统化的政治能力体系，以便在复杂多变的政治环境中准确判断形势，把握大局，防范和化解政治风险，确保党和国家事业始终沿着正确的方向前进。在全面建设社会主义现代化国家、向第二个百年奋斗目标进军的新征程上，只有毫不动摇坚持党的集中统一领导，才能确保中国式现代化始终沿着正确方向前进。党的政治领导是实现中华民族伟大复兴的根本政治保证，只有充分发挥党总揽全局、协调各方的领导核心作用，才能有效凝聚14亿多中国人民的智慧和力量，形成万众一心、攻坚克难的磅礴伟力。新时代新征程，必须以更高标准、更严要求坚持和加强党的全面领导，不断完善党的领导制度体系，提高党的执政能力和领导水平，为全面建成社会主义现代化强国提供坚强政治保证。

Second, it is necessary to resolutely achieve the Two Upholds. [13]13 The Two Upholds refers to upholding the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership, and upholding the core position of General Secretary Xi Jinping within the Party Central Committee and the Party as a whole. The Two Upholds, as a major innovation of the Communist Party of China in the New Era in adhering to and developing Marxist theory on the building of political parties, profoundly embodies the inheritance and development of Lenin’s thought on the “iron discipline” and “authority of leaders” of the proletarian party. It is the political code for the Party’s continuous victories over more than a century and the fundamental political consensus formed through the practice of national governance since the 18th National Congress of the CPC. [14]14 The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012, marking the beginning of the New Era under Xi Jinping’s leadership. The Two Upholds contain rich political-philosophical connotations. At the level of political epistemology, it reflects a scientific grasp of the laws of governance of a Marxist political party; at the level of political axiology, it manifests the political requirement of upholding the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized and unified leadership; at the level of political methodology, it provides a practical path for ensuring the Party’s unity and solidarity. This political principle of the Two Upholds is not simple organizational obedience, but a conscious action based on the high political identity, ideological identity, theoretical identity, and emotional identity of all Party members. Resolutely achieving the Two Upholds means achieving a high degree of political identity, resolutely implementing the major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the important instructions and directives of General Secretary Xi Jinping. Before the 18th National Congress of the CPC, there existed, to a certain extent, problems such as the weakening, hollowing out, and dilution of Party leadership, which affected the Party’s cohesion and combat effectiveness, as well as the improvement of the Party’s leadership level and governing capacity. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee has required all Party members to maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in politics, ideology, and action, to constantly benchmark and calibrate, to promptly correct deviations, to resolutely implement what the Party Central Committee decides, to put the major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee into practice unswervingly and without discount, to resolutely refrain from doing what the Party Central Committee prohibits, to resolutely correct actions that deviate from or violate the Party’s political direction, and to consciously resist illegal and disciplinary acts such as corruption, abuse of power, and violation of organizational principles. The Two Upholds are not abstract but concrete; they are not only a political requirement but also a guide to action. Strengthening the Party’s political building means internalizing the Two Upholds in the heart and externalizing them in action.

二是要坚决做到“两个维护”。“两个维护”作为中国共产党在新时代坚持和发展马克思主义政党建设理论的重大创新，深刻体现了对列宁关于无产阶级政党“铁的纪律”和“领袖权威”思想的继承与发展，是百余年来党不断从胜利走向胜利的政治密码，是党的十八大以来治国理政实践形成的根本政治共识。“两个维护”蕴含着丰富的政治哲学内涵。在政治认识论层面，它体现了对马克思主义政党执政规律的科学把握；在政治价值论层面，它彰显了维护党中央权威和集中统一领导的政治要求；在政治方法论层面，它提供了确保党的团结统一的实践路径。“两个维护”这一政治原则不是简单的组织服从，而是建立在全体党员高度政治认同、思想认同、理论认同、情感认同基础上的自觉行动。坚决做到“两个维护”,就是要做到高度的政治认同，坚决贯彻落实党中央重大决策部署和习近平总书记重要指示批示精神。党的十八大以前，在党的领导方面，一定程度上存在党的领导弱化、虚化、淡化等问题，影响了党的凝聚力和战斗力，影响了党的领导水平和执政能力的提升。党的十八大以来，党中央要求全体党员在政治上、思想上、行动上同以习近平同志为核心的党中央保持高度一致，时常对标对表，及时校准偏差，做到党中央决定的坚决贯彻执行，毫不动摇、不折不扣地把党中央重大决策部署落到实处，做到党中央禁止的坚决不做，坚决纠正偏离和违背党的政治方向的行为，自觉抵制贪污腐败、滥用职权、违反组织原则等违法违纪行为。“两个维护”不是抽象的，而是具体的，不仅是政治要求，更是行动指南。加强党的政治建设，就是要将“两个维护”内化于心、外化于行。

Third, it is necessary to bear in mind that “popular support is the greatest politics.” [15]15 This phrase, “民心是最大的政治,” is a well-known statement by Xi Jinping, emphasizing that the will of the people is the most important political consideration. “Popular support is the greatest politics” is the value stance and practical guideline of the Party’s political building, and it is the solid foundation and source of strength for realizing the Party’s political leadership. “Popular support is the greatest politics” profoundly embodies the Party’s people-oriented character. The nature and purpose of the Party determine that the Party must adhere to the value concept of putting the people first and must adhere to the people-centered development thought. “The country is the people, and the people are the country. As the Communist Party of China leads the people in taking and governing the country, what it guards is the people’s hearts.” [16]16 This is a direct quotation from Xi Jinping’s speech at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC in 2021. The trend of popular support is the key factor determining the rise and fall, success or failure, and future destiny of a political party or a regime. The Party’s roots are in the people, its blood is in the people, and its strength is in the people. The support and endorsement of the masses are the greatest confidence and powerful driving force for the Party’s governance and leadership. To strengthen the Party’s political building in the New Era, it is necessary to always practice the people-centered development thought and continuously consolidate the flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the masses. History and practice profoundly show that popular support is the greatest politics, and the support and endorsement of the masses are the most solid foundation for the Party’s long-term governance. On the one hand, it is necessary to fully leverage the role of the masses as creators of history, by improving democratic participation mechanisms and broadening channels for expressing public opinion, to maximize the stimulation of the masses’ enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity, so that the Party’s propositions are transformed into the conscious actions of the masses. The fundamental purpose of “serving the people wholeheartedly” must be concretized into the ability to implement targeted policies, establish and improve normalized research mechanisms, and use modern technical means such as big data to accurately grasp the ideological dynamics and interest demands of the masses, ensuring that policy formulation both conforms to objective reality and meets the people’s expectations. On the other hand, it is necessary to always take the people’s interests as the starting point and ultimate goal of all the Party’s work, and to continuously realize, safeguard, and develop the fundamental interests of the broadest majority of the people, and to realize the people’s aspiration for a better life as the Party’s goal of struggle. It is necessary to deeply understand the production and living conditions of the masses and the economic and social development situation, focus on issues of urgent concern to the masses such as education, medical care, housing, and elderly care, form a clear orientation that values and serves people’s livelihoods, establish a closed-loop working mechanism of “demand identification—policy assessment—implementation and resolution—evaluation and feedback,” respond to the people’s expectations with visible changes, and consolidate the Party’s governing foundation by solving livelihood problems. It is necessary to always take whether the masses are satisfied, happy, and agreeable as an important criterion for measuring all the Party’s work, establish and improve an assessment system with the masses’ sense of gain, happiness, and security as core indicators, take the masses’ evaluation as the first criterion for testing work effectiveness, and promote Party organizations at all levels and Party cadres and members to truly carry out work that reaches the hearts of the masses.

三是要牢记“民心是最大的政治”。“民心是最大的政治”是党的政治建设的价值立场和实践遵循，是实现党的政治领导的坚实根基和动力源泉。“民心是最大的政治”深刻体现了党的人民性特质。党的性质和宗旨决定了党必须坚持人民至上的价值理念，必须坚持以人民为中心的发展思想。“江山就是人民，人民就是江山。中国共产党领导人民打江山、守江山，守的是人民的心。”人心向背是决定一个政党、一个政权兴衰成败和前途命运的关键因素，党的根基在人民、血脉在人民、力量在人民，人民群众的拥护和支持是党执政与领导的最大底气和强大动力。新时代加强党的政治建设，必须始终践行以人民为中心的发展思想，不断巩固党同人民群众的血肉联系。历史与实践深刻表明，民心是最大的政治，人民群众的拥护和支持是党长期执政最坚实的根基。一方面，要充分发挥人民群众的历史创造者作用，通过完善民主参与机制、拓宽民意表达渠道，最大限度激发人民群众的积极性、主动性、创造性，使党的主张转化为群众的自觉行动。要把“全心全意为人民服务”的根本宗旨具体化为精准施策的能力，建立健全常态化调研机制，运用大数据等现代技术手段精准把握群众思想动态和利益诉求，确保政策制定既符合客观实际又顺应人民期待。另一方面，要始终把人民利益作为党一切工作的出发点和落脚点，把不断实现好、维护好、发展好最广大人民根本利益，实现人民对美好生活的向往作为党的奋斗目标。要深入了解人民群众的生产生活状况、经济社会发展情况，聚焦教育、医疗、住房、养老等群众急难愁盼问题，形成重视民生、服务民生的鲜明导向，建立“需求识别—政策研判—实施解决—评估反馈”的闭环工作机制，以看得见的变化回应群众期盼，在破解民生难题中厚植党的执政根基。要始终把人民群众满意不满意、高兴不高兴、答应不答应作为衡量党的各项工作的重要标准，建立健全以群众获得感、幸福感、安全感为核心指标的考核体系，把群众评价作为检验工作成效的第一标准，推动各级党组织和党员干部真正把工作做到群众心坎上。

Author’s affiliation: School of Marxism, Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Research Center for Digital and Intelligent Party Building

作者单位：华中科技大学马克思主义学院、数智党建研究中心