A Deep Grasp of the Mechanism of the Leading Force of Ideological and Political Education

In September 2024, Xi Jinping emphasized at the National Education Conference: “The strong educational country we aim to build is a strong socialist educational country with Chinese characteristics, which should possess a powerful leading force of ideological and political education, talent competitiveness, scientific and technological support, people’s livelihood guarantee, social synergy, and international influence.”[1]1 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the National Education Conference,” *People’s Daily*, September 11, 2024. The concept of the leading force of ideological and political education was proposed for the first time and placed at the top of the “six forces,” fully reflecting the Party Central Committee’s high regard and innovative development of ideological and political work. Although the leading force of ideological and political education is a brand-new concept, the value orientation and functional utility it contains have evolved continuously along with the Party’s growth and development over more than a century, and have consistently played the important role of “centering on the core and serving the overall situation” throughout the processes of revolution, construction, and reform, fulfilling the vital functions of rallying people’s hearts, inspiring morale, guiding direction, and spurring progress. It should be said that the leading force of ideological and political education is an important force gradually refined in the course of carrying out ideological and political work, possessing the functions of political guidance, ideological navigation, and directional steering. It is both a centripetal force that gathers people’s hearts, people’s strength, and people’s energy, and a driving force that aids development, promotes innovation, and enhances quality and efficiency. Judging from current related research, most scholars approach it from the perspective of building a strong educational country, deeply elaborating on the theoretical connotation, generative mechanism, structural elements, value significance, and practical pathways of the leading force of ideological and political education within the vision of building a strong educational country. Some scholars have also focused specifically on themes such as implementing the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education and building a good ideological and political theory course, exploring the key areas and directions that must be attended to and grasped in exerting the leading force of ideological and political education. Drawing on previous research, this article focuses on the mechanism of the leading force of ideological and political education, conducting an in-depth analysis from the dimensions of cultivating new generations for the era, promoting cultural prosperity and development, and ensuring the orderly operation of society, and examining in detail its mechanism of action and the exertion of its effectiveness.

2024年9月，习近平在全国教育大会上强调：“我们要建成的教育强国，是中国特色社会主义教育强国，应当具有强大的思政引领力、人才竞争力、科技支撑力、民生保障力、社会协同力、国际影响力。”[1]首次提出思政引领力概念，并将其置于“六力”之首，充分体现了党中央对思想政治工作的高度重视和创新发展。思政引领力虽然是全新的概念，但其蕴含的价值导向和功能效用已伴随党的百余年成长发展而不断演进，并在革命、建设、改革的过程中一以贯之地发挥着“围绕中心、服务大局”的重要功效，起到了凝聚人心、鼓舞斗志、引领方向、催人奋进的重要作用。应当说，思政引领力是在思想政治工作开展过程中逐渐提炼而成的具有政治引领、思想导航和方向指引功能的重要力量，既是一种聚人心、聚人力、聚人气的向心力，也是一种助发展、促创新、提质效的驱动力。从当前的相关研究来看，多数学者从建设教育强国视角切入，深入阐释了教育强国建设视野下思政引领力的理论内涵、生成机理、结构要素、价值意义与实践路径，也有学者专门聚焦落实立德树人根本任务、建好思想政治理论课等主题，探讨了发挥思政引领力须关注和把握的重点领域和方向。在借鉴过往研究的基础上，本文重点聚焦思政引领力的作用机制，从时代新人培养、文化繁荣发展、社会有序运行等维度进行深入分析，细化探究其作用机制和效能发挥。

I. Strengthening Educational Guidance, Cultivating New Generations for the Era

一、强化教育引领，培育时代新人

The leading force of ideological and political education not only provides theoretical support and practical pathways for answering the fundamental question of education—what kind of people to cultivate, how to cultivate them, and for whom to cultivate them—but also deeply promotes the comprehensive development of education and the sustained prosperity of society, demonstrating its extreme importance in building a strong socialist educational country with Chinese characteristics.

思政引领力不仅为回答好培养什么人、怎样培养人、为谁培养人这一教育的根本问题提供了理论支撑与实践路径，还深入促进了教育的全面发展与社会的持续繁荣，展现出其在建设中国特色社会主义教育强国中的极端重要性。

(A) Exerting the Function of Forging the Soul, Brightening the Distinctive Foundation

（一）发挥铸魂功能，擦亮鲜明底色

Ideological and political education is dominated and led by the ruling class, reflecting the fundamental interests and needs of the ruling class, and has a clear orientation in terms of ideology, political stance, and value orientation.[2]2 See Chen Wanbai and Zhang Yaocan, eds., *Principles of Ideological and Political Education*, 3rd ed. (Beijing: Higher Education Press, 2015), p. 52. The leading force of ideological and political education possesses a distinct political character, determining that its primary attribute in the field of education is that of socialist ideology. Xi Jinping clearly pointed out: “Our education must take cultivating builders and successors of socialism as its fundamental task… and must never cultivate destroyers or gravediggers of socialism… This is a major issue of principle that must be grasped in advancing educational modernization and building a strong educational country.”[3]3 Xi Jinping, “Cultivating Builders and Successors of Socialism Who Are Well- In January 2025, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the *Outline of the Plan for Building a Strong Educational Country (2024–2035)*, which explicitly states the need to comprehensively construct an ideological and political education system that consolidates the foundation and forges the soul.[4]4 “Two microblogs and one client” (两微一端) refers to the combination of Weibo (microblog), WeChat (micro-messaging), and news client applications, a standard formula for official digital media presence in China. The soul-forging function of the leading force of ideological and political education, specifically, involves deeply integrating the essential requirements of socialism with Chinese characteristics into the spiritual world of the educated, internalizing patriotism, the aspiration to serve the country, and the determination to strengthen the nation into the ideals, convictions, and moral sentiments of the educated, and continuously enhancing the ambition, backbone, and confidence of being Chinese. Currently, there is still room for improvement and enhancement in the exertion of the soul-forging function of the leading force of ideological and political education. In practice, situations still arise where the main theme is not sufficiently clear, the narrative is too grand, the content fails to closely align with the audience, and the carrier forms are overly generalized. To a certain extent, this weakens the unique advantages of the leading force of ideological and political education in firming up political stances and consolidating value consensus, making it difficult to achieve the deep-seated mission of uniting hearts and forging the soul.

思想政治教育由统治阶级支配和主导，反映的是统治阶级的根本利益和需要，在思想观念、政治立场和价值取向上具有明确的导向性。[2]思政引领力具有鲜明的政治性，决定了其在教育领域的第一属性即社会主义意识形态属性。习近平明确指出：“我们的教育必须把培养社会主义建设者和接班人作为根本任务……绝不能培养社会主义破坏者和掘墓人……这是推进教育现代化、建设教育强国必须把握的大是大非问题。”[3]2025年1月，中共中央国务院印发《教育强国建设规划纲要（2024—2035年）》明确提出，要全面构建固本铸魂的思想政治教育体系。[4]思政引领力的铸魂功能，具体而言，就是将中国特色社会主义的本质要求深度融入受教者的精神世界，将爱国心、报国情、强国志内化为受教者的理想信念和道德情操，不断增强做中国人的志气、骨气、底气。当前，思政引领力的铸魂功能发挥仍有改进和提升空间，在实践中，仍有主旨不够鲜明、叙事过于宏大、内容未能紧密贴合受众、载体形式较为泛化等情况出现，一定程度上削弱了思政引领力在坚定政治立场、凝聚价值共识等方面的独特优势，难以实现凝心铸魂的深层使命。

Building a strong socialist educational country with Chinese characteristics requires fully exerting the soul-forging function of the leading force of ideological and political education, ensuring that talent cultivation consistently focuses on the socialist direction of running schools. First, the role of the leading force of ideological and political education in the field of education is clearly manifested in its political guidance of the educated. Political guidance is a key link in answering the question “for whom to cultivate people” and is a foundational, directional, and fundamental issue that must be grasped in advancing educational modernization and building a strong educational country. As Mao Zedong said: “A doctrine is like a flag; once the flag is raised, people have something to look to and know where to go.”[5]5 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture.554 In the educational process, the leading force of ideological and political education runs political direction, political standards, and political requirements through it, providing guidance for the formation and development of the educated’s political attitudes, political beliefs, and political behavior, so as to ensure they form firm political stances, sharp political insight, and correct political judgment, thereby enabling them to maintain a clear mind and correct direction when facing a complex and changing political environment. Second, the role of the leading force of ideological and political education in the field of education is clearly manifested in its value guidance of the educated. The sphere of action of ideological and political education is the spiritual world of people[6]6 “Ideological and political education leadership” (思政引领力) – a term referring to the guiding and cohesive force exerted by ideological and political education (思政教育) within the Chinese Communist Party’s governance system, aimed at shaping values, building consensus, and ensuring social stability.. In the educational process, the leading force of ideological and political education relies on various educational contents that align with the mainstream ideology of society, guiding the educated to establish a correct worldview, outlook on life, and value system, providing them with the correct direction for struggle, value orientation, and guide for action. Currently, the leading force of ideological and political education urgently needs to be deeply rooted in the temporal and spatial field of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, making good and full use of the vivid materials in modernization construction, clearly opposing so-called “value-free” or “value-neutral” approaches, and continuously guiding the educated to internalize the core socialist values in their hearts and externalize them in their actions, inspiring the educated to strengthen their sense of mission and responsibility and actively devote themselves to action.

建设中国特色社会主义教育强国，需要充分发挥思政引领力的铸魂功能，确保人才培养始终聚焦社会主义办学方向。一是思政引领力在教育领域的作用发挥，鲜明体现在对受教者的政治引领上。政治引领是回答好“为谁培养人”的关键一环，是推进教育现代化、建设教育强国必须把握的基础性、方向性、根本性问题。诚如毛泽东所言:“主义譬如一面旗子，旗子立起来了，大家才有所指望，才知所趋赴。”[5]554在教育过程中，思政引领力将政治方向、政治标准和政治要求贯穿其中，为受教者政治态度、政治信仰和政治行为的形成与发展提供指引，以确保其形成坚定的政治立场、敏锐的政治洞察力和正确的政治判断力，从而使其在面对复杂多变的政治环境时，能够保持清醒的头脑和正确的方向。二是思政引领力在教育领域的作用发挥，鲜明体现在对受教者的价值引领上。思想政治教育作用域是人的精神世界[6]，在教育过程中，思政引领力依托各类与社会主流意识形态相契合的教育内容，引导受教者树立正确的世界观、人生观、价值观，为其提供正确的奋斗方向、价值导向和行动指南。当前，思政引领力迫切需要厚植于中华民族伟大复兴这一时空场域中，用好用足现代化建设中的鲜活素材，旗帜鲜明地反对所谓的“价值无涉”或“价值中立”，持续引导受教者将社会主义核心价值观内化于心、外化于行，激励受教者强化使命担当、主动投身作为。

(B) Exerting the Function of Enlightening Wisdom, Promoting Comprehensive Development

（二）发挥启智功能，促进全面发展

The exertion of the leading force of ideological and political education is not only reflected as a reasonable limitation or effective regulation, but also as an advocacy and incentive for innovation and creation. It is not only reflected in guiding the political concepts and value orientation of the educated, but also in focusing on promoting the improvement of comprehensive literacy, achieving the unity of self-worth and social value. Therefore, in addition to the soul-forging function, the leading force of ideological and political education also has an intelligence-enlightening function in the field of education, undertaking the responsibility of enlightening wisdom, increasing intelligence, and assisting comprehensive development. The realization of the intelligence-enlightening function requires that ideological and political education be closely integrated with disciplinary knowledge, guiding students to understand the ideological value and moral connotation behind knowledge, thereby promoting the internalization and application of knowledge. “The processes of ideological education, political education, and moral education are all closely related to corresponding knowledge education, and all need to be advanced and realized through the basic educational form of knowledge education.”[7]7 “Sing the main theme” (唱响主旋律) – a standard Chinese political metaphor for promoting the dominant official ideology and values, especially through media and education. The profundity of thought, the firmness of politics, and the practicality of morality all require knowledge as a bridge. Knowledge education, as the basic form of education, provides content carriers and theoretical support for ideological and political education, while ideological and political education, by guiding thought and shaping value concepts, endows knowledge with deeper meaning. Ideological and political education and knowledge education are not contradictory; forging the soul and cultivating people complement enlightening wisdom and increasing intelligence. The two intertwine and merge, jointly shaping people’s spiritual world and value system. However, in practice, ideological and political education and knowledge education sometimes appear disconnected. Some knowledge education overly focuses on the transmission of disciplinary knowledge, neglecting the ideological value and moral connotation contained within, making knowledge one-sided and instrumental. At the same time, ideological and political education sometimes remains at the level of abstract theoretical indoctrination, failing to effectively embed itself into specific disciplinary knowledge, making it difficult for students to transform the knowledge they have learned into correct ideological concepts and practical abilities.

思政引领力的作用发挥，不仅仅体现为一种合理限定或有效规制，还体现为对创新创造的倡导和激励，不仅体现在对受教者政治观念和价值导向的引领，还体现在注重促进综合素养的提升，实现自我价值与社会价值的统一。因此，除铸魂功能外，思政引领力在教育领域还具有启智功能，承担着启智增慧、助力全面发展的职责。启智功能的实现要求思想政治教育能够与学科知识紧密结合，通过引导学生理解知识背后的思想价值和道德内涵，促进知识的内化与应用。“思想教育、政治教育、道德教育的过程都与相应的知识教育关系密切，都需要借助于知识教育这种基本的教育形式而得以推进和实现。”[7]思想的深刻性、政治的坚定性与道德的实践性，都需要以知识为桥梁。知识教育作为教育的基础形式，为思想政治教育提供了内容载体和理论支撑，而思想政治教育则通过引领思想、塑造价值观念，赋予知识以更深层次的意义。思想政治教育与知识教育并行不悖，铸魂育人与启智增慧相得益彰，两者交织融合，共同塑造人的精神世界与价值体系。然而在实践中，思想政治教育与知识教育有时呈现脱节状态，部分知识教育过于注重学科知识传授，忽视了其中蕴含的思想价值和道德内涵，使得知识变得片面化、工具化，而思想政治教育有时又停留在抽象的理论灌输上，未能有效嵌入具体学科知识中，导致学生难以将所学知识转化为正确的思想观念和实践能力。

The function of enlightening the intellect (启智) of the guiding force of ideological and political education has its core in guiding thought and inspiring thinking, enabling students to achieve a comprehensive improvement in cognitive ability, value judgment, and practical capacity. The ultimate effect of this function of enlightening the intellect is manifested in the all-round development of students, that is, comprehensive progress in moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education. This requires not only that students master solid professional knowledge, but also that they possess correct values, a sense of responsibility, and practical ability. Specifically, the function of enlightening the intellect is deepened through the integration of knowledge education and ideological education. In curriculum design, the penetrative nature of ideological and political education should be emphasized. In the teaching of various subjects, teachers should not only impart professional knowledge but also guide students to understand the ideological value and social significance behind the disciplines. Knowledge education, by explaining and revealing the laws of the world, helps students form a scientific understanding of the objective world, while ideological and political education, through value guidance and ideological inspiration, stimulates students to pay attention to social issues and devote themselves to the practice of changing the world.

思政引领力的启智功能，其核心就在于通过思想引领与思维启迪，使学生在认知能力、价值判断和实践能力上获得全面提升。这种启智功能的效用发挥最终体现为学生的全面发展，即在德智体美劳各方面的综合进步。这不仅要求学生要掌握扎实的专业知识，还要具备正确的价值观、责任意识和实践能力。具体而言，启智功能通过知识教育与思想教育的融合得以深化。在课程设计上应强调思想政治教育的渗透性。在各学科教学中，教师不仅要传授专业知识，还应引导学生理解学科背后的思想价值和社会意义。知识教育通过解释和揭示世界的规律，帮助学生形成对客观世界的科学认识，而思想政治教育则通过价值引领和思想启发，激发学生关注社会问题，投身于改变世界的实践。

(3) Exercising the Function of Clarifying Virtue (明德), Assisting in Self-Cultivation and Aspiration

（三）发挥明德功能，助力修身立志

Subtly shaping the spiritual world and inner character of the educated is the essential requirement of ideological and political work. The function of clarifying virtue of the guiding force of ideological and political education is to guide the educated to form values, moral qualities, and behavioral orientations that are upward and good. In recent years, with the rapid development of information technology and the internet, the social moral environment has undergone profound changes, which has brought considerable impact on the moral concepts and character cultivation of the people. Especially among youth groups, the tendency of “focusing on success before growth, focusing on results before process, and focusing on the self before others” [8]8 “Managing well rather than managing to death, letting live rather than letting run wild” (管好而非管死、放活而非放任) – a Chinese political aphorism contrasting effective regulation with rigid control, and liberalization with laissez-faire. is particularly evident. This phenomenon not only weakens young people’s cognition of collective responsibility and social commitment but also poses new challenges to value shaping in the New Era. Against this background, strengthening the function of clarifying virtue of the guiding force of ideological and political education appears particularly urgent. However, in the process of ideological and political education, the phenomenon of talking more about bookish principles and less about practical stories still exists. Moral narratives and emotional encouragement are too often presented in a theoretical and didactic manner, making it difficult to match the tastes of contemporary young people, and thus difficult to generate emotional resonance and psychological identification. At the same time, influenced by unhealthy social trends such as money worship, a get-rich-quick mentality, and impetuous attitudes, phenomena such as lack of integrity and moral decline emerge one after another, posing challenges to the exercise of the function of clarifying virtue of the guiding force of ideological and political education.

潜移默化地形塑受教者的精神世界和内在品性，是思想政治工作的本质要求。思政引领力的明德功能，就是要引导受教者形成向上向善的价值观念、道德品质和行为导向。近年来，随着信息技术和互联网的迅速发展，社会道德环境发生了深刻变化，这对民众的道德观念和品性素养带来了不小的冲击。尤其是在青年群体中，“关注成功先于关注成长、关注结果胜于关注过程、关注自我优于关注他者”[8]的倾向尤为明显。这种现象不仅削弱了青年对集体责任与社会担当的认知，也对新时代的价值塑造提出了新的挑战。在此背景下，强化思政引领力的明德功能显得尤为迫切。但在思想政治教育过程中，讲书本道理多、讲实践故事少的现象仍然存在，道德叙事与情感激励过多地以理论化、说教化的方式呈现，难以匹配当代年轻人的口味，因而也就难以产生情感共鸣和心理认同。与此同时，受拜金主义、速成心理、浮躁心态等不良社会风气的影响，诚信缺失、道德滑坡等现象层出不穷，对思政引领力明德功能的发挥带来了挑战。

The guiding force of ideological and political education needs to focus on stimulating the educated’s moral character of revering virtue and seeking truth and their innate nature toward goodness, guiding them to clarify their own value orientation and social responsibility, and to acquire excellent moral qualities of coexisting, co-prospering, and co-advancing with the self, with others, and with the group. Specifically in the educational process, the exercise of the function of clarifying virtue of the guiding force of ideological and political education must, through forms such as theoretical propaganda, teaching by precept and example, setting up role models, and publicizing typical cases, achieve guidance over the moral character of the educated, enabling the educated to recognize that “as members of society, each person is the ‘other’ to others, sharing weal and woe and a common destiny; everyone depends on others to achieve themselves” [9]9 “Good governance” (良治) – a term borrowed from Western political science but used in Chinese official discourse to denote governance that is effective, orderly, and legitimate, often linked to the Party’s leadership.. Furthermore, the exercise of the function of clarifying virtue of the guiding force of ideological and political education must also strengthen emotional encouragement for the educated. Under the framework of modern society, the demand for matching high technology with high emotion is increasingly prominent. Although the era of digital intelligence has greatly improved production efficiency and quality of life, it has also triggered a series of emotional and psychological problems. Emotional communication and humanistic care between individuals have gradually become alienated, leading to intensified feelings of loneliness and isolation and the dilution of empathy and humanity. For this reason, the guiding force of thought urgently needs to, in rich and diverse educational practices, effectively exercise its function of warming and inspiring people’s hearts, fulfill its supplementary role of emotional attention and humanistic care, and more proactively respond to the emotional experiences and inner world of the educated, continuously enhancing the educated’s sense of individual gain, social responsibility, and national identity, enabling them to cherish themselves more, care for society more, and love the country more.

思政引领力需要着重激发受教者崇德求真的道德品性和向善本性，引导其明确自身的价值取向和社会责任，习得与自我、与他者、与群体共生共荣共进的优秀道德品质。具体到教育过程中，思政引领力的明德功能发挥须通过理论宣讲、言传身教、榜样树立、典型宣传等形式，实现对受教者道德品质的引领，使受教者认识到“作为社会的一员，每个人互为他者，休戚相关、命运与共，每个人都有赖于他者而成就自己”[9]。此外，思政引领力的明德功能发挥，还须加强对受教者的情感鼓舞。在现代社会框架下，高技术与高情感的匹配需求日益凸显，数智化时代虽极大提升了生产效率和生活质量，但也引发了一系列情感与心理问题，个体间的情感互通和人文关怀逐渐疏离，以致孤独感与隔离感加剧、同理心与人文性淡化。为此，思想引领力亟须在丰富多元的教育实践中，发挥好温暖人心、鼓舞人心的功能效用，履行好情感关注、人文关怀的补位职责，更加主动地回应受教者的情感体验和内心世界，不断提升受教者的个体获得感、社会责任感和国家认同感，使其更加珍爱自我、关爱社会、热爱国家。

II. Emphasizing Cultural Guidance, Cultivating a Sound Ecosystem

二、注重文化引领，涵养优良生态

“Culture is an important force for the survival and development of a nation. Every leap forward in human society and every sublimation of human civilization is accompanied by the historical progress of culture.” [10]10 "Used daily without awareness" (日用而不觉) is a classical Chinese expression, often associated with the Confucian tradition, referring to norms or principles that people follow in everyday life without consciously reflecting on them. The guiding force of ideological and political education originates from culture and in turn reacts upon culture. The culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics contains profound wisdom and philosophy, providing a deep foundation of support for the functioning of the guiding force of ideological and political education. At the same time, as a powerful spiritual force, the guiding force of ideological and political education can, through various means such as education, propaganda, guidance, and regulation, guide the people to establish correct cultural concepts, more consciously practice the core socialist values, and promote the interaction, integration, inheritance, and innovation of cultures.

“文化是民族生存和发展的重要力量。人类社会每一次跃进，人类文明每一次升华，无不伴随着文化的历史性进步。”[10]思政引领力源于文化，又反作用于文化。中国特色社会主义文化蕴含着深刻的智慧和哲理，为思政引领力的作用发挥提供了深厚的底蕴支撑。与此同时，思政引领力作为一种强大的精神力量，还可以通过教育、宣传、指引、规制等多种方式，引导民众树立正确的文化观念，更加自觉地践行社会主义核心价值观，推动文化的交往交融和传承创新。

(1) Upholding Cultural Leadership, Raising High and Firmly Planting the Spiritual Banner

（一）坚持文化领导权，举高树牢精神旗帜

Culture is an important force for uniting the people, inspiring people’s hearts, and gathering popular support. Cultural leadership concerns the destiny of the nation and the foundation of the state, and concerns the direction of development. “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas: i.e., the class which is the ruling material force of society is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.” [11]98 “As a kind of ‘soft power,’ cultural leadership differs from political leadership and legal coercion; it is a power that exerts broad and profound influence through cultural attraction, persuasion, and identification.” [12] Therefore, the role of the guiding force of ideological and political education in the cultural field is first manifested in the maintenance and enhancement of cultural leadership. It is necessary to actively build a socialist ideology with strong cohesion and guiding force, continuously invigorate the national spirit, stimulate the driving force for progress, and ensure that the broad masses of the people are closely united in thought and spirit. Looking at the present, there are still weak links in the role of the guiding force of ideological and political education in enhancing cultural leadership. With the disorderly expansion of capital forces in the cultural industry, incidents of hyping topics, blindly pandering to vulgar tastes, fabricating facts, and other means to attract attention and generate traffic emerge one after another, treating cultural works as “cash cows” for chasing profits, seriously damaging the quality and taste of socialist cultural products, and interfering with and weakening the positive guidance of mainstream ideology over the people. What requires special vigilance is that some Western countries are conducting organized and premeditated cultural infiltration against our country, using various modern media means to subtly promote their political systems, ideologies, and lifestyles, and to promote cultural products bearing Western cultural imprints and value concepts, in order to achieve the goal of weakening cultural identity and even deconstructing the core socialist values.

文化是团结人民、鼓舞人心、汇聚人气的重要力量，文化领导权关乎国运国本、关乎发展方向。“统治阶级的思想在每一时代都是占统治地位的思想。这就是说，一个阶级是社会上占统治地位的物质力量，同时也是社会上占统治地位的精神力量。”[11]98“作为一种‘软权力’，文化领导权不同于政治领导权，不同于法律强制，而是一种通过文化吸引、说服和认同来产生广泛而深刻影响的权力。”[12]因此，思政引领力在文化领域的作用，首先体现在对文化领导权的维护和提升上。应当积极建设具有强大凝聚力和引领力的社会主义意识形态，不断振奋民族精神、激发奋进动力，确保广大人民群众在思想上和精神上紧密团结在一起。揆诸当下，思政引领力在增强文化领导权的作用发挥上仍存薄弱环节。随着文化产业资本力量的无序扩张，一些炒作话题、一味媚俗、编造事实等吸引眼球、引爆流量的事例层出不穷，把文化作品当作追逐利益的“摇钱树”，严重损害了社会主义文化产品的质量和品位，干扰并削弱了主流意识形态对人民群众的正向引领。需要特别警惕的是，部分西方国家有组织有预谋地对我国进行文化渗透，通过各种现代传媒手段，潜移默化地推销其政治制度、意识形态和生活方式，推广带有西方文化烙印和价值观念的文化产品，以达到削弱文化认同甚至解构社会主义核心价值观的目的。

Enhancing cultural leadership requires giving full play to the role of the guiding force of ideological and political education in consolidating socialist ideology. In the digital age, information dissemination channels are increasingly diverse, the autonomy of the audience is continuously strengthened, algorithmic recommendations and data monopolies cause an imbalance in discourse power, and the dissemination and expansion of mainstream ideology face new challenges. The guiding force of ideological and political education needs to closely combine the characteristics of the times with the needs of the audience, fully rely on emerging technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, and media carriers such as “two microblogs and one client” [n4] and short videos, to disseminate the core socialist values in a more vivid, lively, and popular manner, thereby凝聚价值共识 (凝聚价值共识), unifying behavioral norms, guiding the formation of firm identification with and active maintenance of socialist ideology, and continuously enhancing cohesion and centripetal force. Enhancing cultural leadership requires giving full play to the role of the guiding force of ideological and political education in propaganda, ideology, and cultural work. Through continuous and standardized ideological and political guidance, the correct direction of propaganda, ideology, and culture can be carried through all processes and links of news and public opinion dissemination, continuously improving the dissemination power, influence, and credibility of news and public opinion, and allowing the Party’s banner to fly high on the propaganda, ideology, and cultural front.

增强文化领导权，需要充分发挥思政引领力在巩固社会主义意识形态上的作用。数字时代，信息传播渠道日益多元，受众自主性不断增强，算法推荐和数据垄断引发话语权失衡，主流意识形态的传播和扩展受到全新挑战。思政引领力需要紧密结合时代特征与受众需求，充分依托大数据、人工智能等新兴技术和“两微一端”、短视频等媒介载体，以更加生动鲜活、喜闻乐见的方式传播社会主义核心价值观，进而凝聚价值共识、统一行为规范，引导形成对社会主义意识形态的坚定认同与积极维护，持续增强凝聚力与向心力。增强文化领导权，需要充分发挥思政引领力在宣传思想文化工作中的作用。通过持续规范的思政引领，可以将正确的宣传思想文化方向贯穿新闻舆论传播全流程各环节，不断提高新闻舆论传播力、影响力和公信力，让党的旗帜在宣传思想文化战线高高飘扬。

(2) Consolidating Cultural Subjectivity, Promoting Inheritance, Innovation, and Development

（二）巩固文化主体性，推动传承创新发展

Cultural subjectivity implies spiritual independence and autonomy, implies the development of a historical initiative, and is an important marker of cultural self-cognition, self-verification, and self-development, as well as an important cornerstone of cultural identity, cultural leadership, and cultural innovation. “For any culture to stand firm and go far, to have leading force, cohesive force, shaping force, and radiating force, it must have its own subjectivity.”[13] The leading force of ideological and political education is an important force driving cultural inheritance and innovation; it both embodies respect for and adherence to culture and contains innovation and development of culture. In the process of consolidating cultural subjectivity, the leading force of ideological and political education, through guiding and regulating social culture as well as inheriting and innovating it, continuously strengthens mainstream values, mainstream public opinion, and mainstream culture, thereby achieving the goals of凝聚思想 (coalescing thought), 坚定信心 (strengthening confidence), and 鼓舞斗志 (inspiring morale), thus gathering the mighty force of unity of purpose. Looking at the present, the role of the leading force of ideological and political education in consolidating cultural subjectivity needs to be strengthened; in assisting cultural inheritance, innovation, and development, there are still problems such as relatively singular carriers, insufficient innovation in forms, and diminishing effect and voice. With the acceleration of the modernization process, society pays more attention to modern technology and the emerging cultures derived from it, easily neglecting the essence and value of traditional culture. Although ideological and political leadership emphasizes promoting and telling the story of Chinese traditional culture well, it lacks diversity and vitality, making it difficult to fully play its role in awakening, educating, and inspiring people. Furthermore, in recent years, various emerging literary and artistic groups need further guidance to become an innovative force for prospering socialist culture.

文化主体性意味着精神上的独立自主，意味着历史主动精神的发扬，是文化自我认知、自我确证和自我发展的重要标识，是文化认同、文化引领和文化创新的重要基石。“任何文化要立得住、行得远，要有引领力、凝聚力、塑造力、辐射力，就必须有自己的主体性。”[13]思政引领力是推动文化传承创新的重要力量，既体现着对文化的尊重与坚守，又蕴含着对文化的创新与发展。在巩固文化主体性的过程中，思政引领力通过对社会文化的引导规制和传承创新，不断壮大主流价值、主流舆论、主流文化，以达到凝聚思想、坚定信心、鼓舞斗志的目的，从而汇聚万众一心的磅礴力量。反观当下，思政引领力在巩固文化主体性的作用发挥上有待强化，在助力文化传承创新发展上仍存在载体较为单一、形式创新不足、效果声量式微等问题。随着现代化进程的加速，社会更加关注现代科技及其衍生的新兴文化，容易忽视传统文化的精髓与价值，思政引领虽重视宣传和讲好中华传统文化，但多元性、鲜活性不足，难以充分发挥唤醒人、教育人、鼓舞人的作用。此外，近年来各类新兴的文艺群体有待进一步引导其成为繁荣社会主义文化的创新力量。

The cultural subjectivity of the Chinese nation is established through the “Two Integrations,”[5]5 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture. which both fit each other and mutually achieve each other, opening up a broad space for theoretical and practical innovation. “Mutual integration is not a simple ‘physical reaction,’ but a profound ‘chemical reaction.’ Mutual integration makes Marxism Chinese and makes fine traditional Chinese culture modern; mutual integration creates a new cultural life form that is organically unified.”[14] As a spiritual bond and a source of driving force, the leading force of ideological and political education, in the process of consolidating cultural subjectivity, deeply draws on the essence of traditional Chinese culture. Through practical refinement, political transformation, modern interpretation, and systematic output, it powerfully constructs the spiritual core of contemporary social and cultural development. And by injecting historical wisdom, strengthening the national spirit, and deepening the foundation for development, it further strengthens the cultural identity and cultural confidence of the entire society. In international exchanges, although culture deepens understanding and friendship between countries and promotes pluralistic integration and innovative development, it also provides opportunities for the invasion of harmful cultures and the infiltration of Western ideologies. Therefore, consolidating cultural subjectivity also requires fully leveraging the role of the leading force of ideological and political education in guiding the direction and enhancing empowerment. On the basis of promoting the development of local culture, it promotes cross-cultural dialogue, exchange, and integration, helping culture achieve prosperity and flourishing in openness and inclusiveness.

中华民族的文化主体性是通过“两个结合”建立的，“两个结合”既彼此契合又相互成就，开启了广阔的理论和实践创新空间。“相互融合不是简单的‘物理反应’，而是深刻的‘化学反应’，相互融合让马克思主义成为中国的，中华优秀传统文化成为现代的，相互融合造就了一个有机统一的新的文化生命体。”[14]作为一种精神纽带与动力源泉，思政引领力在巩固文化主体性的过程中，深度汲取中华传统文化精髓，通过实践性提炼、政治性转化、现代性诠释和系统性输出，有力构建了当代社会文化发展的精神内核，并通过注入历史智慧、强化民族精神、厚植发展底蕴等方式，进一步强化了全社会的文化认同与文化自信。在国际交流中，文化虽然加深了国与国之间的理解和友谊，推动了多元交融和创新发展，但也给不良文化入侵、西方意识形态渗透提供了可乘之机。因此，巩固文化主体性，还需要充分发挥思政引领力的指路引航、增益赋能作用。在促进本土文化发展的基础上，推动跨文化对话、交流与融合，助力文化在开放包容中实现繁荣兴盛。

(III) Manifesting Cultural Influence, Enhancing National Cultural Soft Power

（三）彰显文化影响力，提升国家文化软实力

Culture is the soul of a country, the bloodline of a nation, and the spiritual home of the people. Promoting the great development and flourishing of culture can stimulate the innovation and creativity of the entire nation, enhance the country’s cultural soft power, and thereby increase comprehensive national power and international influence. “Without the active leadership of an advanced culture, without the great enrichment of the people’s spiritual world, without the continuous strengthening of the national spiritual force, a country or a nation cannot stand tall among the nations of the world.”[10]10 "Used daily without awareness" (日用而不觉) is a classical Chinese expression, often associated with the Confucian tradition, referring to norms or principles that people follow in everyday life without consciously reflecting on them. The leading force of ideological and political education, by enhancing cohesion internally and increasing influence externally, achieves multi-directional leadership over culture. It continuously improves the cultural literacy of the people, stimulates the vitality of cultural innovation, and promotes the international dissemination of culture, thereby achieving the effect of strengthening the spiritual core support and shaping a credible, lovable, and respectable national image. With the rapid development of information technology, the influence, coverage, and vitality of cultural dissemination have grown exponentially. However, this has also brought problems such as an excess of quantity but a lack of quality. Some cultural works only focus on instantaneous impact and sensory stimulation, possessing no artistic value for cultivating character or educating people’s hearts. They are not only unhelpful for coalescing popular sentiment but also disperse public focus and dissolve mainstream voices. At the same time, difficulties persist in the overseas dissemination of Chinese culture, such as insufficient carriers for voice, limited communication strategies, and weakened overseas practice. The journey of Chinese culture going global and taking root overseas remains arduous.

文化是国家的灵魂、民族的血脉和人民的精神家园，推动文化大发展大繁荣，可以激发全民族的创新创造活力，提高国家的文化软实力，从而增强综合国力和国际影响力。“没有先进文化的积极引领，没有人民精神世界的极大丰富，没有民族精神力量的不断增强，一个国家、一个民族不可能屹立于世界民族之林。”[10]思政引领力通过对内增强凝聚力、对外提升影响力，实现对文化的多向度引领，以不断提升全民文化素养、激发文化创新活力、推动文化国际传播，进而达到增强精神内核支撑、塑造可信可爱可敬国家形象的效用。随着信息科技的快速发展，文化传播的影响力、覆盖面和鲜活度呈指数级增长，但随之也带来了数量有余而质量不足等问题，一些文化作品只重视瞬时冲击和感官刺激，毫无陶冶情操、化育人心的艺术价值可言，不仅无益于民心凝聚，还分散了民意聚焦、消解了主流声音。与此同时，中华文化的海外传播困境仍然存在，如发声载体不足、传播策略有限、海外实践弱化等，中华文化走向世界、在海外生根发芽依然任重道远。

The leading force of ideological and political education is both a process carrier and a result manifestation for enhancing cultural confidence and self-strengthening. Through systematic theoretical education and diverse cultural practices, the leading force of ideological and political education can powerfully construct a profound understanding and high degree of identification with Chinese culture across the entire society. It enables the people to deeply recognize the historical heritage, contemporary value, and global significance of Chinese culture, effectively enhances the attractiveness and appeal of culture, better meets the people’s needs for diverse and beautiful spiritual culture, and promotes the great development and flourishing of cultural undertakings and cultural industries. The leading force of ideological and political education can powerfully manifest the uniqueness and affinity of Chinese culture, better displaying a credible, lovable, and respectable image of China. Through exchanges via education, culture, sports, and other carriers, the leading force of ideological and political education can also “go abroad invisibly,” continuously enhancing the international community’s understanding, recognition, and respect for China. “The development of national cultural soft power must be combined with the enhancement of comprehensive national power, using the cultural manifestation of the national image to drive the unique presentation of national interests… seeking the cultural soft power that embodies China’s national interests and national ideology in the active construction of mainstream culture.”[15] In displaying and disseminating fine traditional Chinese culture to the international community, the leading force of ideological and political education can play a role in centering on the overall situation and guiding the direction, enhancing the international community’s positive perception and friendly consensus regarding Chinese culture and the Chinese nation, generating more understanding, recognition, respect, and support, continuously strengthening international communication power and global discourse power, and creating a more favorable external environment for national development.

思政引领力既是增进文化自信自强的过程载体，也是结果体现。通过系统的理论教育和多元的文化实践，思政引领力可以有力构筑全社会对中华文化的深刻理解和高度认同，使民众深刻认识到中华文化的历史底蕴、时代价值与世界意义，有效增强文化的吸引力和感染力，更好地满足人民群众对多元美好精神文化的需求，促进文化事业和文化产业大发展大繁荣。思政引领力可以有力彰显中华文化的独特性和亲和力，更好地展示可信、可爱、可敬的中国形象。通过教育、文化、体育等载体的交流，思政引领力亦能“无形出海”，持续增进国际社会对中国的了解、认同与尊重。“必须将国家文化软实力的发展与综合国力提升结合起来，以国家形象的文化显现带动国家利益的独特呈现……寻求在主流文化的积极建构中体现中国国家利益与国家意识形态的文化软实力。”[15]在向国际社会展示和传播中华优秀传统文化中，思政引领力能够发挥围绕大局、引领方向的功效，增进国际社会对中华文化和中华民族的正面认知与友好共识，形成更多的理解、认同、尊重和支持，不断增强国际传播力和全球话语权，为国家发展创造更加有利的外部环境。

III. Strengthening Social Leadership, Promoting Orderly Operation

三、加强社会引领，推动有序运转

The leading force of ideological and political education is a lighthouse guiding the course, a banner rallying hearts and minds, and an engine driving development. In the social sphere, the leading force of ideological and political education, by raising ideological and moral awareness, shaping shared values, and guiding diverse social trends of thought, plays the important functions of leading consensus cohesion, leading orderly operation, and leading innovative development. These three functions intertwine and complement each other, together constituting the comprehensive influence of the leading force of ideological and political education in the social sphere, providing a solid guarantee for social stability and harmonious development.

思政引领力是指引航向的灯塔、凝心聚力的旗帜和推动发展的引擎。在社会领域，思政引领力通过提高思想道德觉悟、塑造共同价值观念、引领多元社会思潮等，发挥引领共识凝聚、引领有序运行和引领创新发展的重要功能。这三大功能相互交织、相辅相成，共同构成了思政引领力在社会领域的综合影响力，为社会稳定、和谐发展提供了坚实保障。

(I) Leading Consensus Cohesion, Building Development Synergy

（一）引领共识凝聚，构筑发展合力

From the perspective of social development, coalescing social consensus is the root of ensuring social harmony, stability, and healthy development. It helps promote consensus among the people in multiple aspects such as ideological understanding, values, and political stance, thereby providing direction and impetus for collective social action and helping achieve a unified social vision. In this process, the leading force of ideological and political education can provide ideological guidance to the general public, continuously cultivate political awareness, moral character, and social responsibility, provide them with clear value criteria and goal guidance, promote the unification of value criteria at the individual level with value goals at the social level, and encourage people to more actively and proactively participate in economic and social development and contribute their wisdom and strength. Examining the present, the effectiveness of the leading force of ideological and political education in leading the cohesion of social consensus still needs to be strengthened. With the rapid development of society and the accelerated evolution of the information revolution, social ideas and concepts are becoming increasingly diverse. Differences in values, interest demands, cultural backgrounds, etc., have derived or exacerbated divisions and controversies among the people in certain fields, events, and issues. Some remarks detrimental to unity appear from time to time. Furthermore, some voices opposing or going against the mainstream, taking advantage of the convenience of online anonymity, are widely disseminated, easily amplifying people’s negative emotions and undermining social unity and stability.

从社会发展的视角看，凝聚社会共识是确保社会和谐稳定与健康发展的根脉所在，其有助于推动民众在思想认识、价值观念和政治立场等多个方面达成共识，进而为社会的集体行动提供方向和动力，有助于统一社会愿景的达成。在这一过程中，思政引领力可以面向社会大众进行思想引导，不断培育政治觉悟、道德品质和社会责任感，为其提供明确的价值准则和目标指引，推动个体层面的价值准则和社会层面的价值目标相统一，鼓励人们更加积极主动地投身经济社会发展并贡献智慧力量。审视当下，思政引领力在引领社会共识凝聚中的效能发挥仍须强化。随着社会的快速发展和信息革命的加速演进，社会思想观念日益多元，价值观念、利益诉求、文化背景等差异，衍生或加剧了民众在某些领域、事件和问题上的分歧与争议，一些不利于团结的言论时有出现，更有部分唱反调、逆主流的言论借助网络匿名的便利进行大肆传播，极易放大人们负面情绪、破坏社会团结稳定。

Through systematic ideological and political education, ideological and political education leadership internalizes mainstream concepts such as core socialist values in the individual, emphasizes the individual’s responsibility to society, and, by means of role models and typical exemplars, impels the individual to consciously recognize the responsibilities and missions they bear in social development, so that their thinking and actions maintain a high degree of consistency with the state and society. At the same time, it continuously strengthens shared values, guiding people to deepen a developmental consensus and form unified goals. It is worth noting that in the social sphere, unity and diversity are not contradictory; the condensation of social consensus and the existence of different voices are often in a complex and delicate state of balance, a state that is crucial for constructing a healthy, open, and pluralistic social structure. Through open and inclusive mechanisms of discussion and consultation, different voices and viewpoints can exchange and deeply integrate on the basis of respect and understanding, thereby forming a broader and deeper consensus. This kind of consensus not only possesses stronger representativeness and recognition but can also more effectively guide collective social action. “Differentiated values play an important role in enlivening social thought and stimulating social creativity, but when a society forms several sharply distinct and mutually opposed value systems, it may tear apart social consensus and cause social upheaval.”[16] Therefore, in exercising its function, ideological and political education leadership must hold fast to the political line, the line of principle, and the line of direction, fulfilling the function of “managing well rather than managing to death, letting live rather than letting run wild.” It must both sing the main theme and condense social consensus, while also coordinating the relations among different interest groups, enhancing social inclusiveness and diversity, so as to continuously increase social harmony and centripetal force.

通过系统的思想政治教育，思政引领力将社会主义核心价值观等主流观念内化于个体，强调个人对社会的责任，通过榜样示范、典型引领等方式，推动个体自觉认识自身在社会发展中所承担的责任与使命，使其在思想上行动上与国家社会保持高度一致。与此同时，持续强化共同价值观念，引导人们厚植发展共识、形成统一目标。值得注意的是，在社会领域，统一性与多元性并行不悖，社会共识的凝聚与不同声音的存在常处于复杂而微妙的平衡状态，这一状态对于构建健康、开放且多元的社会结构至关重要。通过开放、包容的讨论和协商机制，不同的声音和观点可以在尊重和理解的基础上互相交流、深度融合，进而形成更为广泛和深入的共识。这种共识不仅具有更强的代表性和认同度，而且能够更有效地指导社会的集体行动。“差异性的价值观对于活跃社会思维、激发社会创造有着重要作用，但当一个社会形成几种截然不同、互相对立的价值体系时，就可能撕裂社会共识，造成社会动荡。”[16]因此，思政引领力在作用发挥中，需要把好政治关、原则关和方向关，履行“管好而非管死、放活而非放任”的功能，既要唱响主旋律，凝聚社会共识，又要协调不同利益群体的关系，提升社会包容性和多样性，以不断增强社会和谐度和向心力。

(II) Leading Orderly Operation, Achieving Long-Term Stability and Security

（二）引领有序运行，实现长治久安

In leading the orderly operation of society, ideological and political education leadership acts on individuals and groups by strengthening individual self-control, coordinating the interests of all parties, and mediating social differences, thereby achieving social integration and providing a guarantee for social harmony, stability, and orderly security. This process mainly includes two dimensions: first, guiding individuals to effectively regulate and reasonably constrain their own thinking activities and external behaviors; this is concretely manifested in the fact that, when facing various social situations, individuals can exercise self-restraint and self-adjustment in accordance with social norms, following moral guidance and correct values. Second, guiding groups to form a tendency to pursue good and avoid evil that resolves conflicts and contradictions and fosters a friendly atmosphere; this tendency is an important force for maintaining social stability, forming a healthy ethos, and promoting harmonious development. This functioning process of ideological and political education leadership not only helps to promote the maturation of social psychology and the orderliness of social management but can also achieve the effect of reducing the cost of social management and ensuring the orderly operation of society. In the current social context, the actual effectiveness of ideological and political education leadership in ensuring the orderly operation of society still needs to be enhanced. In recent years, the slowdown in economic growth, the intensification of market competition, and the spread of various negative emotions and energies in the era of information explosion have further stirred up the emotions of the people, more easily giving rise to negative mentalities such as pessimism, anger, and hopelessness. The role of ideological and political education leadership in hedging risks, resolving contradictions, expanding mainstream discourse, and cultivating new trends and healthy practices still needs to be followed up.

在引领社会有序运行上，思政引领力通过强化个体自制、协调利益各方、调解社会分歧等方式作用于个体与群体，以此实现社会整合，为社会和谐稳定与安然有序提供保障。这一过程主要包括两个维度：一是引导个体对自身思维活动及外在行为实施有效规范与合理约束，它具体表现为在面临各类社会状况时，个体能够依据社会规范、遵从道德指引、按照正确价值观念，进行自我约束和自我调适。二是引导群体形成化解矛盾冲突、营造友好氛围的趋善避恶导向，这种导向是维护社会稳定、形成良好风气、促进和谐发展的重要力量。思政引领力的这一作用过程，不仅有利于促成社会心理的成熟与社会管理的有序，还可以达到降低社会管理成本、保障社会有序运转的功效。在当下社会情境中，思政引领力在保障社会有序运行中的实际成效仍有待增强。近年来，经济增速放缓，市场竞争激化，加之信息爆炸时代各类消极情绪、负面能量的扩散，进一步挑拨了民众的情绪，更加容易催生悲观、愤怒、无望等负面心态，思政引领力在对冲风险、化解矛盾、壮大主流话语、培育新风正气方面的作用发挥仍须跟进。

On the one hand, ideological and political education leadership can exert the functions of self-restraint and self-management, acting on the general public by educating the mind, regulating behavior, and improving quality, guiding people to shape moral concepts and internalize legal awareness, thereby forming thoughts and behaviors that conform to mainstream social values. A benign order of material and cultural life is the proper meaning of a good social order and also the foundation of a society governed by the rule of law. In this, a healthy and uplifting public cultural life shapes social morality and public values, subtly cultivating citizens’ quality and cultivation, and laying the human foundation for a society governed by the rule of law.[17] On the other hand, ideological and political education leadership can also exert the functions of self-adjustment and self-repair, bridging cognitive differences and conflicts among different social subjects by establishing mechanisms for communication, coordination, and consensus-building. Social stability does not mean the complete absence of contradictions and conflicts, but rather that social conflicts can be controlled within a limited scope under the premise of jointly following the social order, and social contradictions can be relatively quickly resolved under the existing mechanisms for resolving disputes and contradictions.[18] Therefore, the functioning of ideological and political education leadership in this dimension mainly involves, in the face of conflicts and contradictions, guiding all interested parties to rationally and calmly seek or conduct dialogue, alleviate or resolve conflicts, and always maintain a healing function of repairing relationships, bridging rifts, and resolving disputes, so that society can maintain relative stability amid rapid change.

一方面，思政引领力可以发挥自我约束、自我管理的功能，通过教化内心、规范行为、提升素养来作用于社会大众，指引人们形塑道德观念以及内化法律意识，进而形成符合社会主流价值的思想行为。良性的物质文化生活秩序，是良好社会秩序的应然之义，也是法治社会的基础，这其中，健康向上的文化公共生活塑造社会道德和公共价值观念，潜移默化地培养公民素质和修养，为法治社会奠定人的基础。[17]另一方面，思政引领力还可以发挥自我调适、自我修复的功能，通过建立沟通协调和共识达成机制，弥合不同社会主体间的认知差异和矛盾冲突。社会的稳定并不是完全没有矛盾和冲突，而是能在共同遵循社会秩序的前提下将社会冲突控制在有限范围内，社会矛盾在既有的矛盾纠纷解决机制下可以获得较快解决。[18]因此，思政引领力在此维度的作用发挥，主要是在面对矛盾冲突时，引导各利益相关方能够理性平和地寻求或开展对话、缓解或化解冲突，始终保持一种修复关系、弥合裂痕、化解纷争的愈合功能，使社会能够在快速变迁中保持相对稳定。

(III) Leading Innovative Development, Perfecting the Governance System

（三）引领创新发展，健全治理体系

The innovative development of society and the normative order of the governance system are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Innovative development must be based on a relatively normative and orderly governance system, because the latter provides a stable institutional environment, reduces uncertainty and unpredictable risks, while the perfection of the governance system helps to stimulate and protect innovation vitality and provides necessary support and guarantees for social innovative development. In this process, ideological and political education leadership can effectively mobilize the people to participate in social governance, offer opinions and suggestions, accelerate the process of law-based, democratic, and scientific social governance, and thereby promote the overall innovative development and efficiency improvement of society. From the current stage, the role of ideological and political education leadership in leading social innovative development needs to be improved. Social governance has taken on a new pattern, and the governance system has entered a new stage of diversification, modernization, and refinement. In terms of its path of action, ideological and political education leadership still needs to fully utilize modern technological means such as big data and artificial intelligence; in terms of its strategy of action, it also needs to shift from traditional one-way indoctrination to multi-dimensional interactive coordination.

社会的创新发展与治理体系的规范有序是相互依存、相互促进的，创新发展必然建立在一个相对规范有序的治理体系中，因为后者提供了稳定的制度环境，减少了不确定性和不可预测的风险，而治理体系的完善又有助于激发和保护创新活力，并为社会创新发展提供必要的支持和保障。在这一过程中，思政引领力可以有效动员民众参与社会治理、提出意见建议，加速社会治理的法治化、民主化和科学化进程，进而推动社会整体的创新发展和效能提升。从现阶段来看，思政引领力在引领社会创新发展上的作用发挥有待提升。社会治理呈现全新格局，治理体系进入多元化、现代化、精细化的新阶段，思政引领力在作用路径上还需要充分借助大数据、人工智能等现代科技手段，在作用策略上也有待从传统的单向灌输向多维度的互动协同转变。

The primary manifestation of ideological and political education leadership in leading social innovative development is as a form of good governance. In the national innovation governance system, ideological and political education leadership can both effectively maintain a state of social stability and order and ensure that society is full of vitality and creativity. By strengthening the hard constraints of laws and regulations and the soft regulation of moral concepts, ideological and political education leadership provides the general public with clear behavioral guidance and boundaries for words and deeds, ensuring that social governance is smooth and orderly. Under the combined effect of “soft and hard measures,” ideological and political education leadership further consolidates and strengthens the new trend of pursuing fairness, justice, and openness in society. In this environment, resources, interests, and opportunities in various fields tend toward equality; a harmonious and stable social environment provides the necessary external conditions for innovation activities, reduces uncertainty and risk in the innovation process, and promotes the emergence and transformation of innovation achievements. On the one hand, through in-depth education in ideals and convictions, ideological and political education leadership shapes individuals’ lofty sense of social responsibility and mission, integrates personal struggle into the grand framework of national development and social progress, and enhances the tenacity to face challenges and the courage to explore the unknown. On the other hand, through a sound incentive mechanism, ideological and political education leadership strengthens individuals’ positive feedback and value recognition of innovative behavior, effectively stimulating individuals’ innovative potential and the spirit of unremitting struggle, thereby profoundly promoting the innovative development of society in multiple dimensions such as science and technology, culture, and economy. This process not only embodies the value of ideological and political education leadership as an important driving force for social progress but also provides valuable theoretical and practical guidance for further comprehensively deepening reform and opening up and promoting high-quality development.

思政引领力在引领社会创新发展上首要体现为一种良治。在国家创新治理体系中，思政引领力既可以有效维持社会安定有序的状态，也能确保社会充满活力与创造力。通过强化法律法规的硬性约束与道德理念的软性规制，思政引领力为社会大众提供了明确的行为指引和言行边界，确保社会治理通达有序。在“软硬兼施”的共同作用下，思政引领力进一步巩固和强化了社会面追求公平公正公开的新风正气。在此环境下，各种领域的资源、利益与机会趋向均等，和谐稳定的社会环境为创新活动提供了必要的外部条件，降低了创新过程中的不确定性与风险，促进了创新成果的涌现与转化。一方面，通过深入的理想信念教育，思政引领力塑造个体崇高的社会责任感与使命感，将个人奋斗融入国家发展与社会进步的宏大框架中，增强面对挑战时的坚韧毅力与探索未知的勇气。另一方面，通过健全的激励机制，思政引领力强化个体对创新行为的正面反馈与价值认同，有效激发了个体的创新潜能与不懈奋斗的精神，进而在科技、文化、经济等多个维度深刻推动社会的创新发展。这一过程不仅体现了思政引领力作为社会进步重要推动力的价值，也为进一步全面深化改革、推动高质量发展提供了宝贵的理论与实践指导。

Conclusion

结语

The guiding force of ideological and political education exhibits, in the practical field, pronounced characteristics of vertical deepening and horizontal interaction. Through multi-dimensional and multi-level mechanisms of action, it provides a solid ideological foundation and action guide for the comprehensive development of education, culture, and society, and will continue to exert its navigational and empowering effects in future development. From the vertical dimension, the guiding force of ideological and political education presents a trend of continuous deepening and iterative advancement across various fields. The field of education, as the original field of the guiding force of ideological and political education, lays a solid foundation for the comprehensive development of individuals through a systematic and standardized system of ideological and political education. In the cultural field, the guiding force of ideological and political education runs through it, providing spiritual nourishment and cultural guidance for social development by promoting mainstream values and fostering cultural diversity. In the social field, the guiding force of ideological and political education is embedded in the optimization of social structure and function; by constructing public spirit and collective action capacity, it strengthens individual consciousness and social responsibility, promoting social harmony and stability. From the horizontal dimension, the guiding force of ideological and political education presents a trend of mutual influence and comprehensive empowerment across various fields. In terms of interactive symbiosis, the roles of the guiding force of ideological and political education in each field permeate each other, effectively promoting the organic coordination of knowledge, values, and actions across different fields. In terms of systemic integration, the guiding force of ideological and political education, as an important element running through various fields, achieves goal coordination and optimal resource allocation for development across fields by constructing a system of ideas and an action framework with shared values. In terms of feedback loops, the implementation effects of the guiding force of ideological and political education in each field feed back into each other, forming a positive cycle and continuous iteration.

思政引领力在实践场域中展现出深刻的纵向深化与横向互动特征，通过多维度、多层次的作用机制，为教育、文化与社会的全面发展提供了坚实的思想基础与行动指南，并将在未来发展中持续发挥引航赋能功效。从纵向维度看，思政引领力在各领域呈现持续深化与迭代进阶态势。教育领域作为思政引领力的原发场域，通过系统化、规范化的思想政治教育体系，为个体全面发展奠定坚实基础。在文化领域，思政引领力贯穿其中，通过弘扬主流价值、促进文化多元，为社会发展提供精神滋养与文化引领。在社会领域，思政引领力置身社会结构与功能优化中，通过构建公共精神与集体行动能力，强化个体意识与社会责任感，促进社会和谐稳定。从横向维度看，思政引领力在各领域呈现出相互影响与综合赋能态势。在互动共生上，各领域思政引领力作用相互渗透，有效促进了知识、价值与行动在不同领域的有机协同。在系统整合上，思政引领力作为贯穿各领域的重要元素，通过构建价值共通的理念体系与行动框架，实现各领域发展的目标协同与资源优化配置。在反馈循环上，各领域思政引领力的实施效果相互反馈，形成正向循环和持续迭代。

Fully leveraging the role of the guiding force of ideological and political education is not only an important task in building a strong educational country but also a top priority in promoting cultural prosperity, civilizational progress, and comprehensive social development. Deeply grasping the mechanism of the guiding force of ideological and political education is the historical mission entrusted to ideological and political work in the New Era. It should be noted that the guiding force of ideological and political education is spoken of in terms of ideological and political work as a whole; it does not mean that ideological and political workers naturally possess a high guiding force. Rather, it sets a higher requirement for every ideological and political worker to strengthen effective guidance. The guiding force of ideological and political education is also not immutable or achieved overnight; it requires sustained and persistent effort. Looking to the future, we must continuously strengthen and improve ideological and political education, empowering the guiding force of ideological and political education through theoretical and practical innovation. We should strive to promote the mutual alignment of ideological and political education with mainstream social values and with the trends of economic and social development, so that the public is placed in an educational environment where "what they see is what they learn," cultivating a spiritual and cultural force that is "used daily without awareness." [10]10 "Used daily without awareness" (日用而不觉) is a classical Chinese expression, often associated with the Confucian tradition, referring to norms or principles that people follow in everyday life without consciously reflecting on them. We should strive to explore new focal points for ideological and political guidance, achieving a combination of direct and indirect, explicit and implicit approaches, and ensuring that ideological and political guidance always retains its vitality and remains enduringly effective.

充分发挥思政引领力的作用，不仅是建设教育强国的重要任务，还是推动文化繁荣、文明进步与社会全面发展的重中之重。深刻把握思政引领力的作用机制，是新时代赋予思想政治工作的历史使命。需要注意的是，思政引领力是就思想政治工作整体而言的，并不意味着思想政治工作者天然具有较高的引领力，而是对每位思想政治工作者提出了加强有效引领的更高要求。思政引领力也并非一成不变、一蹴而就的，而是需要久久为功、绵绵用力。面向未来，我们要不断加强和改进思想政治教育，在理论与实践创新中赋能思政引领力。努力推动思想政治教育与社会主流价值观念、与经济社会发展态势相互契合，使大众置身“所见即所学”的教育大环境，涵养“日用而不觉”的精神文化力量。努力挖掘思政引领的新兴着力点，实现直接与间接、显性与隐性的结合，推动思政引领始终葆有活力、持久有力。

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心