Red Flag Manuscript： Beware of the tendency of ＂All People Party＂, which will damage the Party’s advanced nature and leading position.

How to strictly manage the party in an all-round way, keep pace with the times, and constantly maintain the advanced nature and purity of the party is a major issue facing our party in the new historical period. To solve this problem, we should constantly sum up and apply the positive and negative experiences of our party’s own construction, and at the same time learn from the experiences and lessons of the rise and fall of some political parties in the world. As the most advanced political party in history, communist party must go beyond the general "modernization of political parties" and explore the law of self-construction and the basic law of keeping advanced and pure. This is the most important experience. Marx said: "The workers’ political party should not be the tail of a bourgeois political party, but should be an independent political party with its own purposes and policies." (The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 17, p. 450) In the new historical period, how can our Party always stay in the forefront of the times, and at the same time adhere to its own goals and policies, improve its leadership level and ruling ability, and maintain its advanced nature and purity? The following problems must be carefully studied and solved.

First, the party’s guiding ideology should be constantly enriched and developed, and at the same time, we must always adhere to the party’s theoretical foundation and basic principles.

The guiding ideology is the life and soul of a political party, and it is the cornerstone for a political party to formulate its line, principles and policies. The theoretical foundation and basic principles of the guiding ideology are relatively stable, and once they are changed and replaced, they often mean substantial changes in political parties. The specific content of the guiding ideology is not immutable. A truly advanced political party must constantly adapt to the development of the times and social changes on the basis of adhering to its theoretical basis and basic principles, actively carry out ideological and theoretical innovations with the specific practice of its own nation as the focus, and constantly endow the party’s guiding ideology with new content of the times and national characteristics.

Looking at the experience and lessons of some political parties in the world, we must guard against and resist the following two tendencies:

First, abandon the foundation and change the flag. Mainly starting from pragmatism, catering to political needs, drifting with the tide, abandoning the party’s basic position and principles, and engaging in eclecticism and "de-ideology."Such is the evolution of guiding ideology and ideology of some communist party and Social Democratic Party in Western Europe. In doing so, due to the convergence with the right-wing political parties in the system, these left-wing political parties fell into a severe identity crisis, lost traditional voters, and failed to establish a stable social foundation, so they lost in political competition. Practice shows that a political party that gives up its theoretical foundation and basic principles will eventually decline due to the loss of its identity. The "New Road" reform in italian communist party before and after the drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and the so-called "New Communism" reform in communist party in the late 1990s, made these originally influential political parties gradually become marginalized.

Second, thinking is rigid and vitality is lost. The main reason is that theoretical innovation cannot be combined with the changes of the times and practice. The once correct guiding ideology has become a dogma, and the once advanced and promising political party has become a rigid and conservative political party.In this case, Deng Xiaoping pointed out sharply more than 30 years ago: "A party, a country and a nation, if everything starts from its roots, its thinking is rigid and superstition prevails, then it can’t move forward, its vitality will stop, and it will die." (Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Vol.2, p.143) The leader of communist party in the Soviet Union first made the mistake of rigid dogma, and then made the mistake of changing the flag, which finally led to the consequence of "the death of the party and the country".

Second, the party’s program should keep pace with the times, and at the same time, we must always ensure that the party program party constitution does not become a "popular clause."

The party’s program is the banner of a political party and the basic basis for judging a political party. For Marxist political parties, first, the party program must be clear and definite. Lenin emphasized: "The party program should include absolutely irrefutable and irrefutable things. Only such a party program is a Marxist party program. " The "irrefutable things" are the nature, ultimate goal, fundamental tasks and organizational principles of the party. Second, the party program is the unity of the highest program and the phased program. It should not only include the highest program that sets the ultimate goal, but also include the phased program that reflects the basic ideas and main tasks of political parties in a historical period. The highest program stipulates the direction and principles of the phased program, which must be implemented as the main line from beginning to end; The phased program should adapt to the development situation and sports level of a period and put forward the lines and policies that meet the development of the times and the actual needs, but it should not deviate from the direction and objectives stipulated in the highest program. Third, the party program must be constantly enriched and improved according to the development of practice. The phased program must keep pace with the times, and should be adjusted and revised due to changes in social environment and conditions, so that political parties can conform to the changes of the times and practical development and formulate lines, principles and policies that meet practical requirements.

A mature and advanced Marxist political party,Its party program should not only run through the "irrefutable" content that defines its own nature and direction, but also be contemporary, practical and developmental.The two are organically unified.Without the former, the party program will become a practical "popular clause", and political parties will inevitably encounter an "identity crisis" and lose their way; Without the latter, the party program will become a useless rigid dogma, and political parties will inevitably lose their vitality and do nothing.

In the process of modernization of political parties all over the world, it is an important task to adjust and revise the party platform party constitution. In recent years, some left-wing political parties in the West, including the Social Democratic Party and communist party, have deliberately catered to the "middle voters", showing an obvious "intermediate" development trend in their theoretical programs. In fact, they have moved closer to the right-wing political parties, and their own characteristics have become weaker and weaker, and they have encountered an "identity crisis", which is even the same as the right-wing political parties in their programs. In practice, it has directly led to the vacillation of voters and the loss of traditional supporters of political parties. Some powerful political parties have now become marginalized parties. On the contrary, some radical political parties with distinct political opinions, such as the French National Front, the Italian Northern Alliance, the Swedish Democratic Party, the American Tea Party and other right-wing populist parties, as well as the new French anti-capitalist party and other radical left-wing parties, have risen rapidly in the political arena, which also shows the importance of the party’s theoretical program with its own characteristics from another side.

The nature and content of party constitution, the platform of Marxist political parties, are qualitatively different from those of other political parties.The progressiveness of Marxist political parties, to a great extent, is first reflected in the advancement of the party’s program and articles of association, and it is the party’s banner and distinctive sign. Its party program party constitution should have its own distinctive characteristics, and it cannot be a "popular clause" that is followed by others.Engels once put forward the problem of maintaining the advanced nature of the party program, arguing that we should not include things that only pay attention to immediate interests and ignore the long-term development of the movement into the party program, and we should not blindly cater to certain parties, interest groups and individuals. Engels pointed out that "abandoning any party program in order to cater to these people cannot lead them forward." (The Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume 35, page 402) He also pointed out that the program of working-class political parties, "whatever its initial form, must develop in a direction that can be determined in advance."

Since the Communist Party of China (CPC) was founded more than 90 years ago, there have been 16 important revisions of party constitution’s party program, which fully embodies our party’s character of emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts and keeping pace with the times. In the process of revision, we should also adhere to the consistent core content, that is, "certain things", including the guiding ideology of Marxism, the nature of the vanguard of the working class, the goal of communism, the principle of democratic centralism, etc. These are the fundamental characteristics that distinguish Marxist political parties from non-Marxist political parties.

Third, the party’s foundation should be continuously consolidated, and at the same time, the party’s class foundation and mass foundation should be continuously expanded.

A political party must have extensive social support if it wants to be in power or achieve long-term governance. All kinds of political parties in the world strive for political and social space for survival and development, although the specific practices are different. Generally speaking, it is a universal trend for political parties in the world to adapt to the development of the times and the changes of economy and society, constantly adjust their strategies and tactics to expand the party’s social foundation, seek maximum social support and expand the space for survival and development.

For Marxist political parties, on the one hand, it is an inevitable requirement to continuously consolidate the class foundation and expand the mass base according to the development and changes of the times and practice. On the other hand, the nature and purpose of the party determine its purpose, content and way of expanding the social foundation, which is substantially different from other types of political parties. Our party should learn from the experience and lessons of foreign political parties in this regard and properly handle the relationship between class and mass, advanced and extensive. There are two important aspects:

First, we must uphold and publicly declare our class nature, and always maintain the vanguard nature of the party as the premise.Party constitution pointed out that the Communist Party of China (CPC) is the vanguard of the working class in China, as well as the people of China and the Chinese nation. Political parties are class organizations, and class nature is the essential attribute of political parties. The important difference between communist party and other political parties is that it does not conceal and publicly declare its class nature, that is, the vanguard of the working class. Mao Zedong once pointed out: "To unite the whole party and the whole people, this does not mean that we are not tendentious. Some people say that communist party is a "party of the whole people", but we don’t think so. Our party is a proletarian political party, an advanced proletarian army and a fighting force armed with Marxism–Leninism. " History and practice have proved that, for Marxist political parties, it is not harmful but beneficial to gain social support and mass base, and it is not harmful but beneficial to promote the cause led by the party. Its class foundation and mass foundation are intertwined and inseparable.

The reason why many foreign political parties conceal or simply stop mentioning that they are "class parties" and claim to be "party beyond class" and "party of the whole people" is mainly to win the election as a practical and expedient measure. Judging from its effect, some political parties have won temporary or staged elections and come to power, but it is difficult to jump out of the "periodic law" of party alternation and success or failure.For example, some left-wing political parties in western countries, such as communist party, generally put forward the slogans of "People’s Party" and "All People’s Party" in order to gain the acceptance of different social strata and groups, and some even sought support from all social strata, including the privileged class. Some influential organizations in communist party, such as French communist party and italian communist party, have also given up their status as "vanguard party" and "leading party" in the process of adjustment and change, emphasizing that they have changed from a class party to a "party for the whole people" and a "party for everyone". Although they can also increase some votes in an election, they have become no different from other political parties, and as a result, they are gradually marginalized and unable to make a difference.After the mid-1990s, the European Social Democratic Party set off a "wave of revival of left-wing political parties" through the "third way" and "all-people party" transformation, but at the beginning of this century, they stepped down one after another and their scenery was unsustainable. Some of these political parties are even more devastated and gradually marginalized.

It can be seen that many political parties in the west are trying to expand the number of voters and social support rate for the purpose of electing to power in the political environment where political parties take turns to govern, deliberately playing the role of "super-class parties" and separating the relationship between class and mass. And the Communist Party of China (CPC) is to maintain its advanced nature and long-term governance. Therefore, in the process of constantly consolidating the class foundation and expanding the mass foundation, we must always publicly declare our class attributes, always play the role of "vanguard" and "leading the party", and correctly handle the relationship between class nature and mass.

Second, it is necessary to consolidate the class foundation and expand the mass base organically, and we should not be paranoid or neglect one end. Comrade Supreme Leader pointed out that the working class in our country is the most solid and reliable class foundation of our party. The class foundation is the foundation of building the party, and the mass foundation is the source of strength. The two are organically unified and cannot be neglected. On the one hand, we should make new achievements on the basis of class consolidation. Always rely on the working class wholeheartedly to ensure the realization and promotion of its status as a master. We should correctly understand the changes of the working class and its new characteristics brought about by the development of the times and the changes of social structure, such as the new changes in the composition, team size, field of employment, work and life style of the working class, and promote the realization of the working class’s status as a master, the maintenance of its advanced nature and the play of the leading class with new eyes and new methods. On the other hand, we should make new achievements on the basis of expanding the masses. We believe that socialism is the cause of hundreds of millions of people, give full play to the political advantages of our Party in keeping close contact with the masses, unite all forces that can be United to build Socialism with Chinese characteristics, and constantly enhance the Party’s representativeness, extensiveness and openness.

We should pay attention to and overcome three wrong tendencies: first, narrow "closed-doorism" tendency. On the pretext of maintaining the party’s advanced nature and purity, many outstanding elements in all fields and industries are excluded from the party, which will turn the party into an isolated and closed Sect. The second is the superficial tendency of "many people". It is believed that the conditions and standards for joining the Party should be lowered. As long as there are more party member, the social foundation will be broad and the strength will be enhanced. This will turn the Party into a mass organization. The third is the "all-people party" tendency in the West. Completely deny the class nature of the party, and think that "modern political party" is "the party of all the people" and must transcend "outdated class views and prejudices". The above erroneous tendencies and practices will destroy the party’s class foundation and mass foundation and damage the party’s advanced nature and leading position.

Let’s look at some practices and changes in communist party abroad. After the period of "European Communism" and two adjustments since 1990s, communist party, a developed capitalist country, has greatly changed its understanding and attitude towards the working class compared with the proletarian party and class theory of traditional Marxism. Except for a few non-Party members, the reform orientation of the majority party is manifested in weakening its own working-class position, diluting the party’s class ideology, and gradually abandoning some views and propositions with distinctive radical characteristics. This "de-classization" orientation serves the party’s parliamentary struggle to a great extent. Under the condition of great changes in contemporary western economic and social structure, it is necessary for communist party of all countries to adjust and change relevant theories and policies in order to survive and develop in the new environment. However, on the whole, this development orientation makes communist party lose its characteristics, thus weakening its class foundation and mass foundation, and also causing the loss of traditional voters to a certain extent. In practice, a large number of bottom-class voters who originally belonged to communist party turned to far-left or far-right parties with more radical characteristics.

Fourth, the construction of inner-party democracy should be continuously strengthened, and at the same time, the unity and unity of the party must always be consolidated.

At present, in the process of the development of political parties in the world, it is a general trend and trend to advocate and practice the democratization of the party. In the process of developing inner-party democracy, some foreign political parties also have a common problem, that is, the over-generalized openness and democracy lead to endless debates, numerous differences, numerous factions and infighting within the party, which leads to the division of the party and seriously undermines its activities and strength. Starting from the nature and purpose of our party, we should actively explore the contents and forms of inner-party democracy construction in line with the world, national conditions and party conditions. The following two aspects are worth emphasizing:

The first is the dialectical relationship between developing inner-party democracy and maintaining the unity and unity of the party. We should make it clear that our party is a unified whole organized according to democratic centralism. On the one hand, we must give full play to inner-party democracy, safeguard party member’s democratic rights, and give full play to the enthusiasm and creativity of party organizations at all levels and party member. On the other hand, we must implement correct centralization, ensure the unity and unity of the whole party and the unity of actions, and ensure that the party’s decisions are implemented quickly and effectively. In this sense, inner-party democracy is the life of the party, so is unity and unity. They complement each other and are indispensable. Without the unity and unity of the party, there can be no unified will and unified action, and the party will accomplish nothing.

Second, the development of inner-party democracy must prevent the tendency of extreme democratization. For example, some people think that inner-party democracy should be unconditional free debate among factions, that is, "freedom of quarrel", "freedom of any speech" and "freedom of opposition" within some foreign political parties; Some people think that inner-party democracy means free elections within the party, and the result should be that some foreign political parties are "some people replace others", and they think that only in this way can the purpose of inner-party democracy be achieved, and so on. Such so-called "inner-party democracy" will inevitably weaken the party’s leadership and prestige and must be resisted and opposed.

Five, the party’s ability to govern should be continuously improved, and at the same time, we must always adhere to the purpose of governing for the people.

Constantly strengthening the construction of the party’s ruling ability is the inevitable requirement of the party’s advanced nature and purity construction. For the Marxist ruling party, the construction of ruling ability and the construction of advanced nature and purity are inseparable and complement each other. A political party that maintains the party’s advanced nature and purity is bound to be a party with strong ruling ability that meets the requirements of the times and practice and the wishes of the broad masses of people. Without the ruling ability, speaking of advanced nature and purity will fall into fantasy and talk; However, a political party with strong ruling ability is bound to achieve the requirements of advanced nature and purity. Without advanced nature and purity, the ruling ability will fall into pragmatism and get lost. This is the fundamental reason why our party regards the construction of ruling ability and the construction of advanced nature and purity as the two main lines of party building in the new period.

The reasons why some foreign political parties have lost popular support and failed in power are mainly the following three lessons worth learning:

First, the economic development lags behind, resulting in a ruling crisis. The most direct basis for people to judge the success or failure of a political party is its ability to promote economic development during its administration. If the economic development is not good, it will lose the material foundation of governance and the credibility of governance. Our party is in power in the most populous country in the world, and it is the last word to continue to unswervingly adhere to economic development. In any case, we must do everything possible to develop the economy and continuously consolidate the material foundation of our party’s governance.

Second, social equity is unbalanced, which leads to unstable social foundation. Realizing social fairness and justice is an important guarantee for a ruling party to get the support of the people. Even if economic growth and development are realized during the ruling period, if the relationship between efficiency and fairness cannot be correctly handled, the problem of fairness and justice cannot be solved, and the stability of the ruling position cannot be fully guaranteed. Economic growth does not necessarily bring about an increase in the recognition of the ruling party. While developing the economy, we should pay attention to maintaining social fairness and justice, so that most people can enjoy the fruits of economic growth, which is even more crucial for consolidating the ruling position.

Third, corruption is rampant, eroding the ruling foundation of political parties. Corruption is the greatest danger and harm faced by the ruling party. For the Marxist ruling party, corruption is even more incompatible with the nature and purpose of the party, and punishing corruption is related to the life and death of the party. Fighting corruption is a tough battle that our party must win.

(Author: Deputy Director, World Socialism Research Center, China Academy of Social Sciences, Party Secretary and Researcher, Information and Information Research Institute)