Principle of Interest Politics: Logic of Political Life from China’s Perspective (Interests Politics Series) 9811939624, 9789811939624

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Interests Politics Series

Puqu Wang

Principle of Interest Politics Logic of Political Life from China’s Perspective

Interests Politics Series Series Editor Puqu Wang, Peking University, Beijing, China

Interest is the basic variable of political research, the original motive for people to form political relations, and the foundation and premise of the formation of a country. “Interest Politics Series” takes interest and interest relations as the basic object, exploring the concepts, evolution paths and practical significance of interest in western political philosophy, Chinese traditional political philosophy and political theory. The series attempts to illustrate the fundamental role of interests in political development and change. It aims to collect titles which construct a political analysis paradigm based on interest, to reveal the fundamental causes of political development and institutional change in human society, to form a school of interest politics.

Puqu Wang

Principle of Interest Politics Logic of Political Life from China’s Perspective

Puqu Wang School of Government Peking University Beijing, China Translated by Fu Qiong, Zang Leizhen, Zhao Yong and Xu Xinwu

This work was supported by Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Sciences ISSN 2731-5940 ISSN 2731-5959 (electronic) Interests Politics Series ISBN 978-981-19-3962-4 ISBN 978-981-19-3963-1 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1 Jointly published with Peking University Press The print edition is not for sale in China (Mainland). Customers from China (Mainland) please order the print book from: Peking University Press. © Peking University Press 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publishers, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Contents

Part I

Politics and Political Science

1

Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 The Meaning of Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1.1 Analysis of Some Non-marxist Political Views . . . . . . . . 1.1.2 Marxist Political View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1.3 The Definition of Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 The Historical Development and Social Status of Politics . . . . . . 1.2.1 The Origin of Development of Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2.2 The Social Status of Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 3 3 7 10 12 12 15

2

Political Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 The Meaning and Composition of Political Science . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.1 The Meaning of Political Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.2 The Composition of Political Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 The Historical Development of Political Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 The Development of Western Politics Science . . . . . . . . . 2.2.2 The Emergence and Characteristics of Marxist Political Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 The Enrichment and Development of Marxist Political Science by Adapting Marxism to Chinese Conditions . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.1 The Contributions of Mao Zedong Thought to Marxist Political Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.2 The Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics to Marxist Political Science . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.3 The Historical Development of Chinese Political Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 The Research Methods of Political Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.1 The Basic Research Methods of Marxist Political Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.2 The Main Research Methods Western Political Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

19 19 19 22 27 27 33 37 38 39 47 52 52 57 v

vi

Contents

Part II 3

4

5

Political Relations

Interests and Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 The Meaning of Interests and the Internal Contradictions . . . . . . . 3.1.1 The Formation and Essence of Interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.2 The Internal Contradictions of Interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Conflicts of Interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.1 The Meaning of Conflicts of Interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.2 Common Interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.3 The Contradictions of Interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 The Status of Functions of Interests in Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.1 The Status of Functions of Interests in Political Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.2 The Status of Functions of Interests in Political Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

65 65 65 69 72 72 75 80 83

Political Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 The Meaning and Characteristics of Political Power . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.1 The Essence of Political Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.2 The Elements of Political Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.3 The Characteristics of Political Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 The Types and Relations of Political Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.1 The Types of Political Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.2 The Relations of Political Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 The Functions of Political Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3.1 The Characteristics and Manners of the Functions of Political Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3.2 The Functions of Political Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

89 89 89 92 96 101 101 108 114

Political Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 The Meaning and Characteristics of Political Rights . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.1 The Meaning of Political Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.2 The Characteristics of Political Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 The Content and Functions of Political Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.1 The Historical Development of Political Rights . . . . . . . 5.2.2 The Basic Content of Political Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.3 The Functions of Political Rights to Social-Political Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

121 121 121 129 136 136 140

83 85

114 118

145

Part III Political Behavior 6

Political Struggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 The Meaning and Types of Political Struggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1.1 The Definition and Characteristics of Political Struggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1.2 The Types of Political Struggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

151 151 151 157

Contents

6.2

vii

The Strategy and Amplitude of Political Struggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.1 The Strategy of Political Struggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.2 The Amplitude of Political Struggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Functions of Political Struggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.1 The Functions of Political Struggle on Political Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.2 The Functions of Political Struggle on Society and History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

163 163 166 168

7

Political Ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 The Meaning of Political Ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1.1 The Concept of Political Ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1.2 The Characteristics of Political Ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2 The Basis and Types of Political Ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2.1 The Basis of Political Ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2.2 The Types of Political Ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3 The Approach and Function of Political Ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3.1 The Approach of Political Ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3.2 The Function of Political Ruling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

173 173 173 178 182 182 186 189 189 193

8

Political Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1 The Meaning of Political Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.1 The Meaning of Political Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.2 The Features of Political Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 The Functions and Types of Political Management . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.1 The Functions of Political Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.2 The Types of Political Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3 The Methods and Functions of Political Management . . . . . . . . . . 8.3.1 The Methods of Political Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3.2 The Functions of Political Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

197 197 197 201 205 205 214 219 219 232

9

Political Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1 The Meanings and Types of Political Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1.1 Definition and Characteristics of Political Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1.2 Types of Political Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2 Ways and Conditions of Political Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2.1 Ways and Means of Political Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2.2 Basic Conditions and Influencing Factors for Political Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3 Functions and Development Direction of Political Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3.1 Functions of Political Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3.2 Development Direction of Political Participation . . . . . .

237 237

6.3

168 170

237 242 246 246 251 255 255 260

viii

Contents

Part IV Political System 10 State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1 Meanings and Types of State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1.1 Several Non-Marxist State Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1.2 The Nature of the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1.3 The Types of History of the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.2 The Form of the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.2.1 Organizational Form of State Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.2.2 Forms of State Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.3 State Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.3.1 Meanings and Principles of the Establishment of National Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.3.2 Major National Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

265 265 265 268 271 277 277 281 283

11 Political Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1 Meanings and Types of Political Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1.1 The Essence and Essential Characteristics of a Political Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1.2 Types of Political Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1.3 The Role of Political Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 Political Party System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2.1 The Meanings of the Party System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2.2 Political Party Systems in Capitalist Countries . . . . . . . . 11.2.3 The Political Party System in Socialist Countries . . . . . .

295 295

12 Political Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.1 The Meanings and Characteristics of Political Associations . . . . . 12.1.1 The Definition of Political Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.1.2 The Characteristics of Political Associations . . . . . . . . . . 12.2 Types of Political Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.2.1 Technical Classification of Political Associations . . . . . . 12.2.2 Pressure Groups in Capitalist Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.2.3 Political Associations in Socialist Society . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.3 The Functions of Political Associations in Political Life . . . . . . . . 12.3.1 The Manner of Political Associations Functions . . . . . . . 12.3.2 Functions of Political Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

317 317 317 319 322 322 324 326 329 329 333

Part V

283 290

295 299 303 305 305 306 311

Political Culture

13 Political Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.1 The Meaning and Characteristics of Political Psychology . . . . . . 13.1.1 The Meaning of Political Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.1.2 The Characteristics of Political Psychology . . . . . . . . . . .

339 339 339 342

Contents

ix

13.2 The Formation Basis and Constituent Elements of Political Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.2.1 The Formation Basis of Political Psychology . . . . . . . . . 13.2.2 The Constituent Elements of Political Psychology . . . . . 13.3 Types and Functions of Political Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3.1 Types of Political Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3.2 The Role of Political Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

344 344 351 354 354 358

14 Political Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.1 The Meaning and Characteristics of Political Thought . . . . . . . . . 14.1.1 Definition of Political Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.1.2 Characteristics of Political Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.2 The Structure and Types of Political Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.2.1 The Structure of Political Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.2.2 Types of Political Thought Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.2.3 Types of Political Thought Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.3 Development and Function of Political Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.3.1 The Origin and Development of Political Thought . . . . . 14.3.2 The Role of Political Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

363 363 363 365 369 369 372 375 378 378 381

15 Political Socialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.1 The Meaning and Characteristics of Political Socialization . . . . . 15.1.1 The Definition of Political Socialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.1.2 Characteristics of Political Socialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.2 Political Socialization Media and Influencing Factors . . . . . . . . . . 15.2.1 Political Socialization Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.2.2 Influencing Factors of Political Socialization . . . . . . . . . . 15.3 Types and Functions of Political Socialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.3.1 Types of Political Socialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.3.2 The Roles of Political Socialization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

383 383 383 385 387 387 390 393 393 397

Part VI

Political Developments

16 Political Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.1 Meaning and Characteristics of the Political Revolution . . . . . . . . 16.1.1 Revolution and Political Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.1.2 Characteristics of the Political goat’s Life . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.2 Types and Strategies of Political Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.2.1 Types of Political Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.2.2 Strategies and Tactics of Political Revolution . . . . . . . . . 16.3 Modalities and Roles of Political Revolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.3.1 Modalities of Political Revolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.3.2 The Role of the Political Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

403 403 403 407 410 410 416 418 418 421

x

Contents

17 Political Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.1 Meaning and Characteristics of Political Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.1.1 The Definition of Political Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.1.2 Characteristics of Political Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.2 Objectives and Modalities of Political Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.2.1 Objective of Political Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.2.2 Modalities of Political Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.3 Conditions and Role of Political Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.3.1 Conditions for Political Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.3.2 The Role of Political Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

425 425 425 428 431 431 432 434 434 437

18 Political Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.1 Meaning of Political Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.1.1 Definition of Political Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.1.2 Characteristics of Political Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.2 Types of Political Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.2.1 Pre-capitalist Political Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.2.2 Capitalist Political Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.2.3 Socialist Political Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.3 Ways of Development and Socio-Political Role of Political Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.3.1 Ways of Development of Political Democracy . . . . . . . . 18.3.2 The Socio-Political Role of Political Democracy . . . . . .

439 439 439 442 446 446 449 451

Part VII

456 456 459

International Politics

19 International Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.1 Definition of International Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.1.1 The Subject of International Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.1.2 The Meaning of International Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.2 The Associations and Differences Between International and Domestic Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.2.1 The Associations Between International and Domestic Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.2.2 The Differences Between International and Domestic Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

465 465 465 474

20 International Political Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.1 Definition and Types of International Political Behavior . . . . . . . . 20.1.1 Definition of International Political Behavior . . . . . . . . . 20.1.2 Basic Types of International Political Behaviors . . . . . . . 20.2 Basic Norms of International Political Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.2.1 Definition and Characteristics of Norms of International Political Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.2.2 International Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

487 487 487 490 498

480 480 482

498 501

Contents

21 The International Political System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.1 Definition and Characteristics of the International Political System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.1.1 Definition of the International Political System . . . . . . . . 21.1.2 Basic Characteristics of the International Political System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.2 Themes of the Times and Developments in the International Political Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.2.1 Peace and Development in the Contemporary World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.2.2 Economic Globalization and Multipolarity in the International Political Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

xi

505 505 505 509 512 512 516

Post Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529

Part I

Politics and Political Science

Politics is an essential aspect of human social life, which existed for thousands of years with the development of human society. In today’s world, it is in a critical position in the social life of each social community, affecting every aspect of social life and all social members. Due to the complexity of the political phenomena and the difference in people’s standpoints, viewpoints, and methods of observing and analyzing politics, people have different views on the meaning of politics in human history. Based on historical materialism, Marxism believes that politics is essentially a type of particular social relations. To this view, politics can be defined as a type of social relations, social members confirm and guarantee their political rights through public social power, and realize their interests, in particular social and economic relations and the performance based on interests. Political science is a study of political phenomena, and the emergence of Marxist political science has brought about a revolutionary leap in human understanding of politics. According to the Marxist principles of studying political phenomena, it can be considered that politics is a science that studies political relations and the law of their development, and it is an essential discipline of social sciences. With the development of social politics, the research of political science has been deepened and enriched, as its research field has been expanded, and its research methods and approaches have also been changing. Accordingly, under the guidance of Marxist politics, analyzing and absorbing the research results of modern politics, and then conducting multi-perspective, multi-field, multi-level, and multi-method research on social politics is the vital task for promoting socialist political development with Chinese characteristics and modernizing national governance, establishing and promoting the development of discipline system of political science, academic system, discourse system, talents cultivation system, and academic evaluation system with Chinese characteristics.

Chapter 1

Politics

1.1 The Meaning of Politics 1.1.1 Analysis of Some Non-marxist Political Views Several non-Marxist political views analyze the concept of “politics,” which first appeared in the slave society period in the history of human civilization. In ancient Chinese classics, there are also many sayings like “Proper principles and orderly governance enriches the people.”1 in The Book of History, “taking charge of conscription leadership and commandments.”2 in The Rites of Zhou, and “Orderly governance implies no regret.” in Guanzi. In the West, the word “politics” comes from the ancient Greek words “polis,” “polity,” and “politeria.” The term “politics” has been widely used in the ancient Greek thinker Plato’s The Republic and Aristotle’s The Politics of Aristotle and other works. In the long development process of human history, thinkers and politicians from different dynasties in China have conducted various analyses on the complex phenomenon of politics from different positions and angles and expounded different political views. Therefore, their interpretations of the concept of “politics” are also very different. Generally speaking, these interpretations and explanations can be divided into two categories: non-Marxist political views and Marxist political views. As for the non-Marxist view of politics, its views on politics are mainly represented as follows: (1)

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Politics is the pursuit of a social value and a normative morality. The interpretation of politics by Chinese Confucianism rests on its pursuit of the moral value of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust, just like Confucius said, “To govern means to rectify. If you lead with correctness, who dares

The Book of Documents: The Charge to the Duke of Pi. Zhou Li: Suiren.

© Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_1

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not to be correct?”3 The “justice” here is the Confucian moral code, and if the thought and behavior of the rulers conform to these norms, the world should be governed. Therefore, it is said that politics and morality are two sides of one body. Cultivating the self, regulating the family, governing the state and then leading the world to peace form the internal and external unified logic from morality to politics. In the West, the first people to associate politics with a certain ethical value were Plato and Aristotle in ancient Greece. Plato believed that the fundamental problem of politics lies in “justice,” so his “public” is “justice,” which has the four virtues of wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice. Aristotle, on the other hand, equated politics with “the good in a greater degree than any other, and the highest.” and regarded it as a moral union of people with each other.4 Explaining politics from the perspective of morality and value emphasizes the value orientation of social and political life, and points out people’s expectation and value requirements for politics, shows the grasp of the purpose of social and political life, and reflects the moral standard of social members for political life and activities in a specific historical period. Because this political view essentially contains people’s pursuit and requirements for political life beyond reality, it is often understood as an idealistic political view. However, this view of moral politics also has its weaknesses: it analyses politics from the perspective of philosophical discourse rather than social reality, and explains politics only from the level and perspective of the ‘ought’, which makes it heavily ‘mystical and discursive’5 instead of reflecting social and political life in a realistic way. At the same time, it only grasps politics at the level of abstract social and ethical values, without profoundly revealing the essential social content behind political values. (2)

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Politics is the pursuit and use of power. Legalists in Chinese history held that the main contents of politics should be law, technique, and power, namely the acquisition, maintenance, and application of political power. Han Fei, the integrator of Legalism thought, put it bluntly that politics is the use of power, “What the former kings expect are interests and what they employ is power.”6 Niccolò Machiavelli, an Italian thinker in the sixteenth century, took the lead in separating morality from political power in the history of Western thought. He believed that “politics is the necessary methods for seizing power and mastering power.”7 The end of politics, therefore, is merely the acquisition and retention of power, and the means of politics is the manipulation of power. Many modern Western thinkers also define politics from the perspective of

Analects of Confucius: Yanyuan. Aristoteles, Politics. Commercial Press, 1995, pp. 3. 5 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 71. 6 The “Outer Sayings on the Left”. 7 Alan C. Isaak, Scope and Methods of Political Science. Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1987, p. 283. 4

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power. For example, German sociologist Max Weber believed that “‘politics’ means striving to share power or to influence the distribution of power”.8 The American realist international political theorist Morgenthau believes that “the essence of international politics and the essence of domestic politics are the same. Both kinds of politics are struggles for power.”9 To reduce politics to power or power-centered activities involves the core content of politics to some extent. At the same time, because this political view attributes realistic politics to political power, it is regarded as the explanation of politics from the level of “what is,” and the view of power politics and its theory is thus called realistic political views. However, the view of power politics ignores the specific values and morality in political life, so it is difficult to explain the role of values and morality in political activities, and fails to correctly describe the social purpose and pursuit of political life. At the same time, although the view of power politics seems to explain “what politics is” on the surface, it only describes the meaning of politics in the sense of power. Still, it does not indicate the actual motivation behind power. As Engels pointed out, “political power is nothing but a means to realize economic interests.”10 Therefore, the view of power politics is not comprehensive and profound in grasping the nature of politics. (3)

Politics is the management of public affairs. Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of China’s democratic revolution, once defined politics by public management. He said, “Plainly, of the meanings of these two characters of zheng-zhi (politics), zheng refers to the affairs of a multitude while zhi refers to management. Managing the affairs of a multitude equals zheng-zhi.”11

According to Sun Yat-sen’s definition, Wu Enyu, a Chinese political scientist, said, “Politics is the administration of public affairs with the coercion force of the public.”12 Many contemporary Western political scientists have explored the political implications from the perspective of managing public affairs. For example, American political scientists G. Ponton and P. Gill believe that “politics is an institutional arrangement related to the governance of social affairs and the control of individuals and groups on this governance.”13

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Harold Dwight Lasswell, and Abraham Kaplan, Power and Society: A Framework for Political Inquiry, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1950, p.240. 9 Hans J. Morgenthau. Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. Chinese People’s Public Security University Press, 1990, p. 46. 10 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 250. 11 Selected Works of Sun Yat-sen, People’s Publishing House, 1956, p661. 12 Wu En-yu, A Study of the Problems of Political Science, The Commercial Press, 1948, p.71. 13 Geoffrey Ponton and Peter Gill, Introduction to Politics. Social Sciences Academic Press (China), 2003, p9.

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“Politics is the activity of making decisions and putting them into practice in the community and for the benefit of the community,”14 says Jean Blondel of the European University College. Politics is also considered as the management of public affairs and grasped its features that is public and administrative. However, this view of politics does not profoundly explain the essential meaning of the public nature of politics. At the same time, it ignores that politics is not only administrative but also dominant. (4)

Politics is the decision-making activity that distributes social values in an authoritative way. This definition was put forward by David Easton, the American political scientist, widely accepted and quoted in Western society today. On this basis, American political scientist Harold D. Lasswell further extended the definition of politics as “who, when and how to obtain” social values such as respect, income, security, thus making the elaboration and determination that politics distribute social values clearer.15

This determination of the meaning of politics pointed that the fundamental object of political activities is social value, including material value and spiritual value. The content and mode of political activity is the decision-making activity of distributing social value. This distribution is authoritative, legal, and compulsory. Therefore, this political view points out the content, mode, and symbol of political life. But it didn’t show the deep motivation of the authoritative distribution of social value and its forms. Meanwhile, it is inadequate since it limits political activities to distributive decisions. (5)

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Politics is the manifestation or externalization of a supernatural, super social force. In the Yin and Zhou Dynasties of China, the idea of “the divine right of Kings” prevailed. The Book of Songs said, “King Wen is on high. Bright is he in heaven.”16 is to say that King Wen of Zhou ruled the world by the grace of God. When it came to the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu created the theory of “the unity of heaven and man” and “interaction between heaven and mankind,” advocating that “The son of the Heaven receives the mandate of Heaven; the land under Heaven receives the mandate of the son of the Heaven.”17 The view of theocracy became the legal basis of China’s feudal rule. In the Western Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas is the typical representative who advocates theocracy. In his opinion, everything on earth is arranged by God, and “The king is indeed the minister of God.”, “All power is from the Lord God.”18 Another Western thinker who mystified politics was Hegel, who claimed that politics was the externalization of the “absolute spirit” and that “the state is

David Miller, Vernon Bogdanor. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Science. China University of Political Science and Law Press, 1992, p.563. 15 Harold D.Lasswell, Politics: Who Gets What, When, How. The Commercial Press, 1999. 16 Classic of Poetry, Major Court Hymns, Decades of Wen Wang. 17 For the People of Heaven. 18 Thomas Aquinas, Aquinas’s Selected Political Works. The Commercial Press, 1997, p.65.

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the world that the spirit creates for itself.”19 In fact, it merely replaces God with the “absolute spirit,” which also reduces the essence of politics to a super social, supernatural force. This political view has a typical character of objective idealism. In today’s world, it still has an inviolable position and significant influence in interpreting political phenomena by religious doctrines, and in a state where religion is the spiritual pillar of the rule. In addition, there are some contemporary political scientists who believe that politics is the process of making and implementing policy; Politics is the manner, method, and way that people engage in social public activities. Although these political views try to reveal the connotation of politics from different points, and some touch the core and basis of politics to different degrees, they fail to define the meaning of politics profoundly and comprehensively due to the limitations of history and cognition.

1.1.2 Marxist Political View The establishment of Marxist dialectical materialism and historical materialism is a revolution in the history of human thought and social theory. It provides a methodological basis for people to understand and grasp the meaning of politics scientifically. In the historical process of social practice, with dialectical materialism and historical materialism, the classical Marxist writers, based on the social and political reality in different periods, discussed the meaning of politics in many aspects, which constituted the essential content of the Marxist political view. To sum up, they are as follows: 1. Politics is a Social Relationship with Public Character According to Marxism, human society is nothing more than the total of human relations. In social life, people’s social relations include economic, political, cultural, ethnic, racial, and other intricate social connections. Political relations are one of these social relations, and “the political relations of humans are as naturally social and public as all the relations in which they relate.”20 Thus it can be seen that different from people determination of the meaning of politics from the aspects of values, facts and activities, the essential perspective of Marxist analysis and explanation of politics is social relations, and the fundamental basis for its determination of political relations is social relations with public nature. As an essential social relation, realpolitik comes into being and operates based on specific economic and social–historical background, and constructs specific public power relations. Therefore, Marxism believes that political relations have different contents in different social backgrounds and economic bases. In class society, the 19 20

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Philosophy of Right. The Commercial Press, 1982, p. 285. Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1998, p. 334.

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content of politics is mainly the relations between classes that revolve around the regime and compete with each other. Therefore, Lenin said, “Politics is the struggle between classes, and politics is the proletariat’s struggle against the world bourgeoisie for liberation.”21 At the same time, politics also includes the relations between the non-antagonistic classes, such as the relations between the proletariat and the masses, the peasants,22 and other social relations, such as the ethnic.23 After the abolishment of the exploiting classes, politics became mainly about relations among the people. As Mao Zedong said after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, “The struggle against class enemies was the basic content of politics in the past. However, after the people have their political power, the relationship between the regime and the people will be the relationship among the people…It’s a new political relationship.”24 2. Politics is a Concentrated Expression of Economics As a specific social relationship, politics is the concentrated embodiment of the economy. According to the basic methodology of Marxist analysis of social phenomena, the economy here refers to specific economic relations, which include ownership of means of production, dominant and dominated relations in the process of production and distribution of production results. It is believed that the establishment and actual operation of political relations are fundamentally determined by economic relations in terms of their nature, content, form, and mode. The political relation embodies and reflects the fundamental requirement of the economic relation by way of centralizing the activity around the specific power, and it has the opposite effect on the economic relation. In class society, social and economic relations are reflected social groups as class relations. Therefore, political relations, as the central embodiment of economic relations, are primarily reflected in class relations in the comparison and interaction between realistic contents and social forces. In other words, in class society, the dominant relationship in political relations is class relations. As “the economic relations of every given society are first manifested as interests,”25 economic relations and social relations of social groups, as the basis of social and political relations, are usually manifested as interest requirements and interest relations in reality in real life. In class society, politics first embodies the interests and interest relations of specific social classes, as well as other interests and interest relations. In the socialist period, the working class, the peasant class, the intellectuals, and other working masses formed the economic and social relations with people’s attributes, and this kind of economic and social relations was realistically expressed as the interests of the people. Under the conditions of the establishment and consolidation of the people’s power, the most fundamental interest and requirement of the broad masses in the development of productive forces. Therefore, economical construction 21

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 39. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p.406. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 41. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p.379. 23 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 47. People’s Publishing House, 1991, p.522. 24 Collected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol.7, People’s Publishing House 1999, p.351. 25 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 209. 22

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has become the priority of politics. Therefore, Lenin said after the establishment of the Soviet power, “Our main politics now should be to engage in the economic construction of the country, to harvest more grain, to mine more coal, to solve the problem of making better use of these grains and coal, and to eradicate famine. That is our politics.”26 At the beginning of reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping made it even more clear that economic development “is the preeminent politics of the day.”27 In the new era, Xi Jinping emphasized people’s politics, pointing out that “the people’s stand is the fundamental political stand of the Communist Party of China. It is a significant symbol that distinguishes Marxist political Parties from other political Parties.”28 3. The Fundamental Problem of Politics is that of State Power In political life, all political phenomena are closely related to state power. And the social and economic interests and requirements in social life can be fully reflected, realized, and guaranteed in a specific way through the state power, just as what Engels said, “the state as a whole still reflects in concentrated form only the economic needs of the classes that dominate production.”29 Therefore, according to Marxism, the question of state power “is the basic and fundamental problem of all politics,”30 and the vital content of political activities “is to participate in state affairs, set the direction for the country, and determine the form, task, and content of state activities.”31 State and state power, in terms of their content, are the product of class contradictions and antagonism in class society, and there are also a special force arising out of insoluble social contradictions to maintain social order. In a socialist society, the state and the state power are the public power of the working class and the working people. Therefore, it is believed that the primary and fundamental problem of politics is that of state power, which actually refers to the problem of public power in different forms of social development. In this regard, to think that politics is a question of state power means that the fundamental issue of politics is a question of political power. 4. Politics is a Regular Social Phenomenon Marxism holds that political phenomena, like all other social phenomena, are essentially a movement of social contradictions, whose emergence, development, change, and even disappearance follow the provisions of specific causal links and have their objective contents. In this sense, “politics is a science.”32 Only when people treat it with a scientific attitude, deeply understand the essence of politics, and grasp the law of its development, can they operate freely in the actual political life and 26

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 39. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 407. Deng Xiaoping, Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping Volume 2. People’s Publishing House, 1994, p249. 28 Xi Jinping the Governance of China Volume 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, P40. 29 Collected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 252. 30 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 37. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 60. 31 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 128. 32 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 39. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 59. 27

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promote the development and progress of the society. On the other hand, in the process of specific political activities, politics shows various characteristics, which require people to proceed from reality, grasp politics concretely and realistically, and grasp its methods and measures based on learning the rules of political life. In this sense, politics is an art. Marxist political theory, therefore, is the unity of scientific nature, class nature, people nature, practicality, and openness to development; it not only contains the reasonable factors of other political views but also fully embodies the stand and spirit of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, to provide us with the basic ideological methods to grasp the connotation of politics deeply and determine the definition of politics.

1.1.3 The Definition of Politics According to the fundamental political concept of Marxism and the general requirements of the scientific definition of the concept, considering from the perspective of the basic theory of politics, to avoid and eliminate the one-sidedness and superficiality in the process of determining political meaning, the definition of political connotation should meet the following three necessary conditions: First, the category of politics has the character of exhaustiveness. Exhaustiveness is a fundamental scientific requirement for categorizing the general characteristics of a specific object. As for the category of politics, it should not only summarize the content of the value orientation of political life but also summarize the content of the actual level of political life. It is essential to generalize not only specific aspects of activity but also their general elements and drivers; Similarly, it is necessary to generalize the characteristics of political phenomena not only in a society with opposing classes, but also in socialist society; It also needs to generalize the characteristics of political phenomena not only among classes, but also among different strata and groups within classes. As Lenin said, “Science… demands that all the forces, groups, political Parties, classes and masses are existing within the country be taken into account, and that policies should never be determined solely based on the wishes and opinions, the degree of consciousness and the determination to fight off one group or one political Party.”33 The second is the certainty of the political category, which means science determines the meaning of politics and should distinguish political phenomena from nonpolitical phenomena. On the other hand, it should be possible to define the specific characteristics of politics in terms of its exact meaning. The third is the nature of politics. The political meaning determined by science should reflect the essence of the political phenomenon, rather than reflect some basic form, activity mode, system form, or process content of political phenomenon.

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Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 39. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 60.

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To fulfill the conditions of the three aspects, according to the Marxist understanding of the political implications, and sublating and absorbing other representative political definitions, we believe that politics should be defined as: based on specific socio-economic relationships and the interest requirements and interest relationships, members of society confirm, maintain, protect, and develop their rights through social public power to realize their interests. There are three essential points in this definition: First, it emphasizes that social and political relations are formed around all specific interests through social and public power, thus generalizing the characteristics of all political phenomena. Second, it emphasizes that only rights and interests that are confirmed and guaranteed through social and public power are political; Otherwise, they are not political, which distinguishes political phenomenon from the non-political phenomenon. At the same time, it reveals the essential content of politics from the meaning of interest, public power, and political right, instead of defining politics from the description of values, forms, functions, processes, activities, and modes of action, so it tries to avoid the polysemy and ambiguity of political category. Third, it points out that the essential content of politics is political relations. On the one hand, it follows the basic requirements of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, and grasps the social and political phenomena. Dialectical materialism and historical materialism hold that a certain “relation is bound to produce something”34 Therefore, it is in this sense that the essence of scientific research and investigation of social phenomena all lies in the grasp of social relations. The founders of Marxism pointed out that all theories and categories are, in essence, nothing more than “abstract, conceptual representations of social relations”35 and “People establish social relations in accordance with their material production, and it is they who create corresponding principles, ideas and categories by their social relations”.36 Accordingly, the above definition of politics reduces politics to a social relationship on a specific economic basis. On the other hand, it points out that the actual content of politics should include three fundamental relations: interest, political power, and political rights. Among them, people’s interest relations are the most important; these relations are dominated by class interest relations in class society. Interest relation is the basis of political relation, and is also the motivation for people further to form political power relation and political right relation. This starts from the nature of interest relation formed on the basis of an economic relation, which is a social connection that explains the depth of political definition in the essential sense of people’s needs. Furthermore, it contains people’s political power relationships. Seemingly, it is a relationship between ruling and being ruled, between managing and being managed. In essence, a political power relationship is a relationship between the strong contrast and interaction of people in political life. Last but not least, it contains people’s political rights relationship, which reflects people’s status and qualification distribution in political life.

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Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 363. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 537. 36 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 142. 35

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In social life, politics mainly assume such forms as political behavior, political organization, political institution, political culture, and other political phenomena.

1.2 The Historical Development and Social Status of Politics 1.2.1 The Origin of Development of Politics Politics is a historical category; it is not a natural phenomenon and social relations of human society. Marx and Engels, based on the scientific investigation of American anthropologist Morgan, made a profound analysis and elaboration on the formation and development of human clan society and politics. According to these analyses, politics originated from the clan commune stage of primitive human society. In primitive societies, people’s ability to conquer nature was meager. Production was highly backward, and “the less labor was developed, the more limited the number of labor products and hence the wealth of the society, and the more the social system would be dominated by kinship relations”37 Therefore, in the primitive society, people’s blood relationship plays a decisive role. The blood relationship of human beings went through the long development process of promiscuous marriage and group marriage. When it evolved to the stage of exogamous marriage, the primitive society entered the time of clan commune. In the primitive clan society, there were four levels of organization: The essential organization is a clan, a definite social organization formed by people of the same blood relationship for the everyday needs of labor and life. Above the clans are the phratries, which are social groups of two or more related clans united for specific purposes. Several phratries merged to form tribes,38 which had their living areas and dialects. A tribal league is a social organization formed out of the everyday needs of several tribes related to each other and have a common language that differs only in dialect. Within these four levels of organizations, there are differences of interest and common interests. In the clan organization, due to the natural division of labor and the differences in people’s attitudes towards social labor and life, there have been differences and contradictions between the status of women and men and people’s material and social needs and their satisfaction in the stage of matriarchy, which constitutes the germination of people’s interest differences. In the patriarchal stage, the dominant position of men in labor means their dominant position in wealth distribution. Such status difference among clan members, together with the demand for property inheritance, makes the interest difference within the clan organization very obvious. On the 37

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 2. The phratry is a typical social organization structure of clan, while some of the declining tribes have no cellular. See Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 87.

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other hand, all clan members had common interests and requirements in guaranteeing and maintaining primitive production and life, resisting aggression, and carrying out a “blood feud.” However, due to the deficient level of productivity and the primitive public ownership, the interest difference within the clan organization is not antagonistic, and the common interest of the clan occupies the dominant position. In social organizations such as phratries, tribes, and tribal leagues, there are also differences of interests among clans, phratries, and tribes, and common interests in maintaining and developing production and life. Differences of interest among clans, phratries, and tribes are generally non-confrontational. However, in some instances, there were also competing interests, which led to blood feuds between clans and wars between tribes.39 To maintain and coordinate these common interests and interest differences, and contradictions in the clan society, the social activities of the clan members, the public power and the organs of the clan society came into being. In the clan organization, there is the gentile council and chiefdom; in the phratry group, there is the pagan council and Phratriarchos; in the tribal group, there is the leaders and the military chief; and in the tribal alliance, there is the council of the alliance and the top military chief. The characteristics of public power and organs in this clan society are as follows: Individual members and group members of the council at all levels shall have equal voting rights; The council elects and displaces chiefdoms, leading cadres, and military chiefs; The head of a clan society has equal rights with other members of society and cannot claim any privileges; The power within the clan organization is morally mandatory, and the public power of the clan, tribe, and tribal league is generally morally mandatory as well, and under certain circumstances, it is also violent coercive. It is in these coercive senses that Lenin pointed out: “It is completely wrong to regard coercive power as a characteristic of the state, for in any common life of mankind, whether in the clan system or the family, coercive power exists, but there is no state.”40 It follows that this public power is a “natural community power,”41 a power directly associated with the members of society as a whole. This kind of politics in primitive society was called clan democracy by Marx. After the emergence of politics in human society, with the development of the productive forces and the changes in the relations of production, the society experienced the slave society, the feudal society, the capitalist society, and so on, which were characterized by the conflict of interests between classes, the separation of political power from society, and the political rights being essentially the exclusive rights of the ruling class and the historical stage of socialism characterized by differences in social interests, the increasing integration of political power with society, and the genuine enjoyment of political rights by all the people. In the barbaric period at the end of primitive society, due to the development of productive forces, the division of labor between animal husbandry and agriculture, 39

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 45. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 418.页. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1984, p. 380. 41 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 96. 40

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handicraft industry and agriculture, and commerce and other trades took place in human society. The division of labor led to the growth of social production and surplus products, which made it possible for leaders and military chiefs in clan society to possess surplus wealth, and thus, private ownership emerged; The division of labor also increased rapidly in demand, and the prisoners of war and the poor became the slaves of the possessors of wealth. Thus, the slave-owner class and the slave class appeared. For the first time, the interests of human society took the confrontation of class interests as the main content. To protect the interests of the slave-owner class and prevent the society from collapsing in the conflict of class interests, the public power and organs of the clan society have been unable to adapt to this demand, which gives rise to a new “special public power”42 which is separated from the society, that is, the state. At the same time, the rights enjoyed by all the inhabitants of the clan society were transformed into the special rights of slave owners and freemen, while the slaves who possessed the majority of the population no longer enjoyed these rights. Since then, human society has experienced feudal society and capitalist society. Due to the changes in the mode of social production and the economic basis, the antagonism between the landlord and the peasant, the capitalist, and the working class, has formed successively. With the development and change of history, different societies have different political contents. However, the antagonism of class interests and political domination are still the essential characteristics of these social and political relations. On the other hand, in these class societies, in addition to the antagonistic interests between the antagonistic classes, there also exist differences and antagonisms of interests between the non-antagonistic classes and between different masses, groups, and factions within each class. For example, in the slave-owner class, the conflicts and struggles between the manor and the industrial and commercial slave-owners, the feudal landlord class and the small and medium-sized landlord class, and the different interest groups in the bourgeoisie, making the social public power still have the aspect of coordination and management. Since the proletariat seized power and established socialist public ownership, the nature of social and political relations has undergone fundamental changes. The establishment of socialist public ownership has eliminated the basis of class interest opposition. However, due to many reasons such as social division of labor, economic relations, ethnic groups, beliefs, regions, and social development levels, social interest differences still exist. The difference is a contradiction, as Lenin said: “Confrontation and contradiction are not the same things at all. Under socialism, confrontation will disappear, and contradictions will still exist.”43 Such changes in interest relations make social public power no longer political power in the original sense, “political power in the original sense is organized violence by one class to oppress another class.”44 The political power in a socialist society 42

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 94. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 60. People’s Publishing House, 1990, p. 281-282. 44 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 60. People’s Publishing House, 1990, p. 281–282. 43

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is the power that is increasingly combined with the people, realizing the common interests and fundamental interests of all the people, and coordinating and regulating the political management of the differences and contradictions of their interests has become its main characteristics. Political rights are widespread, truly, and equally owned by the people. On the other hand, due to the remnants of the exploiting classes and hostile forces, there are still antagonistic interest relations in a socialist society to a certain extent and extent. Therefore, the social public power still has political domination, and political rights are only universally, truly, and equally enjoyed by the people. In the communist society, the old-style division of labor and the three significant distinctions (between town and country, industry and agriculture physical and mental labor) disappeared. The society became an autonomous society in the complete sense, that is, the “association”45 of free men as the state power, the social and public power spontaneously died out, and the political relations of human society also ceased to exist. Hence, in terms of political origin and development of politics, human society has experienced the spiral of negation of the negation process from apolitical society, to the political society characterized mainly by non-class interest differences and the maintenance and management of public interests, to the political society characterized mainly by class interest confrontation and political domination, to the political society characterized primarily by the coordination of non-class interest differences and to the maintenance and realization of public interests and then to a non-political society. This is the dialectical historical movement of human social politics.

1.2.2 The Social Status of Politics As a specific social relationship and social phenomenon, politics has its specific social status, which is reflected in the mutual connection and difference between politics and other social phenomena. Therefore, to grasp the social status of politics, we must capture the interconnection and interaction between politics and other social phenomena. In social life, the social phenomena most closely related to politics are usually economy, law, religion, morality, and so on. 1. The Relationship between Politics and Economics The economy, generally has two primary meanings. One is to point to a specific level of product development, the other is to point to a particular relationship of production and its way of realization. According to Marxist social theory, productive

45

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 141.

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forces are the material and civilization foundation for the establishment and operation of a society. The total of production relations associated with a specific productive force constitutes the economic base on which the society constructs political superstructure. Among the three social structure factors, productivity is the fundamental factor, and its development level and state determine the nature, state, form, and form of realization of production relations. The nature, state, form and completion form of production relations determine the characteristics, orientation, and operation mode of social politics. Therefore, productive forces and relations of production together constitute the social economy, form the basis of social politics, and have a crucial significance for social politics. For social politics, such predisposition and determinacy are mainly reflected in: First, the characteristics and development level of the productive forces define the nature and development level of the relations of production and social politics; Second, the method of completion of productive forces determines the mode of realization of productive relations and the rules and operation modes of social and political activities and organizations; Third, the development of productive forces promotes the development of relations of production and social politics. On the other hand, politics has a significant counter-effect on the social economy. As Engels pointed out, “The economic movement makes its way, but it must also be subjected to the reaction of its established and relatively independent political movement, which means the reaction of the state power and the movement of the opposition that it produces simultaneously.”46 In the process of historical development, politics or with political power and related rules protect the specific economic basis, and then promote or hinder the development of social productive forces, or by the force of political power to change the relationship of production and its form of realization to promote or impede the growth of productive forces, or because of their changes to promote or hinder the development of productive relations and even productivity. Therefore, “without a politically correct view of the matter, a particular class or political force cannot maintain its rule and, consequently, cannot perform its productive tasks.”47 2. The Relationship between Politics and Law Politics and law belong to the superstructure of society, and they are all based on a specific economic base. As Marx said: “neither legal relations nor political forms could be comprehended whether by themselves or based on a so-called general development of the human mind, but that on the contrary, they originate in the material conditions of life.”48 As a result, politics is often closely linked to the law. On the other hand, there is a difference between politics and law. As mentioned earlier, politics is a social relationship in which people distribute political rights through political power based 46

Collected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 10. People’s Publishing House, 2009, p. 597. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 40. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 280. 48 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 13. People’s Publishing House, 1962, p. 8. 47

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on social interests. At the same time, the law is a rigid norm for the mutual relations and behavior of members of society in social and political social life formulated and approved by specific political power. From different perspectives, in different ways and roles, they jointly serve the interests of the political ruling class and group. As far as the relationship between politics and law is concerned, politics is the premise for the generation and function of law. First of all, laws are social norms formulated and recognized by specific political power organs. Social norms, such as religious norms, social customs, and moral norms, which have not been formulated and identified by specific political power organs, do not belong to laws. Secondly, laws must be enforced by the particular political power; and in the form of the rights of the social members to be implemented. Therefore, laws must use specific political power as its backing; and use specific rights which are determined and distributed by political power as the form of their realization. As Lenin said: “All laws and all deputies are naught if they possess no power.”49 Third, the law must play a role in a relatively stable social and political order. In other words, the law can only play a role when the political power makes the social and political contradictions within its scope that can be effectively controlled; beyond this range, if the society is in a state of chaos, unrest, war, and partial partition, the law will be ineffective. On the other hand, the law has a significant influence and effect on politics. The law regulates the interest requirements, power status, and rights qualifications of political rulers, and standardizes the operation of political power, the realization of political rights and the political behavior of social and political members, regularizes the social and political order, makes social and political life follow the spirit of the law, effectively regulate various political contradictions and political activities in a fair, transparent, stable and open manner, maintains social and political order, and protects the interests and power of the ruler, to realize the legal governance of society. 3. The Relationship between Politics and Religion Religion is the sum of a set of world views, social psychology, and feelings formed based on people’s belief in manufactured gods. Thus, religion is a specific social ideology. In social life, religion has its particular organization, activity, and ceremony. As a specific social ideology, under certain social conditions, religion is closely related to politics which is the superstructure, thus forming the phenomenon of theocracy. The emergence, existence, and function of the phenomenon of theocracy are the results of the mutual needs and utilization of both religious and political rulers. As far as religion is concerned, it needs to expand its influence and its parishioners and enforce its precepts through social and political power to change religion from social fantasy into reality. As for political rulers, religion is the spiritual opium of the governed and the ideological tool to consolidate and implement their rule. Therefore, in the history of humankind, a harsh social and political situation was formed in 49

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 13. People’s Publishing House, 1987, p. 309.

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which people were oppressed by religious and theocratic power and political power. In medieval Europe, the church overtook the society and became the actual political power center of the whole society. The Christian discipline became the actual law, the religious preaching became the ruling thought of the entire society, and all the other doctrines were the handmaids of religion. In China, from the slave society, political rulers have used religion to claim that their rule is the will of God. In modern society, religion still plays a vital role in maintaining the rule of the exploiting classes. With the deepening of people’s understanding of social and political phenomena and the rise of the humanism of the bourgeoisie, the relation between religion and politics has been gradually separated. The political theory serving the humanism of the bourgeoisie has gradually replaced religion, becoming the political ruling thought of capitalist countries. In socialist countries, religion no longer dominates social and political life because of dialectical materialism. However, in today’s world, religion still plays a vital role in politics. It has a massive influence on social and political life and international political life, either as a spiritual form of different political values, or as a spiritual pillar for the combination and development of particular political forces, or as a spiritual reason for safeguarding specific rights, or as the spiritual force that maintains specific political legitimacy, it has a vast influence in social and political life and international political life. 4. Politics and Morality As a social norm and standard that evaluates good and evil as the center, morality is maintained by social public opinion, traditional customs, and personal belief. Therefore, morality is the ideology of society. Politics and morality are both different and related. The difference between the two lies in: first, politics is the superstructure of the society, which is the direct embodiment of economic foundation and interest relations, while morality is the social ideology, which is dominated by economic relations, but also reflects and embodies other social relations. Second, politics has the nature of power compulsion, while morality is realized by social norms and people’s beliefs that do not have the nature of power compulsion. Third, politics is concerned with the public affairs of all members of society, while morality often acts on the individual. The connection between the two lies in: first, politics has a massive influence on and lays restraints on morality. Political power can strengthen or transform the content of social morality by its power and make it serve the rulers’ interests. Secondly, morality also has a positive effect on politics. The moral standards in the society often influence the ruling basis, direction, and way of political power. At the same time, morality also regulates the political behavior of political members.

Chapter 2

Political Science

2.1 The Meaning and Composition of Political Science 2.1.1 The Meaning of Political Science In the most general sense, politics is the science that studies political phenomena and their development law. However, because people have different views on the meaning of politics, the definition of politics is also different. Among them, representative ones are: (1)

(2)

The object of study of politics should be “state” or “state activities.” Therefore, politics is the study of national questions. For example, “politics is state affairs, and political science is the study of the state. It can even be called the national studies”1 . Besides, “Political science has the state as its beginning and end.”2 The object of political science is the study of political power, and political science is the study of the acquisition and application of such power. For example, “it is power in society—its essence, basis, premise, scope, and result—that is the main object of political science… The focus of interest of the political scientist is clear, and it is focused on the seizing or acquisition of power, the exertion of power or influence over others, or the struggle against such exertion.”3 Harold D. Lasswell took it a step further from a psychological and behavioral perspective, arguing that “politics is the study of the power and influence and the people who enjoy them.”4

1

Li Jiannong. Introduction to Political Science. Shanghai: The Commercial Press, 1934, p. 2. J. W. Garner. Political Science and Government. Shanghai: The Commercial Press, 1934, p. 9. 3 David Robertson, A Dictionary of Modern Politics, London: Europa Publications Limited, 1985, p.9. 4 Harold D.Lasswell. Politics: Who Gets What, When, How. The Commercial Press, 1999, p.15. 2

© Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_2

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The study object of political science is public affairs, and so political science is the study of the management of people’s affairs. For example, it is believed that “the so-called political science is the scientific method of developing principles concerning the management of the affairs of many people, resulting in a precise and systematic theory and policies that can be applied in the field”.5 Politics is the study of public decision-making and policy. Its representative views, such as David Easton’s, “the self-prescribed task of political science has historically been to understand what social policy should be, and how that policy should be formulated and put into practice”.6

In addition, some scholars hold that political science is the study of all political phenomena or forms,7 or that political science is the study of political institutions, political behavior, government, and so on. It can be seen from these definitions that the definition of political science, as the study of politics, is linked with the definition of politics. According to the definition of politics in the previous chapter, politics is essentially a kind of social relationship in which members of the society confirm and protect their rights and realize their interests through social public power based on specific social and economic relations and their interest relations. Thus, it can be seen that political science is the science that studies this kind of specific social relation, namely political relation and its development law. This definition of political science suggests that, first of all, political science takes political relations as its object of study. Following the principles of Marxism, the social phenomenon is the phenomenon of social relations, and the essential specification of social relations is the general nature of social phenomena. For that matter, the political phenomenon is the phenomenon of the political relation, and the essential regulation of the political relation is the generality of the political phenomenon. Therefore, in a general sense, the essential specification of political relations is the critical content in political research. Meanwhile, in actual political life, political relations have multiple connotations. E.g., political behaviors constitute the behavioral form of political relations; political systems constitute the organizational and institutional form of political relations; political cultures constitute the psychological and spiritual form of political relations. All these forms are objects of political studies. Secondly, politics takes exploring the law of the development of political relations as its goal and task. Therefore, politics requires not only the description of political phenomena and the grasp of political representation but also the in-depth study of the essential connection of political relations and their development movements. 5

Gao Yihan. Outline of Political Science. Shanghai Shenzhou Guangguo Publishing House, 1930, p.1. 6 David Easton, Political System- A Study of the State of Political Science, The Commercial Press, 1993, P.123. 7 Fred I. Greenstein and Nelson W. Polsby, “Political Science: Scope and Theory”, Handbook of Political Science, Vol. I, Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1975, p.54.

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Thirdly, as a science, politics requires people to take the objective political relations as the research object, with a scientific attitude and scientific methods to conduct research, and the scientific results and conclusions of political research must play a tremendous guiding role for people to understand political phenomena and grasp political laws. On the other hand, we can also grasp the meaning of political science from the relationship between political science and other social sciences. As an independent discipline, political science is both related to and different from other social science disciplines: (1)

(2)

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Politics and Philosophy. Philosophy is a science about world view and methodology, which provides essential viewpoints and methods for people to understand and transform the world. For political science, philosophy offers it with the theoretical basis, cognitive angle, and cognitive method, so that people can understand political phenomena from world view. Marxist philosophy takes dialectical materialism and historical materialism as their essential content. It is a revolution in the history of human cognition and a scientific summary of the nature of the objective world and its development law. Therefore, Marxist philosophy is the theoretical basis of scientific politics. Meanwhile, politics is of great significance to the enrichment and development of philosophy. Through the research and analysis of concrete political phenomena and theoretical generalization, political science constantly verifies, enriches, and develops philosophical theories and methods. Therefore, the study of scientific politics provides specific impetus and rich material for the development of philosophy. Politics science and Economics. Economics studies social-economic relations, economic activities, and their laws and rules. Therefore, it has different research objects and research fields from politics. On the other hand, since politics is a full reflection of the economy and a social superstructure built based on economic relations, the study of economics is of great importance to political science: Only by deeply grasping the social economic phenomenon, especially the social-economic relationship and the economic interest relationship between people, can people deeply grasp the nature of politics and the law of its occurrence and development. Some research contents of economics and political science are intersecting. Political science and scientific socialism. Scientific socialism is a science that studies the development law of the proletarian liberation movement. Its difference from political science lies in: First, scientific socialism is the study of the proletarian liberation movement while political science not only studies the proletarian liberation movement, but also studies the politics of various social forms and various social classes, masses, and groups. Second, scientific socialism takes the historical stages, economic conditions, class conditions, and political conditions of the development of the socialist movement as its research content. In contrast, political science specifically takes political phenomena as its research object. On the other hand, political science and scientific socialism intersect each other. The research of scientific socialism on proletarian politics

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is an essential content of political science. The research on the development status and laws of the socialist movement is an essential theoretical basis for political science to study socialist politics. Political science and jurisprudence. Jurisprudence is a science that studies the origin, essence, and development rules of law. As the law is an essential part of the superstructure and the legal standardization of the will to political power and political rights, there are many overlapping contents between jurisprudence and politics, such as the constitution, state composition, organizational principles and forms, civil and political rights and administrative laws and regulations and so on. But jurisprudence is the study of political and social life from the point of view of the law. Political science is the study of political life from the perspective of public power. At the same time, some research contents of jurisprudence are different from political science. Politics and Sociology. Sociology takes the whole of social life as its study object. With the development of various scientific disciplines, many social phenomena, such as economic, political, legal, cultural phenomena, and so on, have become independent specialized disciplines. Therefore, the scope of study of sociology has been reduced. There is also a cross relationship between politics and sociology. Social structure, social policy, social opinion and so on are both problems of sociology, and political science. The sociological research method, especially it’s positivist research method, is an essential method for political science to study political phenomena. The intersection of political science and sociology forms political sociology, which has become an essential branch of political science.

2.1.2 The Composition of Political Science The content of political science is constantly developing with the development of social and political life and the deepening of people’s understanding of political phenomena. At present, the content of political science has been quite rich and extensive. According to different principles, these contents can be divided into different categories: (1)

(2)

According to the world view and the methodology of political science research, political science can be divided into Marxist political science and non-Marxist political science. Marxist politics is the political research carried out with the standpoint, viewpoint, and method of dialectical materialism and historical materialism of Marxism, or the research carried out with this standpoint, viewpoint, and method as the guidance of politics. Non-Marxist politics is a variety of political theories, views and methods other than Marxist politics. According to the function of political science, it can be divided into theoretical research and applied research. The function of theoretical research lies in providing theories, viewpoints, principles, and methods for people to comprehensively and deeply understand politics and its development law and providing

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the theoretical basis and political principles for the applied research of politics. It mainly includes principles of political science, political philosophy, history of political thought and contemporary political trends of thought, methodology of political science research, comparative politics, as well as some political theory disciplines arising from the intersection of political science and other social sciences, such as political economy, political psychology, political sociology, etc. The role of applied research is mainly to guide and standardize actual political activities, including the history and current situation of political institutions, political leadership and decision-making research, political management, administrative management, organizational theory, administrative law, personnel administration, municipal science, public policy analysis and so on. According to the perspective and level of political science research, political science can be divided into macro and micro politics. Micropolitics starts with political phenomena above political groups. It mainly includes political sociology, political geography, political anthropology, political ecology, political institution theory, government structure and operation, political thought, political development, and so on. Micropolitics takes individual politicians as the research object, which mainly includes political psychology, political socialization research, political role theory, political personality research, and so on. According to the status of the research objects, politics can be divided into static research and dynamic research. Static research mainly refers to the research on political organizations and political institutions, including the research on countries, political Parties, governments, political groups, and political institutions. Dynamic research mainly refers to the research on political behavior, political process, and social & political development and change, including the research on political struggle, political revolution, political reform, political participation, political process, political power operation, and operation mechanism, decision-making, and policy implementation process, etc. According to the research methods of political science, political science is divided into normative politics and positivist politics. Normative politics refers to the political research that illustrates the meaning of specific political values by logical explanation, speculation, and proof through philosophical and normative studies. Positivist politics, on the other hand, put forward research hypotheses and propositions under the needs of political research and actual political life and conducts investigation and analysis on these hypotheses and propositions with scientific methods to prove or falsify them. According to the research field of political science, the research of political science is divided into several content structures. Under the dual function of the demand of social and political reality development and the internal logic of political discipline development, the research field of political science is constantly developing and changing. People have different categories of research fields and content of political science in different countries and

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periods. At the founding meeting of the International Political Science Association in 1948, four fields of study were defined in political science, including political theory, government, international politics, and Parties, groups, and political opinion. In 1975, Hand Book of Politics Science, edited by the American political science scholar Fred I. Greenstein and Nelson W. Polsby, was divided into eight categories, namely, the scope of political science and theory, micro politics, macro politics, political institutions, government, and nongovernmental process, policy and policy formulation, research methods, the international politics. In 1996, A New Handbook of Political Science, edited by political scientist Robert E. Goodin and Hans Dieter Klingemann and published by Oxford University Press, divided the branches and research fields of modern political science into eight parts, namely, political institution, political behavior, comparative politics, international relations, political theory, public policy and public administration, political economy, and political science methodology.8 The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics, published by the Oxford University Press from 2006 to 2008 under the editor-in-chief of Political scientist Robert E. Goodin, divides modern politics into ten fields of study: political theory, political institutions, political behavior, comparative politic, law and politics, public policy, political economy, international relations, contextual political analysis, and political methodology.9 The politics of China is undoubtedly Marxist politics. In political science content, from the perspective of Chinese political science research field, according to the 1992 “Encyclopedia of China: Political Science,” the determination of political science in our country there are seven major fields of study, namely, political theory, Chinese politics, comparative politics, public policy, public administration, international politics, political science methodology. From the perspective of China’s higher education discipline system of political science, a more reasonable division should be based on political theory, Chinese politics, comparative politics, and international politics to divide the basic content of politics. To be specific: (1)

8

Political theory. It mainly includes the political theory, the classic political works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin, the classic political works of Mao Zedong, the political theory of Deng Xiaoping, and the important thought of “Three Represents,” political science methodology, and the specialized theory of a subfield or interdisciplinary field of political science, such as political development theory, political power theory, political philosophy, political economy research, political psychology, political sociology, ecological politics, and the history of Chinese political thought, history of foreign political thought, Chinese modern political thought, western contemporary political thought, history of world socialist thought and so on.

Robert E. Goodin and Hans Dieter Klingemann, eds., A New Handbook of Political Science, Oxford University Press, 1996. 9 Robert E. Goodin, edited, Oxford Handbooks of Political Science, Oxford University Press. 2006– 2008.

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Chinese politics. Chinese politics mainly includes the Chinese political history, Chinese political institution, political thought in contemporary China, the contemporary Chinese political institution and state system, the contemporary Chinese political Party politics, contemporary Chinese government politics, state governance in contemporary China, the political construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the construction of the communist Party of China, China’s political development, China’s administrative system and its reform and development, China under the political institution and its governance, the Chinese government and market, government and society, Chinese grass-roots politics, the relationship between China’s democracy and development. Comparative politics. It includes methods of comparative politics, comparative political philosophy, and its value, the system of comparative politics and public policy, compare the political process and political behavior, the comparative analysis of political development, regional and national politics research, a comparative research of political economy, political institution, comparative political analysis, comparative public policy, a comparative study between Chinese and western political culture, political development and the developing mode of different comparative analysis, etc. International politics. International politics mainly include the international political theory, methodology of international politics, international organizations, international law, international strategic studies, diplomacy studies, regional and national politics, political Parties in the world, international relations, the foreign policy of the People’s Republic of China, and the international politics of interdisciplinary research such as the global political economy, international ecological politics and so on.

Among the contents of the research and teaching of political science, the principles of political science play a critical role. In terms of their contents, they have the following characteristics: (1)

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Abstraction. From the objective political reality, the political principle carries out in-depth analysis and discussion on the essence of politics and its development law. It generalizes and summarizes it to the theoretical form. Therefore, the principle of political science is not a general simple description and statement of political phenomena and specific forms but a theoretical discussion of politics and the internal mechanism of its occurrence and development. It mainly deals with the questions of “what” and “why.”, and it is the “abstract of matter, the abstract of natural law, the abstract of value” of politics, that is, the “abstract of science”.10 From the perspective of epistemology, it is people’s rational understanding and thinking about politics. Generality. Under real social life and specific space–time conditions, politics is varied. In contrast, the principle of politics is a theoretical generalization of all the same kinds of politics and its development law. On the other hand, there are many aspects of social and political life, each of which has its characteristics

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 55. People’s Publishing House, 1990, p. 142.

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and specific laws of development. The principles of political science seek to elucidate the unity of all these characteristics and laws. In these senses, the generality of the political tenets is mainly reflected in the universality of their theoretical content. Fundamental. The abstraction and generality of political science principle make it the ideological basis for people to understand politics and the theoretical cornerstone of the edifice of political science discipline. The principle of political science is the theoretical starting point for the training of political science since abstract determinations are shown as starting points and not as results in the course of theoretical development. ➁ Meanwhile, the change of political science principle is not only the result of the shift in political science discipline system and each branch discipline but also provides the theoretical premise for it.

These characteristics of the principle of political science determine its role and significance in social and political life and the construction of political science: (1)

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As the core of social and political culture, principles of political science have a significant dynamic effect on social and political life. On the one hand, it provides a theoretical basis for regulating and guiding people’s political activities; on the other hand, it also provides a theoretical direction for the development of social and political life. As the theory, principle, and method of political cognition, principles of political science are of great significance for improving people’s ability to understand political phenomena correctly. In terms of principles of political science in our country, it enables people to set up the Marxism political concept and correct political thinking, master the basic Marxist political analysis method, and then train them to use the basic positions, viewpoints and methods of Marxist political science to analyze political reality, so as to profoundly grasp the essence of politics, grasp the laws of the Communist Party’s governance, the laws of socialist political development, and the laws of human social and political development. At the same time, it also provides fundamental theories and analytical methods for people to study a series of courses of political science so that they can put the basic viewpoints and methods of Marxist political science through the study of these courses, and then profoundly understand and grasp other professional knowledge of political science. On this basis, a highly conscious and good political theory and knowledge literacy can be developed, and the political construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics can be actively promoted, effectively govern the country will be governed, and public affairs will be managed effectively. As the soul and essence of the discipline of political science, the principles of political science have a guiding significance for the discipline construction of political science. The principles of political science fundamentally determine the nature, characteristics, direction, and methods of political science research, stipulate the essential scope and internal structure of political science, regulate

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the research content and its degree of various branches and disciplines of political science and regulate the fundamental point of view, viewpoints, and social and political functions of political science research. Therefore, the principles of political science are the theoretical outline of political science. The above characteristics, status, and function of the principles of political science show the significance of studying the principles of political science.

2.2 The Historical Development of Political Science 2.2.1 The Development of Western Politics Science The Western politics mentioned here mainly refers to the non-Marxist politics in the western world, and those have representative significance in Western political thought. The study of Western politics originated in the ancient Greek era in 500 BC. According to the characteristics of its content and its relationship with realistic politics, its development can be divided into four stages: 1. The Political Theories of Slave Society In the fifth century BC, hundreds of slavery city-states, large and small, were dotted along the Mediterranean Sea. The existence and development of these countries provided fertile soil and cradles for the emergence of Western classical political theory. The ancient Greek thinkers Plato and Aristotle used these city-states as the background to write The Republic and The Politics of Aristotle and other works, which set a precedent for Western political science. In terms of their ideological content, the typical characteristics of Plato and Aristotle’s political theories lie in: they maintained the rule of slave owners and slave states; emphasized that the purpose and the highest orientation of politics lie in the specific ethical value. Therefore, politics and ethics are the same, with the ancient Greek city-states as the research background or the object of analysis, it can be considered that western politics began with the study of national problems. The Western politics of this period is often referred to as the politics of the classical period. Plato and Aristotle differ in their research methods and narrative styles. The former deduces the so-called “the Republic” through deductive speculation, and it combines politics with philosophy, morality, education, and family. While taking the perfection of politics as the research purpose, the latter studied different types of the polity with more than 150 ancient Greek city-states using comparative analysis, and wrote a book called The Politics of Aristotle on these theories and polity. For this reason, Aristotle is often referred to as the founder of Western politics. The difference between Plato and Aristotle has become the distinction between the theoretical study and the empirical study of Western politics.

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2. Medieval Political Theories The medieval society in Europe was created by Germanic “barbarians” who originally lived in northern Europe and invaded and destroyed ancient Rome, which made it exceptionally brutal and dark, and society was entirely under the rule and control of theocracy. “All other forms like philosophy, politics, and jurisprudence are merged into theology, making them a subject in theology.”11 As for politics, “like all other sciences, it is just a branch of theology.”12 Representatives of theocracy and politics of European feudal society in the Middle Ages are A. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. The main work of the former is The City of God, and the main works of the latter are On Monarchy and Theological Encyclopedia. The primary characteristics of their political doctrine are: advocating the creation of hierarchy by gods to maintain the feudal political order; emphasizing monarch power and divine authorization to prove that religious power is more elevated than monarch power, and at the same time advocating a sacred monarchy; advocating that religious belief is higher than rationality and religious doctrine is the standard for judging all affairs. Therefore, their doctrine is a political doctrine of obscurantism and imprisonment. Western politics in this period is also called the theological politics period. 3. Political Theories during the Emergence and Development of Free Capitalism Since the fourteenth century, capitalist productive relations sprouted and developed in the feudal society of Western Europe. The bourgeoisie quickly rose and grew. The capitalist production and exchange methods and the interests of the bourgeoisie were in sharp opposition to feudal theocracy and imprisonment. The European Renaissance movement that began in the fourteenth century represented the precursor of the bourgeois ideological revolution. The religious reformation in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries changed the political culture from sanctification to secularization. Under this background, modern bourgeois political theories that embody and reflect the capitalist mode of production came into being. The representatives are Machiavelli in Italy and Baudin in France. In his masterpieces Monarchy and the Six Opinions of Republic, Machiavelli and Baudin discuss political issues from the perspective of humans instead of from God and use political power instead of moral and ethical values as the core orientation of political research to establish bourgeois political theory and sovereignty theory. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with the development of capitalist production, feudal autocratic political rule increasingly became a shackle that hindered the development of productive forces, and the political revolution of the bourgeoisie was aroused in social development in Western Europe, which gave a great impetus to the development of Western politics. To meet the needs of the political revolution of the bourgeoisie, a large number of thinkers in Europe and America, such as Grotius and Spinoza in Holland, Hobbes, and Locke in England, Voltaire, 11 12

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 18. Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 10. People’s Publishing House, 1998, p. 482.

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Montesquieu and Rousseau in France, Jefferson, Paine and Hamilton in America, wrote books one after another, which formed the prosperous period of western politics. Although these political scientists focused on different views and points, their political attitudes were divided into conservative and radical, as bourgeois political scientists, they have a common characteristic, that is: a solid and comprehensive criticize feudal social political institution and ideas, “all the social form and the national form before, all the traditional ideas, is regarded as unreasonable things throw into the garbage.”13 With reason as the only measure of everything, “Everything must defend their existence before a rational court or give up the right to exist”.14 From the so-called rational theory of human nature, the theory of natural law was created, and on this basis, the social contract theory was put forward, natural rights theory, justice, equality, freedom, democracy theory; according to the analysis of the categories, characteristics and, functions of political power, some principles of allocating political power and constructing polity were put forward, thus forming the scheme of bourgeois political rule. At its core, their theories are nothing more than a political mapping of the economic and market rules of liberal capitalism. From the end of the eighteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century, the task of the bourgeois revolution in Europe and the United States has been completed, the bourgeoisie has become the political ruling class, at the same time, with the growth and expansion of the proletariat, the class contradiction between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat rose to become the principal social contradiction. The main political task facing the bourgeoisie has become to safeguard and realize its interests. Therefore, the theme of Western politics has changed from advocating and elucidating the democratic value of the bourgeoisie to discussing and analyzing the relationship between the bourgeoisie’s personal interests and political power, and the relationship between the bourgeoisie’s interests and society. Thus, formed the Utilitarianism and Political Liberalism represented by Jeremy Bentham and John Mill and the political theories of sociological positivism represented by Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer. Bentham’s A Brief Introduction to Government and The Principles of Morals and Legislation and Mill’s On Liberty and Utilitarianism are representative works that advocate utilitarianism, emphasize individual freedom, and oppose government interference in private activities. While Comte’s System of Positive Polity and Spencer’s Social Statics systematically established the political organism theory of positivism, which marked the transformation of the bourgeoisie from revolution to conservatism and the gradual trend of western politics to maintain the political order of the bourgeoisie. When the bourgeoisie came into being in the feudal society, the capitalist mode of production resulted in the emergence of the proletariat, the natural rival of the bourgeoisie. As a capital movement, the development of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat contradiction, the interests of the proletariat and political requirements also gradually formed its political theory, this is Britain’s Thomas Moore, Robert

13 14

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 356. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 355.

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Owen, Italy’s Tommaso Campanella, France’s Jean Meslier, Morelly, Mably, SaintSimon, Charles Fourier as representative’s utopian socialist political theory. These political thinkers declaimed against capitalist private ownership and advocated establishing a republic of public ownership, common labor, and harmony. These theories become the important ideological sources of Marxist political and social theories. 4. Political Science in the Era of Monopoly Capitalism Since the 1870s, western society has been transitioned from free capitalism to monopoly capitalism. The relationship between monopoly capital and state power is gradually closer. The internal and external contradictions in capitalist society begin to be fully exposed. Therefore, the study of state power and political life has become an indispensable part of monopoly capital’s maintenance and domination. In 1880, initiated by American political scholar J.W. Burgess, Columbia University established the “Institute of Politics at Columbia University,” forming an independent disciplinary system, and political science thus gained independent disciplinary status, marking the modern era of Western politics. Before the 1970s, Western politics generally moved in two directions. One direction is the direction of political theory. Political science in this direction is also called political philosophy. It is the continuation and development of western political thought since the 17th to nineteenth century. Under the new historical conditions, however, it has different characteristics from the past: First, there are numerous factions, numerous schools of thought, and diverse thoughts. There are mainly Neoliberalism, Neoconservatism, Pluralism, Communitarianism, Western Marxism, Social Democracy, Elitism, Fascism, and so on. Second, the method system is diverse. Modern western political theory is not satisfied with merely discussing political problems from the perspective of philosophical speculation but tries hard to use the research results and methods of sociology, economics, and other disciplines to explain social and political phenomena by their logical system, thus causing the diversity of political theory research methods and systems. Third, the theory status and development decline. Since the twentieth century, the modern western political theory has been gradually declining. Because it is mainly limited to thinking about political philosophy and has a great degree of idealism. Therefore, it can neither correctly explain the essence and development law of political phenomenon, nor provide people with methods to engage in practical politics. Since John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice in 1971 and Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State and Utopia in 1974, the development of modern political theory in the West met a turning point. However, on the whole, the role and status of modern political theory in the West have been much less than that in the 17th to nineteenth centuries. The other direction of the development of western politics in this period is behavioral political science, which is also called political science. Behavioral political science is the result of western political scientists’ efforts to scientize politics. This effort began with the positivist philosophy and methodology of Comte and Spencer in the 1830s and 1840s. After development, positivism and logical positivism become the philosophical basis of political scientism. Before and after World War I, American political scientists advocated using sociological, psychological, and statistical

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methods to study politics, and launched the “New Political Science Movement,” which laid the foundation for the development of behaviorist politics. After the Second World War, behavioral political science developed rapidly in the United States and gradually became the mainstream of Western politics before the 1970s. Behavioral political science is essentially an innovation of the research object and method of politics. Its main characteristics are reflected in: first, it advocates taking political behavior and behavioral interaction as the research object of politics. Secondly, it pays attention to the precision and quantification of the form and means of political research, so it focuses on quantitative research and abandons qualitative research; Third, it emphasizes positivist political research with empirical analysis as the core content, and it advocates that political research should be empirical and descriptive. Third, it emphasizes empirical political research with empirical analysis as the core content, and it advocates that political research should be empirical and descriptive. Fourthly, it believes that political science research should be value-neutral and draw impartial conclusions with impartial scientific attitude and methods. Fifth, as absorbing a large number of social science and natural science research methods, carrying out a variety of ways, a variety of perspectives, and a variety of levels of political phenomenon research, a variety of political theories has been constituted, which significantly broaden the field of political research, political sociology, political psychology and a large number of borderline sciences. Sixth, it stipulates that its analytical task lies not in the “what ought to be” of politics but in the “what is” of politics. Therefore, in terms of political reality, it is manifested as how to conduct governance and power distribution from a technical point of view, rather than explaining why the governance is reasonable. Since the 1970s, although Western politics continues to develop in two directions: normative political philosophy and positivist political science, it shows a diversified development situation: First, new paradigms and schools of thought have emerged in both normative political philosophy and positivist political science. As far as a normative political philosophy is concerned, it has gradually developed such political theories as ecologism, feminism, post-modernism, modern Christianity, and new eclecticism. As far as positivist political science is concerned, behaviorism has progressively evolved into post-behaviorism. At the same time, besides behaviorism, the paradigm of political economy has steadily gained a critical position. This paradigm, based on the methodology of microeconomics, takes public choice as the theme and forms a formal model of rational behavior research. Secondly, the standpoint of political science research methodology is diversified, showing the coexistence of scientism and anti-scientism, objectivism, and anti-objectivism. On this basis, progress has been made—eclecticism and doctrine of integration methodological claims are formed. There is no single scientific paradigm; diversity is the essence of the progress of political discipline rather than its obstacle. Thirdly, the ways of the political analysis show the characteristics of diversity and mutual integration. For example, the original institutional research is endowed with new characteristics and connotations, forming a new institutional analysis. Another example is the formation of the policy analysis approach and political constructivism approach. At the same time, the analytical approaches and methods of political science permeate and combine. For example,

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the empirical research of behaviorism gradually evolves into post-behaviorism political science. It tends to converge with the value of political norms and even theoretical research, and advocates giving up value neutrality, returning to realpolitik, and conducting policy analysis. However, political philosophy and theories are gradually developing towards applying empirical evidence, many of which come from the research of political science and other social science disciplines. For example, the new institutionalism research mainly adopts the paradigm of public choice and rational analysis.15 In the twenty-first century, western political philosophy and theories continue the tradition of political philosophy in the twentieth century, and further research is carried out around such propositions as liberalism, liberal egalitarianism, communitarianism, feminism, democracy, post-structuralism, and ancient Greek political philosophy. At the same time, political theory has also penetrated the fields of comparative politics, international politics, public policy, and domestic politics. In contrast, political methodology, public administration, political psychology, public law, political economy, environmental politics, etc., have become the focus of political theory and more marginal branches.16 Since the 1970s, western behavioral political science developed toward the postbehaviorism, on the one hand, political behaviorism scientific research of political science, quantification, formal exercise more deepens. From the rational choice theory and method of economics, game theory, quantity statistics, and data from a large development form the political behavior of extensive data analysis, gradually occupy the dominant position in the western politics. On the other hand, political scholars actively trying to give up the value-neutrality, they combined social, historical, and value studies with the study of political behavior, in particular, they combined the study of political institution rules with the study of political behavior to deepen and promote the politics of new institutionalism continuously. Individual behavior is incorporated into the analytical framework of organizational behavior and institutional change to more effectively explore the political phenomenon and its transformation of structural causal relationship. Despite this, the efforts of behavioral political science to make politics purely scientific still dominated the development of western politics, which led to the debate between qualitative research and quantitative research in political science in the early twenty-first century.17

15

Ada Finifterd, Political Science: The State of The Discipline, Washington, D.C: APSA, 1983. Johns. Dryzek, Bonnie Honig, Anne Phillips Edited, The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory, Oxford Press, 2008, P26-27. 17 Sharla A. Stewart, A New Revolution of U.S. Political Science in the 21st Century, The Journal of Shanghai Administration Institute, 2014, 6. 16

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2.2.2 The Emergence and Characteristics of Marxist Political Science Marxist politics came into being in the 1840s, which was the theoretical result of the social conflict movement and the political struggle development at that time. It is also the ideological crystallization of the founder of Marxism using dialectical materialism and historical materialism to analyze the essence of the political phenomenon in human society and the law of its development. Meanwhile, it is also an ideological revolution achievement formed by Marx and Engels’ criticism and absorption of the political theories of predecessors, especially the reasonable elements of the French Enlightenment political theory and the utopian socialist political theory. In the 1840s, the Industrial Revolution in Britain was basically completed, and France, the United States, Germany, and other countries also started the industrial revolution in the late 18th and early nineteenth centuries. The industrial revolution has dramatically improved the social productive forces, but it also deepened the contradiction between socialized production and the capitalist private possession system, the economic crisis happened constantly, and the interest opposition and conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat intensified. From the 1830s, the proletariat in France, England, and Germany emerged as an independent political force. This kind of social and political situation provides not only abundant actual materials for the emergence of Marxist politics, but also provides practical political needs for its emergence. In the 1830s and 1840s, Marx and Engels carried out arduous scientific research activities to explore the development law of human society and the way of proletarian liberation. They criticized and transformed the German classical philosophy, absorbed Hegel’s dialectics and Feuerbach’s materialism, founded the theory of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, and found the key to understanding the riddle of the laws of nature, society, and thinking movement. They critically absorbed the labor theory of value of classical British political economy, founded the duality of labor and surplus value, and revealed the nature and development trend of capitalist relations of production. These studies undoubtedly provide a solid theoretical basis for the emergence of Marxist politics. In establishing Marxist political science, Marx and Engels also critically absorbed the reasonable content of former political science. For example, Marx studied the history of the French revolution. He absorbed the theory of class and class struggle of French historian Guizot, and he made it as the primary content of the Marxist political theory. For another example, Marx criticized Hegel’s idealist view of the state and reversed the relationship between state and civil society, which was reversed by Hegel. Marx and Engels also rejected Rousseau’s social contract theory, but they absorbed his idea of “popular sovereignty” and so on. As for the autonomy scheme envisaged by the utopian socialism in France, it had a direct impact on the political theory of Marxism. In the 1830s and 1840s, Marx and Engels wrote a large number of political works based on their analysis of social and political situations and scientific research results,

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among which the representative ones are: Economic & Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, Critique of Hegel’s ‘Philosophy of Right,’ On the Jewish Question, The Condition of the Working Class in England: From Personal Observations and Authentic Sources, The Holy Family, The German Ideology and The Communist Manifesto. The publication of The Communist Manifesto marked the complete formation of Marxist politics. And then, Marx and Engels wrote The Class Struggle in France, 1848 to 1850, The Civil War in France, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, Critique of the Gotha Program, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State and The Ethnological Notebooks of Karl Marx make Marxism political science has formed a complete theoretical system. The emergence of Marxist political science makes the human political theory profoundly reveal the essence of politics and the law of its development, and it realizes the revolution of politics. In terms of its content, Marxist politics has the following essential characteristics: (1)

Scientificity. The scientific nature of Marxist politics is embodied in that it is based on historical materialism. It does not proceed from a certain moral and ethical value, not from a specific supernatural force, nor from a particular abstract human nature or rationality, but from the actual social relations and interest relations, especially from the economic relations of people to investigate political phenomena based on economic interests, which enables it to reveal the nature of politics in an objective and realistic manner.

The scientific nature of Marxist politics also lies in its use of materialist dialectics as the fundamental guiding method of political analysis. “Marx created historical materialism and the theory of surplus-value, which revealed the general laws of the development of human society and the special laws of the operation of capitalism, pointed out the way for mankind to leap from the realm of necessity to the realm of freedom, and pointed out the way for the people to realize freedom and liberation.”,18 Marxist political theory started with the internal contradictions and contradictory movements of politics, revealing the inner essential connection and its movement law of the occurrence and development of political phenomena to realize the profound understanding of politics. The scientific nature of Marxist politics lies in the fact that it has undergone the test of human society and political history, and it has experienced repeated verifications of the political practice of the working class and the people under the leadership of the Communists to solve the problem of liberalization and development, which reflects its natures of truth, fairness and correctness, and its significant guiding role for the Communist Party’s revolution and governance, for the construction of socialist society and politics, and the development of human society and politics. (2)

18

Affinity to the people. The founders of Marxism believed that the first premise of historical activities is humans, and humans are only the personification and bearer of specific social relations. Therefore, Marxist politics started from the

Xi Jinping: Speech at the General Assembly Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of Marx’s Birth, Xinhua-net: http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2018-05/04/c_1122783997.htm.

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analysis of socioeconomic relations to the analysis of classes. As a result, they started the analysis of political phenomena, which constitutes its theoretical system. As the political view of the proletariat, Marxist politics regard the proletariat as its material force and publicly declares that it serves the interests of the proletariat. It is the theoretical guide for the emancipation of the proletariat and humankind guiding the political revolution and political construction of the proletariat. At the same time, Marxism provides a powerful ideological weapon for the liberation of the people. “Marxism is extensive and profound. In a word: It is to seek the liberation of humankind. The dominant theories in society served the ruling class before the birth of Marxism. Marxism is the first theory that stood on the standpoint of the people to explore the road of human freedom and liberation, and as a scientific theory, pointed out the direction for the ultimate establishment of an ideal society with equality and freedom and without oppression or exploitation.”19 (3)

(4)

19

Revolutionary nature. On the one hand, Marxist politics is critical. It believes that political phenomena, like all other phenomena, develop under the objective negation of the negation law. Revolutionary and progressive politics must replace reactionary and backward politics. Human society must eventually eliminate traditional politics itself and realize autonomous communism. On the other hand, Marxist politics is not only satisfied with explaining political phenomena, but also focuses on transforming social politics. So, the proletariat and the general public can grasp the law of development of politics, throw themselves into political activities, and actively promote the development of social politics and history. Practicality. Marxist politics originates from the practical political activities of human beings. It was founded by the founder of Marxist politics based on scientific investigation, analysis, and summary of people’s political practice activities under different social backgrounds, especially the political practice activities of the proletariat. “Marx said that ‘all social life is practical in nature’ and that ‘philosophers simply interpret the world in different ways; the point is to change the world.’ The viewpoint of practice and life are the basic viewpoints of Marxist epistemology, and the practicality is a major feature that distinguishes Marxist theory from other theories.”20 At the same time, Marxist politics emphasizes that the theory needs to serve the practice. Therefore, the purpose of the study of politics and politics is to clarify the essence of the social-political phenomenon and the law of its development, to provide the people with the theoretical weapons to understand and transform social politics. “Marxism is not scholarship in the ivory tower., but was created to change the destiny of the people in history. It was formed and enriched and developed

Xi Jinping: Speech at the General Assembly Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of Marx’s Birth, Xinhua-net: http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2018-05/04/c_1122783997.htm. 20 Xi Jinping: Speech at the General Assembly Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of Marx’s Birth, Xinhua-net: http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2018-05/04/c_1122783997.htm.

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in the practice of the people’s pursuit of liberation, providing the people with a powerful spiritual force for understanding and transforming the world.”21 The practicality of Marxist politics is also embodied in its assertion that practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. With the continuous development of human political practice and the deepening of people’s understanding of political phenomena, Marxist political science has kept pace with the times, which will make it constantly accept the test of social-political practice, and continuously get development in practice. Marxism is not a dogma, but it is a guide for people to correctly understand political phenomena and engage in political practice. In fact, since the establishment of Marxist politics, “Marxism is a constantly developing and open theory and always stands in front of the era.”22 From Lenin to Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and other proletarian politicians have enriched and developed Marxist political theory according to the practice of proletarian revolution in their times, so that Marxist political science has vigorous vitality and guiding significance to political practice. The political theories of Marx and Engels mainly include the following essential contents: (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

21

A theory of classes and class struggle. Marx and Engels pointed out that, since the beginning of the written record, the history of human beings is the history of class struggle. In class society, the state, the political Party, the political thought, the political struggle, and other social and political phenomena all have the class attribute. The struggle between opposing classes is an essential content of the political life in class society. Theories of the state. Marx and Engels, starting from analyzing the contradictory movements between the productive forces and the relations of production, the economic foundation, and the superstructure, profoundly clarified that the state is essentially a tool of class rule and has the function of social management. As a social and historical phenomenon, the state will undoubtedly die out with itself. Theories of proletarian revolution and proletarian dictatorship. Marx and Engels used historical materialism to study the phenomenon of revolution and pointed out that revolution was resulted from the contradictory movement between the productive forces and the relations of production. At the same time, they linked the class struggle in a capitalist society with the dictatorship of the proletariat. They demonstrated that “class struggle will inevitably lead to the dictatorship of the proletariat.”23 Theories of political democracy. Marx and Engels believed that democracy belongs to the superstructure. Democracy is concrete and relative rather than abstract and absolute. Democracy has a class nature and is the political form and means used by the ruling class to realize its class rule.

Xi Jinping: Speech at the General Assembly Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of Marx’s Birth, Xinhua-net: http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2018-05/04/c_1122783997.htm. 22 Xi Jinping: Speech at the General Assembly Commemorating the 200th Anniversary of Marx’s Birth, Xinhua-net: http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2018-05/04/c_1122783997.htm. 23 Collected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 10. People’s Publishing House, 2009, p. 106.

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(5)

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Theories of the proletarian Party. Marx and Engels systematically expounded the class nature, historical task, and goal of the proletarian Party.

In addition, Marx and Engels’ essential theories, such as the revelation of the meaning and essence of politics, the analysis of the root causes of political struggle and social revolution, and the elaboration of the law of social history and political superstructure change, provide the scientific political view and methodology for the study of political science, thus making political science genuinely established based on science. The above theoretical viewpoints clarified by the founder of Marxist political science constitute the theoretical system of Marxist political science. Lenin inherited and developed Marxism. He analyzed the economic essence, essential characteristics, and historical position of capitalism monopoly stage, and he founded the theory of imperialism, which further enriched and developed the state theory of Marxism. According to the law of unbalanced economic and political development of capitalist countries in the imperialist era, the scientific conclusion is drawn that the socialist revolution may first win in a few or even in a single capitalist country. He put forward the historical task of developing and exploring the road of socialist construction under the condition of the dictatorship of the proletariat, emphasized the adherence to the class nature and guiding ideology of the proletarian Party, the organizational form, and principles of democratic centralism, and put forward a series of essential thoughts on strengthening and improving the socialist supervision system and developing and improving socialist democracy. After Lenin’s death, Stalin led the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet people to defend and inherit Leninism, and he made outstanding achievements in the practice of building socialism in one country and the great victory in the Great Patriotic War against fascist aggression in the international environment surrounded and hostile by the imperialist world. With the adherence to Marxism-Leninism political theory, Chinese Communists combined it with the concrete practice of Chinese revolution, construction, and reform, constantly enrich and develop Marxist theory in guiding Chinese political practice, thus forming a Marxist political theory with Chinese characteristics.

2.3 The Enrichment and Development of Marxist Political Science by Adapting Marxism to Chinese Conditions In the long course of revolution, development, and reform, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has led the people in actively promoting the adaptation of Marxism to Chinese conditions, making two historic leaps forward and contributing to the formation of two theoretical achievements: Mao Zedong Thought and the system of socialist theories with Chinese characteristics. These two theoretical achievements contain abundant political thoughts, which enriching and developing Marxist political theory in China’s socialist political practice.

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2.3.1 The Contributions of Mao Zedong Thought to Marxist Political Science Mao Zedong Thought is the creative application and development of MarxismLeninism in China. It is a correct theoretical principle and summary of experience on China’s revolution and construction proven by practice. It is the crystallization of the collective wisdom of the Communist Party of China. Mao Zedong’s political thought is an outstanding achievement achieved by combining Marxist political theory with Chinese reality and his political thought is the Marxist political theory with Chinese characteristics. Having thoroughly studied the nature of Chinese society, the characteristics and laws of the Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong created the theory of the new democratic revolution led by the proletariat, the masses of the people, against imperialism, feudalism, bureaucratic capitalism, and he clarified the political program of new democracy: to overthrow the rule of imperialism and feudalism, and establish a new-democratic republic under the proletarian leadership, based on the alliance of workers and peasants, and the joint dictatorship of all revolutionary classes. In such a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country like China, it is an arduous task to build a Marxist political Party leading the broad masses of the people. Mao Zedong advocated integrating theory with practice, keeping close ties with the masses, and criticism and self-criticism. In the revolutionary practice, Mao Zedong also elucidated the theory of the united front and multi-Party cooperation. After the founding of new China, Mao Zedong and the communist Party of China led the Chinese people to establish and consolidate the state power of the people’s democratic dictatorship, according to China’s national conditions, to create a system of people’s congress, multi-Party cooperation and political consultation and leadership of the communist Party of China, the system of regional ethnic autonomy, and continuously consolidate and develop the socialist system, which laid the fundamental political prerequisite and institutional foundation for the development and progress of contemporary China. During the period of socialist construction, to explore the laws of socialist construction, and learn from the experience and lessons of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in socialist construction, Mao Zedong thought deeply on a series of significant issues such as the contradictions of the socialist society, elucidated the theory of socialist social contradictions, “In the socialist society, the basic contradiction is still the contradiction between the relations of production and the productive forces, the contradiction between the superstructure and the economic base. However, these contradictions in the socialist society have different natures and conditions compared to the contradictions in the old society.”24 He creatively clarified that there have two different contradictions with different natures that are contradictions between ourselves and the enemy and contradictions among the people. Aiming at the two types of contradictions of different natures, different policies and methods 24

Collected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol.7, People’s Publishing House 1999, p.214.

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need to be adopted. In particular, the correct handling of contradictions among the people must be the theme of the country’s political life. Mao Zedong emphasized that the people were the creators of history. We must trust and rely on the people to ensure the right of laborers to manage the state, the army, various enterprises, culture, and education. Mao Zedong also expounded the view that politics is the lifeline of economic work and all work. Marxist politics has been greatly enriched and developed by his ideological views on the policies and strategies of China’s revolution and construction, on enhancing ideological and political work, on strengthening national defense and the armed forces, on adhering to the thought of independent diplomacy of peace, and on vigilance against and prevention of peaceful evolution.

2.3.2 The Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics to Marxist Political Science The system of theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a system of scientific theories, including Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of “Three Represents,” the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Socialism with Chinese characteristics is an ideological achievement made by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese people through arduous explorations, at significant cost, and through overcoming innumerable difficulties and dangers for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the development of the socialist cause. Xi Jinping pointed out that “socialism with Chinese characteristics is not coming into being on its own, but in the 40 years of the great practice of reform and opening-up, and is in the People’s Republic of China was founded nearly 70 years of continuous exploration, and was conducted in our Party leads the people in the great social revolution 97 years of practice, and is in the modern history of the Chinese nation by the failure to 170 years of history in the process, and is the inheritance and development of more than 5000 years of Chinese civilization, is the Party and the people through all kinds of hardships, the price obtained valuable results.”25 The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics revolves around the theme of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, insists on emancipating the mind, seeking truth from facts, advancing with the times, and also insists on the basic national conditions of being based on the primary stage of socialism, to creatively explore and answer the question about what is Marxism and how to deal with Marxism, what is socialism, how to build socialism, what kind of Party to build, how to build the Party, what kind of development to achieve, how to develop and other major theoretical and practical issues. The theoretical system of socialism with

25

Xi Jinping: Putting into the Work with the Spirit of Not Waiting for the Day and Night, Opening up a New Era of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, People’s Daily, January 6, 2018.

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Chinese characteristics endows Marxist theory with new era connotations and practical requirements, further deepen the understanding of the laws of the Communist Party’s governance, the laws of socialist construction, and the laws of human social development, and realizes the new integration of Marxism with Chinese reality and the historic leap of China has pushed the Sinicization of Marxism to a new stage of development. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has used dialectical materialism and historical materialism to deeply analyze the conditions of the world, of China, and the people’s requirements, and their development and changes. And they elaborate on the Party’s reform, development, stability, and governance of the country. The new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies in the fields of military governance, internal affairs, foreign affairs, and national defense have systematically answered the theme of what kind of socialism with Chinese characteristics to adhere to and develop in the new era and how to adhere to and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics from the combination of theory and practice. It has promoted fundamental historical changes in our society. On this basis, Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era was formed. His thought is a “reflection on Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thinking of the ‘Three Represents,’ and scientific development. The inheritance and development of the concept is the latest achievement of Sinicization of Marxism and an important part of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”26 The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is rich in content, involving all aspects of the country’s economy, politics, culture, social construction, ecological civilization construction, and Party building, and penetrates all disciplines and fields of Marxism. The political theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics is a part of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It is a significant theoretical achievement of the Sinicization of Marxist politics. It has enriched and developed Marxist political thought on a series of important issues. One is the theory of the preliminary stage of socialism. The political theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics confirms that China is in the primary stage of socialism according to the actual level and historical stage of China’s social development. First, our society is already socialist. We must persist and cannot leave socialism. Second, China’s socialist society is still in its primary stage. We must start from this reality and not go beyond it. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core adheres to this conclusion. It points out that since the 18th CPC National Congress, Chinese society has entered a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics. “Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. It is a new historic juncture in China’s development.”27 At the same time, China is still and 26 Xi Jinping: Decisively Win the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects, and Win the Great Victory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era- A Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Daily, October 28, 2017. 27 Xi Jinping: Decisively Win the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects, and Win the Great Victory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era- A Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Daily, October 28, 2017.

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will remain in the preliminary stage of socialism for a long time to come. Therefore, the primary stage of socialism is China’s basic national conditions and the greatest reality. The new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics and China’s socialism has been in the primary stage for a long time, which constitutes the organic unity of the historical orientation of China’s social development and the historical stage of socialism development. Second, the theory of the principal contradiction in socialist society. In 1978, The Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee used historical materialism to analyze the main contradictions in Chinese society, and firmly stop the political line as “an obsession with the class struggle,” points out that the principal contradiction in our society is “ The contradiction between the growing material and spiritual needs of the people and the backward production,” to put the focus shifted to economic construction, thus began the reform and opening-up and the historical process of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. As entering the new generation, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China confirmed that the principal contradiction facing Chinese society in the new era is between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. Thus, it provides guidance and basis for the ruling Party to adhere to the path and direction of socialism with Chinese characteristics, stick to the basic line of the Party in the primary stage of socialism, and formulate and implement the strategies and policies of the Party building and national governance. The third is the theory of the political development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which stressed adherence to the socialist way of making political advance with Chinese characteristics and the unity of the leadership of the Party, the position of the people as masters of the country, and law-based governance. The leadership of the Party is the fundamental guarantee for the people to run the country and the rule of law; the people being masters of the country is the essence and core of socialist democracy; law-based governance is the fundamental way for the Party to lead the people in governing the country. These three elements are integral to the great practice of socialist democracy in China. The unity of the Party’s leadership, the position of the people as masters of the country, and law-based governance, is an inevitable requirement and basic requirement for the political development of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the fundamental basis lies in their essential consistency. In the process of political development with Chinese characteristics in the new era, the spirit of the Party, the people, and the rule of law are, in the final analysis, the fundamental interests and common interests of the people. To adhere to the path of political development of socialism with Chinese characteristics, we must strengthen our confidence in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We will unswervingly promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in line with the five-sphere integrated plan and the four-pronged comprehensive strategy to realize the common ideal of socialism and the lofty ideal of communism, adhere to the people-centered outlook on development, and achieve common prosperity for all members of society and all-round development of the people.

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Fourth, the theory of socialist democracy. “People’s democracy is the banner that the Communist Party of China always holds high.”28 Democracy is the life of socialism, the people being masters of the country is the essence and core of socialist democracy. Without democracy, there can be no socialism. To uphold and develop socialist democracy, we must develop a socialist political institution suited to China’s national conditions. China is a people’s democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants, which is the fundamental nature of our country. The system of people’s congresses, the system of multi-Party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the system of regional ethnic autonomy, and the system of self-governance at the grass-roots level all embody the characteristics and advantages of China’s socialist democracy, and they are distinctive with Chinese characteristics and advantages.29 Therefore, Chinese people democracy is the broadest, most authentic, and most effective democracy. In the new era, General Secretary Xi Jinping further elaborated that China’s political Party system is a new kind of political Party system, and elaborated the superiority of this new kind of political Party system.30 The political practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics shows that this political Party system has the unique advantages of fully developing and realizing socialist democracy. To develop socialist democracy is to embody people’s will, protect their rights and interests, stimulate their creativity, and use institutions and systems to ensure that the people are masters of the country. In our social and political life, we must adhere to and improve China’s fundamental political institution, consolidate and develop the broadest possible patriotic united front, develop socialist consultative democracy, enrich its forms and broaden its channels, and ensure that the position of the people as masters of the country is implemented in the country’s political and social life. In developing people’s democracy, we should make it clear that there is no identical political institution in the world. Political institutions should not be judged in the abstract without regard to specific social and political conditions, historical and cultural traditions, and they should not be determined on one basis or copied mechanically by foreign political institutions. Fifth, the theory of the socialist rule of law. It is emphasized that socialist democracy and the socialist rule of law are an inseparable unity. Governing the country by law is the basic requirement of socialist democracy and the basic strategy for the Party to lead the people in governing the country. The overall goal of advancing law-based governance is to build a system of the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and build a socialist country established on the rule of law. We will work together to advance the rule of law, rule of government, and administration 28

Xi Jinping the Governance of China Vol.2, Foreign Language Press, 2014, P.285. Xi Jinping: Strengthen Confidence in the Political System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA Volume 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, P288. 30 Xi Jinping: Speech When Visiting the NLD, Zhi Gong Party, People Without Party Affiliation, and Members of the Federation of Overseas Chinese Who Participated in the First Session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, March 4, 2018. 29

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under the law and adhere to a holistic approach to strengthening the rule of law in the country, in its government, and society. Sixth, theories on political restructuring and modernization of state governance. It is emphasized that political restructuring is the self-improvement of the socialist political institution and the inevitable requirement of developing socialist democratic politics. We need to meet the objective requirements of the profound changes in China’s economic foundation and the increasing awareness of democracy among the people to carry out political institutional reform prudently. Political institutional reform must adhere to the correct political orientation to ensure that the people are masters of the country as a fundamental, to enhance the vitality of the Party and state, arouse the enthusiasm of the people as the goal, increase and expand the advantages and characteristic of the socialist system in our country, expand socialist democracy, build socialism country established on the rule of law, develop socialist political civilization. We will build a power operation mechanism that ensures scientific decision-making, firm enforcement, and effective oversight. We should focus on strengthening institutional building, effectively confining power within institutional cages, and institutionalizing, standardizing, law-based and procedural socialist democracy, and establishing a system of power in which different powers check each other and coordinate with each other to ensure that the people manage state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings, and social affairs through various channels and on multiple forms under the law, and consolidate and develop a dynamic, stable and united political situation. At the same time, we will develop a system of administrative management with Chinese characteristics, give overall consideration to the establishment of various types of institutions, and allocate the powers and responsibilities of the Party and government departments and their internal institutions scientifically. We will transform government functions, further streamline administration and delegate power, innovate forms of oversight, enhance the government’s credibility and enforcement capacity, and build a service-oriented government that the people are satisfied. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has further stated, in light of the latest practice, that the overall goal of comprehensively deepening reform is to uphold and improve the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, advance the modernization of China’s governance system and capacity, build a complete, scientific, standardized and effective institutional system to make institutions in all areas more mature and stable. At the same time, we will improve the ability of the Party and state organizations and leading cadres at all levels to manage all aspects of social affairs with the state system. In advancing reform and modernizing national governance, the key to deepening the reform of Party and state institutions is to strike a balance between the leadership of the Party and national governance. We will make macro plans and think comprehensively about the overall leadership of the Party, and work hard to establish a system of closely connected and coordinated functions of the Party and government institutions, include a leadership system of the Party that commands the overall situation and coordinates all Parties, a government governance system with clear responsibilities and law-based administration, a world-class armed forces

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system with Chinese characteristics, and a working system of mass organizations that connects people extensively and serves the people. We will encourage congresses, governments, the CPPCC, supervisory organs, judicial organs, procuratorial offices, mass organizations, enterprises, public institutions, and social organizations to coordinate our actions and strengthen our resultant forces under the unified leadership of the Party. Party and state institutions are set up reasonably, with jurisdictional interlinkage, and the functions of Party and state institutions are improved, coordinated, and efficient. Proceeding from China’s national conditions, resolutely remove all unseasonable ideas and institutional shortcomings, break through the blockades of vested interests, absorb the beneficial achievements of human civilization, improve the relationship between the government and the market and between the government and society, comprehensively modernize the government, market, society, culture, ecology, military, and governance of the ruling Party; And by modernizing national governance, we will stimulate the market and social vitality, promote social equity and justice, and contribute Chinese wisdom and solutions to humankind. Seventh, the theory of political and cultural construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We must maintain Marxism, firmly uphold the lofty ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, cultivate and practice core socialist values, and constantly strengthen the dominance and voice of ideology in the field of socialism. We should adhere to the standpoint of Chinese culture, based on the reality of contemporary China, combined with the conditions of the current era, develop a socialist culture that is distinctly Chinese, pro-science and people-oriented and also modern, world-oriented, and future-oriented to promote the coordinated development of socialist spiritual civilization and material civilization. We should persist in serving the people and socialism, persist in “letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend,” promote the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese excellent traditional culture, inherit revolutionary culture, develop advanced socialist culture, not forget the original, absorb foreign, face the future, and build better Chinese spirit, Chinese value, Chinese power. We will deepen the research and development of Marxist theory, accelerate the development of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics, and strengthen the building of new think tanks with Chinese characteristics. We will also enhance education in patriotism, collectivism, and socialism to guide the people in developing correct views of history, the nation, the country, and culture. Eighth is the theory of respecting and protecting human rights. It is emphasized that respecting and protecting human rights is an inherent requirement for developing socialist democracy. The Communist Party of China has permanently attached great importance to the human rights of the Chinese people. An essential purpose of the Party in leading the people in revolution, construction and reform is to strive for the broadest possible range of human rights for the Chinese people and to ensure that all ethnic groups and classes in China enjoy practical political, economic, and cultural rights. Human rights are concrete and relative, not abstract or absolute. They are closely related to a country’s political situation, economic development, historical tradition, cultural structure, and the development level of the whole society. The fundamental way to realize human rights is economic development and social

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progress. It is essential to respect the universal principles of the international community on human rights, and in light of specific national conditions, integrate collective and individual human rights, economic, social and cultural rights, and civil and political rights, strengthen the legal protection of human rights, and ensure that the people enjoy extensive rights and freedoms under the law. We will consolidate communitylevel political power, improve community-level democracy, and protect the people’s participation rights, expression rights, and supervisory power. The ninth is the theory of “one country, two systems.” This theory emphasizes that the complete reunification of the motherland is the fundamental interest of the Chinese nation and the unshakable will of the whole Chinese people. “One country, two systems” is an excellent concept for solving the Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao questions and realizing the peaceful reunification of the motherland, proceeding from China’s actual conditions. The principle of “one country, two systems” means that on the premise of one-China principle, the mainland of China will adhere to the socialist system. At the same time, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao will maintain their previous capitalist system and way of life unchanged for a long time to come. We will thoroughly and faithfully implement the principles of “one country, two systems,” “Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong,” “Macao people governing Macao” and a high degree of autonomy, act in strict accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law, and improve the systems and mechanisms related to the implementation of the Basic Law. We must both safeguard the central government’s overall power of control over the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and safeguard their high degree of autonomy to ensure that the principle of “one country, two systems” will not change and the practice of “one country, two systems” will not be distorted. Solving the Taiwan question and realizing the complete reunification of the motherland is the common aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation and represents the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation. So, we must adhere to the principles of “peaceful reunification” and “one country, two systems,” promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and advance the process of peaceful reunification of the motherland. At the same time, we will firmly safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We will never allow anyone, any organization or any political Party to separate any part of Chinese territory from China at any time, or in any form. The tenth is the theory of international politics and diplomatic strategy. Emphasizing that peace and development are the themes of the current era, seeking peace, seeking development, and promoting cooperation has become an irresistible trend of the times. At the same time, the world is still very restless, hegemonism and power politics still exist, local conflicts and hotspot issues continue one after another, global economic imbalances have increased, the North–South gap has widened, traditional security threats and non-traditional security threats are intertwined, and world peace and development are faced with many difficulties and challenges. The relationship between contemporary China and the world has undergone historical changes, and China’s future and destiny are increasingly closely linked with the future and destiny of the world. China will continue to hold high the banner of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit and uphold its fundamental foreign policy goal of

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preserving world peace and promoting joint development. China remains firm in its commitment to strengthening friendship and cooperation with other countries based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. And China also remains firm in its commitment to forging a new form of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win–win cooperation, to build a community with a shared future for humankind, “the construction of lasting peace and universal security, common prosperity, open inclusive, clean the beauty of the world.”31 The eleventh is to consolidate and develop the theory of the patriotic united front. We must hold high the banner of patriotism and socialism, firmly grasp the theme of great unity, adhere to the agreement of consistency and diversity, give full play to the role of individual and collective and find out the greatest common divisor, draw the maximum concentric circle. We should uphold long-term coexistence, mutual supervision, treat each other with sincerity, and share weal and woe. We will support democratic Parties in better performing their functions following the requirements of participating socialist Parties with Chinese characteristics. It is necessary to respect labor, knowledge, talents, and creativity, develop and strengthen the patriotic united front, promote the harmony of Party relations, ethnic relations, religious relations, class relations, and relations between compatriots at home and abroad, and mobilize all positive factors in the most extensive and fully manner. Unite all the forces that can be united to add new strength to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The twelfth is the theory about the construction of the ruling Party. The Communist Party of China is the vanguard of the Chinese working class, the vanguard of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation, and the core of leadership for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In the great practice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, we must uphold the Party’s overall leadership and play to the Party’s role in overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all Parties. The Communist Party of China must strengthen the consciousness of the ideology, the whole, the core, and the line. The Communist Party of China must conscientiously safeguard the authority and centralized, unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, and it maintain a high degree of unity with the CPC Central Committee in thought, politics, and action. The Communist Party of China should improve systems and mechanisms for upholding the Party’s leadership, improve the Party’s style of leadership and governance, and enhance the Party’s ability and determination to set the direction, plan for the overall situation, formulate policies, and promote reform to ensure that the Party’s leadership covers all areas and is stronger and more effective. The general requirements for Party building for the new era are: Uphold and strengthen overall Party leadership and ensure that the Party exercises effective selfsupervision and practices strict self-governance in every respect; Take maintaining the Party’s long-term governance capacity and its advanced nature and purity as the main thrust; take enhancing the Party’s political building as the overarching principle; take holding dear the Party’s ideals, convictions, and purpose as the underpinning; and 31 Xi Jinping: Decisively Win the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects, and Win the Great Victory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era- A Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Daily, October 28, 2017.

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take harnessing the whole Party’s enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity as the focus of efforts; Make all-round efforts to see the Party’s political building enhanced, its theory strengthened, its organizations consolidated, its conduct improved, and its discipline enforced, with institution building incorporated into every aspect of Party building; Step up efforts to combat corruption and continue to improve the efficacy of Party building; Build the Party into a vibrant Marxist governing Party that is always at the forefront of the times, enjoys the wholehearted support of the people, has the courage to reform itself, and is able to withstand all tests. In addition, the political theories of socialism with Chinese characteristics also include the theory of state power, the theory of multi-Party cooperation, the theory of maintaining the overall security of the country, the theory of national defense and military construction, the theory of class and stratum, and the theory of ethnic and religion.

2.3.3 The Historical Development of Chinese Political Science The study of politics by the Chinese is almost as old as Chinese civilization. From ancient times to the present, the development of political science in China can be roughly divided into five major stages according to its content: 1. The Political Thought of Slave Society The Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, from about 2200 BC to 771 BC, were a period of slavery in China. The characters of this period are mainly oracle bone inscriptions and Chinese bronze inscriptions. Later generations sorted out and formed part of the contents of the Book of Shang according to various records. In these classics, there are many records about social and political problems. In the Shang Dynasty, the main content was a theocracy and autocratic monarchy. When it came to the Western Zhou Dynasty, it added the thought of promoting virtue and being prudent in criminal punishment. It shows that the political thinking at that time mainly revolves around the legitimacy of the rule and the means of the rule, which reflects the contradiction between slaves and slave owners. 2. The Political Theories of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring State Period The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (770–221 BC) saw the collapse of slavery and the formation and establishment of the feudal system in China. During this period, the new landlord class became increasingly powerful economically, and its political power also gradually grew. The political situation that the princes vied for supremacy emerged, while the Zhou royal family, which represented the rule of slaveholders, became increasingly weak and the old political order was destroyed. This significant change of social politics provided good conditions

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for the development of political theory. Therefore, in this period, there appeared “All schools of thought contend for attention.” The philosophers and hundreds of schools mainly expressed their opinions around the issues of “rituals” and “laws,” “gods” and “humans,” “monarch” and “people,” “monarch” and “state.” As a result, there have emerged Confucianism represented by Confucius and Mencius, Legalists represented by Shang Yang and Han Fei, Taoists represented by Lao Zhuang, Mohists represented by Mozi, and the Yin Yang school and the Logicians. The main content of the Confucian political theory is “rule by rites” and “rule of virtue.” And its core is the “policy of benevolence.” It advocates ruling by moral education and self-cultivation, and it opposes ruling the world by harsh government and criminal law. Legalists, on the contrary, supported controlling the people by explicit decrees and ruling techniques. Therefore, the main contents of Legalists’ political theory were “law,” “skills,” and “potency.” The propositions of Confucianism and Legalism respectively formed the “rule by justice” and “rule by force” in Chinese history. The political theory of Taoism takes “Emulating Nature” as its ideological core, and it emphasizes “govern by doing anything that goes against nature” in its governing skill. Mozi’s political theory centered on “universal love” and “non-aggression” and advocated maintaining rule by easing class contradictions. These theories not only provided the theoretical basis for the ruling of the later generations in the feudal society of China, but they also advanced the Chinese political theory from demonstrating the legitimacy of the rule to expatiating how to rule as the main content. 3. The Politics of Feudal Society From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the late Qing Dynasty, China’s feudal society lasted for more than two thousand years. Although it has experienced chaos during the period, the feudal rule with centralization is its primary feature. During Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, to maintain this rule, Dong Zhongshu reformed the theories found by Confucius and Mencius. On the one hand, it combines the viewpoints of various theories. On the other hand, it combines the theory with the will of God through the theory “three schemes of heaven and people” and the proposition of “abandoning the other schools of thought and respecting only Confucianism.” were put forward. As a result, Confucian political doctrines occupied the ideological dominance of China’s feudal society, and at the same time, they also greatly restricted the development of other political theories. In the Song Dynasty, with the improvement of the Cheng-Zhu School, Confucian political theory became more sophisticated and mature, becoming the spiritual pillar of political rule in the Chinese feudal society. In the feudal society, the oppressed peasant class had held uprisings many times and put forward their own political opinions. The core orientation of these opinions was the egalitarianism of small peasants. However, due to the limitations of class, history, and cognition, these opinions cannot be achieved in the end. 4. Politics in Semi-feudal and Semi-Colonial Society After the Opium War in 1840, the Chinese nation plunged into a deep national crisis. China gradually reduced to a semi-feudal and semi-colonial society after

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being plundered and swallowed by the imperialist powers. With the changes in social structure and political power, there emerged an ideological pattern in which the three major political theories heated and contended with each other. The rulers of the late Qing Dynasty continued to take the Confucian political theory as the moral support of their rule to maintain the crumbling feudal rule. However, the “Westernization Movement,” with the purpose of preserving feudal rule, pursued the principle of “Western Exploitation on Chinese System,” took Confucian political theory as its main body and western learning as its tool, and finally failed. After the Opium War, with the deepening of the national crisis, a large number of people with lofty ideals set off an upsurge of learning from the West to find a way to strengthen the country and enrich the soldiers. The prominent representatives were Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Tan Sitong, Yan Fu, Zhang Taiyan, Sun Yat-sen, etc. By writing books and translating famous works until the revolutionary practice, they introduced and advocated the political theory and political views of the western bourgeoisie in modern times, designed the blueprint of Chinese capitalism, which had a significant impact on the feudal political theory. However, under the squeeze of various realistic political forces and feudal political culture, his political propositions neither saved China’s national crisis nor pushed Chinese society into a modern political civilization. After Chiang Kai-shek established the National Government in 1927, under the mask of the “Three People’s Principles,” Confucian feudal ethics such as the “Three Cardinal Guides (ruler guides subject, father guides son, and husband guides wife) and Five Constant Virtues (benevolence, righteousness, propriety, knowledge, and sincerity)” have been once again raised to maintain the totalitarian and autocratic political rule. Contemporary Chinese politics started from the entry of Marxism into our country and developed gradually under the guidance of Marxism. The October Revolution in Russia in 1917 brought Marxism to China. Early Marxists like Li Dazhao and others spread Marxism in China. Qu Qiubai, Zhang Tailei, Yun Daiying, and others taught the primary content of Marxist politics in Shanghai and Guangzhou. Deng Chumin compiled The Outline of Political Science and The New Outline of Political Science in the 1920s and 1930s, which became the first batch of representative works to introduce the principles of Marxist politics in China. The Chinese Communists, represented by Mao Zedong, applied Marxist political views to the concrete practice of the Chinese revolution, and it formed the Marxist political theory with Chinese characteristics, which became a theoretical guide for the proletariat and the masses to conduct political revolution and political activities. The result of the struggle of the three political theories is the victory of Marxist political theory. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Chinese people combined the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s actual conditions, completed the New-Democratic Revolution, and established the Socialist People’s

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Republic, “China’s great leap forward from thousands of years of feudal autocracy to people’s democracy has realized.”32 5. Political Science in the Socialist Period After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Marxist politics became the dominant content of Chinese politics. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, especially since the reform and opening, under the guidance of Marxism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thought of Three Represents, the scientific outlook on development, and Xi Jinping thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, in the process of socialist revolution, construction, reform, and development, the development of China’s political science has also made significant progress and outstanding achievements. In terms of the discipline system of political science, the primary discipline system of political science has formed in our country, and there is a new trend of development. The existing basic framework of the political science discipline system in China based on political theory, political institution, administrative management, and international politics. With the need for social and political development and the deepening of political research, new requirements have been put forward for the system of political science. In line with this requirement, the basis of political science has evolved. Under the premise of centering on the subject of public authority, the subject base of political science has broadened to include philosophy, jurisprudence, management science, sociology, psychology, and economics. Therefore, studying the phenomenon of public authority from multiple disciplines and perspectives has become the characteristic of political studies. At the same time, political science has formed a new growth point of discipline, among which “comparative politics” and “Chinese politics” have set as discipline specialties. In addition, several interdisciplinary fields of political science are becoming an essential component of political science, among which the prominent ones are political economy research, political sociology, political philosophy, political psychology, etc., which make the academic research of political science in China present the structural characteristics of research focus.33 The theoretical study of political science has made significant progress. The guiding position of Marxism in the study of political science in China has further consolidated. Especially in the central Marxist theoretical research and construction projects, the political community in our country in terms of Marxist political theory, system research of Marxism, Leninism and Deng Xiaoping’s political theory, the important thought of three represents, the concept of scientific development, Xi Jinping political thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era. In terms of the study of fundamental theories and methods of political science, the basic 32

Xi Jinping: Decisively Win the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects, and Win the Great Victory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era- A Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Daily, October 28, 2017. 33 Wang Puqu, Review and Planning of the Academic Development of Chinese Political Science(2006–2015), Tianjin People’s Publishing House, 2011.

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theories of political science with class analysis, economic analysis, state analysis, power analysis, interest analysis, and financial relationship analysis as the logical starting point have formed, and progress has made in the methodology of political science. In terms of thematic theories, political scholars have made in-depth studies on Marxist political thought, socialist political theory with Chinese characteristics, and modernization theory of national governance; Studies on the main contradiction and the theory of political development in the primary stage of socialism and the new era in China, the theory of people’s politics in the socialist period, and the analysis of the relationship of interests and rights among the people in China; Studies on political civilization, democratic politics, political management and governance, government theory, political Parties, political legitimacy, national politics, frontier politics, national security, political development, public administration and public management theories and methods; Studies on the theory and practice of “one country, two systems”; Studies on international politics, international relations, diplomacy, international strategy, international organizations, globalization and global governance have yielded a wealth of innovative results. Political science carries out extensive and concrete applied research. The practical problems studied by the political discipline in our country almost involve all levels and aspects of our socialist political development and government management. At the same time, due to the expansion of public administration in political discipline, non-governmental public administration organizations, systems, and ways have also been brought into the research field of the political discipline. Therefore, the applied countermeasure research of political discipline has vital reality and specific pertinence. Among them are the modernization of China’s national governance system and governance ability, the reform of political institutions and the transformation of government functions, the construction of democracy and the rule of law in China, the research of people’s congress, the development of grass-roots political power and democratic politics, the examination of the Party’s governing ability and governing way, the study of scientific development concept and the reform of government management. The primary study of political science tends to deepen, especially in the research of Chinese political institutions, the study of Chinese and western political thought, the research method of political science, the construction of political science research database, and so on, forming the considerable achievements. Given the current development of political science in China, with the development of socialist modernization, the construction of a well-off society in an all-round way, and the construction of socialist political civilization, the study of political science is gradually changing which is It reflects in the transformation of the political discipline from the study of general theories and knowledge of political science to the analysis of China issues and the formation of views and knowledge on this basis. Political scholars try to analyze and refine China’s political approach and learning from the political practice of our country, guided by the developing Marxism, and carry out countermeasure research. From the elaboration and demonstration of political thought and political legitimacy, it gradually expanded to the study and analysis of national governance and strategic management; From the macro research,

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gradually include the direction of meso, micro research; From the study of single discipline to the study of multi-discipline and multi-method. On the other hand, there is still a big gap between China’s political science research and the requirements of constructing modern socialist power and the modernization of national governance. With the development of socialist political practice, the study of Chinese political science bounds to continue to deepen and develop.

2.4 The Research Methods of Political Science The research method is the principle, step, procedure, angle, and format for people to understand and grasp the research object in scientific research, and is the fundamental way and law for people to reach the objective subjectively. In this sense, it either refers to the philosophical principles and practices of thinking that reveal the fundamental aspects of the essence of things and their mutual relations, or it relates to the basic angles and starting points of research problems, or it refers to the technical means of research. These different meanings represent different levels of human thinking and the internal structure of research methods. Among the political science research methods, Marxist political research methods are scientific, practical, and open to development. Therefore, it is a guiding method for us to study political phenomena. Under this premise, political science research should analyze and absorb other political science research methods, and it should carry out multi-faceted, multi-level, and multi-channel research on social and political phenomena.

2.4.1 The Basic Research Methods of Marxist Political Science 1. The Basic Philosophical Method of Marxist Political Research Materialist dialectics is the essence of Marxist thought methodology. Materialist dialectics advocates the study of objective things from the perspective of comprehensive, interrelated, and development based on materialism, starting from the inside of things. These requirements embodied in the study of the contradiction of objective things in the way of thinking. Therefore, Mao Zedong pointed out, “The main purpose of the dialectical world view is to teach people to observe and analyze the contradictory movements of various things, and to point out the solutions to the contradictions based on this analysis.”34 The study of the contradiction of things, in the first place, lies in recognition of the objective existence of contradiction, “contradiction is movement, object, process, and 34

Selected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol.1, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p.304.

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thought.”35 Secondly, it requires grasping the essential characteristics of contradiction, that is, the universality and particularity of contradiction, the identity and conflict of contradiction. The universality of contradiction lies in the fact that contradiction exists in the development process of all things and runs through all the processes from beginning to end. The particularity of contradiction lies in the fact that the contradictory things and each side of them have their characteristics. The identity of contradiction lies in the fact that both sides of contradiction depend on each other and are united. At the same time, according to certain conditions, each side transforms to its opposite side. Hence the conflict of contradiction shows that both sides of contradiction repel each other in different degrees. Finally, it calls for clarifying various forms and methods of resolving various contradictions. Materialist Dialectics holds that “the distinction of scientific research based on the certain contradictions of scientific objects. So, the study of a contradiction peculiar to the field of a phenomenon constitutes the object of science.”36 Therefore, based on materialism, the study of the contradictions in political life is the basis of all other methods of political science. And thus constitutes the fundamental method of Marxist political analysis. Materialist dialectics is the foundation of the combination of qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis of Marxist politics. According to dialectics, “the character of things is chiefly determined by the principal aspect of the contradiction which has gained the dominant position.”37 Therefore, the qualitative research of political science analyzes the internal contradictions and the main aspects of contradictions in political things, while the quantitative analysis is to show the actual situation and degree of contradictions in political stuff in a certain amount. Materialist dialectics is the foundation of the combination of static analysis and dynamic analysis of Marxist political science. According to dialectics, the static state of a thing is an external state presented by the relative balance of all aspects of its internal contradictions. Therefore, the static analysis of politics analyzes the equilibrium state of its internal contradictions through the relatively static political things. But the motion of things is only the development and change of contradiction, “motion itself is contradiction”.38 The dynamic analysis of political science analyzes the internal contradictions of political things and the changes and development of their mutual relations. Materialist dialectics is the unifying foundation of Marxist political value analysis and fact analysis. According to materialist dialectics, differences in political values are mere “reflections of objective contradictions. The objective contradiction reflects the subjective thought and constitutes the contradictory movement of the concept”.39

35

Selected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol.1, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 319. Selected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol.1, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p.309. 37 Selected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol.1, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 323. 38 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 462. 39 Selected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol.1, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p.306. 36

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Therefore, only by combining the analysis of political actual situation and contradiction with the study of political-ideological value contradiction, we can draw a scientific conclusion. Materialist dialectics is the basis of combining case analysis and general analysis of Marxist political science. “It is precisely in the particularity of contradiction that the universality of contradiction resides.”40 is a basic view of dialectical materialism. According to this view, each political things not only contain the particularity of the contradiction, but also contain the universality of contradiction. To analyze these two aspects of political cases, both case analysis and general analysis need to be carried out. Finally, materialist dialectics is the basis of the comparative analysis of Marxist politics. The premise of comparative political analysis lies in the differences of similar political things and “differences are contradictions.”41 Therefore, the task of comparative political analysis is to reveal the joint and individual phases of the internal contradictions of similar political things. 2. Basic Approaches to the Study of Marxist Politics (1) Historical research methods “History goes from yesterday to today and then to tomorrow. It is impossible to sever the links of history. People always move forward based on inheriting the achievements of their predecessors. There is no exception from any times or any land.”42 The first absolute requirement of the Marxist political-historical analysis method is to examine and study political phenomena and political things in a specific historical scope and background. As Lenin pointed out, “Marx’s method first considers the objective content of the historical process in a specific time and environment...”43 The historical analysis method of Marxist political science also requires grasping the essence of politics and its development law from the historical causal connection. On the one hand, it analyzes the essential relationship between politics and other social factors in a given historical context. On the other hand, it examines the causal relationship between political phenomena under different historical conditions, that is to say, “We should look at how a phenomenon came into being in history and what main stages it has gone through in its development, and we should look at what the thing is now in the light of its development.”44 (2) Methods of economic analysis The economical method of Marxist political analysis is to understand the category of “economy” in the sense of economic relations, that is, to regard the economy as the total of production relations between people. It is the focus of the Marxist economic 40

Selected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol.1, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p.304. Selected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol.1, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p.307. 42 Xi Jinping: Cadres Must Know Some History, The Study Times, September 5, 2011. 43 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 26. People’s Publishing House, 1988, p. 140–141. 44 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 37. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 61. 41

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analysis method is the financial relations in people’s social connections. This kind of financial relationship is determined by the development level of productive forces in the legal rights of people in social production, including the ownership of means of production, the position in the production process, and the distribution of production results. Marxist economic analysis method contains materialist dialectics, which divides society into economic base and superstructure, and grasps political phenomenon from the dialectical relationship between them. It first points out that economic relations are fundamental and decisive to the content and mode of political relations, “The totality of these relations of production constitutes the economic structure of society, on which stands a legal and political superstructure and on which a certain form of social consciousness adapted. The mode of production of material life restricts the whole process of social, political and spiritual life.”45 And it also recognizes that politics has a great reaction to the economy, and “under certain conditions, it turns out to play the role of primary decision.”46 (3) Class analysis method Marxism believes that “the so-called class, is such a big group, these groups in the history of certain social production system’s position is different, the relationship with the means of production (most of which stipulated in the law) is different, and the role played in the social labor organization is different, so the method and amount of social wealth that are at their disposal are also different. The so-called classes are such groups. Because of their different positions in a certain socio-economic structure, one group can occupy the labor of another group.”47 According to this definition, the class analysis method of Marxist political science regards class as the “personification of economic categories,”48 which is the social undertaker of economic relations. In this sense, the class analysis method of Marxism is an extension of its financial analysis method in the sense of social group division and social force. Therefore, Marxism believes that class is, first of all, an economical category, class forces formed on this basis constitute the primary subject of political life in class society, and the mutual relations and struggles between class forces created around the dominant position include the basic pattern and content of class society and politics. Class analysis in political studies is to uses class theory to explain political phenomena. To “attribute political conflicts to the struggle between the existing social classes and the interests of various class groups resulting from economic development”49 is to grasp the trend and laws of social politics based on an analysis of the composition of class forces in class society, the essential characteristics of each class, political demands, and propositions.

45

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 2–3. Selected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol.1, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p.325. 47 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 37. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 13. 48 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 23. People’s Publishing House, 1972, p. 12. 49 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol.22. People’s Publishing House, 1965, p. 592. 46

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(4) Interest analysis method The interest analysis method of Marxist politics analyzes the motivation and practical embodiment of people’s economic relations, class relations, and political and social relations, analyzes the content and character of politics, and examines different social backgrounds, different social classes, social groups and even the political relationship between individuals and its development and change from the perspective of interests, which is the further concretization and actualization of Marxist materialist dialectics, economic analysis methods, and class analysis methods. In terms of its actual content, financial analysis and class analysis method are essentially benefit analysis methods, because “every established social-economic relation first shows the interest,”50 the study of social and political “is necessary to probe into the relations of production to find the root causes of social phenomena and to attribute them to the interests of certain classes”.51 Therefore, when talking about Soviet politics, Lenin pointed out, “Soviet Russia’s domestic and foreign policies ultimately determined by the economic interests and economic status of the ruling class. This principle is the basis of the whole Marxist world view.”52 3. Paying Attention to Objective Facts and Emphasizing Investigation and Research as an Important Method of Marxist Political Research Lenin pointed out that “Marxist policy is based on what is real rather than on what is possible.”53 The only way to understand reality and grasp the facts is to carry out scientific investigations. Marxism maintains that scientific investigation and research have three basic procedures, namely, finding problems, analyzing problems, and solving problems. As Mao Zedong once said, “Slightly investigated and researched problems can be found and raised, but they cannot be solved. The solution of a problem requires systematic and thorough investigation and research, which is the process of analysis.”54 “Investigating is solving problems.”55 The basic principle of the Marxist social investigation method is objectivity, that is to observe things objectively and take objective facts as the only basis; Scientific, namely, from the internal connection of accurate things to investigate and study; Comprehensiveness, that is, not based on individual phenomena, but from “to grasp the facts from the whole of the facts…”.56

50

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 209. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1984, p. 464. 52 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 34. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 306. 53 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1990p. 493. 54 Selected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol.3 People’s Publishing House, 1991, p.839. 55 Selected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol.1, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p.110–111. 56 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 28. People’s Publishing House, 1990, p. 364. 51

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2.4.2 The Main Research Methods Western Political Science In terms of its philosophical principles, most of the philosophical guiding principles of western political science have the characteristics of historical idealism or metaphysics. However, in its long-term development process, mainly since the twentieth century, western political science has formed various research points and technical methods of political study. These points and methods are references to the development of Marxist politics. As for its analytical approaches, contemporary political scientists usually divide the research methods of western political science into two categories based on the relationship between “fact and value,” namely, “traditional methods and modern methods, the former focuses on ‘value’ while the later focuses on ‘fact’.”57 The former is often called the normative research method, while the latter is called the empirical research method. 1. Traditional Research Methods of Political Science The traditional research methods of western politics mainly represented by philosophical research methods, historical research methods, organizational research methods, and institutional research methods. (1) Philosophical Research Methods The philosophical research method is different from the philosophical principles of political research. It refers to the interpretation, evaluation, or elaboration from the perspective of philosophical speculation based on the original political thought research achievements. Its primary characteristic is: “the research of states, governments, and philosophers is inseparable from the pursuit of certain goals, spirits, truths, or certain supreme principles that considered to form the basis of all knowledge and reality.”58 Therefore, it takes the political values pursued by social and political life, such as democracy, justice, equality, etc., as the research object, uses logical philosophical speculation as to the primary method, and reveals the value basis and fundamental principles of politics as the research purpose. The advantage of the philosophical research method of western politics is that it pays attention to the study of political value, an essential aspect of political life, and tries to normalize the study with rigorous logic. Its shortcoming is that the political value reduces the political fact, which makes the political study color fancy and subjective one-sided. (2) Historical Research Method The premise of the historical research method in western political science is that political theory and political understanding need to be verified by multiple practical evidence, and “historical evidence can provide an opportunity to examine different 57 58

J.C. Johari, Comparative Politics, 3rd ed., New Delhi: Sterling Publishers PVT LTD, 1982, p.23. J.C. Johari, Comparative Politics, 3rd ed., New Delhi: Sterling Publishers PVT LTD, 1982, p.23.

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political phenomena in a widely different context.”59 The characteristics of the historical research method are to focus on the collection of political historical data, the description of the political history, because its intangible value used to study the political history, it also focuses on the political value analysis and the implementation of political history and its research value can’t get rid of the researcher’s value systems, and thus can be classified as a traditional research method. The historical research method of western political science adds actual evidence to political study from a temporal dimension, and the scientific nature of political research is proportional to the number of times it is verified. Therefore, it creates conditions for the improvement of the scientific nature of political research. It shows the different political situations in different periods and lays the data foundation for the longitudinal comparative study of politics. It describes the actual state of politics and takes political research away from the purely speculative mode of thinking. However, due to its idealistic historical view, it is not as scientific materialism as Marxism political science history research methods to reveal the law concerning the development of politics at the same time, due to the limitations of historical data in terms of authenticity, comprehensiveness, applicability, and the value position of researchers, it weakens the significance of historical research for politics. (3) Organizational Research Methods and Institutional Research Methods The organizational research method “focuses on the study of the formal organs of political organizations such as legislative, executive and judicial organizations”.60 In contrast, the institutional research method takes the political institution as the research object. Both of these research methods believe that organizations or institutions “fulfill the philosophical purpose of governance activities,”61 and their research will reveal the nature of political purposes. Therefore, they focus on analyzing specific social and political values from the perspective of organizations or institutions, and they try their best to design organizations or institutions that meet the purpose from political values. Organizational research and institutional research methods make the object of political research specific and controllable, and they obviously, connect political analysis with people’s political life. At the same time, they also reveal the norms of socialpolitical values from the perspective of organizations and institutions. However, these methods limit political research to certain organizations and dry institutional rules, so that they cannot accurately reflect the rich and vivid social and political life, and that the political research stays at the level of organization and institution. As a result, it cannot reveal the reasons for the formation and change of organizations and institutions in a profound manner.

59

Donald M. Freeman, Foundation of Political Science: Research Methods, and Scope, New York: Free Press, 1977, p.643. 60 J.C. Johari, Comparative Politics, p.26. 61 David E. Apter, Introduction to Political Analysis, Massachusetts: Winthrop Publishers, 1977, p.8.

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2. Modern Research Methods of Political Science The research methods of modern western politics mainly come from three aspects, namely, theories and methods in other disciplines of social science, natural science, and behavioral science. Western modern political scientists use these theories and methods to study, analyze and explain political phenomena, forming modern political research methods. (1) Sociological Analysis Approach The representativeness of sociological analysis includes analyses of political elites, political groups, political roles, and political cultures. On the background of social stratification theory and elite theory in sociology, the study of political elite takes the political ruling class and elite figures as the analysis object and tries to reveal the content of politics and the law of its development; Political group analysis benefits from the analysis of social groups and interest groups. It takes political group as the basic unit of political analysis and believes that politics is essentially the interaction of different political groups; Political role analysis borrows the social-role theory, and it puts the task of political analysis down to the analysis of political roles with varying regulations of behavior and their mutual relations; Political culture analysis takes the study of social culture and cultural socialization as the background and focuses on analyzing the essence and determinants of politics from the perspective of political culture and its changes. (2) Economic Analysis Approach The main economic research methods used in political research are public choice analysis and new institutionalism analysis, which gives rise to the framework and various models of political research. Public choice analysis in modern western politics studies is based on the hypothesis of rational man in western economics to analyze public life and collective political life. So, public choice analysis is a study method from micro to macro. Its primary characteristics are as follows: firstly, it takes a single political person as the starting point of analysis and assumes that he is rational. Rationality is the efficient pursuit of goals, “in the words of the economist Anthony Downs, ‘maximizing a given output with a given input, or obtaining a given output with a minimum input’.”62 Therefore, the individual rational person in public and collective political life follows the principle of maximizing personal interests in activities. The formation of collective rationality under this premise has become the focus of their attention. Secondly, the political process regarded as a quasi-market process. The political process and the behaviors of various subjects are explained and analyzed according to the principles and rules of the market process. Thirdly, according to the interaction relationship between rational people, the behavior model among actors in the political process is constructed, and as the basic model of political analysis, such as game theoretical mode, which includes alliance models, and binopoly models, and so on. 62

Alan C. Isaak. Scope and Methods of Political Science. Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1987, p. 283.

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(3) Psychological Analysis Approach With the development of the political science movement and the prominence of political behavior research in the twentieth century, the psychological basis of political behavior has increasingly become an essential content of political analysis. For this reason, western political scientists have introduced psychological research methods into the field of political analysis. Western political scientists’ application of psychological research methods has the following characteristics: First, the research object is mainly people’s political psychology, including political cognition, attitude, emotion, motivation, character and, so on. Secondly, the research considers both the subconscious and conscious aspects of people’s political psychology, especially the subconscious and political instinct. Thirdly, the study focuses on the political personality surrounding the political individual or group, which constitutes the basic regulation of political behavior and the explanatory reason of political behavior. Fifth, political psychology research is the basis of political behavior and even all political analysis, so once there was a view that political science is psychology.63 (4) Political institution Analysis Model Political institution analysis comes from the system theory and method developed from biology, including general political institution analysis and structure–function analysis. General political institution analysis is based on general system theory, with interactive political behavior as the basic unit, and establishes the general framework of the political institution. It revolves around the public policy formulation and implementation process of distributing social value objects, with demand and support as input variables, and public policy as output variables, focusing on the input–output and feedback adjustment analysis of the relationship between the political institution and the environment.64 The structure–function analysis takes the internal structure and function of the political institution as the object of study. The structure is a combination of political behavior patterns, that is, the combination of political roles. The function is the specific influence produced by the structure. It analyzes according to different levels of political institution, process, and policy. The interaction between political structure and function attempts to explain the status and laws of the political institution.65 (5) Political Communication Analysis Model Political communication analysis is an analysis of acquiring, transmitting, storing, and processing information in a political institution. It is developed based on the principles of information theory and cybernetics of natural science. Political communication analysis takes political information as the primary research object and conducts 63

G. David Garson, Handbook of Political Science Methods, Boston: Holbrook Press Inc., 1976, p.21. 64 David Easton. A System Analysis of Political Life. People’s Publishing House, 2012. 65 Gabriel A. Almond, Jr. Powell. Comparative Politics Today: A World View. Shanghai Translation Publishing House,1987.

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simulation research on the political institution according to the principles of feedback and self-control. Therefore, political communication analysis is also called “political cybernetics.” The purpose of political communication analysis is “the ability to describe and explain the behavior of the political institution,”66 that is, to detect the ability of the political institution in the process of controlling the environment with information as a medium. (6) Institutionalism Analysis Method The institutional analysis method is a traditional and novel research method in political science. Traditionally, the political science system centered on the ethics and “ultimate good” of political life. It compares and analyzes the significance and functions of different formal legal-political institutions for achieving an excellent political and public life. New institutional analysis rising in the latter half of the twentieth century is both an analytical method of new institutionalism extended from economics to the field of political studies and the result of reflections in political science on the limitations of political behavior studies and the political studies based on the assumption of homo economicus. Although the analysis of new institutionalism takes political rules and institutions like the research object, it is different from the study of institutions in traditional politics. It takes political behavior as the core analysis element. It takes political rules and institutions as the internal factors for the generation and constraint of political behavior, thus analyzing the relationship between political behavior and institutions. Therefore, the political analysis of new institutionalism tries to combine political behavior with the political institution, which is “a way to embed political behavior into the regular, normative, expected and traditional institutionalized structure”.67 Usually, the analytical methods of new institutionalism divided into rational institutionalism, historical institutionalism, and sociological institutionalism. (8) Political Positivist Research Methods The measurement, analysis, and verification of political positivism are the primary methods of behavioral political science research, and they also the essential technical means of western political science research. From the perspective of research objects, political positivist measurement and analysis methods study people’s political behaviors in social life. However, from the standpoint of its methods, it is the application of sociological empirical research methods in political research. The general research procedure required is ➀ Topics selection. Specific research topics are selected and determined according to the requirements of academic research and social and political life, as well as the degree to which they are researchable. ➁ Study design. According to the selected research topics, set testable and relative propositions and hypotheses, and design research methods and procedures. ➂ Start 66

Alan C. Isaak. Scope and Methods of Political Science. Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1987, p. 345. 67 J.G. March and J. P. Olsen, Rediscovering Institutions: The Organizational Basis of Politics, New York: Free Press, 1989, p.5.

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investigation and data collection. The usual investigation methods mainly include: literature survey, sample survey, questionnaire survey, observation and interview, case survey, etc. ➃ Analysis and verification. According to the survey data, carry out a qualitative and quantitative analysis. Among them, qualitative research is mainly qualitative research, and quantitative analysis primary carried out in accordance with social statistics. Based on analysis, the selected propositions and hypotheses have been verified. In addition, research methods such as big data and political analysis, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and political analysis are also rapidly promoted in western politics. At the same time, because they advocate positivist research, they enable political research to reflect western political reality to some extent. Its determination and emphasis on normative and scientific analysis technology also contribute to the development of scientific science in political science. On the other hand, these methods also have drawbacks: From the perspective of its political analysis approach, western political science, whether from sociology, economics or psychology, often exaggerates the general significance of a specific research Angle or analysis approach to political research, making them very one-sided. At the same time, although these methods take a particular political phenomenon as the primary approach and logical starting point of analysis, there is a lack of study on the nature of the phenomenon itself and the reasons for its formation, and a lack of profound analysis and explanation on the essential relationship between the phenomenon and other political phenomena, which makes their superficiality. From the perspective of its analysis model, as the above analysis model of western politics is established by referring to the west political institution in terms of political reality, it has pretty solid Western centralism. Most of them are political equilibrium analyses, so it is to safeguard the interests of the ruling class and the political ruling order of the western capitalist countries. At the same time, because they simply copy the theories and methods of natural science and ignore the differences between natural phenomena and social phenomena and their development, they have the characteristics of mechanism and metaphysics to a certain extent. From the perspective of analysis technology, as the positivist investigation in western politics is inevitably influenced by the values and positions of the investigators, entangled by the tension between the research and design techniques and value-neutral intentions, affected by changes in political life, and restricted by the research topics. As a result, the scientific and academic functions of these research techniques and methods are often weakened in practical application. As for the research of western political science, big data and other new technologies and means have greatly improved the speed and validity of political science research, but they have not changed the value orientation of western social politics, nor changed the inherent contradictions and dilemmas of western capitalist countries’ politics.

Part II

Political Relations

Political relations are social relations characterized by political coercive power and distribution of political rights, which are formed based on social interest requirements and interest relations in people’s social life and social contacts. As mentioned earlier, political relations involve three levels of relations: The first, and the fundamental, is the interest relationship, which is caused by people’s needs and determined by specific social and economic relations. Second, in order to realize their own interests, people establish social interest relations from specific social and political power, and form political power relations in it. Third, formed based on social interest relations, political power confirms and guarantees the legal qualification of social members to claim common interests, which constitutes the political right relations. The human-interest relation contains the inherent fundamental contradiction. On the one hand, any interest has an inherent requirement to be realized. On the other hand, any benefit can only be realized through specific social channels in the social connection. This kind of realization of interest requires the subjectivity and the sociality of the realization way, which is the fundamental contradiction of interest, and it constitutes the duality of interest. The duality of interest has formed the relationship of social interest. The relationship of interest is the foundation and social premise of the formation of political power and political right, which provides the foundation for the formation of political power and political right characteristics. It defines the functions of political power and political right. The relationship between political power and political right is the way that people try to realize their interests in social public life through authority coercion, and legal qualification. Political relation is the essential content of politics in human society, while other political phenomena are the externalization and concrete manifestation of political relation. The development and change of political relations must also be manifested as the development and change of politics in human society.

Chapter 3

Interests and Politics

3.1 The Meaning of Interests and the Internal Contradictions 3.1.1 The Formation and Essence of Interests “Interest” is an ancient subject in Chinese and Western intellectual history. Among the ancient Chinese history books, Guan Zhong in the Spring and Autumn Period was the first to discuss interests systematically. In his opinion, “Indeed, it is the nature of men that they cannot help chasing after whenever they see profit, and cannot help running away whenever they see the harm.”1 This means that seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages is the commonality of people. Since then, the Confucianists, Legalists, and Taoists have all regarding the issue of interests as an essential content of their research and discussion. In the West, the English term “interest” comes from the Latin “interesse,” which initially means “in the middle,” and later extended to mean that non-remunerative things and events contain certain remunerative elements. In the theory of Protagoras, the wise man of ancient Greece, he discussed interests from the perspective of human subjectivity, and it proposed and discussed the relationship between personal interests and national interests. Since then, ancient Greek thinkers such as Democritus, Plato, and Aristotle have discussed interests in different meanings, while Epicurus of epicureanism linked justice and interests together. In his opinion, “Justice derived from nature is a contract of interests, whose purpose is to prevent people from hurting and victimizing each other.”2 As of modern times, Western bourgeois thinkers generally paid full attention to the issue of interest and discussed it from different angles. Among them, the 18th-century French materialist philosopher Eyre repaired the issue of interest systematically. In the book DE

1 2

Guanzi: Jincang. Nersesian, Political theory of Ancient Greece, The Commercial Press, 1991, p. 210.

© Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_3

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L’ESPRIT, he made a more comprehensive discussion on the nature, content, characteristics of interest and its role in social life, emphasizing that “interests are our only driving force” and pointed out that “people will always obey his interests whether he understands correct or not” and advocate “to closely link personal interests with public interests”.3 However, because these thinkers were either controlled by their idealistic view of history, or were hindered by their metaphysical thinking methods, they have not been able to reveal the formation and nature of interests fully scientifically. The establishment of dialectical materialism and historical materialism put “for the first time in history, on its true basis.”4 According to the basic principle of interest, the classical Marxist writers analyzed the problem of interest, and scientifically and profoundly revealed the formation and essence of interest. According to Marxism, the formation of human interests is a logical process from human needs to human labor and social relations. Human interests originated from human needs. Marx and Engels pointed out in the article German Ideology: “The first premise of all human existence, that is, the first premise of all history, that is: to ‘create history,’ people must be able to live. But to live, you first need to eat, drink, shelter, wear and other things.”5 It shows that needs are the necessity of human existence. For a person who exists in reality, “his realization is manifested as an inherent necessity and needs.”6 It is in this sense that Marx believes that “their needs are their nature”.7 Needs are people’s desires for the objects they want. People’s needs for clothing, food, shelter and other things reflect that “he needs nature and objects outside himself.”8 Therefore, needs in the form are people’s physiological and psychological tendency to seek the external environment, while in content, they are people’s active reflection of the external environment. Need itself, however, does not guarantee the maintenance and development of human beings. The necessary condition to maintain and develop human beings is to meet the need, but in essence, the satisfaction of need means that people obtain the objects they want through specific ways. The way to meet needs puts production and social relations on the historical agenda of human activities. Human production is an intermediary that connects human needs and objects of need. Need is the “intrinsic motivation in the production concept,” “if there is no need, there is no production”.9 To achieve the satisfaction of needs, humans must engage in production. Production is to transform natural or primary production into something that meets the needs of producers or other members of society. Marx once pointed out: “Like a barbarian, to satisfy his own needs, to maintain and reproduce

3

18th Century French Philosophy, The Commercial Press, 1963, p. 537, 536, 537. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 335. 5 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, pp. 78–79. 6 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2002, p. 308. 7 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol.3. People’s Publishing House, 1960, p. 514. 8 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 42. People’s Publishing House, 1979, p. 168. 9 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 9. 4

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his own life, he must fight against nature, so civilized people must do the same; and in all social forms, in all possible modes of production, he must do this.”10 Therefore, “the first historical activity of mankind was to produce the materials that satisfy these needs, namely, to produce material life itself.”11 With the development of human life, people need not only material objects, but also need spiritual objects, which makes people not only engaged in material production, but also engaged in spiritual production. In people’s production activities, people’s needs are restricted by the level of productivity. To improve the level of productivity and meet their expanding needs, people will improve their social connections and ways while making technical improvements to the tools of production. It makes it impossible for people to produce independently, but they must produce together, and “to produce, there are certain connections and relations between people. It is only within these social connections and social relations that there can be their relations to nature and production.”12 At first, these relationships were mainly blood and economic ties between people. With the development of production and the division of labor, the refinement and deepening of human needs, social groups such as family, class, stratum, nation, group, social production unit, state, and even international community have developed among people. In this group, intricate relationships between individuals, individuals and groups, and relations of groups have formed. At the same time, in addition to the economic relations with the production relations as the core, people also develop political, legal, cultural, and other social relations in the everyday social life. However, in all these relations, economic relations are still in a fundamental and decisive position. In a class society, people’s economic relations are concentrated as class relations, which restrict and influence the formation and development of other relations. The formation of people’s social relations not only enables people to produce and live within a specific social scope, but it also governs the distribution of production results among members of society. Therefore, in essence, it restricts the satisfaction of people’s needs, which makes the relationship between people and the objects of needs transformed into relationships between people. From this, people’s needs obtain social content and social characteristics in the form of personal physical, and psychological which specifically reflected in: people’s needs have the attributes of the social relations they live in, and the demands can only be fulfilled in such social relations and their changes. People’s needs and their realization constrained by the social relations in which they live. And the needs of people who have acquired the content and identity of society are interests. As Marx said, “There are material connections between people. This connection is determined by the need and mode of production.”13 “The interest itself is already socially determined, and can be attained only under the conditions created by society and by the use of the means provided 10

Das Kapital, Volume 3, People’s Publishing House, 2004, p. 928. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 79. 12 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 6. People’s Publishing House, 1965, p. 486. 13 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 81. 11

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by society. Private interests are linked to the reproduction of these conditions and means. It is what private interest means. But the content of private interests and the forms and means of their realization is determined by the social conditions that are not transferred by anyone.”14 From the analysis of the formation process of interest, the so-called interest is the need to obtain social content and characteristics based on specific production. According to this definition, interest consists of three factors: First, the psychological basis of interests is people’s needs. Needs are the subjective foundation of interests, and interests are the social form of needs. And “in the real world, individuals have many needs”,15 “Man is distinguished from all other animals by the limitless and extensive nature of his needs.”16 The infinite and extensive nature of needs determines the inexhaustible richness and diversity of the content of interests. People’s needs and pursuits for material life constitute the primary content of material interests, while people’s needs and pursuits for spiritual life constitute the essential content of spiritual interests. Second, interests reflect people’s production capacity and production level at a particular stage. Interest is a need that man attempts to satisfy through production. Therefore, all the needs that do not need to be fulfilled by people through production, such as the need for natural sunlight and air, do not constitute the primary content of interests. All the needs beyond people’s actual production capacity and production level are subjective and illusory needs, which also do not include the primary content of interests. In this sense, interest is the unity of needs and means to realize needs, and it is the ruler of people’s production capacity and production level. Because the production of material products is of fundamental significance to meet people’s needs, it determines and restricts people’s other production. So, to a large extent, interests more directly reflect people’s material productivity and production level. Third, interests reflect the social relations between people in a specific historical period. Interest is the social transformation of people’s needs. So, it reflects and embodies the relationship between people. Behind any interests, there are specific social relationships hidden. On the other hand, as the primary motive for social relations is fulfilling one’s own needs, “the only ties that bind them together are natural necessity, needs, and private interests.”17 So, the relationship between people is essentially a relationship of interests. The complex social relationship is bound to be reflected in the subjectivity and reality of people for various interests. As Engels pointed out, “The economic relations of every society are first and foremost expressed as benefits.”18

14

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 46. People’s Publishing House, 1979, pp. 102–103. Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1960, p. 326. 16 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 49. People’s Publishing House, 1982, p. 130. 17 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2002, p. 185. 18 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 18. People’s Publishing House, 1964, p. 307. 15

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Because of this, the social relations of human society, such as class relations, masses relations, ethnic relations, group relations, state relations, etc., are manifested as class interests, masses interests, national interests, group interests, state interests, and other interests, and the attribute and content of social relations determine the attribute and content of corresponding interest requirements. It is in this sense that the person who is the undertaker of social relations is embodied as the undertaker and advocate of specific interests. Since the material production of the society is the basis of all other products, and people’s economic relations are the basis of all other social relations, the economic interests with material interests as the main content have gained the essential position relative to other interests, dominating and influencing the formation and development of other interests. In class society, economic interests are first manifested as class interests, and class interests, therefore, become the dominant interests that restrict all other interests. So, Lenin pointed out that in the analysis of social phenomena in class society, “it is necessary to explore the root of social phenomena in the middle of the relations of production and attribute these phenomena to the interests of a certain class”.19 In a socialist society, class relations recede to a secondary position in social relations, and various relations among the people become the main body of social relations. In these relations, economic interests continue to play a leading role in a form different from class society.

3.1.2 The Internal Contradictions of Interests From the analysis of the formation and essence of interests, it can be seen that interests are a social phenomenon influenced and restricted by many factors, such as subject and object, nature and society, productive forces, and production relations. The various factors that influence and restrict interests determine that interests have various contradictory, prescriptive and complex characteristics. According to the method of Marxism, “the world view of dialectical materialism claims from the internal, from one thing to him to study the relationship between the development of things. In other words, the development of things is regarded as the inevitable internal movement of things, and the movement of everything is connected with and affects other things around it.”20 Therefore, to analyze the characteristics of interests and the reasons for the formation of interest relations, we must start from the analysis of the contradictions embedded in the phenomenon of interests: 1.

Contradiction Between the Subjectivity of Interest Realization Requirements and the Sociality of Realization Approaches

The subject realization of interest requirement is a natural character and essential provision of all interests. Without this nature and provision, interests will not become 19 20

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1984, p. 464. Selected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 301.

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interests. It is in this sense that Marx pointed out, “Wherever there is a certain relationship, this relationship exists for me”.21 The subject realization of interest stems from the subject’s satisfaction of its needs. Any need from any subject of need, from the moment of its generation, carries with it the motive gene and the goal direction of the subject’s satisfaction. Therefore, “no one can do anything unless at the same time he does something for his needs and the organs of those needs.”22 In people’s production activities and social relations, people’s needs turn into interests, and the satisfaction of the issue of people’s needs turns into the realization of the subject of interests. On the other hand, any interest is not only formed in the society, but it also must be realized in the society through specific social relations and social channels, which constitutes the social approach of interest realization. The first and most fundamental contradiction of interest is the subjectivity of the requirement of interest realization and the sociality of the way of completion. The fundamental contradiction in interest is of great significance to interest itself, interest relation, and political life. For the benefit itself, it determines and affects the emergence and development of other contradictions embedded in the benefit. For interest relation, it is under its influence that different people form a specific interaction relation. In other words, it makes the formation and development of social interest relation necessary and possible. The common interests and interest contradiction formed by people in interest relations are the basis of all political relations and political life in human society. 2.

The Contradiction Between the Subjectivity of the Form of Interest and the Objectivity of the Content of Interest

Interest is the direct expression of the material and spiritual needs that adapt to people’s specific social practice and social relations. Its content reflects the material conditions and social conditions under the background of specific social production development level and social relations, so it is objective. At the same time, interest must become interested when there is an objective object of demand. In this sense, the content of interest must be objective. On the other hand, the reflection of interests to external conditions is in people’s subjective consciousness and psychology, which includes people’s tendency, cognition, perception status and satisfaction status to seek specific demand objects. In the practice process, it is manifested in people’s particular interest, desire, and pursuit in specific social conditions and social relations. It is also manifested in people’s physiological and psychological satisfaction and enjoyment of various needs. The subjectivity of the form of interest and the objectivity of the content of interest constitute another inherent contradiction of interest. 21 22

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 81. Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1960, p. 286.

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3.

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The Contradiction Between the Objective and the Means of Interest

Interest is the life goal that people pursue. All the activities of people revolve around interests and are carried out to realize and meet specific interests and needs. Therefore, interest has the corresponding goal meaning for people’s material and spiritual life. On the other hand, interest is also of significance as means. For people to form social relations, participate in social life, improve their ability and quality, governance and management of social and public life, and promote the progress and development of human history. To be specific, first of all, social relations and social life are formed by people with interests as the medium. Without the role of interests as a bridge, the formation of social relations and the development of social life will become incomprehensible. Secondly, the improvement of people’s ability and quality is carried out through the role of interests. To achieve the unity of subjectivity and objectivity, people must constantly transform their subjective world with the development of practice and continuously understand, improve and perfect their abilities and qualities in the social activities that require the realization of interests. Interest is the catalyst for this process of recognition, improvement, and perfection. Thirdly, interest is an essential basis for social governance and management. Any governance and management activities, systems, and policies can only be carried out and implemented on the premise of clearly grasping the social members’ interest requirements and interest relations, and only when they are closely combined with the social members’ interest requirements and interest relations, can they be accurate, effective and substantial. Finally, the progress and development of history are realized through the action and development of interests. History “is nothing but the activity of men who pursue their own ends”.23 It is driven by the sum of different interests pursued by countless people. 4.

The Contradiction Between the Concrete Finitude of Interests and the Infinitude of the Development of Interests

At the specific stage and level of social development, interests are always detailed and limited in terms of the particular needs and levels of needs of each member of society. However, in terms of the overall development of the needs of society and its members, interests have unlimited possibilities of growth. Only from the perspective of interests, the history of human society is the history of deepening and improving people’s interests. The contradiction between the concrete limitation of interests and the limitless development of interests stems from the continuous interaction between the specific social economic, and political relations, the limitation of particular means, ways, and activities, and the infinite development of people’s ability to realize interests. The process in which people transform the objective world and realize their interests is a process of practice, cognition, practice, cognition, and infinity. At each stage and within the scope of this process, people’s means, ways, and activities to realize their interests are limited, so the social and economic relations and political 23

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1957, pp. 118–119.

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relations formed by people are also specific, which determines that people’s interests are also narrow. However, with the development and deepening of this process, people’s understanding and social practice ability improve and refines continually even without limits. People’s social-economic relations and political relations will continue to change and adjust. It provides the ability foundation and the socialeconomic, and political relationship foundation for people to realize and develop their interests continuously. In social practice, however, “new needs arise from the first need already satisfied, from the activity which satisfies the need, and from the means already acquired to satisfy the need”.24 Such new needs and new interest requirements not only mean that people’s interests are constantly enriched, that is, interests and needs are changing from simple to complex, from a few fields to multiple fields, but also means the level of interests is constantly improving. “Man’s struggle is not only to live but also to enjoy… Be prepared to give up the lower pleasures for the higher ones.”25 It makes the interest of the content has unlimited development prospects. In another sense, the contradiction between the limited and infinite content of interest constitutes the contradiction between the specific limited nature of interest and the limitless development of interest.

3.2 Conflicts of Interests 3.2.1 The Meaning of Conflicts of Interests In a general sense, interest relation is the mutual relation between different interests. However, because people adopt different standards when classifying interests, there are different classifications for different interests. For example, the interests are divided into material interests and spiritual interests according to different constituent contents; the interests are divided into political, economic, and cultural interests according to different fields; the interests are divided into immediate interests and long-term interests according to the distance of the realization time; the interests are divided into partial interests and overall interests according to different scope; the interests are divided into general interests and fundamental interests according to varying degrees of importance; and so on. Since interests reflect people’s objective external conditions in content, and internets exist as people’s subjective consciousness in form, the interest attached to and belonging to a specific subject is the social existence unit of interest. From this point of view, we can divide the interests into the interests of different interest subjects. Therefore, the interest relation mentioned here refers to the social connection between the interests of different interest subjects.

24 25

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 79. Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 34. People’s Publishing House, 1972, p. 163.

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Subjects of interests can be divided into two aspects: individuals and groups. The individual interest is the basic unit of the interest subject, and the personal interest thus becomes the essential element of the interest relation. “The ‘common interest’ is created at any time in history by individuals who are ‘private.’”.26 In the process of social production and life, different individuals form a variety of social relations, thus forming different social groups, such as clans, tribes, nations, classes, masses, groups, collectives, etc., these groups are not only the backbone of social structure, but also the main body of group interests. Different group interests are an essential component of interest relations. It can be seen that interest relation includes the interest connection of two aspects between interest subjects. On the one hand, it consists of the interest connections between individuals, between social groups at the same level, and even between society and society. In short, the interest relations in this respect are the interest connections between interest subjects at the same level. On the other hand, it includes the relationship between individual interest and group interest, between social group interest at different levels, and between personal interest, group interest, and social interest. In a word, the interest relation in this aspect is the interest connection between interest subjects at different levels. The interest relation is such a crisscross network of social connection structure. The interest relation between different interest subjects is because of the fundamental contradiction in the interest itself, that is, the contradictory role and movement between the subjectivity of the interest realization requirement and the social nature of the realization approach. It is the role and movement of this contradiction that contributed to the formation of interest relations: First of all, according to Marx, “the first premise of any human history is undoubtedly the existence of the living individual.”27 Therefore, we start from the analysis of the most straightforward interest subject, the interest relation of the individual. As far as an individual’s interests are concerned, on the one hand, interests are essentially the needs of interest subjects. Therefore, interests are individual’s interests. At the same time, any interests are the product of the society. The needs of the specific interest subjects can be expressed as specific interests and realize this interest only in the specific social and historical relations. The dual nature of interest content forces the individual as the subject of interest to seek practical ways in the society to meet his needs or realize his own interests, thus contributing to the formation of interest relation. On the other hand, from the perspective of others as the subject of interest. Because of the universal significance of the duality in individual interests, each individual has an inherent practical impulse to satisfy their needs through social channels. In this way, when more than two people exist as interest subjects, forming interest relationship will become everyone’s behavior, and it is the interaction between interest subjects that constitutes the conditions for the occurrence of interest relation, thus forming the interest relation between individuals. 26 27

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1960, pp. 275–276. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Die Deutsche Ideologie. People’s Publishing House, 2003, p. 11.

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For group interests, once formed, it will become a unique interest subject. Compared with other groups, the interest of this group is the interest of a single subject. This kind of interest also has the dual nature of the subjectivity required to realize interests and the sociality of the means of actualization of interests. The completion of the subject of interests requires that the interest relationship between the group and other groups to create the social conditions for the maximum actuality of the interests of the group. The interests of other groups in the sense of a single interest subject require the isomorphism of the inherent fundamental contradictions. Each interest group has this requirement, and it is possible to form interest relations between these groups. Secondly, as for the relation between the interests of individuals and groups, since group interests are generally formed based on the interest relations between individuals, the interest relation between individuals and groups is usually formed after the interest relation between individuals is formed, or it is automatically generated on the basis of the interest relation between individuals. As for the formation of interest relation between subgroups and interest groups, the mechanism is the same as the formation process of interest relation between individuals and groups. Therefore, the interest relation is nothing but the externalization and expansion of the fundamental contradiction and dual characteristics contained in the interests of the interest subjects in social life. It is the interaction and social embodiment of the fundamental contradiction and dual characteristics of the interests of different interest subjects. At the same time, the inherent contradictions and double characteristics of interests not only promote the formation of interest relations, but they also determine the basic content of interest relations, so that interest relations have multiple complexities. As far as its primary content is concerned, the subjectivity of interest determines that the most straightforward interest relationship formed by any pair of interest subjects first contains two interest contents with independent significance, that is, the respective interests of the two interest subjects. It should point out that, although in some cases, the two interests in the interest relationship are wholly or partially overlapped in content, this does not exclude or deny that they are overlapped in two interests with independent significance. On the other hand, due to the social nature of interests, the interests of interest subjects can coexist in one interest relation, which makes the interest relation produce a new interest content different from the two interests that form the interest relation, that is, the third interest. Although this new third kind of interest has the commonality in different meanings, after the specific interest relationship is formed, the common interest exists. Therefore, due to the role of subjectivity and sociality of interest, there are three kinds of interest contents in any interest relation, that is, the two original interests of interest relation and the common interest formed by each other. In terms of its multiple complexities, first of all, the subjectivity required by the realization of interests determines that there must be differences between the interests of any interest relationship. Under certain conditions, such differences will be transformed into contradictions in the interest relationship. On the other hand, the sociality of realizing the interests determines that the different interests in the interest

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relationship have something in common, and the interest relationship thus obtains the commonality. The difference or contradiction and commonality of interest relations constitute its basic unity of opposites. Secondly, the subjectivity of the interest form makes the interest relationship necessarily have a personality bearer, and this personality bearer is the subject of interest. The so-called interest relationship is usually reflected in the relationship between the interest subjects in social reality, which makes the interest relation characteristic of subjectivity. In real life and process of society and politics, it is these living interest subjects that are active; On the other hand, the objectivity of interest content indicates that interests arise from specific social productive forces and specific social relations, which makes the interest relation is the embodiment of specific productive forces and social relations, so it must have the objectivity that is not transferred by the will of the interest subject. Thirdly, the targeted nature of interest stipulates the ultimate goal of people’s social and political activities, so that the interest relationship has the basic and essential nature for people to form social and political connections. In contrast, the political relation is only the logical extension of the interest relation, and its fundamental cause of development lies in changes in interest relationships. The means of interest make the interest relation coordinated and controllable. Socio-political activities and their development are achieved by changing, controlling, and coordinating interest relationships through authoritative and power methods to fulfill interest requirements. Finally, the specific finiteness of interest makes the interest relationship have the particular regulation in the particular space and time scope, presenting the specific form and content of the relatively static state. The limitless development of interests makes the composition, content, and state of interest relations in continuous development and present dynamic, promoting the constant development and progress of society and politics. Thus, it can be seen that it is the multiple internal contradictions of interests that make the interest relationship have the structural characteristics of multiplicity and complexity.

3.2.2 Common Interests First of all, the common interest is formed based on the same social relations, especially economic relations and economic status. It is the same part of the respective interests of people in the same social relations and social status. The basis of the common interest is the individual interest, or the interests of the sub-groups that make up a group, such as the interests of the various strata or groups that make up a class, the interests of the various regions of a country, and so on. The commonality of the interests of these different individuals or subgroups constitutes the common interest. In this sense, the common interest is the interest formed after people form a group, namely group interest. It also shows that the common interests or the public interest in a particular group are only the common interests of group members.

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Common interests have the essential characteristics of publicness, non-market realization, singleness, relative independence and domination, and multiple values. (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Common interests have publicity in specific social relations. This kind of publicity has different meanings in different social relations and interest relations. It can be the sameness of the interest content between the interest subjects that constitute the interest relationships, such as the common interest content of the proletariat and the working people for their liberation and human liberation. Another example is the common interest requirements of specific social and political communities and state members for external security. It can be the sameness in the sense of social collective life rules and rule identification, such as the recognition of the ordinary rules of public life and private activities such as market activities by members of community, such as the recognition of uniform rights and behavior norms in social life by members of community. It can also be a concession and compromise reached by members of society around specific interests and contradictions of interests in public social life. In this sense, publicity is merely the consensus of different members of community on the boundaries of their individual behaviors. It not only involves the same aspects of different stakeholders in the interest relationship, but also involves different aspects of the interest subjects in the interest relationship. The non-market realization of common interests is that common interests cannot be discovered through market methods and mechanisms under normal circumstances. Common interests usually realize through the supply of public products. The non-exclusive and non-competitive characteristics of consumption of general products make it unwilling and impossible to invest or supply through rational behavior and economic benefits as market entities. General products make it impossible for common interests to realize through market channels, which creates the need for public power through legality. What needs to explain is that in the process of discovering common interests, there is also a type of common interests that can realize through the supply of quasi-public products. The collection of such quasi-public products can realize through a specific market mechanism. The unity of common interests means that in a specific interest relationship, common interests are usually unique. This unity of common interest makes the public political power formed within a particular scope and based on particular interest relations in social and political life. What needs to explain is that although the common interest is special within a particular society and interest relationship, this does not rule out that this specific common interest has many aspects of actual content and value. The relative independence of the common interest lies in that once it is formed, it becomes the third type of interest in the interest relationship, thus obtaining a unique interest status. Moreover, in some cases, common interests often dominate different interests in the same interest relationship. For example, in political life, national interests are formed by the common interests of citizens of a

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(5)

77

specific country. However, once national interests created, they become relatively independent interests and often have particular dominate over citizens’ interests. The multiple value composition of common interests means that the common interests usually contain the multiple value requirements of relevant members of the society in the specific interest relationship, which at least include fundamental values such as survival, safety, order, efficiency, fairness, justice, equality, democracy, and freedom. At the same time, in the specific interest relationship and its operation process, these values are equally important to the relevant members of society, but they are mutually exclusive. These rich and diverse values contained in the common interests make political life and political management decision correspondingly face various value orientations and requirements, thus forming the multiple possibilities of political operation, the multiple value rationality of political authority, and multiple political decisions, multiple value standards for value selection and political evaluation. The weight of these multiple values in social and political life is equal and mutually exclusive. Political operation and management decision-making often face the dilemma of conflicts of different values and the task of coordinating different values.

In social life, due to the diversity of social relations, the interest relations formed on this basis have various levels and different ranges, so that common interests also present various levels and ranges. In other words, different interest bodies form social groups include different levels and different types of social relations, and they will have different levels and scopes of common interests. The distribution and connection of common interests at different levels in social life forms the structure of common interests in human society. The common interests that often take effect in political life are collectives, groups, masses, classes, nations, and communities: (1)

(2)

Collective has two primary meanings. One is the specific concept of production units under the socialist system. It includes not only enterprises, enterprise groups, etc., but also institutions, agencies, and other units. The common interests of workers in such a collective are collective interests. In a socialist society, the production unit is the foundation of social groups and the fundamental way of existence. Therefore, the main content of the interests of social groups in a socialist society is collective interests, which form the intermediary between individual interests and social interests in socialist society. The second is an interest group connected by specific social relations. The common interests of members of this group constitute collective interests, such as the common interests of urban residents, such as the common interests of practitioners in specific industries. This collective interest also becomes an intermediary between personal interests and social interests. Interest groups are a unique phenomenon in capitalist social life. They are social groups or social organizations formed by people based on specific interest requirements. Such specific interest requirements are the group interests of interest groups. Since capitalist national interest groups are of all kinds and

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(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

28

diverse, the levels and types of group interests are also complicated. In capitalist countries, interest groups often evolve into political groups that participate in or influence the decision-making process of the country and government. Under such conditions, interest groups become an essential link in the political process of capitalist countries, thus making the interests of these groups closely related to political decisions. A class is a social group formed by people based on the same social status, occupation, and income. For example, the middle class in a capitalist country refers to different occupations with a middle-income level. In contrast, the intellectuals in socialist countries refer to mental workers with common professional characteristics, and they are a specific class of the working class. The common interests of people of the same class constitute the interests of the social class. As the social class is not a closely formed social group, the interests of social class are not very prominent in social life. However, when the interests of a particular class harmed, its interest requirements will appear to be quite strong, and class interests will play an essential role in the structure of social interests and political life. A class is a large social group formed in a particular economic structure, because its people have different relations with the means of production, resulting in different financial status and income. The common interests of these social groups constitute class interests. Since the class links to the financial base with the ownership of the means of production as its core, class is much closer than other social groups in terms of its internal composition and membership. Class interests have relative stability and foundation in class society. It strongly influences and restricts other interests and other aspects of social life. A nation is “a stable community formed by people in history with a common language, a common area, a common economic life, and a common psychological quality expressed in a common culture.”28 The common interest of the people in this community is the national interest. Nationality is a historical category. With the development of history, the nation will develop and change accordingly. Therefore, the content and scope of national interests will also evolve and change. At the same time, the factors that constitute a nation are many. Therefore, the elements that include national interests are also vibrant, among which the survival and development of a country is its fundamental interest. In a general sense, social interests are the common interests of all members of a particular society, that is, social public interests in the usual mind. However, under different social and historical development stages, different social relationship backgrounds, and different political conditions, the coverage and social meaning of social benefits are different.

Collected Works of Stalin Vol. 6, People’s Publishing House, 1979, p. 64.

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As far as social interests’ coverage is concerned, in primitive society, because people live together in the form of a clan or tribe, the so-called social interests are clan interests or tribal interests. After the emergence of the country, people take the country as the largest unit of everyday life. Society has become a society within the scope of the country. Therefore, social interests and national interests are overlapping. Among them, if the country is a nation-state, then the social interests, state interests, and national interests in the country all refer to the interests within the same scope. If it is a multi-ethnic country, then the social and national interests in the country include the common interests of all ethnic groups. In the communist society, as a historical phenomenon of the state and nation have disappeared, human societies have entered the grand union, social interests become the common interests of all humankind. In terms of social meaning, based on public ownership in primitive society, the content of interest and its existing form are unified, and the interest from content to form is the common interest of all members of community. In the later period of primitive society, due to the emergence of the social division of labor and private ownership, the content of interests was added with the personal interests of a few military chiefs and chiefdoms. However, it still appeared in social common interests on the surface, so there was a separation between the content and form of interests. After entering the class society based on private ownership, the interest is essentially the interest of the ruling class, which occupies all the means of production. However, in its existing form, it is expressed as the common interest of all the members of the society. As Marx and Engels said, “Every new class that tries to replace the old ruling class has to make its interests the common interests of all the members of society to achieve its own goals.”29 In this way, different conflicts of interests, especially those between opposing classes, are controlled within the scope of the order. Therefore, the social common interests here only have the commonality in the meaning of political forms, political control rules, and even political concessions to a certain extent. Based on economic and social relations in socialist society, interests have become the common interests of the vast majority of social members, and their contents and forms have greatly unified. Social common interests have the meaning of consistent content, rules, and forms again. As far as the communist society is concerned, interest is essentially the common interest of every member of the society, and its content and form are completely unified. As Engels said, “In a communist society, the interests of man are not opposed to each other, but consistent.”30 “Common interests have become the basic principle among people”.31

29

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 100. Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1957, p. 605. 31 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1957, p. 600. 30

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3.2.3 The Contradictions of Interests Interest contradiction is another aspect of the interest relationship, which refers to the conflicts between the interests of different interest bodies and the differences between them and the common interest. Interest contradiction includes the conflict of two directions: on the one hand, the contradictions of interests refer to the contradictions between the interests of different interest subjects at the same level, such as the contradictions of interests between individuals, between classes, between nations, and so on. Because these contradictions occur horizontally, they are also called horizontal interest contradictions. On the other hand, interest contradictions refer to the contradictions between the interests of interest subjects at different levels, such as the contradictions between the interests of individuals and the common interests of the collectives, groups, masses, classes, nations, societies, and other groups in which they located. Because this kind of contradiction occurs vertically, people also call it the vertical interest contradictions. 1.

Horizontal Contradiction of Interest

The occurrence of horizontal interest contradictions depends on two primary conditions: one is the difference between two interest subjects in the same interest relationship, the other is that two interest subjects in the same interest relationship have requirements for the same interest object at the same time. The difference between the two interest subjects in the same interest relation is the objective basis of interest contradiction. The reasons for the discrepancies among interest subjects are complex and varied, including biological differences and social differences: (1)

(2)

Natural difference refers to the inherent differences between interest subjects which include the individual’s biological differences and the resulting ability to meet their needs, such as age, gender, and the resulting physical and mental differences. It also includes the biological differences between groups and the resulting differences in group characteristics, such as the biological differences between races and nationalities. The social difference is caused by social reasons of the differences between the interests of the main body, including the differences between different workers caused by the division of labor, such as the differences between knowledge workers and manual laborers, the difference between the workers and peasants, the differences between different industries, different professional workers, and so on. The difference between various occupiers is caused by different ownership relations of the means of production, such as the bourgeoisie and the proletariat who do not possess the means of production under the conditions of capitalism, the difference between state-owned enterprise workers and workers of other ownership enterprises under the conditions of socialism. People’s educational differences are caused by the grasp and understanding of the problem of the Angle and level of difference. Differences in cultural personality and cognition are caused by growth in different cultural

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backgrounds. Regional differences are caused by varying groups of social and economic development, and so on. In all these differences, the class difference between interest subjects caused by different ownership of means of production is of great significance. In class society, often influences and dominates other differences. Two interest subjects in the same interest relationship have interest requirements for the same interest object simultaneously, which is the subjective condition for the horizontal interest contradictions to produce. In actual social life, two interest subjects have interest requirements for the same interest object, usually in two forms: one form is the requirement of interest subject to the current interest of another interest subject, which is a kind of interests’ deprivation. The other form is that the two interest subjects have interest requirements for the interests that neither of the two Parties has obtained, which is often manifested as a competition for interests. In terms of the degree of contradictions, horizontal interest contradictions have two forms of existence, that is, antagonistic existence and non-antagonistic existence. The standard of distinguishing antagonistic contradictions from non-antagonistic contradictions lies in whether the contradictions between the interest subjects that constitute the contradictory relationship are compatible. The contradiction without compatibility is an antagonistic contradiction and vice versa. Of course, in these two conditions, they can be further divided into the difference of the degree of confrontation, thus forming the spectrum of existence was included in the sense of unity of horizontal interest contradictions. The factors influencing the existence state of horizontal interest contradictions are complex and varied, among which the decisive role is the relationship between different owners of the means of production. Therefore, in various social forms, the existence form of horizontal interest contradictions is also different. In primitive society, particular clans and tribes are characterized by the joint possession of means of production and even standards of living. Therefore, the horizontal interest contradictions within the clan and tribe are generally non-antagonistic. Nevertheless, different clans and tribes exist as various occupants of the means of production and living. The plundering of the wealth of another clan and tribe by one clan and tribe makes the contradiction of interests between them antagonistic, and the result is tribal war. In a private ownership society, the same social community split into two significant classes due to the different possession relations of the means of production. Because the class possessing the means of production plunders, and the class that does not possess the means of production, the contradiction of interests between classes is entirely antagonism. At the same time, because the relationship between classes dominates all other social relationships, the horizontal contradictions of interests in a class society are all affected by class antagonism. In a socialist society, the contradiction of interests between the remnants of the exploiting class and the hostile elements which have deprived of the means of production and the entire people who possess the means of production is antagonistic. Although there are still different ownership relationships among the people, the means of production still exist. However, there is essentially no relationship between plundering and

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possession between various occupants. Therefore, the contradiction of interests of various occupants within the people is generally not antagonistic. On this basis, the contradiction of interests between different interest subjects formed by other differences has lost the basis for confrontation. In addition to the possession of the means of production, the factors that affect horizontal contradictions of interest also include all the elements that form the formation of horizontal contradictions of interest. The status and changes of these factors will affect the actual state of horizontal interest contradictions under certain conditions. It needs to point out that the antagonism and non-antagonism of the horizontal contradiction of interests can transform under specific social and historical conditions. For example, under the role of the Party’s policy, the essentially antagonistic interest contradictions between the national bourgeoisie and the working class in the socialist period can be transformed into a non-antagonistic form. Similarly, due to decision-making mistakes, the contradictions of interests among the people will change from a non-confrontational form to an aggressive form. 2.

Vertical Contradiction of Interest

Vertical contradictions of interest are contradictions of interest that occur between interest subjects at different levels. In the social structure, the relationship between interest subjects at different levels is special and general relationship. For example, the relationship between an individual and the social group to which he belongs is a unique and general relationship on one level. The relationship between a particular social group and society is a special and general relationship on another level. Therefore, the contradiction of vertical interests is a contradiction between special interests and common interests. As far as its content is concerned, common interests are composed of the common parts of the interests of different interest bodies that constitute the interest relationship, and special interests are different parts of the interests of these interest bodies. Therefore, the contradiction between special interests and common interests is a contradiction between two parts of the same interest subject. The occurrence of a contradiction between the interests of the two parts of the same interest subject also has two conditions: one is that the two parts of interest have different meanings to the same subject of interest, and the other is that it is unreasonable to divide the interests of the same subject into two parts. On the whole, the different meanings of the two parts of the same interest subject to the interest subject mainly manifests in the following aspects: (1)

(2)

The difference between direct and indirect meaning. The realization of special interests generally expresses the immediate satisfaction of the needs of interest subjects. Therefore, it has immediate significance. The completion of common interests means that the needs of the interest subjects must be met based on the everyday needs of the group. Therefore, it has the meaning of indirectness and protection for the immediate needs of stakeholders. The difference between local and overall meaning. In comparison, special interests generally have partial meanings, while common interests have general

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(3)

(4)

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meanings. Therefore, special interests are often expressed as partial interests, and common interests are expressed as overall interests. The difference between current meaning and long-term meaning. The realization of special interests usually precedes the common interests in time, and the common interests guarantee the completion of special interests and their realization in a relatively long period. The difference between non-fundamental and fundamental meaning. For a specific interest relationship and the interest subjects in the interest relationship, special interests are often expressed as non-fundamental interests. In contrast, common interests are more fundamental to the interest relationship and the interest subjects. Therefore, for specific interest subjects and interest relationships, special interests are usually non-fundamental interests, while common interests are of fundamental significance.

These differences constitute the objective basis for the contradiction between special interests and common interests. On the other hand, special interests and common interests do not naturally constitute a contradiction of interests. The contradiction between them can only occur when one need and interest is distorted to realize another need and interest. That is when the two parts of the same interest subject are unreasonably divided. In real life, this unreasonable division either ignores special interests and one-sidedly emphasizes common interests, or blindly pursues special interests and harms common interests. This irrational distortion or division of different interests constitutes the personal cause of the contradiction of vertical interests. Since the two parts of interest in a vertical interest relationship have a natural and unchangeable meaning for the interest subject in the interest relationship, the objective basis for the vertical interest contradiction cannot be eliminated. It can be seen from this that the way to resolve vertical contradictions is to eliminate and overcome the subjective causes of vertical contradictions, that is, to divide special interests and common interests rationally.

3.3 The Status of Functions of Interests in Politics 3.3.1 The Status of Functions of Interests in Political Relations Status and Function of Interest in Political Relations Interest is the Foundation of Political Relations, and it has Fundamental and Decisive Significance for Political Relations: 1.

Interest is the Starting Point for People to Form Political Relationships

In social life, people form various social relationships for production and life. People’s needs transform into people’s interests through these social relationships. At

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the same time, people’s interests can only be met and realized in these social relationships. Due to the diversity of social relations, there are many ways for people to meet and realize their interests in society. Exchange through the market and mutual negotiation are essential ways to realize people’s interests. However, when the common interests of a specific society need the compulsory legal authority of the community to be recognized, when the realization of the interests of members of a particular social group contradictions with the common interests and fundamental interests of all members; when there is a contradiction between the realization of the interests of the group members and the completion of the interests of other social groups; and when the completion of such interests and contradictions of interests need to be resolved by the legal and mandatory authority formed in a specific social scope, people will develop specific political relationships. It can be seen that interest is the original motivation for people to develop political relations, and political relations are only the particular way people use to satisfy their interests. 2.

Interest Relationship is the Basis and Condition for the Formation of Political Power and Rights

As mentioned earlier, there are two essential aspects of interest relations, one is the common interest, and the other is the contradiction of interest. It is precisely on these two aspects as the basis and conditions that people form political power and political rights. As far as political power is concerned, common interests are the internal basis for forming specific political forces. Members of different social groups condense into specific social and political forces to realize common interests. In contrast, political power is just a special kind of power that surpasses others. Political power is an authoritative power to realize common interests. The contradiction of interests is an external condition for the formation of political power. To maintain and realize their interests, members of a specific group must handle the horizontal contradictions of interests with other different groups. Political power is the authoritative basis for taking such contradictions. Similarly, to maintain and realize their interests, a specific social group must take and coordinate the interests of its members and the common interests of the group. That is, the vertical interest contradiction and political power are the authoritative means for such processing and coordination. As far as political rights are concerned, the common interests of a specific social group are the basis for members of that group to claim political rights. The horizontal contradiction of interests determines that the members of a particular group must demand specific rights to ensure the realization of their interests. In contrast, the vertical contradiction of interests makes a particular social group need to define the relationship between the interests of a single member and the common interests of the group in the way of political rights. 3.

The Relationship of Interest is the Basis for the Formation of Political Power and the Characteristics of Political Rights

In the relationship of social interests, the features of the publicness, non-market realization, singleness, relatively independent disposability, and multi-value complexity

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of the common interests provide the premise for the formation of the characteristics of political power, such as the subject interest, compulsory restraint, reservedness and exclusiveness, expansibility and extendibility and multiple functions. At the same time, these characteristics of common interests also lay a foundation for the relative individuality of political rights, the legal standardization, the autonomy of the issue, the unity of rights and obligations, and the value of the subject’s freedom. On the other hand, the interest contradiction in the interest relationship affects and determines the degree and way of realizing political power and political rights. 4.

The Relationship of Interests Determines the Function of Political Power and Political Rights

As far as the composition of the interest relationship is concerned, it has two aspects: common interest and different interests and their contradictions. The constituent content of the interest relationship first stipulates the primary function of political power, namely, the realization of common interests through political power and its authoritative coercive method, and its coordination and resolution of different interest contradictions. The functions of political power embodied in social and political life are the concretization, actualization, and decomposition of the two aspects of political power. Secondly, the two elements of the social interest relationship determine the essential functions of political rights. Social members’ claims for common interests are confirmed by political power to form their political rights, so that social members are qualified to claim common interests. Therefore, the basic function of political rights is for members of society to advocate the common interests of community. The interest contradictions in the social interest relations make the social members form the joint proposition to coordinate and solve these contradictions. At the same time, the political rights are just the political qualifications of the social members to realize these claims, and their essential function is to advocate the standard authority rules to coordinate and solve the social interest contradictions.

3.3.2 The Status of Functions of Interests in Political Relations Interest not only has a decisive significance for social and political relations, but also has a fundamental significance for social and political life. This significance mainly reflects in: 1.

Interest is the Motive of Political Behavior of Social Members

In social life, the fundamental reason why people engage in political activities lies in people’s requirements to realize their interests. People engage in political struggles, essentially fighting for their interests. “The materialist approach here is often limited to attributing political contradictions to the struggles of the interests of the various

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social classes and class groups caused by economic development.”32 The political ruling class and the ruling group conduct political rule to safeguard their interests; political management is to realize their interests. And different social classes, groups, political Parties, and individuals engaged in political participation activities are also to influence social politics to obtain or realize their political rights and to implement them into a favorable distribution of interests. Since the history of humankind, “every occasion has proved how each action is generated from a direct material cause, not from the words and sentences accompanying the material cause.”33 Therefore, interest is the central theme of people’s political activities. As General Secretary Xi Jinping as a politician pointed out, “The people’s yearning for a better life is our goal.”34 2.

Interest is the Foundation of All Social and Political Organizations and Their Systems

All social-political organizations and their systems are built around specific interests, and at the same time serve the interests of the members of the community. Among them, the state is a political organization and system that adopts public power based on specific class interests; political Parties are the highest representatives of class interests; political associations are the foundation of the particular interests and requirements of different aspects and levels. In the course of its operation, regardless of national policies, guidelines, regulations, ordinances, political platforms, political disciplines, and activities of political Parties, and political requirements and policy measures of political organizations, they all serve the specific interests of their respective representatives. 3.

Interest is the Source of Socio-Political Psychology and Political Thought

Engels pointed out, “Political phrases and legal phrases, just like political actions and their results, generate from material motivations.”35 Political psychology and political thoughts that exist as concepts come from people’s interests and interest relationships, reflect people’s interest content and interest requirements, and they serve specific interest requirements. Therefore, interest is the source of political psychology and political thought. Without this source, no political psychology and political thought can be explained. “Once ‘thought’ leaves ‘interests,’ it will destroy itself.”36 However, in actual political life, political psychology and political thoughts often do not take the form of being directly linked to interests, but indirectly related to 32

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 22. People’s Publishing House, 1965, p. 582. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 39. 34 Xi Jinping: The People’ s Yearning for a Better Life is Our Goal, in Selection of Important Documents Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Central Documents Publishing House, 2014, p. 70. 35 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 39. 36 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1957, p. 103. 33

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specific interests through attitudes, views, and discourses on political power and political rights. Therefore, the analysis of specific political psychology and the interest orientation of political thought must link them with political power and political rights. 4.

Interest Movements Are the Fundamental Driving Force of Political Development

The contradiction of interests between different individuals and groups, the development of contradictions between the interests of various members of the same group and the interests of the group, and the development and improvement of the content and level of the interests themselves will cause changes and growth of social and political relations, which will lead to changes and growth in political life. Among them, the political revolution results from horizontal contradictions of interests and the extreme contradictions and confrontations of corresponding political forces. It is a process in which the interests of the class representing the requirements of the new productive forces replace the dominant position of the interests of the class representing the old productive forces. Political reform is a process in which the main body of political power adjusts the political institution according to the contradictions of social interests and reforms the political culture to maintain their own rule and interests.

Chapter 4

Political Power

4.1 The Meaning and Characteristics of Political Power 4.1.1 The Essence of Political Power In Chinese and Western cultures, “power” is an ancient concept. In ancient Chinese classics, the concept of “Quan” has two primary meanings. The first is to measure the meaning of judging. As Confucius said, “Carefully attend to the weights and measures, examine the laws and institutions, restore the discarded officer posts, and the governance of the whole kingdom takes its course.”1 Mencius said, “Weigh it so that we can know whether it is light or heavy. You can only experience everything personally to have a deeper understanding.”2 The second is to restrict the ability of others. For example, Shen Dao, an early legalist, believed that “The reason for which a worthy succumbs to an unworthy is that the former is insignificant in weighting.”3 The later legalist work Guan Zi also pointed out that “Those who want to utilize the power of the land under heaven must first demonstrate their virtues to the feudal lords.” In the West, the word “power” in English comes from the French “pouvoir.” The French word is derived from the Latin “potestas” or “potential,” which means power. They are all derived from the Latin verb “poters,” which extends “ability.” Therefore, the basic meaning of the word “power” in the West is “ability.” Since modern times, western thinkers have defined many definitions of “power”. Its main perspective may be to determine its meaning from the original meaning of “power” as power and ability. As Thomas Hobbes believes, “the power of an actor and effective motivation are the same things.”4 Or some western thinkers believe that power from the relationship between the subject of power and the object of power, according to 1

Analects of Confucius: Yaoyue. Mencius: Emperor Hui of Liang Dynasty. 3 Shenzi: Power and Virtue, Punishment and Grace. 4 David Miller, Vernon Bogdanor. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Science. China University of Political Science and Law Press, 1992, p. 563. 2

© Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_4

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the control and influence of the object of power to determine the meaning of political power. As Russell believes, “Power can be defined as the product of deliberate effort”5 Max Weber defined power as “the possibility of an actor imposing his will on other actors in social interaction”6 Laswell and Kaplan believe that “power is a special case of exerting influence: it is the process of using sanctions (real or threatening) to deviate from the proposed policy to influence the decision-making process of others.”7 What these definitions have in common is that they regard power as a kind of force and point out that power has the characteristics of controlling and influencing interpersonal relationships. However, they have not yet specified the source and basis of power, so they have not revealed the nature of power and political power. Engels pointed out, “When dialectics examines things and their conceptual reflections, it essentially examines their communications, their connections, their movements, their emergence, and disappearance.”8 According to this spirit, to explore the nature of political power, we should start with analyzing the logical process of political power formation. The foundation of political power is people’s interests. In the actual social, people have various interests. However, the realization and maintenance of the interests is not a spontaneous and automatic process; it is a conscious and active process of the interest subject to achieve and maintain its interests. One of the critical methods and approaches taken by the interest bodies is to mobilize their adequate resources as much as possible and to organically condense these resources into specific practical forces, making it as a basis for carrying out profit-making activities. It shows that interest is the core of social forces. Since the main body of interest is multi-range and multi-level, this power can be divided into individual power, collective power, group power, class power, class power, national power, and social power. It needs to that the cohesion of various practical forces stems from people’s conscious and active activities to realize and maintain their interests. Therefore, no interest subject needs to become the subject of this kind of power, and only the interest subject aware of their interests, and consciously mobilize their adequate resources to pursue and safeguard their interests, will be transformed into the subject of this kind of actual power. The essential condition for the formation of political power lies in the interest relationship between people. Interests in internal contradictions movement to form a social benefit relation between different interest subjects. In this kind of interest relationship, when people choose to open up the way of interest realization by power cohesion, it will promote the formation of a specific power contrast relationship between various social forces generated based on different interests in the interest relationship. On the one hand, social forces with common interest requirements unit into a joint force out of common interests. Since the common interests is the standard 5

Bertrand Russell. Power: A New Social Analysis. People’s Oriental Publishing House, 1988, p. 23. David Miller, Vernon Bogdanor. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Science. China University of Political Science and Law Press, 1992, p. 595. 7 Robert Alan Dahl. Modern Political Analysis. Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 1987, p. 60. 8 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 359. 6

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part of the interests of different interest subjects in the same interest relationship, the common power is the sum of the forces actively or passively contributed by this kind of interest subject transformation based on the common interest. On the other hand, to realize and maintain their interests, social forces with different interest requirements resolve their contradictions with the corresponding social forces through force competition and force restriction, which will form the interaction between these forces. Because the contradictions between different interests exist in various forms, how various actual forces interact are also different. As far as its structure is concerned, the relationship of interest includes the relationship between different levels and the same level in vertical and horizontal directions. Therefore, various actual forces correspondingly contrast in the vertical and horizontal directions. Vertically, it contains the power balance relationship between individuals, groups, and society; horizontally, it manifests as the power balance between different individuals, masses and groups, and even community and society. As a result, society presents a specific power balance pattern in the sense of power balance. The necessary prerequisite for the formation of political power is that when various actual forces are in contrast, the power of one Party can surpass the other. So that the relationship of power can transform into a constraint relationship between one Party and the other. In the actual process, the contrast of power may show two states. The first is the state of equilibrium, which shows that the two Parties constituting the contrast relationship are equal in strength. This contrasting relationship embodies in a state of balance between different forces. The second is a non-equilibrium state, which means that the power of one Party is greater than that of the other, and this relationship of contrast transforms into a relationship that is relatively powerful and restricts the other. In social life and political life, the various forces in the balance of power relationship are only social forces or political forces rather than power, and the power owned by the relatively powerful Party in the restriction relationship is political power. And then this Party becomes the subject of political power. From the perspective of the vertical power relationship, under normal circumstances, the power of the group is naturally more significant than the power of the individual. The standard power of society is naturally more significant the power of other groups. Therefore, When the relationship of power balance occurs, the public power such as group power relative to the individual power and social power relative to individual and other group power naturally becomes political power. From the perspective of the horizontal power relationship, the strength of different power subjects depends on the constituent elements of their respective strengths. Political power forms from the overall comparison of these constituent elements. In transforming actual power into political power, there must be some kind of public power at the intersection of the relationship between the vertical and horizontal directions of power. Therefore, political power is a kind of public power. As far as the established society is concerned, in contrast between various social forces and political forces, the common power of community is often greater than other forces and restricts other forces under normal conditions. Therefore, the usual political power refers to this kind of social public power.

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From the analysis of the formation process of political power, it can be seen that political power is a kind of power gathered and formed in the process of people choosing power balance and power restriction as the process of realizing and maintaining their interests. Political power can restrict other social and political forces and other objects of political power. Political power is essentially a specific force that can limit relationships. Under normal circumstances, it must be a public force. From this, political power becomes a specific public power. The standard requirements of the social group to realize and the regulations on the behavior of other social forces and members of society to realize their interests constitute the basis of common interests formed by political power. In this regard, Engels pointed out incisively that “all political power always bases on a certain economic and social function at first.”9

4.1.2 The Elements of Political Power The formation of political power is an active process for the subject of political power to mobilize and condense adequate political resources. It is also a process of organic integration of the subjective and objective conditions of the subject of political power. The reason why a fundamental social and political power can surpass other powers in the pattern of social and political power comparison and form a restrictive relationship with other powers is the condition of the subjective and objective constituent elements contained in it. Therefore, these elements have become the primary variables of the composition of political power. In terms of the formation, maintenance, and operation of political power, these variables mainly include: 1.

Objective Components

The objective constituent elements of political power refer to the contributing factors and conditions external to the subject of political power during the formation of political power, or to be precise, the internalization of political power by these factors and conditions. The objective components of political power are diverse, the most important of which are: (1)

9

Effective possession of production materials. Labor is the historical prerequisite for the survival and development of human society, and the means of production are the necessary conditions for human labor to proceed. In this sense, whoever owns the means of production can gain the ability to control the survival and development of society. Therefore, the means of production have the primary and fundamental significance to political power. The possessor of the means of production significantly strengthens his power by controlling and possessing the means of production, thus creating favorable conditions for him to transform into the main body of political power. In a class society, the fundamental reason why the political power of a particular class can be formed

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 222.

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and brought into play is that these classes control and possess the means of production. At the same time, the practice of social economy and political life shows that the reverence of the control and possession of the means of production and the strength of the social and political power of the occupants of the means of production is not only related to the control and possession of the means of production, but it also associated with the social and economic performance brought about by control and possession them. The management and possession of production materials have three possible social and economic arrangements in social and economic operation, namely positive performance, zero performance, and negative performance. Therefore, the strength of a particular social and political force and whether it can be transformed into political power and maintain its effective operation depends not only on the possession of the means of production, but also on the management rights and operating conditions of the means of production in its possession, and the actual performance of the operation in the social and economic process, according to these performances, corresponding different arrangements for the social and political forces of the occupants of the means of production will be produced. Only the main body of social and political power that controls and possesses the means of production and enables it to create positive performance in the social and economic process can form and maintain political power and make political power operate effectively. (2)

Social wealth. Social wealth generally refers to the material and spiritual products formed by labor. Currency often regards as the wealth of society, but in fact, they are only the representative and the medium of computation of the social wealth.

As the product of labor, social wealth is the unity of value and use-value. The value of social wealth is the condensation of the laborer’s intelligence and physical strength in the sense of abstract labor. Therefore, any social wealth itself represents a particular strength. The accumulation of social wealth implies the expansion of power, the possession of social wealth implies the possession of power, and the control of social wealth means the mastery of power. At the same time, social wealth also has use-value. It affects the formation and development of social and political forces from two aspects. The use-value of social wealth can solve the technical requirements in the construction and activities of political forces. For example, the possession of communication tools can solve the internal communication of political forces. From the perspective of the object of its role, the use-value of social wealth can satisfy people’s various needs in terms of quantity, quality, and function, which enables the owner of social wealth to closely integrate the interests of others with their strength and intentions to realize the condensation and expansion of social and political forces in terms of workforce. The possession of social wealth is closely related to the possession of means of production. Generally speaking, the two kinds of possession are often the two poles of the same production process. The possession of means of production often leads to the possession of social wealth.

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(3)

Violence. Violence, as an essential element of political power, contains three primary contents, namely, the perpetrator of violence, the organization of violence, and the instrument of violence. As Engels put it: “This power consists not only of armed men, but also of material appendages, such as prisons and various coercive facilities.”10

Therefore, the strength of violence depends on the ability and accomplishment of the perpetrator of violence, the degree of rigor and effectiveness of the violence organization, and the technical level and applicability of the tools of violence. Violence is a force in itself and, as such, constitutes an integral part of political power. However, violence is a unique force, its particularity mainly shows in the following points: first of all, violence has a relatively tight organization, even the most unorganized violence is more significant in cohesion and power than non-violence; Secondly, violence is mobile, which gives it an advantage in efficiency over other forces. Thirdly, violence has direct coercive power, and coercion and restriction are the essential characteristics of political power. In addition, violence has the technical superiority and noticeable effect of enforcing coercion and restraint. With all of these characteristics, violence becomes a central part of political power. Of course, violence does not exist in isolation. It is restricted by specific social production relations and productivity levels. Therefore, it bases on the possession of means of production and material wealth. “Anywhere and at any time, it is economic conditions and means of economic power that help ‘violence’ to triumph. Without them, violence cannot be violence.”11 Besides, the objective elements of political power also include the natural resources, geographical conditions, beneficial cultural traditions, favorable situation changes and opportunities, and the subject psychology of the object of political power. 2.

Subjective Elements

The subjective elements of political power refer to the conditions and conditions of the subject of political power in forming political power, or refer to the condensation of these conditions and conditions in political power. Like the objective elements of political power, the subjective elements of political power are also the unity of diversity, which mainly include: (1)

10 11

Ability and quality. The ability and quality of the political power subject is the sum of its intelligence and physical strength. However, since the subject of political power divides into individuals and groups, the actual meaning of the ability of the subject of political power is also different. As far as individuals are concerned, their ability and quality mainly include knowledge level, moral cultivation, experience, the character will, analysis and judgment, decisionmaking ability, organizational mobilization ability, innovative and creative

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 171. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 515.

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ability. For a group, the ability and quality of a group is the sum of the intelligence and physical strength of the group members, which mainly includes the group’s educational literacy, psychological literacy, physical fitness, cultural tradition, achievement status, and so on. Generally, people’s judgments on the ability and quality of political power subjects include psychological standards, education standards, and performance standards. Ability and quality are the most essential element in the subjective aspects of political power, and it is also the basis of the subjective initiative that enables the formation and maintenance of political power. (2)

Identity qualifications. Strictly speaking, the identity qualifications of the subject of political power is its social provisions and external characteristics. Still, because they are attached to the subject of political power and have important significance to the formation of political power, it can be regarded as the subjective elements of political power.

The meaning of the identity qualification of the main body of political power also varies with the main body. The personal identity qualification mainly refers to the personal qualification, the position held by the person, the prestige and the inheritance qualification of some blood relationship or legal relationship, etc. The group also has its specific identity qualification, mainly its social image, social status, social-political prestige, and reputation. (3)

Theory and strategy. The theory is the analysis and grasp of the basic situation of society and politics of the main body of political power, as well as the macro analysis and logical elaboration of the social and political goals, realization approaches, and related conditions that the main body of political power advocates and follows. In the practical process of social politics, the socalled theory can also be understood as the strategic thinking on the significant and overall issues of social politics. “Strategic issues are fundamental issues for a political Party and a country. With accurate strategic judgment, scientific strategic planning, and strategic initiative, there is great hope for the cause of the Party and the people.”12

As the subjective elements of political power, the role of theory mainly depends on the situation of four dimensions. First, whether the theory is practical, only theories that are practical and can stand the test of practice are scientific and reasonable. Second, the degree of relevance between theory and social members, that is to say, the number of people’s interests and requirements the theory reflects and represents. Third, the logic strength of the theory itself, that is to say, how thorough is the logic degree of the theory’s exposition of realistic politics. Political practice shows that only detailed theory can master the masses. Fourth, whether the theory can develop with the development of social and political practice, only theories with scientific innovation and development can have vigorous vitality. 12

Xi Jinping the Governance of China Vol.2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, P. 10.

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Strategy is a way for the subject of political power to strengthen its strength, weaken the opponent’s strength, and implement its strategic intentions under specific objective conditions. Therefore, the strategy closely connects with complicated factors such as the specific time, place, nature, content, object, degree of contradiction of actual political life. In this sense, strategy is the key to whether political power can be formed, maintained, and operated effectively under specific circumstances. In different classes, strategies have different meanings. The strategy of the exploiting classes is the art of ruling the people and fighting for power. The strategy of the proletariat is the art of realizing the interests of the people. (4)

Political organization. An organization is an organic collection of several individuals. However, the power of an organization is not simply the sum of the individual forces in the organization, but a new power more significant than the power of all its members. The strength of an organization depends on many factors such as foundation, principles, structure, culture of the organization, and the mutual relations among its members.

The organization is mainly the subjective component of the power of the political power subject of the group. For the political power subject existing in the form of individuals, the organization is a kind of political resource that can be relied on and utilized. In addition, the subjective elements of political power include existing power, social capital, and so on. To sum up, the elements of political power are very complex. In these various factors and variables, how much weight and effect each factor and variable has in the process of transforming social and political forces into political power, and in the process of maintaining and effectively operating political power, and what meanings of the combinations of factors and variables, they transfer in different political-historical development stages, different countries and different conditions.

4.1.3 The Characteristics of Political Power Political power is a political force formed based on specific interests and interest relations. It is also a way of compelling and restricting the realization and standardization of interest requirements by force. Therefore, the essential characteristic of common interests in specific interest relations are related to the completion and regulation of force-compulsory constraints. They condense the essential features of political power together. From the analysis of these two aspects, it can be seen that political power as a specific political force has the following essential characteristics: 1.

The Characteristic of the Main Interest

Social relations embody in people’s interests and interest relations in reality. Therefore, the nature of political power in specific social relations inevitably manifests in the interests of the main body of the power.

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From the perspective of the foundation of social interest relations formed by political power, the main interest of political power is, first of all, the reflection of the publicity of common interests in specific interest relations. As the public nature of common interests has different meanings, the main interests of political power also have many meanings. In different social and historical conditions and political forms, the interests of the main body of political power have different meanings. The political power of the primitive society is the public power based on the common public interest of all the members of the community, and it serves the public interest of all the members of the community. Here, the interests of the main body of political power have content and other aspects in common. In a community with private ownership, the political power is exclusive to the exploiting classes, has the nature of the exploiting classes in essence, and serves their common interests in the sense of content. Here, “social power becomes private power of personals.”13 The so-called common interests in this political form only have the condition, means, or some rules. In a socialist society, political power is essentially the power of the proletariat and the masses of working people. The commonality of the content of public interest gradually unifies with the commonality of forms and rules. In the communist society, the interests of the main body of political power become all the public interests of all the members of the community. From the perspective of political power as a mechanism of compulsory restraint, on the one hand, political power is nothing but a means by which its subject’s interests realize in a manner of compulsory restraint. On the other hand, because political power occupies a position of compulsory restraint in social and political life, its subjective interests will express in a strong form. 2.

Mandatory Constraints

Political power is the force of compulsory binding. Therefore, compulsory binding is the essential characteristic of all political power. The mandatory constraint of political power firstly caused by the non-market realization of common interests in specific interest relations. Due to the public nature of common interests, common interests cannot realize through the market exchange as a mechanism for private actors’ activities. At the same time, in a specific stage of productivity and social–historical development, it is challenging to realize common interests through the completely spontaneous actions of social members. Therefore, political power and its operation are a realization method and mechanism that people choose based on the publicity of common interests, that is, to realize and maintain the common interests of society through the compulsion and restriction of political forces. It is a possible way that people “have to” choose in a specific stage of the development of productivity and social history. As Engels said, “Political power is nothing but a means to realize economic benefits.”14 The mandatory constraint of political power also arises from the way it realizes its interests. From the logical process of political power formation, it can be seen 13 14

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 44. People’s Publishing House, 2001, p. 156. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 250.

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that political power forms a way to achieve specific benefits through power gathering and power comparison. Therefore, compulsory restraint is its fundamental method, and the compulsory restraint of political power is but a direct manifestation of this method of mandatory restraint in terms of its characteristics. The compulsory and binding nature of political power is also given and stipulated by benefits realization. The mandatory constraint of political power has different manifestations in different aspects. In terms of the social function of political power, it is embodied in the authority and manageability of political power. The dominance of political power means that the subject of political power implements a series of political ruling behaviors to maintain their social or political power and other members of the group status and social and political stability and orderly state. It is the political power and the prerequisite and guarantee for the effective operation of concentrated embody the nature of the interests of the political power, political power to bear the social function of the starting point and final goal. The manageability of political power means that the main body of political power realizes the manageability of society or political groups through the leadership, organization, and performance of social functions necessary for maintaining governance. The manageability of political power is the basis for the maintenance and implementation of political rule. “Political rule is everywhere, based on the implementation of a certain social function, and political rule can only sustain when it performs its social function.”15 The manageability of political power is more of a social nature and characteristics. For the dominance of political power, it has the meaning of methods and ways, in terms of how political power functions, it makes political power appear coercive to opposing forces and restrains within the group. In terms of power relationship, it makes it show the asymmetry of power relationship. 3.

Reservedness and Exclusiveness

In the established scope and level, political power is exclusive. Therefore, after the formation of political power, all the fields, scopes, and affairs of its role and operation have the characteristics of exclusiveness. At the same time, exclusiveness means exclusiveness. Political power is exclusive to one’s power and strength. It is also exclusive to the field, scope, and related affairs of its role, thus repelling the similar effects of other forces. The exclusiveness of political power is determined by the unity of common interests. In a given scope and level, in a specific interest relationship, there can be multiple primitive subjects that constitute an interest relationship, and their different interests can be diverse. Still, the common interest between them is unique. The uniqueness of the common interest makes the political power to realize the common interest necessarily unique. Reservedness means exclusiveness. Therefore, it is this uniqueness that provides the exclusive basis for political power. The mandatory constraint method of political power to achieve specific interests and requirements further provides the necessity and possibility for forming the exclusive exclusivity of political power. Political power is the force that surpasses other 15

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 523.

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social and political forces in the relationship of power. This first determines that political power adopts a mandatory restraint method to ensure that political power is mandatory and binding to ensure its dominant position in social and political life. It will inevitably require political power to have an exclusive status and adopt a complete method. On the other hand, political power, as a force that surpasses other social and political forces, will undoubtedly provide the possibility for this kind of exclusiveness and exclusivity after its formation. The exclusive exclusivity of political power embodies in different scopes and levels. It embodies as the unique public authority of political power at all levels and scopes of the social interest structure. At the national level and scope, it makes political power rise to the supreme and sole national sovereignty. In the relationship with other social and political forces, it embodies in the exclusivity and non-sharing of political power. 4.

Expansibility and Extendibility

Political power is political power under a particular social background, and it is also political power in the interaction with other actual political forces. Therefore, with the development of society and the development of force interaction, political power is inherently expandable. The expansibility of political power firstly stems from the independence of common interests in particular interest relationships. As mentioned above, although the common interests in specific interest relationships arise from the interests of the original subject that constitutes the interest relationship. However, after the interest relationship formed, the common interest of these original interest subjects makes the common interest start a relatively independent interest in the specific interest relationship. Moreover, once this common interest formed, it will obtain a particular dominant position over other interests in the interest relationship. This independent dominance of common interests provides a basis for the expansion of political power. At the same time, political power is a way of compulsory restraint, which realizes the requirements of the main body’s interests in the restriction of other social and political forces, which makes political power obtain a coercive dominant position in the substantial or formal sense of common interests. The requirements for the maintenance and strengthening of this dominant position and its utility will drive political power subjects to accumulate energy as much as possible, expand their power position, and enhance their power energy, which constitutes the expansion of political power. The expansion of political power mainly reflects in (1) The expansion of political power in its scope of action. Once political power is formed, it will expand its scope of influence as far as possible under the drive of internal expansion. (2) The expansion of political power in terms of its level of activity. The expansion of political power drives the movement of political power in the vertical direction, forming the expansion of political power in power levels. Generally, political power will expand from a lower level to a higher level. (3) The expansion of political power in terms of its interest content. Political power tends to have more interest content in the established scope and level of its role to strengthen its power and improve the utility of power.

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It can be seen from this that once political power, it will become a dominant dynamic force. Driven by its inherent expansibility, political power tends to expand spontaneously. Therefore, to make political power operate under the requirements of public interest, it must be restricted. It is to confine power within an institutional cage. “To confine power within an institutional cage means to establish, regulate, check and supervise power under the law.”16 “Efforts should be made to form a scientific and effective system for the exercise of power and supervision, and to strengthen the synergy and effectiveness of supervision.”17 5.

Equality of Power and Responsibility

Power and responsibility are closely linked. The so-called responsibility refers to the duties and tasks that a specific social subject should undertake in the sense of position or morality. Responsibility is the affairs and functions that should be undertaken by members of society. In social and political life, once power has formed, it is related to responsibility closely. “The power has the responsibility, and the power and responsibility must be equal.”18 The equivalence of power and responsibility first reflects in the aspect of qualitative correspondence. Generally speaking, what kind of power has what kind of responsibility, and the social attributes of power and responsibility are the same. Secondly, the equivalence between power and responsibility also reflects in the symmetry between the quantity. In other words, how much power any power subject has means how much responsibility it has. Thirdly, the equivalence of power and responsibility reflects in the development and change of the two. The shift in power means the change of responsibility, and the renewal of power means the renewal of responsibility. Undoubtedly, the growth of power means the expansion and strengthening of responsibilities. The equivalence of power and responsibility realize in power relations. Under normal circumstances, the establishment of the power restriction relationship not only means the formation of the power restriction relationship between different political subjects and political forces, but it also the formation of the responsibility relationship between the power subject and the power object. The resulting relationship of power and responsibility constitutes the actual power relationship. In modern society, the equivalence of power and responsibility usually reflects in the form of power function, which is stipulated, regulated, and supervised by the rule of law. The function of power is essentially the responsibility of the power subject. On the track of the rule of law, the exercise of power must perform and bear corresponding responsibilities. 6.

Multiple Functions

From the basis of social interest relations formed by political power, it can be seen that realizing common interests and coordinating and regulating interest contradictions are the essential functions of political power. Once understood from the 16

Xi Jinping the Governance of China Vol.2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, P. 129. Xi Jinping the Governance of China Vol.2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, P. 119. 18 Xi Jinping the Governance of China Vol.2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, P. 164. 17

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multiple meanings of the publicity of common interests, these two functions are public functions of political power. Since these functions manifest as multiple tasks and requirements in actual social and political life, political power has multiple functions. The multi-functionality of political power is the practical embodiment of the multi-value of common interests. As mentioned earlier, the common interests in the social interest relationship have multiple value complexity. The multiple values of these composite structures not only become the operational orientation of political power, but also transform into its corresponding practical tasks. And the equivalent weight of these multiple composite values stipulates that political power must undertake these tasks simultaneously, thus forming its multiple functions. In addition, the tensions and contradictions between these multiple values have also put forward the requirements for overall coordination and practical realization of these functions for political power. On the other hand, political power requires to achieve specific interests in the relationship between social and political power in the way of compulsory restraint. Therefore, the multiple functions of political power reflect in the contrast and interaction between political power and other social and political forces. The multiple realistic tasks of the transformation of multiple functions of political power are completed in multiple interactions and functions between political power and multiple social and political forces. And because of the interaction of political power with other social and political forces, the process characteristics of the interaction between the force of political power and the reaction of other social and political forces will be presented, the realization of the multiple functions of political power will eventually reflect in the result of the joint force of the power of political power and the corresponding other social and political forces. The multiple functions of political power have different manifestations at different levels. At the value level, it embodies in public values such as survival, security, order, efficiency, fairness, justice, equality, and democracy. At the behavioral level, it embodies as a political rule and political management behavior; at the daily operation level, it embodies as various specific functional matters in politics and public affairs.

4.2 The Types and Relations of Political Power 4.2.1 The Types of Political Power When people classify political power, they have different standards, so the types of power classified are also diverse. For example, according to the scope and intensity of its role, there are absolute political power and relative political power; according to its role status, there are actual political power and potential political power; according to its exercise method, there are compulsory political power and inductive political power; according to the intensity of its function, there are active political power and

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negative political power; and so on. These diversified divisions reflect the complexity of the forms and functions of political power. As mentioned earlier, in reality, interest usually exists as a subject of interest. Similarly, in political life, political power takes the form of the power subject as its actual existence. Therefore, dividing the types of political power according to the subject nature, organizational form, structural level, and essential function of political power is a realistic way to analyze and grasp different types of political power. 1.

Divided According to the Nature of the Main Body of Political Power

The subject of political power transforms from the subject of interest. Therefore, the nature of the subject of specific interest is the nature of political power. The nature of a particular subject of interest is determined by one specific social relationship. According to Marxism, among the various social relations, the decisive significance is the socio-economic relationship. Therefore, the nature of the interest subject is first determined by the socio-economic relationship. By analyzing the nature of interest subjects in this sense, it can be determined by what kind of social and economic relationship there will be a political power subject. According to this line of thinking, political power can be divided into primitive society political power, slave-owner class political power, feudal master-class political power, bourgeois political power, and proletarian political power according to different types of political power subjects. Primitive society takes primitive public ownership as its economic foundation, and on this basis, universal public interests are formed. The public power of primitive society forms with this public interest as the core. Therefore, it is the “public power” in clan communes and tribes. It represents the will of all members of the communes and tribes, and is a power that is integrated with the masses. At the same time, it based on co-production and kinship, so it is a fatherly, purely moral coercive power. However, during the tribal wars of primitive society, public power also emerged in a violent and coercive manner. The characteristic of production relations in a slave society is that the slave owner possesses all the means of production and completely possesses the slave as a producer. The slave owners’ private possession of the means of production, on the one hand, gave them a standard social production status and formed a common class interest, thus providing a common interest basis for their gathering of political power. On the other hand, it enabled them to possess social wealth and even possess slaves by their possession of social means of production, thus forming a material force that greatly exceeded the slave class and developing the political power of the slave class. The political power of the slave-owning class was fierce. In the slave society, slaves were not regarded as human beings, they were considered as the property and production tools of the slave owner. In ancient Rome, slaves were regarded as “talking tools.” In China, slaves in the Shang dynasty were regarded as “livestock,” their status were no different from livestock, and they had no personal rights, let alone political rights. Therefore, the slave-owning class “not only can use violence at will,

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but it also is not a crime to kill the slave.”19 The slave-owner class buys and sells slaves and tortures slaves is commonplace. The political power of the slave-owning class has begun to combine with religious doctrine. In the Xia-Shang period of China, the slave-owning class said that its power was granted by heaven. In ancient Greece, the slave-owning class used Greek mythology to give a layer of aura to its rule. Ancient Rome stipulated Christianity as the state religion. The political power of the slave-owner class was frantically expanding. The productivity of slave society was low and required a lot of workforces to engage in social production. However, due to the extreme cruel abuse of slaves by slave owners, a large number of slaves died prematurely, so to capture prisoners of war and plunder wealth, supplement slaves, and maintain social production, the slave-owning class often uses its political power to start large-scale foreign wars. The political power of the feudal landlord class is essentially a political force gathered by the feudal landlord class based on its common interests. In feudal society, the common interests of the landlord class form in the economic relationship between their possession of the means of production and the incomplete possession of the peasants. In this financial relationship, the landlord possessed the means of production and wealth of the society and used this as a means of forming political power; they used land to make the peasants’ dependence on the land essentially become a personal dependence on the feudal lord to achieve their political rule. So, to ensure this relationship of possession and dependence is the fundamental interest of the feudal landlord class, as well as the starting point and primary mission of its political power formation. The political power of the feudal landlord class has a strict hierarchical structure, which can be distinguished according to the degree of land occupied by the feudal landlord. As Engels said, “In the feudal countries of the Middle Ages… the political power position is arranged according to the real estate.”20 As the kings or emperors owned the most land, they held the greatest power and were at the peak of political power. Under the king or emperor, there are large and small lords or landlords, forming numerous spheres of influence, thus forming a strict hierarchy of political power. In the West, this hierarchical structure embodied in the form of knighthood. In China, it embodied in the hierarchy of the feudal bureaucracy, the power holder of the landlord class. The political power of the feudal landlord class is closely related to the feudal patriarchal power. The feudal society’s economy and land ownership system based on agricultural farming made farmers cling to the land, thus making the patriarchal relationship a powerful bond of social connection. The patriarchal power became a powerful means of social control. The feudal landlord itself represented the patriarchal power, so its political power closely integrated with patriarchal power. The political power of the feudal landlord class took theocratic power as its spiritual pillar. In feudal society, theocratic power reached its peak. In medieval Europe, 19 20

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 37. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 68. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 173.

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religious power directly controlled and controlled political power. In Chinese feudal society, theocratic power gave the imperial power a religious reason and became a spiritual tool to consolidate the foundation of political power. The political power of the bourgeoisie forms based on the common interests of the bourgeoisie, and the common interests of the bourgeoisie are fundamentally capitalist private ownership. So, capitalist political power based on capitalist private ownership. Bourgeois political power is essentially the power of capital. First of all, it takes capital’s possession of the means of production as its basis of strength. On this basis forms the control and domination of the bourgeoisie over society; personified capital, the bourgeoisie, is its main body of power. Secondly, it operates and functions with the interests and will of capital, and “every capitalist share this power according to the share of total social capital.” Thirdly, it constructs under the principles and methods of capital activities. Capital takes the employment relationship as its survival prerequisite and capital proliferation as its purpose. Bourgeois political power implements power by employing agents. The extent to which political power and its political agents promote its interests is used as a criterion for evaluating the role and effectiveness of political power and its political agents. Bourgeois political power is the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie to the proletariat and working people. Bourgeois political power often implements its dictatorship functions in two ways, namely, violence and reform. As Lenin said, “The bourgeoisie of every country in the world is bound to define two modes of management, two modes of the struggle for the protection of its interests and the defense of its rule, which are sometimes used alternately and sometimes combined in different ways. The first method is a violent method, which refuses to make any concessions to the labor movement, maintains all old and corrupt systems, and uncompromisingly opposes improved methods. The second method is the ‘liberal’ method, that is, the method of expanding political rights, implementing reforms, and making concessions.”21 The foundation of proletarian political power is the common interests of the proletariat and the working people formed based on socialist economic relations. The political power of the proletariat is the political power held by the overwhelming majority of members of society, with the proletariat as the main body. Exploiting class political power is from the main body of a small number of exploiters of political power. The proletariat and the essential difference between them is that it is in the majority of the population of the proletariat and the masses of the people as the main body of political power, it is the collective power of the proletariat and the masses of condensate, and serve their interests. So, the political power of the proletariat is essentially the people’s democratic dictatorship. It is the people’s power led by the proletariat and based on the alliance of workers and peasants. The political power of the proletariat is formed and realized by the leadership of the Communist Party. The Communist Party is the vanguard organization of the proletariat and an excellent representative of the interests of the proletariat and the working people. Since the political power of the proletariat cannot be controlled and 21

Selected Works of Lenin Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 276.

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executed by the entire class, it must be mastered and implemented on behalf of the proletariat through the Communist Party. In China, the leadership of the working class over the country is achieved through the Communist Party of China in power and overall administration of the country. “The defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Communist Party of China; the greatest strength of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Communist Party of China.”22 The political power of the proletariat is also a dictatorship over the exploiting class and all those who destroy and resist the cause of socialism and are hostile to the people’s power. As Mao Zedong said, “The combination of the democratic aspects of the people and the dictatorship of the reactionaries is the people’s democratic dictatorship.”23 2.

Divided According to the Organizational Types of Political Power Subjects

According to the differences in the organizational types of political power subjects, political power can be divided into social public power and the power of the ruling Party. Social public power is the political power within the whole society. In fact, in a specific society, although there are common interests of different scopes and levels, from the perspective of the entire social community, social public power is the common interest of all members of society, that is, the common interests of society. Therefore, at this level, only social public power is political power, and the joint forces formed in other ranges and levels are only social or political and do not constitute political power. Social public power is a public power in the sense of a social community in a primitive society. After the state is produced, it manifests as state power. As the interests of the exploiting class in a private ownership society often pretend to be the common interests of the whole society, the political power of the exploiting class often appears in the illusory form of social public power. With the highly developed productivity and the establishment and construction of the people’s state, the social public power in a socialist society returns to the power of society in the essential and formal sense. Social public power has the following characteristics:(1) universality, it acts on the whole society and every member of the society, and is generally effective within this scope; (2) Supremacy, which is the highest power in the social scope, does not allow the existence of other equal powers in the same scope and level. The power of the ruling Party is the political power of the political organization of a specific class or masses, and its formation based on the common interests of the particular class and masses. The interests of the inner strata and members of a class based on private ownership are contradictory in their private sense. For this kind of private interests, they often understand or set their interests as the common interests of 22 Xi Jinping: Decisively Win the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects, and Win the Great Victory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era- A Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Daily, October 28, 2017. 23 Collected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol.4, People’s Publishing House 1991, p. 1475.

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the class. In the case of changes in social and economic conditions, when the policies and guidelines advocated and implemented by a certain ruling Party fail, the power of the ruling Party often changes in capitalist society. Nevertheless, the different ruling Parties in the capitalist society are consistent in safeguarding and trying to represent the common interests of the bourgeoisie. Under socialist conditions, the socialist economic relationship determines that there is no antagonistic interest relationship between all aspects and classes of the people. Therefore, the common interests of the working class and the broadest masses of the people are represented by the workingclass Party as the ruling Party. In the process of the administration, the ruling Party through the national legal procedures, the will of the ruling Party into all the will of the people, the ruling Party’s power into the state power under the national will, and the power to promote and support the national institutions and the operation of public power, realize the working class and all the requirements of the interests of the people. 3.

Divided According to the Hierarchy of Political Power Subjects

There are certain levels within the subject of specific political power. From this perspective, political power can be divided into central power and local power, superior power, and subordinate power. Central power is the highest level of power within a specific political power subject, and it is the core part of the same political power. In terms of social scope and level, the central power often becomes the representative of social public power. Therefore, it also has the characteristics of universality and supremacy. Within the scope of the law, the central power is also universally dominant and restrictive. Local power is the power at the secondary level within the subject system of a specific political power. It forms according to the division of political regions. Generally speaking, local power based on the common interests of a particular political region. When this kind of region coincides with the ethnic region, the scope of local power and ethnic power is consistent. When this kind of region coincides with the basic level of political organizations such as political Parties, local power, and their elemental power are at the same level. The superior power and the subordinate power are also the division of power types in the sense of the internal hierarchy of the specific political power subject. The upper-level power and the lower-level power form in a corresponding relationship. Generally speaking, the higher-level power level is higher than the lower-level power, and its scope of action is more significant than that of the lower-level power and is in the command and leadership position of the lower-level power. In contrast, the lower-level power is just the opposite. Higher-level power and lower-level power may exist between subordinate agencies or organizations. 4.

Divided According to the Functions of Political Power

The power of different political power subjects has various functions. The functional types of political power in political science usually refer to the functional types of social public power. According to their various functions, social public power can

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roughly divide into legislative power, administrative power, supervisory power, and judicial power.24 Legislative power is the power to formulate, modify or abolish regulations and bills in the public power of society. In essence, the legislative power is the power to concentrate the will and interest requirements of all members of society or all members of the ruling class to form common interests and common will. It embodies this common interest and common will for the formulation, amendment, or repeal of laws and regulations. Therefore, the legislative power has the primary position in the social public power. The dominant value of the operation of legislative power is democracy. In addition to the power to formulate, modify or abolish regulations and bills, legislative power often includes the power to supervise administrative and judicial powers to ensure that one’s own will and interests implemented, and to regulate the operation of administrative and judicial powers. Administrative power is the power to implement bills and manage social administrative affairs in social public power. In essence, it is the power required to implement the common interests and will of all members of society or the ruling class. As far as its function is concerned, it is the executive power of legislation. Administrative power has two aspects to the management of administrative affairs. On the one hand, it manages social and public administrative affairs, which is the function of political management. On the other hand, it manages affairs within administrative agencies and organizations, which is the function of administrative management. The dominant value of the operation of administrative power is efficiency. The power of supervision is the power of the state organs and their staff to supervise and report law violations and negligence among the public powers. In essence, the power of supervision is a specific power of supervision, which is the power to supervise state public officials. The purpose of supervisory power is to prevent dereliction of duty, and abuse of public power by public officials, restrain public officials’ power and punish public officials’ violations to improve work efficiency, maintain political order, achieve political clarity and integrity of public officials, and adjust the relationship between the country and society. “Strengthening state supervision is to ensure that the state machinery performs its duties under the law and uphold public power, and the strengthening of mass supervision is to ensure that power comes from and serves the people.”25 Judicial power is the power to implement laws and regulate social life based on the standards of social public power. In its essence, it is the power required to safeguard the interests and will of all members of society or all members of the ruling class. The implementation of judicial power is passive. It will only play a role after people violate the law. At the same time, judicial power is a punitive and compulsory power 24

Sun Yat-sen once divided political power into five powers: legislative, executive, judicial, supervisory and examination, according to their functions. It is generally believed that these five powers have evolved from the legislative, executive and judicial powers. At present, according to the 2018 Constitution and constitutional amendments in China, four functional political powers exist in our national politics, namely the legislative, executive, supervisory and judicial powers. 25 Xi Jinping the Governance of China Vol.2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, P. 169.

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in a typical sense, which does not contain rewarding and inducing factors. Judicial power generally consists of investigative power, right to sue, and adjudication power. The dominant value of judicial power operation is justice.

4.2.2 The Relations of Political Power Political power relationship refers to the connection between different types of political power. In political life, political power relations are as complicated as the types of political powers. According to our classification of political power, political power relations firstly refer to the relationship between the powers of different political power subjects. At the same time, it also includes the connection between different types of political power divided according to the different elements of the political power subject: 1.

The Relationship Between Social and Public Powers of Different Natures

In the sense of the historical development of human society, social public powers of different nature are the products of different historical stages of the development of human society, so they have the negative nature of historical development. In a class society, social public powers of different natures represent the interests of different classes, so they are class-negative or opposed to each other. In this sense, social public powers of different natures are mainly opposed to each other. For example, slave social-political power negates primitive social public power, and proletarian political power negates bourgeois political power. On the other hand, under certain social and historical conditions, there may also be a compromise or coordination relationship between different types of political power. This kind of social and historical condition, one is that the power of different social and political forces is comparable. Both sides have requirements for compromise, such as the compromise between the feudal aristocracy and the bourgeoisie during the British bourgeois revolution. The second is that the third external force poses a threat to the whole society. For example, the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party during the War of Resistance has formed when Japanese imperialism posed a serve threat to the survival of the Chinese nation. The third is social and political forces of different natures have specific common interests in society. For example, the political consultative conference in the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China formed by the working class, peasantry, urban petty bourgeoisie, national bourgeoisie, and other political forces based on the common interests of building a socialist country. 2.

The Relationship Between the Power of the Ruling Party and the Social and Public Power

The power of the ruling Party refers to the power of the Party in the ruling position in a particular social and political life.

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In essence, the power of the ruling Party is consistent with the public power of society. However, because social public power is a political power within the whole society, it is the condensation of forces formed by all members of society based on common interests, and the ruling Party, as the core organization of the ruling class or masses, has a smaller range of members than members of society. Therefore, in terms of the scope and level of the whole society, social public power is political power, and the power of the ruling Party is social-political power. And because the ruling Party is in charge of social public power, it is a special political force. It shows that the power of the ruling Party and the public power is the relationship between the political power in charge of the public power and the public power. In terms of the relationship between the two, on the one hand, as the political force in charge of social public power, the power of the ruling Party has a leading position in the formation and actual operation of the social public power will. It represents the interests and will of the class or stratum. And it plays a dominant or leading role in the direction and process of social public power. The relationship between the ruling Party and the public power of society is that of leadership. On the other hand, as social public power is a political power of the whole society and level in a specific sense, the power of the ruling Party is the political power that controls the political power rather than the power itself. Therefore, the relationship between the power of the ruling Party and the public power of the society is a ruling relationship. For the ruling Party to effectively control the public power of the society, it needs not only the competent ruling ability but also a proper ruling method. For example, it must operate within the scope of social public power rules such as the Constitution and laws. And it must make the interests of the specific class or stratum represented by the ruling Party have substantial or formal consistency with the interests of members of society, and the will and requirements of the ruling Party must transform into the will and requirements of social public power through legal procedures or methods. In a capitalist society, the ruling Party of the bourgeoisie achieves this transformation by using the Party boss as the leader of the cabinet and forming a cabinet. The members of the Party form a parliamentary group to influence legislation in order to conceal the truth of its minority rule. In a socialist society, the proletarian Party represents the fundamental interests of the proletariat and the broadest masses of the people in charge of social public power. The proletarian Party formulates, advocates, and implements basic political lines, principles, and guidelines. And it recommends the selection of leaders of public authorities. After the deliberation and approval of the people’s power institutions such as the People’s Congress of our country, the will of the proletariat and the broadest masses of the people is reflected in the social public power, and the social public power will and opinions in the legal sense formed. In real social life, there is also a phenomenon that the power of the ruling Party directly assumes certain social public power functions in socialist society. Therefore, the ruling Party needs to continuously strengthen and improve the Party’s leadership over the state power, improve the Party’s ability to govern, improve the Party’s governance methods, and achieve scientific, democratic, and law-based governance. At the same time, “We must provide backing and support for bodies of state power so that they perform their functions in an active, independent,

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responsible, and coordinated manner and following Constitution and the law. We must continue to strengthen and improve the leadership of the Party. So that we become more capable of turning the propositions of the Party into the will of the state and making Party nominated candidates to assume leadership positions in bodies of state power through statutory procedures, using bodies of state power to exercise the leadership of the Party over the country and society, and using the principle of democratic centralism to uphold the authority of the Party and government and guarantee unity within the Party and throughout the country.”26 3.

The Relationship Between Central Power and Local Power

In the sense of social-political power, the relationship between central power and local power is the relationship between the political power of a specific society and the political power of a specific local area in that society. In political science, when discussing the relationship between central power and local power, the analysis is generally based on the central power of a specific society and country and the power of sub-levels such as provincial and state powers. The power relations at more secondary levels, such as the power relations between provincial power and city or county power, or between city or county power and township power, are usually isomorphic to the power relations between the central and local authorities, so that they can be regarded as the miniature form of the power relations between the central and local authorities in an analytical sense. The relationship between central power and local power is caused by the duality of local power. Based on the social interests of political relations, local power is the representative and embodiment of the common interests of specific places and regions. In this regard, the relationship between central power and local power is a manifestation of the relationship between the common interests of society and the different interests of various local regions in the relationship of political power. On the other hand, after the formation and operation of social and political power, local power is allocating central power at a specific local regional level. In this regard, the relationship between central power and local power is the vertical relationship between social public power at different levels within its power subject. It is the dual nature of local power that gives rise to the fundamental problems in the relationship between central power and local power. One is the state of the relationship between the two, and the other is the power allocation or division. In terms of the state of the relationship between the two, since central power and local power are the representatives and implementers of interests in different regions and levels, the specific vertical interest differences and contradictions between them will be in the relationship between central power and local power. Therefore, the relationship between the central power and the local power has a cooperative relationship based on the rational division of their respective interests. At the same time, as local power is the configuration of social public power in a specific geographical range and level, local power has a subordination relationship to central power. It shows that

26

Xi Jinping the Governance of China Vol.2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, P. 18.

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the basic state of the relationship between central power and local power is a cooperative relationship based on the subordination relationship. Therefore, under normal circumstances, there is no antagonistic relationship between central power and local power. However, under certain circumstances, the relationship between the two may also turn to confrontation. For example, the contradiction between social interests and community interests intensified due to improper handling, or other interests (such as national interests) that overlap with the scope of social interests and community interests intensified, or when local power used by certain political forces to oppose the central power and is heterogeneous, the relationship between the two may also turn to confrontation. In the relationship between central power and local power, for the duality of local power and the resulting dual relationship between central and local power to be harmoniously realized, the critical signature is the power allocation or division between the two. “As the public interest is usually satisfied and realized by the government by providing public goods through political power, the central government affairs and local government affairs are essentially the functions and responsibilities of different regions and levels of public power based on the public interest requirements of citizens in different regions and administrative levels to provide different public goods in different regions and levels. The so-called rational division of the powers of the central government and local governments means that governments of different regions and levels, based on the attributes of different public interests and the characteristics of their mutual power relations, rationally allocate power, operate power scientifically, optimize power relations, and provide public goods more reasonably.”27 In terms of its internal logic, the public affairs of different levels of government are a concrete manifestation of the public interest requirements of citizens in different administrative regions, an essential prerequisite for the allocation of public power in different administrative areas and levels of government, and a logical link between public interest and public power. Therefore, it is the practical basis for the division of hierarchical government powers. For this reason, the division of power between the central and local governments should start with public affairs and set the basis per specific affairs. The political, economic, social, natural, and policy attributes of public affairs compose the essential criteria to divide the hierarchical government power. Therefore, only by accurately defining and grasping the different attributes of public affairs, based on the nature of the affairs, can we accurately classify the government hierarchy of public affairs, and after that, allocate powers to different levels of government respectively, so that the affairs and powers can match strictly, integrate organically, and function effectively. To achieve a rationally divided power relationship between the central and local governments. The division of power between the central government and local governments based on the public interest needs of citizens of different regions, and levels in a specific country, based on the attributes of public affairs that meet public interest needs, and the way is the legal and reasonable allocation of public power, and the goal is to meet 27

Wang Puqu, A Country Study on the Division of Central and Local Authority and Its Implications, People’s Publishing House, 2016, p. 14.

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the diverse needs of society for public goods. From this, it is not difficult to find that the key to the division of power here is based on the public interest requirements of citizens in different regions, scopes and levels between the central and local governments to form actual public affairs regions and level. Only by accurately grasping the attributes of public affairs in different regions and levels can the corresponding public powers be allocated to provide public goods that meet the requirements of public interests at different levels. Therefore, the fundamental and core link of the division of power lies in the distinction between the central government and local governments in the attributes of various public affairs. It can be seen that the reasonable division between the common interests of the whole society and the interests of specific local areas and the requirements of political power to achieve effective political rule and political management are the decisive factors in the allocation and division of central power and local power. At the same time, the division of power between the central and local governments is often affected by many factors such as historical conditions, cultural traditions, ethnic relations, political situations, and economic development. Therefore, it shifts according to specific time, place, and conditions. Under normal circumstances, excessive centralization will inhibit local enthusiasm and flexibility, and excessive decentralization will lead to regional decentralism. So, this kind of centralization and decentralization must be based on the reasonable division of interests and the background of many other factors in different societies. The relationship between central power and local power constitutes the vertical structure of specific social and political power. The different forms of this power relationship have become the basis of the state structure of different countries. 4.

The Relationship Between Legislative Power, Executive Power, Supervisory Power, and Judicial Power

Legislative power, administrative power, supervisory power, and judicial power are functional divisions of social public power. Therefore, the relationship between them shows the horizontal power relationship of social public power. Generally speaking, the composition of the relationship between legislative, administrative, supervisory, and judicial power depends on the basic social attributes of social public power and the organization of political power. In slave society and feudal society, the main body of social public power is the slave owner class or feudal landlord class, and its power organization follows the principles and methods of authoritarian centralization. So, in such social and political life, the legislative power, the administrative power, the supervisory power, and the judicial power are integrated into one, and they are used and exercised uniformly by those in charge of power. In a capitalist society, social public power is essentially the political power of the bourgeoisie. Therefore, legislative power, executive power, supervisory power, and judicial power “are nothing more than the division of labor in daily affairs carried

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out by the bourgeoisie to simplify and supervise state institutions”.28 Since the interests of the bourgeoisie are formed based on the capitalist economic relationship, this economic relationship determines on the one hand that there is an antagonistic relationship between the private interests of various strata, groups, and factions within the bourgeoisie. To realize their interests and suppress the other’s interests, they must seek the backing of different political powers. On the other hand, capitalist economic relations and market economy methods require capitalist political power to be organized and constructed under the principle and method of decentralization, which makes it possible for different classes, groups, and factions of the bourgeoisie to seek power to represent their private interests. Therefore, under the influence of capitalist economic relations and economic operation mode, the functional powers of its political power such as legislation, administration, supervision, and justice have degenerated into the political power of different classes, groups, and factions within the bourgeoisie, thus presenting the relationship of separation of powers and mutual checks and balances. With the development of the capitalist monopoly trend, the monopoly bourgeoisie has become the main body of the bourgeoisie, adapting to the requirement that monopoly capital directly intervenes in the economy and realizes its interests. There has been cooperation between the legislative, administrative, supervisory, and judicial powers of the capitalist society to form a bilateral monopoly.29 At the same time, the administrative power in it tends to expand in actual operation. The establishment of socialist socio-economic relations makes the proletariat and the broad masses of the people essentially non-existent relationship of interest. Therefore, legislative power, administrative power, supervisory power, and judicial power are merely functional manifestations of the political power of the proletariat and the broad masses of people, and they are all unified in the fundamental interests of the proletariat and the broad masses of people. On the other hand, since the legislative power centrally embodies the interests and will of the proletariat and the broad masses of the people, it forms a universally effective legal bill which is the core of the public power of socialist society and is in the leading position in the state power structure. For executive power, supervisory power, and judicial power, they are only meant to implement and enforce these interests and wills, and therefore are in the position of subordinate legislative power in the power structure. The essential consistency of legislative, administrative, supervisory, and judicial powers and the commanding relationship of legislative power over administrative, supervisory and judicial powers reflects the political status of the proletariat and the broad masses of people in socialist countries as the masters of the country. The relationship between legislative power, administrative power, supervisory power, and judicial power in social-public power constitutes the horizontal structure of specific social-political power. The different forms of this power relationship have become the basis of different countries’ political institutions.

28

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 5. People’s Publishing House, 1958, p. 225. William A Niskanan, Bureaucracy and Public Economics, China Youth Publishing House, 2004, p. 235.

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4.3 The Functions of Political Power 4.3.1 The Characteristics and Manners of the Functions of Political Power To realize the interests and will, the subject of political power will inevitably exert political power on society and other political forces and even the natural world, which forms the specific role of political power. In terms of the essential characteristics of the role of political power, its main manifestations are: The role of political power has specific goals. In real life, political power always acts in a particular object of political power to achieve its particular goal. The particular object of political power defines the particular direction of the role of political power. The direction of political power may directly reflect the purpose of the subject of political power, or it may indirectly reflect this purpose. The role of political power has specific benefits. Political power is a process in which the energy of political power is transformed into the corresponding consequences, which causes the problem of the effectiveness of the role of political power. Generally speaking, the efficacy of political power is directly proportional to the cost. However, in the actual political process, the ratio of cost to the benefit of political power is affected by many complex factors, including the essential energy paid by political power, level of action, time of action, energy, direction, time, etc. of the reaction of political power objects. Political power has the effect of a double-edged sword. As a substantial dynamic force, political power has the characteristics of a double-edged sword when it acts on society, which mainly reflects in the following: In the sense of value, those in charge of political power can activate political power under the requirements of social public interests and the resulting public values. For social life and social members to form a role that is in line with the public good, it may also initiate the use of political power in accordance with the special interests of the unique power holders. And it may form an evil role that infringes or even destroys specific social public interests and violates public values. In the social and political sense, the political power will have corresponding effects on both the social members and the subject of power as the object of power. When the political power is beneficial or detrimental to or even undermining the public interest, the consequences of its role will affect or harm or even endanger the members of society. At the same time, it will directly affect the strength of political power and even the social status and power status of the subject of political power. The influence of political power is enormous and far-reaching. The political power is often imposed on all members within its scope and involves all aspects of their social life. Therefore, its scope of action is vast. At the same time, the political power is also the process of energy liberation and transform of huge public forces. Therefore, the role of political power often has a profound and long-term impact on

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society and history, and its impact is difficult to recover. It determines that the use of political power must be rational and prudent. The consequences of the role of political power often present the combined force of a parallelogram of various forces. In terms of the process and consequences of political power, the political power is an interactive process with other social and political forces. In this process, while restricting other social and political forces, it is also restricted by specific historical conditions, social relations, and the corresponding interaction of other forces. Therefore, the role of political power cannot fully embody as a single will in the process of action and its consequences. In actual political life and social processes, it often presents a synergistic effect with other social and political forces. “In this way, there are countless interlaced forces, parallelograms of countless forces, and a resultant force is produced from this, the historic result.”30 This result is a changing general parallelogram, a dynamic balance, which shows the actual state of political power operation. In the implementation and operation of political power, political power has different modes of action. The choice of the mode of action of political power mainly determined by factors such as the state of interest relations, the nature, the status of political power relations, and the strength of both Parties. In summary, these methods are mainly. 1.

Method of Instruction

The instruction method means that the subject of political power uses media to express its will in instruction language. And it requires the subject of political power to act accordingly. Instruction methods usually occur in power relationships with the same fundamental interests, especially power relationships between upper and lower levels within the same political power subject, such as central power versus local power and superior power versus subordinate power. The basis of the command method is the obedience and domination of the object of political power, otherwise, the command method will not proceed. Examples of instruction methods are executive orders, presidential orders, etc. The instruction method is a direct manifestation of the restriction of political power. It not only directly expresses the will of the subject of political power and the requirements for the object of political power in explicit language and form, but also directly reflects the coercive and restrictive nature of political power. In daily political life, the instruction method is often used by the executive power in political power. Therefore, the instruction method also regarded as a typical administrative method. 2.

Method of Pressure

The pressure method means that the subject of political power uses political power to form a specific coercive situation and psychological atmosphere on the object of political power. So that the object of power is aware of the political consequences of its actions or omissions, and then makes behavior choices according to the will 30

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 697.

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of the subject of political power, and then achieve the established requirements and goals of the political power subject for the political power object. When political power exercised by pressure, it is using the potential energy of political power. Political power uses its coercive force to cause psychological solid pressure on the object of power to achieve the purpose of the subject of power. Therefore, the pressure method of political power is the potential action mode of political power using the psychological expectation of whether the political power object acts by the will of power. Pressure methods often exist between contradiction and even confrontational interests of varying degrees. The role of the pressure mode of political power has an effective range, which generally depends on the cognition and expectation of the possibility of political consequences indicated by the pressure mode of political power by the political power object and the ability to bear the consequences. The concrete ways of political power to exert pressure include political warning, political terror, political martial law, and political deterrence. 3.

Method of Stipulations of an Agreement

The stipulations of an agreement means that the subject of political power makes or uses some political and social norms or rules to carry out his will and stipulate the object of political power. The characteristic of the method lies in the explicit and explicit prior agreement on actual behavior between the subject and the object of political power, on which both Parties’ behaviors are carried out. Therefore, the method works as regulation for both the object and the subject of political power. The stipulation of political power is usually used in the political relations with common interests, and the political and social norms or rules themselves are the constituent content of common interests. Therefore, the stipulation of political power can only be effectively used under the condition of social and political order and stability. The stipulation of political power mainly includes law, system, and discipline. The moral stipulation is a kind of non-power stipulation that is generally not used as the stipulation of political power. 4.

Method of Persuasion

The method of persuasion means that the subject of political power realizes the ideological and psychological communication with the object of political power through specific theories and schemes. And then, it carries out its intention. The basis of persuasion lies in the common interests with a particular meaning between the subject and object of political power, such as the leadership and the masses within the people. The persuasive method has a specific persuasive and technical nature. Its success is often related to the strength of the theory, the feasibility of the plan, and the effectiveness of the technique that the political power subject relies. Persuasion usually carries out on the level and content of the common interests of the subject of political

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power and the object of political power, the significance of political power requirements and intentions to realize the objective benefits of political power, and related mutual emotions. In a sense, political negotiation is also a specific way of political persuasion. 5.

Method of Reward

The reward method is that the subject of political power uses the resources at its disposal to reward the object of political power to encourage or motivate its action by predetermined goals. The general principle of the reward method is to set different levels of standards under the recognized value principles and value norms in specific social and political life. And link these standards with the interests of social members, or in other words, in these different standards are appended with benefits of various magnitudes and different social values, thereby encouraging social members to comply with political power requirements and norms of positive behavior. Since the benefits attached to these different levels of standards can be material, spiritual, or social, the rewards used by political power can be material or spiritual. It can also be socially identifiable, such as a specific job title. The rewards used by the political power mainly act in non-confrontational power relations. Since this method characterized by encouragement, it has been a positive way of power. Specific rewards and remuneration methods include praise, credit, payment of remuneration, award of honorary titles or specific positions, titles, etc. 6.

Method of Punishment

The Punishment method means that the subject of political power punishes the object of political power in different degrees according to certain norms or requirements. In this sense, it is a supplement to the regulation. The principles of design and application of the punishment method are the same as the reward method, but the direction is precisely the opposite. Therefore, the method of punishment characterizes by the reduction or even deprivation of political power objects or related interests of members of society. The punishment method characterizes by punishment, so it is a negative method. However, for the subsequent behavior of the object of political power and other objects of political power, it has a kind of posterity, so it does not lose its positive significance. Different from the method of reward, the method of punishment can not only be material, spiritual and social identity, but it also under certain circumstances, the social public power can be carried out by restricting or depriving the rights of the social members who violate the rules. However, it needs to note that in modern social and political life, only the social public power has legitimacy for the restriction or even deprivation of the social members’ rights to freedom and life. 7.

Method of Violence

Violence means that the subject of political power directly uses violent means to exercise political power.

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Violent methods are generally found in fundamentally opposed relations of interest and political power relations, such as violent actions by one class to overthrow another class. However, violence may also appear when the contradictions between non-fundamentally opposed political forces intensify and present a state of confrontation. The methods of violence include violent suppression, armed uprisings, military coups, political assassinations, etc. War is a large-scale extreme form of violence. Therefore, “war is the continuation of special political means”.31 The violent method is usually the extreme or the last way to use political power. Therefore, it is the way to use political power in a compelling political situation. When open violence appears on the political stage, it often marks the end of politics in the ordinary sense and the beginning of abnormal politics such as contradictions and wars.

4.3.2 The Functions of Political Power Political power is not only the core content of social-political relations, but it is also an important part of social life. Therefore, it has great significance and function for political relations, political life, and social life. From the perspective of political relations, first of all, political power is a specific way and means to realize the interests of its main members. To realize their interests, the members of the main body of political power condense into a specific coercive force. Through this force, on the one hand, they maintain the economic relations and social relations on which their interests form, to safeguard their interests. On the other hand, they obtain specific social resources to meet their interests directly. Therefore, whether the political power can form and its strength is strong or not directly affects whether or not the interests of its main members can be realized and the degree of realization. Secondly, political power is the necessary condition and power backing for people to obtain and realize legal political rights. Based on social interest relations, social members form a proposition about common interests and requirements, the idea and requirement after approval by widespread, become a moral sense of rights. The moral rights can only become legal political qualifications for social members to claim common interests, that is, legal political rights, after being confirmed by political power. Therefore, political power is the political prerequisite for social members to obtain legal political rights. On the other hand, the realization of the political rights of social members must be backed by political power. It is under the guarantee of political power that the society can guarantee the specific political order and realize political rights obtain a stable environment. It is under the protection of specific political power that the dominant members of society can maintain their political status and political qualifications. It is under the effect of political power that social and political life can be carried out under specific legal 31

Collected Works of Mao Tsetung Vol. 2, People’s Publishing House 1991, p. 479.

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norms, institutional norms, and procedural norms to ensure the realization of political rights in accordance with these norms. Therefore, political power is the necessary condition for the completion of political rights. From the perspective of social and political life, if interest is the foundation, motivation, and goal of political life, then political power is the core of social and political life. First l, people’s political behaviors and activities carried out with political power as the central content. Among them, all people’s political struggles are to seize and consolidate power, and people’s political rule and political management realized by political power. People’s political participation is achieved through the influence and effect of specific methods on political power to achieve their interests. Secondly, the social political institution based on political power as the core strength. As the overall organic composition of social and political organizations and systems, the social and political institution condensed around political power. Among them, the state is the organization and system of social public power, political Party is a class political organization and system that governs, influences, or seeks public power in society. In contrast, political associations are social and political organizations representing different interests and whose central task is to influence public power in society. Thirdly, social and political culture takes political power as the central content and value orientation. On the one hand, social-political culture reflects the nature, content, characteristics, operation and development of political power. On the other hand, political culture is attached to social and political power, and specific political culture serves specific social and political power. Finally, the development of social and political power is an essential content of social and political development, which shows the law and level of social and political development from one aspect. From the perspective of social life, first of all, political power realizes and distributes common interests in a legally compulsory way, stipulates the benefit boundary and realization rules of social members, and thus has a vital connection with each social member, and profoundly influences the behavior and life of social members in the sense of interest. Secondly, as mentioned above, political power has a substantial negative effect on the development of social productive forces. It can significantly promote, hinder or even destroy the development of social productive forces. The effect of political power on social productive forces usually realized in two ways: First, it can realize indirectly by protecting and destroying production and social relations. When the political power protects the advanced relations of production and social relations, it will promote the development of the social productive forces; otherwise, it will destroy the development of the productive forces. The second is to organize or destroy social production through political power directly. Thirdly, political power has a huge influence on the social, ideological, and cultural field. Since the political power in the whole society or a specific range with high penetration, political power is the composition of the material and cultural life, and even dominates the development direction, development process of society, culture and way of development.

Chapter 5

Political Rights

5.1 The Meaning and Characteristics of Political Rights 5.1.1 The Meaning of Political Rights 1.

The Meaning of Rights

The political right is a kind of right. Therefore, in order to understand the meaning of political right, we must first determine the meaning of right. “Rights” is also an ancient concept in the history of human civilization. In China, the word “right” first appeared in Xunzi Jun Dao, which pointed out, “Present them with sounds and sights, power and profit, resentment and anger, worry and danger, and observe whether they are able to avoid leaving their posts.” The word “right” was also recorded clearly in the later Records of the Historian, just like Guanfu in the history, “his household accumulated several tens of thousands of coins, and daily fed several dozen to a hundred retainers. His ponds, dikes, fields, gardens, plus his family, relatives, guests and retainers function as power and profit that enable him to act without restraint through all of Yingchuan.”1 Generally speaking, the word “right” in these ancient books basically refers to power and property. In the West, the word “right” in English has derived from the Latin “jus”. “Right” itself has two meanings, one is correct and justified, and the other refers to a certain qualification (title). This shows that the concept of “rights” in English has the meaning of legitimate qualifications. Aristotle in ancient Greece once defined rights as the standard of justice. “The concept of justice is related to the views of the country, because the right as the standard of justice is the criterion for regulating political communication.”2 Later, the Stoic School inherited this view of Aristotle, and further connected rights and reason. Since modern times, because human rights have become 1 2

Records of the Grand Historian: The Biography of the Marquises of Weiqi and Wuan. Hepcecяnc, B.C. Ancient Greek Political Theory. Commercial Press, 1991, p. 192.

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the bourgeoisie’s ideological weapon to fight against the feudal rule and safeguard its own interests, the West has gradually expanded its research on rights issues, and there have been many definitions of rights, among which representative ones are: (1)

The Theory of Natural Rights

This is a typical interpretation of rights by the modern school of natural law represented by John Locke. Based on the theory of natural law, this view believes that rights are innate talents of human beings, so long as human beings are naturally endowed with rights. Therefore, rights are the organic constituent content of human nature and have the natural attributes of human beings. The theory of natural rights played an active historical role in the bourgeoisie’s struggle against feudal privilege and for political equality. However, as far as its interpretation of rights is concerned, it is historical idealism. On the one hand, “birth only endows a person with a personal existence, first of all, it endows him with life and makes him a natural person” but does not endow him with rights. On the other hand, in human history, some people (such as the slave-owner class) have rights for a long time, while others (such as the slave class) have no rights at all. Therefore, the theory of innate rights neither reveals the social essence of rights, nor conforms to historical facts. (2)

(3)

(4)

The theory of rights as liberty. The theory of rights and liberty mostly defines rights from the specific content of rights and believes that rights are all kinds of liberties enjoyed by people within the scope allowed by law, that is, the liberty of social members to act or not to act. The definition derived from the theory of rights and liberty is the theory of will to power. That is, rights are people’s freedom of will, people’s autonomy. The theory of right and liberty makes right have a specific connotation, namely freedom or autonomy. However, it does not explain where people’s freedom or autonomy comes from, nor why there are different freedoms under different social backgrounds and social relations. Therefore, it has the color of the theory of abstract voluntarism. At the same time, social liberty is always linked with social responsibility, so it is one-sided to attribute rights to freedom. In addition, the scope of liberty is greater than that of rights. To equate rights with liberty is, in fact, to equate the concept of species and genus. The theory of rights and interests. The theory of rights and interests abandons the moral theory of natural right. Starting from utilitarianism, it believes that rights are interests protected by law. Thus, when an interest of a person is held by law to be bound to promote, that interest becomes that person’s right. The theory of rights and interests connects right and interest together, which makes right have realistic material and spiritual content. However, the interests considered by the theory of interests of rights are only the subjective needs of individuals, which makes it move away from the specific social relations to the will of rights. At the same time, although rights are closely related to interests, they are not equal to interests. At best, they are only the social channels for seeking the satisfaction of interests and needs. The theory of the power of right. The theory of the power of right holds that right is the compulsory force endowed by law to the subject of right, and right

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thus becomes a legal norm. This explanation illustrates the characteristics of the rights and their social basis. But the law itself has no spontaneous force, and therefore it does not account for the more profound source of the power of right. At the same time, the public social power is often a legal power, so this interpretation fails to distinguish power from right, and thus fails to explain the content and characteristics of right itself. The theory of equality of rights. The theory of equality of rights is the proposition of the new school of natural law in the twentieth century. They believe that rights mean equal care and respect for the people by the government. Ronald Dworkin, a representative of the new school of natural law, proposed: “The government must care about those people who rule, that is to say, regard them as people who may suffer pain and frustration; the government must respect these people, that is, think that they can form wise ideas about how they should live and act accordingly. Besides, the government must also care and respect the people equally.”3

This view addresses two important issues of rights, namely, equality and the relationship between the government and the people, but it does not indicate either the content of rights themselves or the basis of equal rights. In fact, in a long period of human history, rights do not mean equality but only inequality. It can be seen that Western scholars’ determination of the meaning of right does not profoundly clarify the nature of the right. The essential meaning of rights can be determined and grasped only by analyzing the social interest relations arising from rights according to the analysis method of Marxism. The basis for the generation of rights is the interest requirements and interest relationships of social members and social groups. When analyzing the legislative powers stipulated by the state, Marx pointed out that they are “the products of society, the children of society, not the products of natural individuals.”4 The so-called society is the sum of the connections and relationships between people. Therefore, rights are nothing but the legal manifestation of the interest relationships between people. A single social member constitutes the basic unit of the existence of social members, and the motivation for the formation of their rights is their interest requirements. Needs and their satisfaction are the basic existence and behavior motivation of individual members of society. Driven by the natural characteristics of interest that need to be realized and satisfied, social members must realize and satisfy these interest requirements through specific social relationships and ways, so that social members form interest relationships. As mentioned earlier, in the mutual interest relationship between individual members of society, common interests and different interests are actually two parts of the interests of individual members of society. Therefore, in social life, the basis of interest formed by rights includes the common interests and different interests of social members. Driven by these two parts of 3

Jack Donnelly. Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice. China Social Sciences Press, 2001, p. 74. 4 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2002, p. 131.

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interests, all rights of social members have been formed. A single member of society constitutes the basic subject of rights. In social life, social members form a variety of interest relationships. Based on these interest relationships, common interests and different interests with different meanings and contents are formed. Therefore, the common interest of a particular social group, as opposed to the members of that group, is its group interest. For a relatively larger group, it has an isomorphism similar to that of a single member of society, but with different content. That is to say, in a larger group of interests, it exists as an individual of the group. It also has common interests and different interests with other groups at the same level. These common interests and different interests form the basis of the rights of the group. The rights thus formed are collective rights, such as national rights and women’s rights, and the group becomes the subject of collective rights. It can be seen that the deep root of the generation and formation of rights is the interest requirements of social members. These interest requirements constitute the essential content of rights. Therefore, rights are essentially the interest requirements of social members, and the social consensus and moral recognition of such interest requirements and their interrelationships become social moral rights. In the process of historical development, the socio-economic relations of social members have different historical forms, which stipulates that the interest relations embodied in their social relations have different social and historical content. Therefore, in the concrete and realistic social life and historical process, rights are specific and historical, and in class society and class relations, it has a class character. Marx and Engels pointed out in this regard: Rights are not innate but are historically produced.5 Therefore, rights always have their specific social and historical content, “rights can never go beyond the economic structure of the society and the social and cultural development restricted by economic structure.”6 The concrete social and historical content of rights is concentrated in class relations as class content and class attribute of rights. The premise of the formation of rights is the confirmation and protection of political power. From the foregoing analysis of the formation process of political power, it can be seen that when social members gather social and political power and then use political power to achieve their interests, they will form a relationship of social power on the basis of interest and interest relations. Power over other social and political forces forms political power. Unlike political power, which is formed from common forces based on common interests, rights originate from different forces based on different interests, namely, individual social members and other social groups outside of political power. After the formation of political power, the social members in the social interest relationship and other social forces formed on the basis of the interest relationship will claim 5 6

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1957, p. 146. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 305.

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their interests and require the political power to confirm the legal nature of their claims. From the perspective of social interest relations, the interests advocated by the social members and these social forces include claims on the realization of their special interests, the realization of common interests, the relationship between such special interests and common interests, and the relationship between their special interests and the special interests of other interest subjects. At the same time, these claims contain many elements of realizing and determining their interests and interest relations, including the claims about the content of interests, the method and way of realizing interests, the boundary of interest relations and the operating rules. Political power affirms and guarantees the interests of social members and these social forces, forming their legal qualifications in social life. This legal qualification is the right. As Marx said of the bourgeoisie’s struggle for political domination, it must “make this political domination manifest itself in constitutions and laws. It ought to inscribe human rights on its flag, in reference to the old classes of origin.”7 In this sense, right is the legal transformation of political power. Furthermore, the claims of social members and social forces on their interests not only need the confirmation of political power to become legal qualifications and rights, but also need the guarantee of political power to become legal qualifications and rights. That is to say, only when political power guarantees the legal qualifications of social members and social forces, and really acts as the powerful backing and realization support for the legal qualifications of social members and social forces, the legal qualifications of social members and social forces can effectively become legal rights in reality. The individual social members who require and get the confirmation and guarantee of their qualifications by political power become the basic subjects of rights, whose rights are individual rights. The specific social force is the transformation of the specific interest group in the formation of the social force. The group that requires and gets the political power to confirm and guarantee its qualification becomes the group body of rights, and its rights become the rights of the group, that is, the collective right. It should be noted that right is the legal qualification for the confirmation and protection of political power, in which the role of political power is to confirm and guarantee rights, rather than invent and create rights. In fact, rights are not invented and created by political power or other forces and personnel, but are formed on the basis of social interest relations, and political power is confirmed and guaranteed after discovering the rights formed on the basis of such interests. Thus, it can be seen that the so-called right is the legal qualification of social members and specific social forces who are confirmed and guaranteed by public social power to claim their interests on the basis of specific economic and social relations and their embodied interest relations. The content of rights is the claim on the realization of interests (including common interests and personal interests) and distribution (including the distribution of public interests and personal interests, and the distribution of personal interests and personal interests), in the form of legal 7

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 16. People’s Publishing House, 1964, p. 85.

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qualifications for social members and specific social forces in social life, and its behavior is manifested as the autonomy of actions and omissions within the scope of rights. 2.

The Meaning of Political Rights

The political right is a type of right, which is the right of social members to participate in and influence social-political life. Since right is the qualification of social members in social life, as a type of right, the political right has the general prescriptive nature of the right. In this regard, it is the legal qualification of social members in social life. On the other hand, as a specific type of rights, political rights are not only the qualifications of social members in social life, but also their qualifications in social and political life, which makes political rights different from rights in the general sense, so they have their specific political provisions. The political nature of political rights can be determined by further analysis of the logical process of the formation of political rights. From the analysis of the interest basis of the formation of rights, the foundation of the formation of political rights is common interests. As mentioned above, right is the legal qualification for social members to claim their interests on the basis of interest relations. Among the interests that social members claim in the way of rights, there are claims for their special interests and common interests. Since political life is built on the basis of common interests, it determines that common interests are the only basis for the formation of political rights among the interests advocated by social members. Or in other words, political rights are the legal qualifications of social members to assert their common interests. In terms of its basic content, the common interests of the members of the society include the realization of the common interests among the interest subjects who constitute the interest relationship, as well as the common norms of the different interests among these interest subjects. Therefore, the realization of common interests and the norms of different interests among the social members as interest subjects constitute their common interests together. In this sense, political rights are not only the legal qualification for social members to assert their common interests, but also the legal qualification for the common norms of different interests. In this sense, what political rights stand for is not the different interests of the social members, but the common interests among the social members. Similarly, the interest basis formed by collective political rights is the common social interest in the interest relationship between the group and other groups. For example, the interest basis of women’s political rights is the common interest formed between women, a specific social group, and other groups. The basis of national political rights is the common interests formed by ethnic groups and other ethnic groups. As far as its scope and level are concerned, since the common interests constituted on the basis of specific interest relations have specific scope and levels, in social life, these common interests have different scopes and levels of realistic manifestations, such as class interests, group interests, class interests, etc. However, in the scope and

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level of the social community, the common interest is the common interest of the entire society composed of all members of society and social forces. Therefore, in the scope and level of the entire social community, political rights are the legal qualification for social members and social forces to advocate common social interests. In daily political life, the so-called political rights usually refer to legal qualifications in the scope and level of the whole society. In terms of its historical process, common social interests have different specific meanings and contents under different social and historical conditions and backgrounds. Therefore, the political rights that advocate these common interests also have specific historical content and scope correspondingly. In class society and class relations, the assertion of common interests is manifested as the assertion of specific class interests, thus making political rights have class nature. Analyzed from the premise of political power formed by right, the political right is the legal qualification of social members who are confirmed and guaranteed by political power to advocate common interests. The common interests and different interests of social members included in the social interest relationship are the interests of social members. Therefore, after the formation of political power, social members will claim these interests according to their own understanding and requirements and require political power to confirm and guarantee this qualification. Among them, the claims of their common interests have become the driving force for the formation of political rights, and the confirmation and protection of the legal qualifications of social members for claiming common interests by political power have become the political conditions for the formation and realization of their political rights. Therefore, if rights are the legal qualifications for social members who are confirmed and guaranteed by political power to claim their interests, then political rights are a specific part of these legal qualifications and are the legal qualification for social members who are confirmed and guaranteed by political power to claim common interests. Obviously, in the context of society, the political rights of a particular social group are the legal qualification of that group to assert the common interests between it and other groups. For example, the political rights of women are the legal qualification for women to claim the common interests between them and other groups, while the political rights of a nation are the legal qualification for a given nation to claim the common interests between it and other nations. Therefore, the individual social members who request and get the political power to confirm and guarantee their qualification to advocate common interests become the basic subject of political rights, and their rights are personal political rights. The group that demands and gets the qualification of political power to confirm and protect its claim of common interests becomes the group body of political rights, and its rights become the group’s political rights, that is, collective political rights. From the above analysis, it can be seen that the so-called political rights are the legal qualifications of social members and social groups to claim their common interests, which are confirmed and guaranteed by political power on the basis of specific economic and social relations and their embodied interest relations. The content of political rights is the claim of common interests, the form is the legal

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qualification of social members and social groups in social and political life, and the behavior is manifested as the autonomy within the legal scope of political rights. In real political life, it is embodied in individual political rights and collective political rights. The definition of political rights can be understood as follows: (1)

(2)

(3)

Political rights are essentially the requirements for the common interests of social members. The fundamental reason for the formation of political rights is the realization of common social interests. On the basis of the common interests of society, political power is formed on the one hand, and political right is formed on the other. Political power is characterized by common power, and political right is based on different powers. Therefore, political right is essentially a legal, political qualification for social members and social groups to claim common interests. Political rights take political power based on specific economic relations and interests as the precondition and backing force. Political rights are the qualifications of social members and social groups in social and political life that are confirmed by political power. Without the confirmation of political power, political rights may be moral rights, but they will not become legal rights. Therefore, the formation of political rights of social members and social groups must be based on the establishment and confirmation of specific political power. At the same time, the realization of political rights of social members and social groups must be guaranteed by political power. It should be noted that political rights take political power as the precondition and backing force, which does not mean that political rights originate from political power. Through the analysis of the basis of social interest relations formed by political rights, we can see that the social root of political rights is common social interest, and political power is only the confirmation and guarantee of the qualification of social members to advocate such common interest. However, without the confirmation and guarantee of political power, political rights can neither become legal, political qualifications nor be realized in social and political life. It is in this sense that political power has the meaning of precondition and backing force for the formation and operation of political rights. Political rights reflect the relationship between social members, social groups and political power. On the basis of social interest relations, people gather and form various forces to realize various interests, including not only the social members existing as the form of individual power, but also the social groups existing as the form of collective social power, as well as the political power as the public power. Political rights are the legal qualification for social members and social groups to advocate common interests. It is formed after the social interest relationship is transformed into the social power relationship. Therefore, it is the embodiment of the social power relationship. At the same time, political rights are the legal qualifications confirmed and protected by political power. Therefore, they reflect the relationship between political power as a social force and the power of social members and social groups.

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Political rights are legal stipulation for qualification. This stipulation indicates that “the content of this right is to participate in the community, in particular, in the political community, in the state.”8 People have the legal qualification to carry out activities in social and political life, advocate common interests, and require their own opinions and behaviors to be guaranteed by political power. At the same time, political rights are only the identity and qualification of social members and social groups to claim common interests in political life. They are neither the realization of common interests nor the common interests themselves. Therefore, the realization of political rights is only the intermediary link for social members to realize common interests through political life. The fact that people have and realize political rights does not mean that they have realized their common interests in political life. However, if people have no political rights, they will never realize their common interests in political life.

5.1.2 The Characteristics of Political Rights Political rights are the legal qualifications of social members who are confirmed and guaranteed by political power to claim common interests, which indicates that, on the one hand, the basis for the formation of political rights is common interests, and the goal of the claim is common interests. Therefore, the characteristics of common interests have basic stipulations for political rights. Political rights, on the other hand, are the legal qualification of social members and groups confirmed and guaranteed by political power. This process is the restoration of political power on the legal qualifications of social members and social groups, the transfer of political power to social members and social groups in the form of political qualifications, and the qualification confirmation of dispersed social members and social groups by centralized public power. Through this process, the characteristics of political power are correspondingly transformed into the characteristics of the political rights. In class society, common social interests and political power have strong class characteristics, which determines that political rights have corresponding class characteristics. Therefore, slave society, feudal society, capitalist society and socialist society have political rights with different class characteristics. These class characteristics are fundamental characteristics of political rights. In addition, from the analysis of the meaning of the political rights, the claims of individual social members for common interests and the confirmation of the rights of decentralized social members by centralized political power have become contradictory movements in the formation of political rights, and the characteristics of common interests and political power in the relationship of interest, having gone through this process of a contradiction movement, transformed into other characteristics of political rights:

8

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2002, p. 181.

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(1)

Political rights have the relative individuality of the subject. The relative individuality of political rights means that political rights belong to the political rights of social individuals in the sense of relative common interests, and the realization of political rights is the realization of social individuals’ rights in the sense of relative common interests. This shows that, on the one hand, in the sense of ownership of rights, political rights belong to the rights of relative individuals. First of all, from the perspective of a single social member as the subject of political rights, political rights are undoubtedly the rights of the social member relative to the individual with common interests in his interest relationship. Secondly, as the main political power from the particular social group, although the group itself is a form of political rights subject, due to the common social interests claimed by political rights, as the particular social group of the main body of the political rights, what their political rights claim are the common interests between their groups and other groups. This kind of common interest is actually the interests of the larger group made up of the group and other groups, compared with this larger group, this group is actually an individual. Therefore, in this kind of interest relationship, its political rights are still relative individual rights. On the other hand, in the sense of the realization of rights, political rights should finally be implemented as the rights realized by the relative individuals. Clearly, the realization of individual social members’ political rights is the implementation of individual political rights, and for specific groups, compared to the larger group, political rights of a specific group are still relatively individual rights. Therefore, the realization of their political rights, can be in a relative sense as the realization of political rights for individuals. Furthermore, in social and political life, the political rights of a specific social group are ultimately implemented in each individual of the group, such as women’s rights to participate in public affairs, in the final analysis, are implemented as the realization of each female citizen’s participation in public affairs. Therefore, in this sense, the political rights of a specific group will also be implemented on the individual rights of social members in the sense of realization. As Marx said, the history of mankind “is always the history of their individual development.”9

Relative individuality of political rights is the transformation of interests of subject into the political qualification of social members. In fact, the interests of subject of political powers are the common interests formed by social members and social groups in different implications and meanings. Therefore, political power and rights actually originated from the same common interests. Political power’s confirmation of the qualifications of political rights subjects to claim common interests confirms the qualifications of each subject of individual political rights to the same common interests, which is also the reduction of centralized political power on the political qualifications of decentralized social members. Consequently, the interest of subject of political power is transformed into the legal qualifications for the scattered subjects of political rights to claim common interests. 9

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 532.

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It shows that the publicity of common interests and the interestedness of subject of political power in the interest relationship switch to relative individual political qualification via paradoxical movement caused by political rights. The subject of political rights is relatively individual so that the form of political rights is relatively individual while the content public. Therefore, the existence of political rights is relatively individual, and its exercise is public. In this way, political rights are relatively owned by individuals but are “just exercised with others.”10 (2)

Political rights are statutorily normative. As the statutory political qualifications of members of society, political rights embody the basic norms of social and political life, stipulating the scope, content and methods of political power and members of society in conducting political actions, engaging in political activities, and undertaking political obligations, so political rights are characterized as normative.

The norm of political rights is a legal qualification transformed from the compulsory restriction of political power and backed by political power. Therefore, it is a peremptory norm, which makes it different from the norm of morality that regulates through personal psychological activities and social customs. At the same time, since political rights are norms existing in legal form, they are clear and specific, differentiated from the underlying norms of ethics. The normative nature of political rights stems from the fact that the common interests in the interests of the subjects of political rights are not realized in the market. Political rights are legal qualifications for their subjects to claim common interests. From the aforementioned analysis of the basic characteristics of common interests, it can be seen that common interests cannot be realized through market approaches or mechanisms. Therefore, in specific historical conditions and development stages, political methods and political life become a mechanism for realizing common interests. Since political rights are legal qualifications for members and groups of society to claim common interests, it has become an approach for the subjects of political rights as relative individuals to claim and realize common interests in social and political life. According to the meaning of political rights, this approach is actually a certification of the subject of political rights out of political power, recognized and guaranteed by political power. Therefore, in the process of formation and realization of political rights, the non-market realization of common interests is transformed into the behavioral causes of the subjects of political rights as relative individuals. The normative nature of the subject of political rights is also the transformation of the mandatory constraint of political power on its legal political qualifications. Although the constraint is the direct source and backup force, the normative nature of political rights is the reduction of political power in the form of laws or regulations on the political qualifications of the relatively individual subject of political rights. Through the process of this contradiction movement, the norm of political rights not only regulates the scope, content and methods of political activities of the subject of political rights and other members of society and specific subject of political rights, 10

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but also prescribes political power and its organization and carrier of personality, such as governments, political parties, and political managers, as well as political activities related to specific political rights. (3)

Political rights have the autonomy of the subject of rights. Political rights are political qualifications, enabling members of society to freely engage in political activities within the limits of legitimacy, so it has the characteristics of autonomy. In a sense, it can be considered that without this kind of autonomy, there would be no political rights.

The autonomy of the subject of political rights is converted from the unity of common interests in the interest relation of the subject of rights. In a specific social interest relation, the common interest of different stakeholders is typically singular. However, such common interests are an organic part of the interests of different stakeholders. In political rights, they are also the common interests advocated by specific subjects of rights in terms of their own understanding and grasp. Therefore, for the subject of rights, the uniqueness of common social interests is transformed into the uniqueness of the common interests claimed by the subject of rights in the sense of scope and meaning of its political rights. This uniqueness can be claimed and realized only by specific subjects of political rights, thus forming the autonomy of the legal qualifications of specific political rights to claim common interests. On the other hand, since political rights are legal qualifications of various subjects of political rights respectively to claim common interests, the only common interests of different stakeholders in the interest relation will be transformed, in the sense of political rights, into the one claimed by many subjects of political rights based on their own recognition and understanding. This unique transformation, from the only common interest in the interest relation to the one claimed by multiple political rights subjects, has led to many subjects of political rights to claim common interests within their legal rights, thus forming the autonomy of political rights. The autonomy of the subjects of political rights is also the transformation of the reservedness and exclusiveness of political power in the legal qualification of the subjects of political rights. As mentioned earlier, political power is exclusive in the vested scope and level. However, political rights are legal qualifications of social members and groups confirmed by political power. Through this process, political power, concentrated and cohesive as a common force, is transformed into the legal identity of the decentralized subjects of political rights, and the exclusiveness of political power, correspondingly, is transformed into the reservedness of each specific subject of the political right to its freedom within the legal scope and the exclusiveness of other social members and forces. The specificity and exclusiveness constitute the autonomy of political rights. The autonomy of political rights is essentially the liberty of the political will of social members within the legal scope. It is embodied in the freedom of the political rights holders to choose political activities and their methods and purposes, that is, within the legal scope, the freedom to decide whether to engage in political activities or not, to strive for specific political goals or not, and to adopt specific methods

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for such activities or not. However, it should be emphasized that the autonomy of any political right has its specific scope and boundary. This scope is the limits of legitimacy. In principle, this boundary must be such that it does not hinder the freedom of political behavior within the scope of other political rights subjects or harm the public interest of society as the premise. Since political rights are legal qualifications of the subject of rights confirmed and guaranteed by political power, the autonomy of political rights is also the autonomy of political power confirmation and protection. (4)

Political right is the integrity of right and obligation. Political rights are the organic composition of political rights and political obligations. Political rights and political obligations are two aspects of all political rights. Marx pointed out: “no rights without duties, no duties without rights.”11

The integrity of rights and obligations of political rights originates from the relative independence of common interests. In the interest relation, once the common interest is formed, it obtains relatively independent control over other interests. The relative independence of the common interest makes it an independent interest, and thus becomes the objective entity that members of society and social groups claim to realize, so that they need to use specific social methods and approaches to achieve it. The propositions of members of society on this common interest make this independence of common interests in political rights transform into the freedom of the subject of rights within the legal scope. At the same time, the independent common interest is relative, reflected in the interest relation in comparison to other interests. Therefore, when the subject of political rights realizes the common interests by claiming political rights, the subject is simultaneously given the political responsibilities to society and others in the process of asserting and realizing common interests. Obviously, independence endows the subject of political rights the freedom within the legal scope, which constitutes the aspect of rights for political rights; while the relativity of common interests gives the subject of political rights corresponding political responsibilities, thus constituting the obligation of political rights. This shows that the relative independence of common interests has become the basis for the integrity of rights and obligations in political rights. The integrity of rights and obligations of political rights is also the result of the expansion of political power in the formation of political rights. In the formation of political rights, the expansion of political power is transformed into the corresponding expansion of the confirmed political rights. The correspondence forms mutual restrictions between political rights and political power as well as among political rights. These restrictions form not only the symmetry of the power and responsibility, but also the integrity of the rights and obligations of the subjects of political power. The integrity of rights and obligations of political rights is reflected in the following aspects: first, political rights and obligations are inseparable and corresponding. As far as the subject of political rights is concerned, once the political qualification of the subject of specific political rights is confirmed, it means that the 11

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 610.

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subject’s political rights and obligations are established at the same time; as for the subject of political power, once the political qualification is confirmed, it shows that the subject has political rights, and that political power has an obligation to recognize and respect the subject’s political rights; for other subjects, once the confirmation is established, it not only means that the subject has political rights, but also demonstrates that other subjects of political rights have the obligation to recognize and respect the rights of that subject. However, in the process of social and historical development, due to different states of society, the indivisibility of political rights and obligations has different actual manifestations: in a society of public ownership, political rights and obligations are unified embodied on every member of society who has political rights; while in a society of private ownership, the division of classes separates political rights from obligations. This separation “gives almost all rights to one class, while on the other hand almost all obligations are transferred to another class.”12 Here, political rights and obligations are only unified on the level of the whole society. That is, they are unified in an opposite way. Second, political rights and obligations are mutually conditional. Political obligations are the basis for the realization of political rights, and political rights are the precondition for fulfilling political obligations. Political rights without obligations are only the political privileges of the exploiting class; and political obligations without rights only lead to oppression and enslavement. Third, political rights and obligations are identical in terms of quantity, meaning that members of society shoulder political obligations as many as political rights that they possess, and vice versa. Fourth, the ultimate goal of political rights and obligations is the realization of common interests. (5)

Political rights have value as freedom. As a legal qualification for claiming and realizing common interests, political rights have a specific meaning of public value. Generally speaking, the intrinsic value of rights is liberty within the legal scope. Therefore, the specific basic value of political rights is the liberty of the subject of political rights to conduct political life within the legal scope.

The basic value embedded in political rights is formed by specific members and groups of society in claiming common interests. In fact, it is the embodiment of specific values in multiple values of common interests in the qualifications of specific subjects in claiming and demanding common interests. In terms of public social values, common interests have public values such as survival, safety, order, efficiency, fairness, justice, equality, freedom, and democracy. In social and political life, these values are undertaken and embodied separately or jointly by the power of political power holders and the rights of political rights holders. From the perspective of the history of human social and political development, the values of survival, security, order, and efficiency in political life are usually undertaken and embodied by political power, while the values of fairness, justice, equality, and democracy by both. As for the value of freedom, it is undertaken and embodied by political rights alone. In the formation of political rights, the common interests in the interest relation transfer their 12

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 178.

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own freedom value to the subject of political rights. Therefore, when members and groups of society claim and demand common interests, the freedom value in political life becomes a basic public value of political rights. As Marx said, political rights “belong to the category of political freedom.”13 In this sense, as legal qualifications claim common interests, political rights are actually legitimate freedom of their subjects in social and political life, which permits the requirement and behaviors of claiming common interests. “The so-called civil right, in terms of politics, means the right to freedom and democracy.”14 It can be seen that the value of freedom in political life embodied in political rights is the embodiment of the specific value of common interests in the legal qualification of the subject of political rights. The freedom value of political rights is also the embodiment of the multiple functions of political power on the qualifications of political rights. When political power confirms and guarantees the statutory political qualifications of specific members of society and social groups, it confirms whether and how they are free with regard to common interests, and at the same time, the specific function of political power transforms into legal demands and qualification requirements. These claims and requirements to realize political rights in terms of common interests become functions of positive rights, reflecting the positive liberty of political rights; and those to protect their political rights from political power become negative functions, reflecting the negative liberty. It can be seen that the specific basic public value of political rights is formed by transforming the specific function of its multiple functions into the function of the subject of political rights in the process of political power confirming the qualifications of political rights. What needs to be explained is that the freedom value of political rights is stipulated specifically by historical and social factors. Obviously, it is consistent with the ownership of political rights. When members of the exploiting class have and enjoy political rights, laboring people have no political freedom, and vice versa. At the same time, the freedom of political rights is the freedom within the scope of statutory rights. Once beyond this scope, it becomes illegal laissez-faire. In addition, the freedom value of political rights is objective and dominant for political rights, but for other social values, especially for the realization of the interests of members of society and economic and social life, the freedom of political rights only has instrumental value. It shows that political rights are nothing but a tool for members of society to advocate and realize common interests.

13 14

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2002, p. 181. Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 5. People’s Publishing House, 1977, p. 367.

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5.2 The Content and Functions of Political Rights 5.2.1 The Historical Development of Political Rights The political right belongs to the historical category, “a product of history”.15 Its formation “requires certain historical condition which itself is premised on long history.” It emerges with the emergence of public social power, and develops with the development of public social power, taking the fundamental nature of public social power as its fundamental nature. Since public social power is related to specific social interest relations, it has experienced different historical forms such as public power of primitive society, of slave society, of feudal society, of capitalist society, and of socialist society. The rights in public life and political rights have correspondingly experienced these historical periods. In primitive society, public social affairs of human society allow society public life and public activities. The members of clan society maintain common interests of the clan through these activities and distribute the fruits of common labor to meet the needs of each clan member. Each member participated in these public activities with equal qualification which is the right of primitive society members in public life. However, such right has its own characteristics: (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

15

It belongs to each member of society. Because of the extremely low social productivity, people’s production and life must be carried out together in a social group. Therefore, everyone is responsible for public social affairs and everyone is qualified to put forward their own views on public social affairs. The clan council is also held within the whole clan. The qualifications of the members of the clan society are equal. As Morgan pointed out, the clan society “is equal in terms of individual rights, and neither the chief nor the chieftain can claim any superiority: they are compatriots united by kinship. Freedom, equality, and fraternity are fundamental principles of the clan even if they have never been clearly stated.”16 The qualifications of members of clan society are not determined by law, but by moral customs. “At this stage of social development, there is far from legal rights,” and “in most cases, traditional customs have adjusted everything.”17 The rights and obligations of clan members are completely integrated. As Engels said, “in the clan system, there is no distinction between rights and obligations. To participate in public affairs, to practice kinship revenge, or to accept atonement for this, the question of whether it is a right or an obligation does not exist for Indians; in the eyes of Indians, this question is as absurd as whether eating, sleeping, or hunting are questions of rights or obligations.”18

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 448. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 87. 17 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, pp. 38, 95. 18 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 159. 16

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With the development of social productivity and the old-style division of labor and the establishment of private ownership, society split into classes including slave owners and slaves, and nobles and common people. Public social power transferred to the slave-owner class as political power, while the rights of members of society in public life also evolved into political rights. In order to safeguard and realize its own interests, the slave-owner class stipulates political rights in the form of law for the first time through the political power it possesses. The characteristics of this political right are: (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Political rights belong exclusively to the slave-owner class. The slaves in the slave society do not have any personal freedom. Since they are private property of the slave-owning class, of no independent personality, they have no personal rights, not to mention political rights. Although civilians among free people have rights to life, personal rights, property rights, and even certain political rights, they cannot fundamentally determine social and public affairs. Therefore, political rights are nothing but the privilege of the nobility, the slave owner. Political rights have the characteristics of patriarchal hierarchy. The slave society law clearly stipulates that among aristocrats who enjoy political rights, they are divided into a number of political levels according to their blood ties with the royal family and their direct and child relationship. Each level enjoys different political rights. The king is the patriarch of the royal family and enjoys the greatest political rights. Therefore, the political rights of the slave society are connected with the clan rights. For the first time, political rights have been linked to private property. As Engels put it, slavery “has added a brand-new element to the system–private property. The rights and obligations of citizens are regulated in accordance with the size of their real estate.”19 The slave-owner class relies on political rights to carve up social wealth and slaves in order to maintain their arrogant and prosperous lives. The king is the general representative of the slave-owner class and enjoys the highest ownership of the country’s land and slaves. Political rights are separated from political obligations. Since the slaves in the slave society are basically excluded from the political life of the country, there is far from political obligation, but the social obligation imposed by the slaveowner class is implemented through hard work. For slave owners, civilians should bear political obligations, such as national labor and military service. However, the slave-owner class enjoys political privileges, whereas no political obligation to slaves and civilians.

At the end of the slave society, feudal relations of production emerge. The interest antagonism between the slave-owner class and the slave class is replaced by the one between the feudal landlord class and the peasant class. The feudal landlord class seizes political privileges by virtue of its economic status and political rule. At the same time, since slave-featured labor without self-interest and status cannot 19

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 114.

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arouse the interest of laborers in the least, the feudal landlord class allows peasants to obtain their own benefits to a certain extent by means of renting, and peasants are accordingly regarded as social members. However, since the landlord owns the land, the peasants have personal bondage to the landlord. This change in social class relations has influenced the political rights of feudal society: (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Private property directly determines the ownership of political rights. The political privileges of feudal society such as primogeniture are actually “the political significance of private property.”20 The amount of property directly determines the number of political rights, and the hereditary right of property directly affects the hereditary right of political rights. Since the landlord class occupies most of the land and social wealth, political rights are basically owned by the landlord class. The monarch enjoys the greatest political privilege. The feudal monarch is the largest landlord. He owns the country’s land and wealth, and thus enjoys the greatest political rights. As Marx said: “In the feudal system, it is precise that the power of the monarch is the power of private property.”21 The emperor is the supreme policymaker, the giver and depriver of all people’s political qualifications, and the greatest political freeman. Political power is closely related to bureaucratic hierarchy and monks. Bureaucratic hierarchy is the tool and characteristic of the political rule of the feudal landlord class. In order to maintain this hierarchy, political rights are often closely linked to it. The state determines the number of political rights according to the level of bureaucratic hierarchy. Bureaucrats at all levels have formed large and small privileged political class. Therefore, the feudal society “established an unprecedentedly complex social and political hierarchy, thereby eliminating all concepts of equality within a few centuries.”22 Since the feudal society implemented a political hereditary system, blood lineage has also become an important basis for political rights, which makes people born with distinctions of high and low. Although peasants also enjoy certain political rights such as the right of action, their social and political status has always been low, and their political destiny has always been dominated by the landlord class and feudal bureaucrats. “The peasants are tied to the feudal system and there is no personal freedom”,23 and farmers basically have no rights in social and political life.

After the collapse of feudal society, human society entered the capitalist stage, and the bourgeoisie became the social ruling class. Since the interests of the bourgeoisie are realized through hiring labor and market exchanges, the freedom and equality of capitalist’s hiring labor as well as laborers’ selling labor has become the

20

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2002, p. 135. Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2002, p. 136. 22 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 445. 23 Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol.2, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 624. 21

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inherent requirements of capitalist production and exchange. These requirements deeply imprint on the political rights of capitalist society: (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

24 25

Political rights are formally embodied as political democracy, freedom and equality. The bourgeoisie breaks down the feudal dictatorship, bureaucratic hierarchy, and political privileges, and replaces them with representative systems and electoral systems, recognizing that each member of society has an independent personality and equal political rights, which makes the capitalist society political rights a big step ahead of the political rights of feudal society. Political rights conceal the social inequality of capitalist society with formal equality. Due to the existence of capitalist property private ownership and the exploitation of wage labor, the bourgeoisie and the working class are under the relationship of enslavement in the socio-economic sense, so there is de facto inequality in a capitalist society. However, capitalist political rights conceal this social and economic unfreedom and inequality with political democracy, freedom, and equality. Therefore, Marx pointed out: “A single member of the people is equal in the heaven of their political world, but unequal in the earthly existence of society.”24 Political rights conceal the inequality in actual political life with their legal equality. Although political rights in a capitalist society are equal in law, in actual political life, capital manipulates politics with money, thus making politics a game for the rich and making the political rights of the poor useless. On the other hand, it also imposes specific restrictions on the political rights of the proletariat and does not provide facilities for realizing these political rights. Therefore, the political rights of the proletariat have only abstract legal meanings and seldom actual political meanings. As Lenin revealed: “All propaganda about universal suffrage, civil consciousness, and the equality of the voters is a hoax, because it is impossible that there exists equality between the exploiter and the exploited, and between the possessors of capital and property and modern wage slaves.”25 Political rights conceal the impropriety of capital exploitation with their apparent propriety. Capitalist politics is the same as capitalist commodity economy, except that people’s political qualifications are used as commodities in exchange, which is fair in form but unfair in substance. On the other hand, it is undeniable that the apparent equality and justice of capitalist political rights also provide conditions for the proletarian political struggle. The proletariat and the working people can use these political rights to carry out legal struggles to force capitalists to make concessions and fight for the actual interests of the proletariat and the working people.

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2002, p. 100. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 35. People’s Publishing House, 1956, p. 283.

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The contradictory movement between the capitalist system of ownership of the means of production and the socialization of production leads to the proletarian revolution eventually and socialist society is established. The socialist public ownership and public social power are owned by the proletariat and the entire people, making socialist social and political rights broad, fair, and authentic: (1)

(2)

(3)

In terms of broadness, the political rights of a socialist society are the rights widely enjoyed by the proletariat and the entire people instead of the political privileges of a certain class or group. At the same time, the political rights enjoyed by the people have a wide range of content. For example, citizens enjoy the right to manage state-owned enterprises and the urban and rural collective economy and enjoy extensive social autonomy. In terms of fairness, the political rights of a socialist society are enjoyed equally by the proletariat and all people, and are not restricted by money, property status, ethnicity, race, gender, occupation, family background, religious belief, education level, and duration of residence. People are equal not only in qualifications for political activities, but also in opportunities for political appointments. In terms of authenticity, the establishment of socialist public ownership has enabled the proletariat and working people to truly gain the status of masters of the country, and their political equality and economic equality are closely integrated. Therefore, it also makes people’s political rights in a socialist society truly become the basis and guarantee for realizing and safeguarding their own interests in social and political life, thus realizing the historical task of making political rights “return to the real world.”26

It can be seen that the political rights of a socialist society are a sublation of capitalist social and political rights, a true qualification for the political equality of the people realized on the basis of public ownership, and an important way to realize the requirements of people’s interests, social fairness and justice, and social and economic equality.

5.2.2 The Basic Content of Political Rights In different countries and different stages of social and historical development, political rights have different contents. In terms of its basic content, political rights include the determination, realization, enjoyment, and distribution of common interests by members of society, which are embodied in the actual content, realization rules, and candidates for action, in the common rules for realizing different interests, and in the range of behaviors, behavior patterns and mutual relationships of members in social and political life. However, from the perspective of today’s world, there are mainly

26

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1956, p. 283.

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civil political rights in capitalist and socialist countries. Therefore, this article mainly summarizes the basic content of these two kinds of civil political rights. 1.

Basic content of political rights in capitalist countries

The provisions of the capitalist countries on political rights are clearly reflected in a number of classic historical documents on human rights of the bourgeoisie, including the British Habeas Corpus Act in 1679, An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown in 1689, and the Virginia State’s Declaration of Rights in 1776, the 1776 American Declaration of Independence, the French Declaration of Human Rights in 1789, etc. At present, the regulations on political rights of capitalist countries are mainly found in the constitutions, in which the provisions on political rights are concentrated on three aspects: freedom, equality, and participation in political power. Although the provisions of various capitalist countries are slightly different, their basic contents are generally the same. (1)

Right to liberty

The provisions of the capitalist countries on the right to liberty include both the freedom of political activities and the freedom of non-political activities. Therefore, the right to liberty basically applies to both aspects. In terms of its content, it mainly includes: Personal freedom. Citizens should not be subject to arbitrary arrest, detention and other illegal personal violations. At the same time, citizens should be reviewed or interrogated within a prescribed time limit after being arrested. Freedom of speech. It includes the freedom to express one’s own speech in oral, written or other forms, such as freedom of speech, publication, writing, news, etc. Freedom of correspondence. Generally speaking, it means that the confidentiality of correspondence of citizens should not be violated or subject to arbitrary inspection by the authorities. Freedom of assembly. It refers to the freedom of citizens to express their will and wishes or discuss specific issues in a certain form of temporary assembly, including various locations and forms of assembly. Freedom of association. It mainly refers to the freedom of citizens to combine into a certain organization to achieve a specific purpose. In addition, the capitalist countries’ regulations on civil liberties also include freedom of migration, freedom to strike, and so on. Although capitalist countries have made high-sounding provisions for these freedoms in Constitution, they often pass many specific laws that actually restrict civil liberties to a great extent. At the same time, capitalist countries often arbitrarily violate civil liberties for certain political reasons. (2)

Right to participate in government and political affairs

The right to participate in government and political affairs refers to the right of citizens to participate in social and political life, which generally includes the right to vote, the right of initiative, referendum, and the right of recall stipulated by capitalist society.

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The right to vote includes the right to vote and the right to be elected. The right to vote refers to the right of citizens to elect others to hold political positions in accordance with legal procedures, and the right to be elected refers to the right of citizens to be elected to political positions by others. Such political positions generally do not include government civilian officials. Since capitalist countries impose restrictions on voters’ property, education, length of residence, and even race, their right to vote and stand for election are actually subject to many restrictions. For example, American citizens must first pay a high deposit to be a political candidate. The right of initiative mainly refers to the citizen’s right to propose legislation, and the right of referendum refers to the right to vote on draft legislation. The right of recall refers to the right to recall state officials. These rights have their own emphasis in different capitalist countries. However, due to the fact that the politics of capitalist countries are actually manipulated in the hands of monopoly capital and political oligarchs, the utility of these rights of citizens in actual political life is very limited. (3)

Right of petition

The citizen’s right of petition in capitalist countries includes the citizen’s right to sue and litigate against state agencies and their staff. In a capitalist society, this kind of right is mainly the right to file a lawsuit when the rights and interests of citizens are violated. Its main content includes rights of constitutional litigation, of administrative litigation, and of election litigation. The right of constitutional litigation is the right of citizens to file a lawsuit when the rights stipulated by the Constitution or their human rights are infringed or violated by state organs or social organizations. Since the constitutional litigation system is not universal in capitalist countries, the right of constitutional litigation only works in capitalist countries that have established a constitutional litigation system. The right of administrative litigation is the right to initiate litigation when the rights or interests of citizens are infringed or violated by administrative agencies and their personnel. The right of election litigation is the right of citizens to file a lawsuit when they believe that the election process is illegal or their right to vote or to be elected has been infringed or violated. Due to the dominant position of money and capital in social and political life, the citizen’s right of petition in capitalist countries only stipulates citizens’ qualifications for accusation and litigation, but it cannot guarantee that citizens truly protect their own interests. 2.

Basic content of political rights in socialist countries

Essentially, a socialist country is a country of the proletariat and the working people. Therefore, the political rights of the citizens in a socialist country are the authentic political way for the proletariat and the working people to realize their interests. It is an authentic manifestation of people’s ownership of the country in a socialist society as well as a symbol of political civilization. In the development of socialist countries, certain laws have clearly stipulated the political rights of citizens. Among

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them, China’s current Constitution and laws and regulations have detailed regulations on citizens’ political rights, so they have typical and representative significance. According to China’s current Constitution and laws and regulations, the political rights of citizens in a socialist society are mainly: (1)

Right to liberty

The right of civil liberty in a socialist society is a social right as well as a political right. The freedom of citizens in a socialist society includes personal freedom, personal dignity, and freedom of speech, publication, assembly, association, procession, demonstration, and communication. Comrade Mao Zedong once pointed out: “People’s freedom of speech, publication, assembly, association, thought, belief, and body is the most important freedom.”27 Personal freedom of citizens in a socialist society mainly refers to citizens’ personal freedom at their disposal. According to China’s Constitution, any citizen is not subject to arrest without the approval or decision of the People’s Procuratorate or the decision of the People’s Court and the enforcement by public security organ. It is prohibited to illegally detain or illegally deprive or restrict citizens’ personal freedom by other means, and illegally search citizens’ bodies. Citizens in socialist society have the right of inviolability of their personal dignity such as China’s citizens. It is prohibited to use any method to insult, slander, and falsely accuse citizens. The freedom of speech and publication of citizens in socialist society refers to the freedom of citizens to express their opinions and wills orally or in writing. Since a socialist society is a community where all people live on an equal basis, citizens’ freedom of speech and publication must not harm the country and society or insult or infringe on personal freedom and dignity of others. The freedom of assembly, parade, and demonstration of citizens in socialist society is the right to express their will in a certain way. These behaviors are generally carried out in accordance with legal procedures and are limited to not obstructing public order and the behavior of others. The freedom of association of citizens in socialist society refers to the freedom to organize social organizations and conduct group activities according to legal procedures. The freedom of correspondence of citizens in socialist society means that the freedom and confidentiality of correspondence are protected by law. Except for the condition that the public security organs or procuratorial organs shall conduct inspections of communications in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law to meet the needs of national security or the pursuit of criminal offenses, no organization or individual may infringe on citizens’ freedom of correspondence and confidentiality for any reason. It can be seen that the civil liberty of a socialist society has some similarities with that of a capitalist society in form. However, the civil liberty of a socialist society is the authentic right of the proletariat and the working people. The implementation of law provides various guarantees. The law restricts these liberties to safeguard the

27

Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol.3, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 1070.

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fundamental interests of the people. Therefore, it is fundamentally different from the civil liberty of capitalist society. (2)

Right to vote and right to be elected

The right to vote of citizens in socialist society is a concentrated expression of political participation, and its content mainly includes the right to vote and to be elected. The right to vote of citizens in socialist society mainly refers to the right of citizens to elect people’s representatives and public officials and the right to be elected is the right to be elected as people’s representatives and public officials in accordance with the law. It can be seen that these two kinds of rights mean choosing and being elected to the representatives or exercisers of public power. In the sense that citizens make choices according to law, the right to vote can also include the right to choose solutions to specific public issues. Choices in this regard are embodied in the citizens’ right to vote, that is, the right to plebiscite and referendum in accordance with the law on major social and national public affairs and solutions. According to China’s current Constitution, citizens of the People’s Republic of China who have reached the age of 18, regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, occupation, family background, religious belief, education, property status, and length of residence, have the right to vote and be elected; except for those who are deprived of political rights by law. (3)

Right of supervision and right of recall

The right of supervision in socialist society refers to the right to supervise all state organs and their staff; the right of recall refers to the right to recall unqualified people’s representatives in accordance with legal procedures. China’s Constitution stipulates that “all state agencies and state functionaries must rely on the support of people, always maintain close contact with people, listen to their opinions and suggestions, accept their supervision, and work hard to serve the people” (“Constitution of the People’s Republic of China” Article 27, paragraph 2). At the same time, it is stipulated that “deputies to the National People’s Congress are subject to supervision by the units which elected them. The electoral units have the power, through procedures prescribed by law, to recall deputies they elected.” (Article 77 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China) “Deputies to the people’s congresses of provinces, municipalities directly under the Central Government and cities divided into districts are subject to supervision by the units which elected them; deputies to the people’s congresses of counties, cities not divided into districts, municipal districts, townships, nationality townships, and towns are subject to supervision by their constituencies. The units and constituencies which elect deputies to local people’s congresses at various levels have the power to recall the deputies according to procedures prescribed by law.” (Article 102 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China). (4)

Right of petition

The right of petition of citizens in socialist society is the right to criticize and suggest, impeach, complain, and indemnity for state organs and their staff. The right to criticize is to criticize the improper policies or actions of state agencies and their staff; the right of suggestion is to put forward constructive opinions on state

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agencies; the right to impeach is to report improper behaviors of state agencies and their staff. The right of appeal and complaint refers to the right to complain or accuse state agencies and their staff when their rights and interests are improperly treated by state agencies or their rights are infringed or damaged by state agencies and their staff; the right of indemnity means when rights are violated by state organs and their staff and cause losses, citizens have the right to demand compensation from the state in accordance with the law. These rights are important ways and guarantees for citizens of socialist society to safeguard and realize public interests. For this reason, China’s Constitution clearly stipulates that citizens of the People’s Republic of China have the right to criticize and suggest any state agency and state functionary; for any state agency and state functionary’s illegal or dereliction of duty, they have the right to sue, impeach, or file a complaint, but fabricating and distorting facts to make false accusations are not allowed. For citizens’ complaints, accusations, or impeachment, relevant state agencies are responsible for ascertaining the facts and handling them. Suppression or retaliation is definitely prohibited by anyone. Those who suffer losses due to violations of civil rights by state agencies and state functionaries have the right to obtain compensation in accordance with the law. These laws and regulations reflect the political status of the people of our country as the masters of the country and the characteristics of socialist society that the political power belongs to the people.

5.2.3 The Functions of Political Rights to Social-Political Life Political rights are an integral part of political relations and one of the foundations of social and political life. Therefore, they have important meanings and functions for social and political life. In general, they are mainly: 1.

Conducive to maintaining, realizing and developing the interests of the subjects of political power

Political rights are determined by the public power of society. Therefore, it always reflects the will and requirements of the subject. In a class society, it reflects the will and requirements of the ruling class, and therefore maximizes the political possibilities of maintaining and realizing the interests of the ruling class. Political rights are also the qualifications for the subjects of political rights to participate in political life and maintain and realize common interests. Therefore, political rights provide political possibilities for members of society to assert and realize common interests. This possibility firstly creates conditions for determining the interests of the main body of political power, that is, common interests and their realization. In class society, it creates conditions for the correct and accurate determination of the interests of the ruling class and their realization. Second, it provides a guarantee for safeguarding the interests of the main body of political power, that is, the common interests. In social and political life, the political rights of social members and their realization are important guarantees for supervising the operation of political power and preventing and opposing political corruption. Third,

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political rights are an important prerequisite for the development of the interests of the main body of political power, that is, the development of common interests. The political rights of social members and their realization have become a powerful driving force for the development of the interests of the main body of political power. 2.

Conducive to the normal operation of political life

Because of the normative characteristics of political rights, it stipulates the rules of political activities of political power holders and social and political members in a legal form, which helps to ensure that political life is carried out in an orderly manner in accordance with the interests and will of political power subjects. In a society ruled by the exploiting class, it helps consolidate the ruling order of the exploiting classes. In a socialist society, it is conducive to the normal operation of socialist politics in accordance with the interests of people. Since political rights themselves are featured as “fair” and “just” under specific social and historical conditions, political rights have the symbolic or practical significance of political fairness and justice for members of society, which makes the provisions of political rights beneficial to resolving political contradictions among members of society, thereby ensuring social and political stability. At the same time, since political rights are legal qualifications for members of society and social groups to claim and realize common interests, in the process of realizing political rights, the common interests and different interests of social members can be balanced. Therefore, political rights have the function of balancing interest between different interests and interest relations and eliminating conflicts. The exertion of this function is undoubtedly an active promotion of social and political order and stability. 3.

Conducive to the political enthusiasm of social members

Political rights are the statutory political freedom of the owners. Therefore, political rights distribute the legal, political freedoms of members of society. At the same time, political rights are the political qualifications to claim and enjoy the common interests of society. Therefore, political rights distribute the common interests of society. In order to claim the public interests that they identify and seek to enjoy these interests, the owners of political rights must carry out active political activities within the legal scope of the rights. Therefore, the determination of political rights will provide effective space and positive conditions for members of society to conduct political activities. In a society ruled by exploiting class, political rights are the guarantee for the exploiting class to carry out free and active political activities and oppress the exploited class. In a socialist society, political rights are a necessary prerequisite for the people to display their political enthusiasm and creativity in order to achieve their political status as masters of the country. 4.

Conducive to the construction and development of social politics

The clear stipulation and effective realization of political rights mean the clear stipulation and effective realization of the political obligations of social and political

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rights, thereby helping to promote the development of social politics in the direction of institutionalization, rule of law, and accountability. The regulation and realization of political rights also mean the possibility for members of society to realize their interests. In contemporary times, the political rights of capitalist society can be used by the proletariat and working people to engage in political struggles, seek their own interests, and thus promote the development of society. The political rights of the people in a socialist society make it possible for masses of people to realize common interests and different interest requirements through political life, thereby promoting the development of a socialist society.

Part III

Political Behavior

Political behavior is a direct and dynamic manifestation of political relations. It is a social activity carried out by people around the acquisition and use of political power, and the acquisition and realization of political rights on the basis of specific interests. Lenin once pointed out when analyzing the behavior of political parties that political behavior is composed of “the nature, direction and methods of political activities”1 and is taken by specific political subjects. Therefore, political behavior has four basic elements, namely nature, subject, direction, and method. The nature of political behavior is governed and affected by the nature of political relations and its inherent contradictions. In a class society, political behavior generally has a class nature and is affected and controlled by class interests; the material agent of political behavior is the subject of political power and rights on the basis of specific interests. Therefore, the subject of political behavior can be individuals, classes, strata, nations, various political organizations, groups and collectives, etc. As long as they conduct political activities, they can become the subject of political behavior. What needs to be explained is that although political behavior implements the will and requirements of the subjects of political power and rights, they are usually the owners of political power and rights. In political life, they may become the subjects of political behavior and they may also delegate political power or rights to specific individuals or groups through the mandate relationship. These individuals or groups that are authorized to directly perform political behaviors become the subjects of political behavior. In fact, in modern political life, the ruling and management of political power are often entrusted and authorized to other agents, and political power behaviors are also carried out by means of representative government or representation systems. Political behavior has a specific direction that is the unity of the behavioral motives of political actors and the objective environment in which the behavior is carried out. Therefore, the direction of political behavior not only contains people’s subjective motives but is also restricted by objective environments and conditions; the manner

1

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 11. People’s Publishing House, 1987, p. 6.

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Part III: Political Behavior

of political behavior is a political behavior pattern, which is a complex composition of political relationship, political systems, and political culture. There are different classification standards for political behavior. In terms of the subject, it can be divided into individual political behavior and collective political behavior; from the perspective of legitimacy, it can be divided into legal political behavior and illegal political behavior; from the mode of action, it can be divided into direct political behavior and indirect political behavior; from the way of expression, it can be divided into explicit political behavior and implicit political behavior. However, from the perspective of the internal requirements of social and political subjects and political relations, political behaviors are mainly manifested as political power behaviors and political rights behaviors. Among them, political struggle behavior means establishing or destroying the relationship between existing political power and political rights. Political ruling behavior and political administrative behavior are typical political power behaviors, and political participation behavior is political rights behavior. Political struggle behaviors are antagonistic and interactive behaviors around public political power generated by people based on their own interests in order to realize specific rights; political ruling and administrative behaviors are generated in response to the inherent contradictory requirements of political power restriction relations, manifested as basic behavior of the subject of political power, embodying common interests and the nature of political power in a specific meaning. Political participation behavior is the manifestation of the inherent contradictions in the relation of political rights, typical behavior of the subject of political rights, and is actually a manifestation of the behavior of members of the society claiming common interests.

Chapter 6

Political Struggle

6.1 The Meaning and Types of Political Struggle 6.1.1 The Definition and Characteristics of Political Struggle Political struggle is a universal phenomenon in human political life, and it is also one of the ancient topics in political theory. In the political philosophy of ancient Chinese legalists, political struggle has occupied a prominent position. For instance, in a chapter of Han Feizi, it writes that “Hence a gigantic population faces scarce goods while strenuous labor meets meager supply. People therefore compete.” Lüshi Chunqiu also said that “Having been existing for a long time, the struggle can neither be restrained nor be stopped.” In the West, Aristotle, known as the originator of politics, once “has paid close attention to the struggle between classes and between strata at that time.”1 When he described the situation in Athens, he pointed out: “There are constant disputes in these areas” and “Party disputes between the nobility and the masses have continued for a long time.”2 Since modern times, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Max Weber, Simmel and others have all carried out theoretical research on political struggle. The study of political struggle in contemporary Western politics appears in the theoretical model of political conflict. In contemporary Western politics, political conflict is the same as other basic categories, and people hold different definitions. In summary, the most representative ones are: First, the theory of psychological opposition holds that a political conflict is a form of psychological opposition. For example, American psychologist Funke puts forward that all human conflicts are “an extreme form of psychological opposition between two or more social primitives.”3 1

Wu En-yu, “Preface to the Chinese Translation of < The Political System of Athens > ”, in Aristotle, The Political System of Athens, The Commercial Press, 1959, p. 1. 2 Aristoteles, The Political System of Athens, Commercial Press, 1959, p. 2, 4. 3 Clinton F. Fink. (1968). “Some Conceptual Difficulties in the Theory of Social Conflict”. The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol.12, p. 416. © Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_6

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Second, the theory of value opposition holds that social conflicts, including political conflicts, all refer to “incompatibility between a certain person or another person or group of organizations” and “refer to a contest of values.”4 Third, the theory of resource contention considers that political conflict is a struggle for resources such as power or interests. For example, based on the sociologist’s definition of social conflict, American political scientists Cobb and Elder argued that political conflict is essentially an interactive mode, a competition for scarce resources such as power and status.5 Fourth, the theory of environmental interaction holds that political conflict is an interaction between organism and environment. The American political scientist J.C. Davis proposed from the perspective of ecology that conflict behavior is nothing but “a function or product of the interaction between organisms and the environment, that is, B = f (OE), … conflict is nothing but the environment interactive.”6 The above-mentioned interpretations of the definition of political conflicts reveal the obvious characteristics of the interaction and confrontation of political struggles, and to a certain extent, also reflect the actual causes of political conflicts. These theoretical viewpoints link political conflicts with social and political resources and their distribution, reflecting the polarization, unequal distribution, lack of specific fairness and justice, and other social and political contradictions of capitalist society. It shows that Western conflict theory involves social-political interests and interest relations. However, these definitions do not focus on analyzing political conflicts and political struggles from the perspective of socio-economic relations and interest relations and their decisive significance. Therefore, there is an obvious defect in essence: it does not analyze the occurrence of political conflicts based on the contradiction of interest relations. The reasons are, therefore, relatively superficial; they do not distinguish different types of political conflicts based on different socio-economic interest relations, and thus confuse different types of political conflicts. In recent years, under the influence of social contradictions in the West, the academic circles have formed the theory of social protest around the development of social contradictions, social movements and political struggles, which regards political struggle as a struggle among members of society for public interests and the interests of specific groups. According to the definition proposed by American scholars McAdam, Tarot and Tilly, the so-called contentious politics is the common collective interaction between “makers of claims and their objects of interests and requirements, happening in the following cases: (1) at least the specific government is the object of the claim or request, or is on the side of the claimant; (2) once the claim is realized, it will affect the interests of at least one of the claimants.”7 It can 4

International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. pp. 226, 232. Roger W. Cobb & Charles D. Elder. Participation in American Politics: The Dynamics of AgendaBuilding. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1972, p. 83. 6 Clinton F. Fink. (1968). “Some Conceptual Difficulties in the Theory of Social Conflict”. The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol.12, p. 416. 7 Charles Tilly and Sidney Tarrow. (2010). Contentious Politics, translated by Li Yizhong. Yilin Publishing House. 5

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be seen that the so-called contentious politics is actually a political struggle between members of society and the government and those who control political power rather than a general study of all political struggles. Therefore, it is only used to describe and generalize specific political conflicts or struggle phenomena. Marxism believes that the deep root of the political conflict lies in the contradictory movement between productive forces and production relations, economic foundation and superstructure. In reality, political conflicts stem from the inherent contradictions in social interest relations. In terms of the inherent contradictions in the interest relations, as mentioned above, the interest relation formed by different subjects has common interests between these interest subjects, and mutual interest contradictions. Such interest contradictions include horizontal conflict of interest and vertical conflict of interest. The commonality of interest and the contradiction of interest in interest relations usually present two states. One is that the conflicts of interest between different stakeholders, and the contradictions between different interest subjects and common interests are non-antagonistic, and the relationship between different interest subjects is in a state of non-confrontation. At the same time, there are common interests in this interest relationship no matter what form they are. The other state is that the conflicts of interest between different stakeholders are irreconcilable and antagonistic, which puts the relationship between different stakeholders in a state of confrontation. In this state, the common interest in this interest relation no longer exists. The latter has laid the premise and foundation for political conflicts. When different interest subjects in a specific interest relation are contradictory and antagonistic, these subjects actively seek to obtain political power or destroy the existing political power and establish a new one with themselves as the subject in order to maintain, realize or expand their own political rights. When safeguarding, realizing and expanding their own interests, they will actively carry out political mobilization, pool political resources, put forward their own political propositions and requirements, influence and even compete for political power. In this case, different interest subjects have transformed themselves into specific political power subjects and interest confrontation is thus transformed into a confrontation between different forces in social and political life. This kind of political confrontation is commonly considered as a socio-political conflict. Research has shown that socio-political conflicts are often formed and occur in different scopes at different levels in social life. When such political conflicts form confrontations between different political forces around political power and try to influence or even change the ownership of political power for realizing one’s political rights and seeking one’s own interests, political conflicts will evolve into political struggles. Based on the above analysis, political struggle refers to the antagonistic interaction between various political subjects based on their own interests so as to realize specific rights around public political power. According to this definition, political struggle behavior has the following characteristics:

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Contending for interests

The fundamental reason for political struggle lies in the irreconcilability of interest contradictions between subjects representing different interest requirements in the interest relations which are formed on the basis of specific social and economic relations. Therefore, interest contention constitutes the essential feature of political struggle. Different stakeholders try to achieve their own political rights and interest requirements through the acquisition or reconstruction of this kind of power, which is the fundamental reason for the occurrence and development of political struggles. If the factor of interests is discarded, the political struggle will be out of the question. The development of human society is the process of continuously satisfying people’s interest needs; the history of changes in production relations is the history of changes in the ways of appropriation and distribution of interests; the contradiction between productivity and production relations is the contradiction between interest needs and the appropriation and distribution of interests. In this regard, political struggle is exactly the political means by which people try to resolve antagonistic conflicts of interest through political power. Marxism believes that in a class society, the relationship of class interests is formed between the ruling class that dominates interests and the ruled class whose interests are dominated. In this structure of class relationship, the distribution of social interests is usually in favor of the ruling class, and the ruling class often uses public power to protect its own interests. When the ruled class wants to change the way of appropriation and distribution in order to realize its own interest needs, political power will make efforts to protect the existing economic and class relations, thus making the ruled class have to revolve power struggles around politics, and political struggles are thus stimulated. Therefore, Marxism believes that political struggle is ultimately a struggle for interests between different classes, “their material interests and needs make them fight at outrance.”8 The struggle between the slave-owner class and the landlord class, “between land ownership and the bourgeoisie, and between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, are first carried out for economic interests, and political power is only the means used to realize economic benefits.”9 It can be seen that in Marxist logic, there is an indissoluble bond between political struggle and class struggle. Marx and Engels profoundly pointed out that “all class struggles are political struggles”,10 revealing the essence of political struggle from the perspective of class relations and explaining the connection between political struggle and class struggle. History shows that in addition to political struggles between classes, there are often political struggles between other stakeholders in social and political life, such as those between different interest groups, classes, nations, and countries, all at different levels. The above revolves around political power, in order to carry out their own political rights and fight for interests. 8

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 6. People’s Publishing House, 1961, p. 302. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 2012, p. 257. 10 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 409. 9

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Competing for power

Political power is a political resort to maintain or change the established interest pattern of society, and it is the focus of political struggles. All political struggles revolve around political power. Therefore, the core issue of political struggles is political power. In political life, all ruling classes, strata, and groups rely on their political power to maintain their existing interests and realize their own interests. On the contrary, all the ruled who want to change the original interest structure and interest relationship and resolve antagonistic interest conflicts must also compete for political power to realize their political rights and interest requirements. In this process of power competition, the existing political power controllers and political rulers will not consciously and willingly give up their political power. Therefore, “in any struggle between classes against classes, the direct purpose of the struggle is political power; the ruling class must defend its supreme political power… The ruled class first fights for part of the political power, and then for all the political power, so that it can change the current law in accordance with their own interests and needs.”11 Similarly, political struggles among other stakeholders are also for political power. Therefore, any political struggle is inseparable from the core issue of political power. As Engels pointed out: “In all the complicated political struggles, the center of the problem is always the social and political ruling of the social class, that is, the old class must maintain its ruling, and the emerging class must fight for ruling.”12 3.

Contradictory confrontation

The two parties in the political struggle are hostile to each other, and there are irreconcilable contradictions between them. “The contradiction between both sides is antagonistic.”13 The so-called antagonism dominates the relationship between the two sides, and the antagonistic contradiction must be resolved by adopting the form of external political conflict. The antagonism of the contradictions manifested in political struggle shows its degree and intensity. Generally speaking, the contradictory antagonism of political struggle is mainly reflected in: First, the fundamental opposition of interests, which is the main difference between political struggle and non-antagonistic political conflict. Non-antagonistic political conflicts stem from non-antagonistic contradictions. For example, in a socialist society, the contradictions among people mentioned by Mao Zedong are based on the same fundamental interests. But the political struggle is not the case, and it presents an either-or antagonistic choice in the interest relation. As mentioned above, people do not only compete for general interests in political struggles but determine the ways of possession and distribution of interests. That is, the fundamental structure of interests is involved. The fundamental changes in production relations 11

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 19. People’s Publishing House, 1963, p. 284. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2012, p. 722. 13 Collected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol.7, 1999, p. 205. 12

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are involved, making specific economic relations and the conflict of interests in social relations fundamentally opposed. Second, powers are incompatible with each other. In fact, the restriction of political power already contains the characteristic of exclusivity. In political struggles, the parties involved chase or destroy political power, but are actually to break or maintain the existing political constraints. Among them, the controller of political power must maintain its status to restrict, and its power is inalienable. In order to solve the contradictory interest contradiction, the constrained actively compete for political power and realize their own political rights. It will inevitably make the parties involved in the political struggle present irreconcilable antagonism in terms of political power ownership and control. Finally, mutual rejection in political psychology. The antagonistic interest contradiction not only triggers political confrontation around political power, but also inevitably leads to great psychological confrontation and opposition. The attitudes and emotions of the two sides in the political struggle will also be greatly different. Driven by hostile feelings, political struggles often escalate and aggravate the antagonism of contradictions. 4.

Consciousness

Political struggle is a conscious struggle of the main political consciousness of the political forces. According to Marx, political struggle shows that the relevant classes have broken away from the first stage of struggle and entered the second stage. The so-called self-consciousness of the subjects of political struggle is mainly reflected in the fact that these subjects are clearly aware of their political interests, and the importance of political power to realize their own interests and rights, and thus take political actions to fight for or destroy political power. In short, as an independent force, the subject of political struggle clearly understands its own political goals, tactics, enemies, allies, strategies, ways and methods of political struggles, etc. in political struggles. Marxist expositions on the political struggle of the working class have clarified the feature of self-consciousness of political struggle. Marx pointed out in The Poverty of Philosophy: “Economic conditions first turned a large number of residents into workers. The ruling of capital has created equal status and common interests for this group of people. Therefore, this group of people has already become a class for capital, but it is not an act-by-oneself class. In the struggle (we only talk about certain stages of it), these people gradually unite to form an act-by-oneself class. The interests they defend are based on class and the struggle between classes is a political struggle.”14 It means that there are various interests among people, such as personal interests, regional interests, industry interests, tribal interests, religious interests, national interests, class interests, state interests, etc., but not all of these interests can naturally cause political struggle. Only when people’s lifestyles, interests, and educational backgrounds are hostile to each other to split them into hostile groups, then members 14

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 2012, p. 274.

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of the group can realize the common interests of the whole group and realize that only by obtaining political power and realizing political rights can they realize this interest demand, only in which political struggle can only happen. Marx pointed out that the same is true for the political consciousness of the bourgeoisie. “In a sense, when the problem involves the capitalist class and the bourgeoisie, it is usually the least complicated. The real interest of the capitalist class is probably to maintain and defend capitalism. Its class consciousness in this respect is easily reached. Historical facts show that the privileged class has always been class-conscious at least on this point.”15 5.

Comprehensiveness

The political struggle involves the resolution of antagonistic social interest conflicts, political power, and directly affects the political rights of the parties involved. Therefore, it often influences the overall situation of social operation and development. This characteristic is determined by the nature of politics itself. Lenin pointed out that politics is a concentrated expression of the economy. He also pointed out: “Politics cannot but occupy the first place compared with the economy.”16 Although politics is a product of economic development to a certain stage and its content is also determined by economy, politics has a huge counter-effect to the economy. At the same time, politics embodies various social and economic interests and social requirements. If any subject of interest wants to use political power to realize their own interests and requirements, they must adopt political activities that influence the overall situation, because state regime “is the basic and fundamental issue of all politics.”17 The state regime has a huge coercive force on the whole situation, and it is the basis for the main body of political power to control, guide and organize social life and maintain social order. Therefore, the comprehensiveness of political struggle is determined by the globality of political power. On the other hand, its feature of globality is also determined by the complexity of political struggles. The subjects of political struggle are diverse, and each subject must mobilize all the forces that can be mobilized when participating in political struggles. Different forces involve various interests, and political struggles, therefore, present the feature of globality. The political history of mankind shows that not only a political struggle between classes, but also within the same class, such as court struggles, group competitions, and election struggles, have the same feature.

6.1.2 The Types of Political Struggle In social and political life, political struggle is not a political behavior composed of a single element, but a compound of struggles composed of various political 15

Ralph Miliband. Marxism and Politics. The Commercial Press, 1984, p. 35. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 40. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 279. 17 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 37. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 60. 16

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elements. According to the elements, political struggles can be divided into different types. Among them, from the perspective of the subject, some scholars divide it into internal political struggles and external political struggles; some scholars divide them into violent struggles and non-violent struggles based on political struggle methods; some scholars divide into legal and illegal political struggles, open and secret political struggles from the perspective of legitimacy; some scholars look at the element of time and divide them into longtime political struggles and current political struggles; and some scholars focus on the state of struggle and divide into conventional political struggles and emergent political struggles, and so on. Nevertheless, these divisions of the types of political struggles only focus on certain surface features and elements of the struggle. Marxism believes that we should start from the nature of political struggles and establish standards for the classification of political struggles. According to historical materialism, the nature of political struggles is determined by social production relations and the interest relations formed therefrom. According to this standard, first, according to the history of human political development, political struggles are divided into the political struggles in a slave society, feudal society, capitalist society, and socialist society. 1.

Political struggles in a slave society

At the end of primitive society, there were nascent social conflicts, such as tribal fights and tribal vengeance. However, these conflicts cannot be regarded as complete forms of political struggle; at best, they as the embryonic form. Political struggle in the complete sense is a matter after the emergence of the state. In a slave society, class division and strata division appeared, and slaves and slave owners became the two basic classes of society. Slaves have no personal freedom but work as a “talking tool” for slave owners, the ruling class that cruelly exploits and enslaves the slave class. Therefore, slave owners and slaves are two opposing classes, and the political struggle between the two has become the basic political struggle in a slave society. In order to resist the barbaric tyranny of slave owners, slaves not only slowed down their work and fled, but also often held slave uprisings, pointing directly at the state regime of the slave society. The largest slave uprising was Spartacus Revolt in ancient Rome from 74 to 71 BC, which was the most famous political contest in the era of slavery. Slave uprisings in a slave society have hit the foundation of the slave society, shaken the state regime of slavery, created political conditions for the emergence of feudal society, and promoted the development of society. In addition to the two major classes of slaves and slave owners, there are also free people and dependent peasant classes in a slave society, and there are also contradictions between these classes and slave owners. Due to the cruel exploitation and oppression of the slave-owner class, the contradictions between these classes and the slave-owner class are often in a state of confrontation. “Freed people and slaves, nobles and common people” are always in a position of opposition to each

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other. Sometimes the struggle is hidden and sometimes overt.”18 These struggles are all manifestations of political struggles at that time. 2.

Political struggle in a feudal society

The class relationship of feudal society is much more complicated than that of slave society. It includes the relationship between feudal lord (or landlord), vassal, guildmaster, serf (or peasant), citizen stratum (and the late bourgeoisie), handicraft workers (and late modern industrial workers) and so on. Among them, the two most important classes are the peasant class and the landlord class. The peasants are tied to the land of the landlord. They are both cruelly exploited by the landlord and severely enslaved by the state regime of the feudal landlord class. Although landlords do not fully possess the means of production and slaves like slave owners, they still possess a large amount of land, and incompletely possess peasants and other producers in the form of land rent, and often use the army and prisons to oppress peasants. The complexity of class relations in a feudal society makes the political struggle present an extremely complicated situation. From the perspective of the content of the struggle, it includes the struggle between the feudal aristocracy and the citizen stratum, the struggle between apprentices and bosses, the struggle between the feudal lord and the serf, and the political struggle within the landlord class, such as court struggles. Of course, among these, the political struggle between the peasants and the landlord class is the main political struggle. The cruel economic exploitation and political oppression of the peasants by the landlord class force the peasants to continue to stage uprisings to resist the rule of the landlord class. The 2000-year-old Chinese feudal society is typical in this respect. From the perspective of the form of struggle, political struggle in a feudal society is more diverse than that in a slave society, ranging from escape, tax resistance, riots, to peasant uprisings and peasant wars, of which peasant wars are the highest form. Compared with the slave uprising, the peasant war had a clearer purpose, a larger scale, and a longer duration. It is worth mentioning that “the scale of peasant uprisings and peasant wars in Chinese history is the only one seen in world history.”19 In addition to the peasant wars, the political struggles within the landlord class in a feudal society are also very characteristic. Most of these struggles are carried out in the form of court coups, contests for the throne, mutinies, and separatist warlords. In Chinese history, the internal political struggles of feudal rulers are more complicated, including disputes between courtiers and comprehensiveness, between eunuchs and aristocrats, between feudal princes and sovereigns, between emperor’s camp and empress’s camp, between nobles and commoners, and so on. 3.

Political society in a capitalist society

Capitalist society “simplifies class antagonism. The whole society is increasingly split into two hostile camps, two classes that directly oppose to each other: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.”20 The bourgeoisie possesses the means of production 18

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 2012, p. 400. Seltcted Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 2, 1991, p. 625. 20 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 2012, p. 401. 19

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in society and uses wage labor. The proletariat, a class of wage laborers, loses the means of production and relies on selling labor for a living. Of course, there are also landlords, peasants, urban citizens, and intellectuals in a capitalist society. However, in political activities, these classes are mostly divided into two camps: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The basic class relationship in a capitalist society is the class antagonism between the bourgeoisie and the working class. The class structure of capitalism determines that the political struggle between the bourgeoisie and the working class is the most important one in a capitalist society. At the same time, there are also different forms of contradictions and struggles between other classes as well as between the two major classes. The forms of political struggle in a capitalist society are very complex, including legal and illegal, overt and secret, violent and non-violent political struggles. However, in general, the political struggle of capitalist society is very different from the pre-capitalist society in that its organization and degree have been greatly improved, and the working class also act in its entirety as a class on the social scale through various means to wage political struggles. In addition, the political struggle of the working class involves the leadership of political parties, with clear political goals and political programs. Generally, the political struggle of the working class against the bourgeoisie in a capitalist society has played a positive role in promoting the development of productive social forces, the progress of the democratic system, and social and cultural changes. During the political revolution, the political struggle of the working class against the bourgeoisie will become a direct driving force for the transfer of power and the reform of the social system. In a capitalist society, the political struggle within the bourgeoisie is also very different from the previous political struggle within the ruling class. It mostly appears in a legal and institutionalized way. For example, through election competition, political party restrictions, government agencies’ power checks and balances, etc. Nonetheless, these intrigues are essentially the conflicts of interests between different capital groups, and they are all dominated by money. 4.

Political struggle in socialist society

After the working class gains power through organized political struggle, the transition from capitalism to socialism begins. The main contradiction in the transitional period is still the contradiction between the working class and the bourgeoisie. Therefore, the political struggle at that time is mainly between the two classes. The difference is that the working class and the laboring people have mastered the state regime, and the bourgeoisie gradually gets remodeled. After the socialist transformation of the means of production is completed, the socialist system is established. In socialist countries, social class relations have undergone fundamental changes. The exploiting class as a class has been eliminated. The vast majority of members of society are workers from the working class, peasantry and other strata. The opposite is a very small number of hostile forces. The main contradiction in society is the contradiction between the people’s needs for material and culture and the backward production, and its further development has become

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the contradiction between the people’s needs for a better life and insufficient and unbalanced production. Social-political struggles have appeared different characteristics from the past as social structure and main contradictions changes. First, the center of political struggle has undergone a major shift. In the past, political struggles were directed against a minority of exploiters’ regimes, and socialist political struggles revolved around the socialist economic and political system. The socialist state regime must fight against the hostile forces that oppose the state regime, but more importantly, it must maintain the socialist economic order. Second, the socialist political struggle is carried out within a certain range. With the extinction of the exploiting classes, the political struggle between the opposing classes has transformed into a political struggle between the people and a few hostile forces and the corrupt. The contradictions and conflicts between workers and managers have become internal contradictions and non-antagonistic contradictions among people. Third, socialist political struggles are mainly carried out in the form of the rule of law. Class-antagonistic political struggles no longer exist. Political struggles are mainly resolved under the leadership of the Communist Party, through state regime, taking democratic and consultation methods in accordance with the constitution and legal procedures. Finally, socialist political struggle is a form of transition from political struggle to non-political struggle. Under normal circumstances, there is no internal political struggle within people. However, in special cases, contradictions among people may also intensify and then turn into political conflicts or even struggles. The key here is how to grasp the relationship between political contradictions and struggles. Political contradictions are potential political conflicts or even struggles, and political struggles are apparent political contradictions. Therefore, in the process of political construction and modernization of national governance, socialist countries must strengthen and improve national governance and democratic mechanisms under the overall leadership of the Communist Party to achieve the organic unity of party leadership, the people being the masters of the country and the rule of law, and establish risk prevention mechanisms to find and eliminate contradictions as early as possible, resolve interest and social contradictions, and reduce unnecessary political conflicts. According to the differences in the actors of political struggles, political struggles can be further divided into inter-group political struggles over different interests and intra-group political struggles over specific interests on the basis of historical division, from the perspective of the social and political interest relations in which political struggles occur. 1.

Political struggle between groups

Political struggles between interests and political groups at the same level refer to the political struggles between different interest groups and political subjects at the same level, such as classes, groups, nations, political parties, and countries. The political struggle between classes is caused by the contradictory confrontation between classes with different interests. It usually originates from the economic field and is mainly embodied in the political field. Marx and Engels believe that the entire history since the disintegration of the primitive commune “is the history of

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the class struggle, that is, the history of struggle between the exploited class and the exploiting class, and between the ruled class and the ruling class at all stages of social development.”21 Today, due to the increasingly complex class structure, the forms of political struggle between classes have become more diverse. Group struggle refers to the struggle between various interest groups in order to safeguard or realize their political rights and interests. This kind of struggle often takes the government as an intermediary variable. On the one hand, it is a struggle between interest groups. On the other hand, each group tries to realize its own interests by influencing government decisions. So, people consider interest groups as pressure groups. The prerequisite and basis of such political struggles are the fundamentally antagonistic or even confrontational contradictions of interests of these groups. In the process of group struggle, the wishes and demands of each group will be hindered by other groups. Political struggles between groups often occur in the political life of Western countries. The national struggle has become increasingly clear with the emergence of nationstates. With the emergence of industrial society, a unified world market has gradually formed, and nation-states have also emerged. As the nation-state becomes a sovereign state, each nation attempts to advance and expand its own national interests and obtain the maximum power by virtue of the sovereign state, which leads to political divisions and struggles among nations. Under normal circumstances, political struggles between nations are often manifested in the form of political struggles between nations and international conflicts. In multi-ethnic countries, there are also political struggles between different ethnic groups within a unified country. The political struggle between parties is a phenomenon unique to Western capitalist countries. In Western countries, every political party is a part of a certain class, organized to engage in political struggle. The fundamental purpose of party struggle is to realize class interests, and the direct purpose of party struggle is often “striving to gain rule in the country.”22 The formation of political parties is the result of selfconsciousness, and the party struggle is also a conscious form of class struggle. Various conscious methods of class struggle, such as theoretical struggles, armed struggles, and parliamentary struggles, are all carried out with the participation of political parties. Under pre-capitalist conditions, due to people’s lack of the awakening of interests, there is no party struggle in political life. Today, in the political life of Western capitalist countries, party struggle is the basic form of political struggle. In China, the leadership and cooperation between the ruling party and the participating parties, and the political consultation mechanism are adopted to deal with the relationship between the parties. Therefore, there is no phenomenon of political struggle between parties in China. 2.

Political struggles within specific interests and political groups

Under normal circumstances, each group in social and political life has its own common interests, and their commonality is relatively stable. However, in fact, 21 22

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 2012, p. 380. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2012, p. 250.

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specific groups have internal structure, and groups in social and political life are often composed of core parts and peripheral parts of different levels and styles of structure. For example, the class is like this. “The various parts of different classes form a certain ladder or level, that is, the core part and the peripheral part, according to the degree of the qualitative stipulation of the class.”23 In this way, different parts of the group may form conflicts of interests due to the differences in interests. If these contradictions cannot be resolved in time, they will develop into various political contradictions and conflicts under certain conditions, and then into political struggles. Intra-group struggles are political struggles between subgroups in a specific group. In a private ownership society, the strata and groups within the same class have essentially conflicting interests based on private ownership. Therefore, they often fight for their own interests around political power and form different subgroups within the group. The political struggle between groups. Judging from the actual situation of political struggles, although such struggles are carried out within groups, they are often quite fierce. Political struggles within groups may also start from the choice of different values and strategies. Although certain groups have common interests in a certain sense and people’s overall goals are the same, there are big differences between different subgroups in terms of the understanding of goals and the means to achieve them. If the contradiction of the conflict is not eliminated and resolved in time, it will also lead to violent conflicts and confrontations, and even develop into political conflicts and struggles, resulting in the division and disintegration of groups.

6.2 The Strategy and Amplitude of Political Struggle 6.2.1 The Strategy of Political Struggle The general plan of political struggle includes the approach and strategy of political struggle. There are many approaches to political struggle. In the basic aspect, people usually divide it into violent struggle and non-violent struggle, and then further analyze the specific methods in detail. Violent struggle refers to violent political struggles that hurt individuals and society. It is most common in the process of political revolution and seizure of power. It is a means of struggle taken after the failure of peaceful and legal methods. Its main manifestations are riots, armed uprisings and wars. Riot is a violent struggle behavior, caused by and complicated reasons. The interest confrontation and political conflicts of different stakeholders have developed to an extreme degree, which is the root cause of the violent struggle. 23

Zhao Baoxu(ed.). Introduction to Political Science, Peking University Press, 1982, p. 37.

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There are various forms of violent political struggle. At first, most of them were unorganized riots, organized riots, conspiracy-style terror and large-scale riots, so they were widely spread and quite destructive. Armed struggle is a further escalation of riots. It uses violence as its means, aiming at fundamentally overthrowing the dominant status of political power, and it is characterized by smashing the organ of political authority. Therefore, it is a highly militarized and organized behavior. War is the highest form of violent struggle. War is a violent struggle, but not any violent struggle is a war. When the armed struggle further escalates, and both opposing parties have armies and the organ of political command authority. They engage in sharp confrontations and confrontations with each other, and thus, it becomes a war. It is generally believed that war is the continuation of politics, and an extreme form of struggle to resolve contradictions between classes and classes, nations and nations, countries and nations, and political groups and political groups. Wars are divided into just and unjust wars. Those that conform to the trend of history and the interests of the people are generally regarded as just wars; otherwise, they are unjust wars. Non-violent political struggle is a peaceful political confrontation that does not resort to force and violence. In social and political life, a non-violent political struggle is a common form for people to strive for political benefits. Its specific forms mainly include parliamentary struggle, political demonstrations, political non-cooperation, and political disobedience. The parliamentary struggle refers to the struggles carried out by all classes, political parties, groups, factions and their representatives in the parliament. Such political struggles will affect national laws and policies. Under normal circumstances, all parties engaged in political struggles within the bourgeoisie will try their best to carry out political propaganda, exert political pressure, and even resort to money transactions in order to realize their own group interests. In the process of the development of the proletarian political struggle, the parliamentary struggle is also regarded as an indispensable means of political struggle. Lenin pointed out when talking about this issue, “the tools used by the bourgeoisie in struggles should also be used by the proletariat. Of course, The purpose of utilization is completely different.”24 The parliamentary struggle of the proletariat is to coordinate the legal struggle with the illegal struggle in order to achieve the purpose of controlling power. Political demonstrations “refer to the activities that express requirements, protests, or support, solidarity and other common aspirations in open public places or on public roads by means of assemblies, parades, sit-ins, etc.”25 In the revolutionary period, the combination of political demonstrations and strikes will gradually approach an armed uprising while in peacetime, political demonstrations should be a legal means. In fact, most countries in the world today have clear legal regulations on these activities.

24

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 39. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 242. Law of the People’s Republic of China on Assemblies, Processions and Demonstrations, Chapter I, Article II.

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Political non-cooperation and disobedience are methods of non-violent passive resistance in political struggle. Non-cooperation is generally a resistance to state activities for political reasons, such as refusing to work in state or military organs, not joining the ruling party, giving up honorary titles and positions, not buying government bonds, and so on. Political disobedience and non-cooperation are not completely consistent. It is a collective act of deviating from the track of political power with a political purpose, such as publicly and deliberately refusing to implement the orders of official agencies, stopping working or studying, evading the law, and so on. Political non-cooperation and disobedience are practical manifestations of non-violent political philosophy. The Indian National Independence Movement led by Mohandas Gandhi and the American Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. are considered to be the typical embodiment of this type. 2.

Strategy and tactics of political struggle

Strategies and tactics in the sense of political struggle are transplanted from the military sense and are generally called political strategies or political tactics. Political strategy refers to the goals, policies, and tasks of a certain historical period stipulated by political entities such as parties or countries. It studies the laws of political struggle, and mainly involves issues such as the objects of the alliance, of isolation, of attack, and the goals to be achieved. In strategic issues, the most important thing is the organizational strength to achieve the prescribed overall goals. A political strategy is a form of struggle and organization determined by political subjects in accordance with changes in the political situation in order to accomplish strategic tasks. It is a specific method adopted to achieve strategic tasks. According to Stalin, the strategy is to stipulate “the course of action in the short period of the flow or ebb of the movement, the ups and downs of the revolution through the replacement of the old forms of struggle and organization with the new, and of the old slogan with the new, and we strive to realize this path by combining these forms.”26 It can be seen that the problem of strategy is a problem of means. It involves the question of the time to attack or retreat, to engage in the violent or non-violent struggle, to engage in open or secret struggle, to use legal or illegal forms of organization, and to put forward what kind of struggle slogans, etc. From the perspective of the actual struggle process, in order to achieve strategic tasks, the strategy of political struggle often manifests itself as some kind of political compromise. In the case of disparity or evenly matched forces between the two parties in the struggle, in order to avoid greater losses or damage to both sides, on the premise of not damaging the fundamental interests of both parties, concessions are made through political negotiations, consultations or tacit understanding, so as to temporarily alleviate the contradictions and thus be beneficial to some situations of mutual development of both parties. The political compromise includes two major categories: compromise of retreat for advance and the compromise of mutual accommodation. The former is the necessary concession of the weak to the strong to accumulate strength, and the latter is the mutual concession of both parties in 26

Collected Works of Stalin, Vol. 6, People’s Publishing House, 1956, p. 133.

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order to achieve common development. In the process of compromise, all parties in the struggle, especially the weak, in order to get a comeback, often form political alliances with forces close to their own interests to deal with common enemies. In political struggles, to formulate correct strategic strategies, there are some rules. First, carefully analyze the objective reality of political struggles, study the characteristics of the times and historical development trends you are in, grasp the characteristics of the times, and understand the relations of domestic and international political strengths to ensure the correctness of strategies and tactics. Second, make a specific analysis of specific issues. For a country, it is necessary to consider its political, economic, cultural, historical and other national conditions, as well as its national traditions and habits, which means seeking truth from facts so as to ensure the feasibility of strategies and tactics. Third, it is necessary to adopt corresponding forms of struggle in accordance with changes in political struggles, to deploy revolutionary forces in a timely manner, to seize the key links of political struggle, to correctly grasp the opportunity, and to adopt various methods and means of struggle flexibly so as to ensure the adaptability of strategies and tactics. Fourth, it is necessary to scientifically summarize the experience and lessons of major political struggles at home and abroad in history and reality. In particular, pay attention to summarizing the success and failure of one’s own political struggle in a timely manner, test the truth with practice, correct errors, and continuously enrich one’s own views and methods, thereby ensuring the integrity of strategies and tactics. In short, the strategy and tactics of political struggle are both science and art. Only by mastering this science and art in practice can one be invincible in the political struggle.

6.2.2 The Amplitude of Political Struggle Political struggles can be differentiated according to their intensity. They can mainly be divided into low-intensity, medium-intensity, and high-intensity political struggles based on the differences in the degree of interest antagonism between the interest subjects in political relationship, and the differences in comprehensive factors such as the breadth and depth of political mobilization, the intensity of resource allocation, and the way of fighting each other in the political struggle. Low-intensity political struggle means that the contradiction between relevant stakeholders and political forces in political relations is less antagonistic, and its behavior has not yet been very intense. The scale of political resources mobilized by all parties is limited, and the way of struggle is relatively moderate. The methods adopted are legal and peaceful. At the same time, the frequency of political struggles is relatively low. In this state, political struggles are actually at the initial stage of confrontation between the forces of all parties. Therefore, the limited degree, limited scale, limited scope, limited frequency and limited methods constitute the basic characteristics of low-intensity political struggle. Medium-intensity political struggle is the further development and escalation of the low-intensity struggle. Therefore, it can also be regarded as a new stage in the

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development of low-intensity political struggles. The reason for the occurrence of medium-intensity political struggles is essentially the further development of interest contradictions between relevant stakeholders in political relations, and the further deepening of contradictions between political forces based on different interests. In order to promote their political rights, they resort to political power to resolve these contradictions, making contradictions and struggles increasingly complicated, and the struggle between these symptomatic forces has expanded and deepened, thus entering a stage of medium-intensity political confrontation. In medium-intensity political struggles, relevant political forces often carry out larger political mobilizations, mobilize political resources of a larger scope and more elements, and form larger-scale political confrontation forces. At the same time, they actively concentrate organizational power structure inside political forces, optimize the leadership authority and institutional mechanisms of political struggles, strengthen the discipline and rules of political organizations, and improve the effectiveness of political organizations’ struggles. Political struggles of medium intensity are often manifested in higher frequency and larger-scale political conflicts in political practice, and their struggles are often accompanied by a certain degree of military means. High-intensity political struggle is the manifestation of the development of contradictions and antagonisms between relevant stakeholders and the main body of political forces in political relations. High-intensity political struggles may be based on the development of low- and medium-intensity political struggles, or they may occur directly and violently based on major conflicts of interests and conflicts between relevant stakeholders and political forces. High-intensity political struggles are often manifested in the high mobilization of all political resources by political forces of all parties, large-scale violent confrontations, and even development into military confrontations and even wars. The opposing parties use all means as much as possible to eliminate each other to the maximum extent, maintain, consolidate, or seize and destroy the existing power and political order, and maximize their own political and social rights and interests. Obviously, this kind of intense political struggle is usually nationwide and even worldwide. In domestic politics, high-intensity political struggles will end with the final destination of the regime and the resulting political, economic and social transformations. In international politics, high-intensity political struggles will form a polarized politically confrontational pattern, or a world structure dominated by hegemony. Of course, in today’s multi-polar situation, peace and development have become the theme of the times of the world. Political struggles between high-intensity countries are often greatly inhibited by the forces of world peace. Peace, development, cooperation and win–win have become the main trends of the world under the restriction of other forces and factors.

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6.3 The Functions of Political Struggle 6.3.1 The Functions of Political Struggle on Political Subject The subjects of political struggles and their comparative status are the subjects that trigger political struggles and determine the development of political struggles. At the same time, it goes without saying that the subject of political struggle will inevitably be affected during the struggle. In other words, the behavior of political struggle will affect the political subject. In fact, it not only affects the change of the political subject’s structure, the realization of subject interests, and the enhancement of subject consciousness, but also influences the structural system of social-political subjects and their changes. First, the behavior of political struggle directly affects the changes in the structure of the political subject. It helps to establish and maintain the attributes and characteristics of political subjects. In a structure where subjects of interests and political subjects confront each other, the integration of political struggles within each subject will be prominent. When discussing class issues, Marx believed that only through conflicts can classes themselves be formed. Several individuals can objectively have a common social status, but only when they are in conflict or struggle can they realize their mutual interests. Marx believed that “single individuals form a class only when they must fight together against a certain other class; in other respects, they themselves are rivals against each other.”27 It means that only in conflicts and struggles between one group and another can single individuals be united; otherwise, they are only in opposition as a single competitor. Therefore, one of the important aspects of political struggle to the structure of political subjects is to integrate groups and organizations of interest subjects and political forces. Another important function of political struggle for the structure of the political subject is to establish or re-establish the position of a subject in social structure and maintain its own organizational strength in social structure. After a political struggle, the social status of the main body of political power will rise or fall, and the functions of the subjects of different positions will change accordingly. Different functions will further lead to changes in related structures. For example, a class will rise from a ruled class to a ruling class, which is the social structural change triggered and formed by political struggles. Second, the outcome of political struggles determines whether and to what extent the interests of political forces can be realized. The interests of relevant subjects are not only the cause, but also the purpose of political struggle. Marxism believes that economic interests are the basic cause and ultimate goal of the struggle between political subjects. The result of political struggle is usually the realization of the interests and rights and even powers in terms of victory, and the transfer or loss of the interests and rights in terms of failure. In fact, the redistribution of interests after political struggles may have three possibilities. The first situation is that the 27

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1960, p. 61.

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party with the advantage in the original interest structure wins, and the party with the disadvantage loses. In this way, the winning party can continue to maintain and realize its own interests and rights needs by consolidating its political power position, while the losing party has to give up its own interests and rights demands. The second situation is the inferior party gains political power. In this case, the formerly dominant party may lose its power position, thereby losing its own interests and rights, and the winning party will realize its own interests and rights. In the third case, the struggle is a draw, and the demands of interests and rights of both parties are difficult to realize, resulting in political compromise. The two parties will transfer part of their own interests and rights based on the results of the compromise. History shows that in no matter what kind of situation, political struggle is dominated by the combined forces, and the result depends on the balance of power between the parties in political struggles and the art of using strategic strategies. Third, political struggle helps to increase the subjective consciousness of political forces. The main body of political theory gets enhanced, often closely related to political struggle. In real political life, political struggles are often triggered by conflicting interests, political confrontations and ideological hostility between the opposing parties. Studies have shown that the stronger the hostility is, the more obvious the self-awareness of the political power subject will be. Of course, sometimes, there may also be differences within the subjects of a particular political force. For example, within a ruling class, “this split can even develop into a certain degree of opposition and hostility between the two groups, but once any actual conflict happens, the opposition and hostility will naturally disappear when the class itself is threatened and even the illusions that the dominant thought is not the ideology of the ruling class and the power, they have seemed to be different from the power of the ruling class tend to disappear.”28 The specific interest antagonism’s developing into a political struggle is precisely the result of the political consciousness of the interest subject and the political force subject. Conversely, the formation of the subject’s consciousness of political forces is also the result of political struggles. The strengthening of their consciousness is often inseparable from political struggles. Fourth, political struggle strengthens the structure of social and political forces and system mechanisms. The political structure and mechanism of a particular society is actually a dynamic balance of the contrast between political forces. As the process of political struggle develops, the balance of political power will inevitably change accordingly. Either the original powerful political force weakens, or the original low-status political force strengthens. To adapt to this change into the balance, the social and political structure is bound to change or restructure, so as to achieve a new dynamic balance. Marxism believes that the political struggle between classes has an obvious function in this respect. “When the class struggle is close to the decisive battle, the process of disintegration within the ruling class and within the entire old society reaches a very strong and acute degree, and even makes a small part of the ruling class separate from the ruling class and belong to the revolutionary class, that

28

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 2012, p. 179.

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is, the class that holds the future.”29 Once the revolutionary class wins, the political structure centered on the original ruling class will be replaced by the one with the new ruling class as its core. As the axis of the political structure changes, various political forces must adjust accordingly until they tend to be politically stable and achieve mutual adaptation between political forces.

6.3.2 The Functions of Political Struggle on Society and History Regarding the effect of political struggle on society and history, different thinkers have different views. From the perspective of political stability, Aristotle basically held a negative attitude towards the political struggle at that time. Since then, many political thinkers have held similar views. Machiavelli, the earliest representative of modern political science, held a positive attitude towards the political struggle of the people. He wrote in the book Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livy: “I think whoever condemns the struggle between the nobility and the people also condemns the most fundamental reason for safeguarding Rome’s freedom. Whoever observes this kind of struggle will see more about the clamor of such struggles than their good effects. No one would have thought that in any society, the people’s thinking is different from that of the noble lords, and they would never think that the laws that are conducive to freedom are all born out of the struggle between the people and the nobility.”30 Marxism believes that “society advances in a movement of contradictions, and where there are contradictions, there will be struggles.”31 The evaluation of political struggles should be based on historical materialism and determined in accordance with the fundamental attributes of political struggles. All political struggles led by political forces representing advanced productive forces should be affirmed for their socio-historical role; otherwise, they should be denied. Specifically speaking: First of all, from the perspective of political struggle for the development of productive social forces, all political struggles led by classes representing advanced productive forces and their political forces are essentially the requirements for the development of advanced productive forces and the political embodiment of the interests of these classes. This kind of struggle will promote or contribute to the development of social productive forces to varying degrees, and its positive effect should be fully affirmed.

29

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 2012, p. 261. Quoted from Klaus von Beyme. Political Theories of the Present. The Commercial Press, 1990, p. 190. 31 Xi Jinping: Decisively Win the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects, and Win the Great Victory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era-A Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Daily (October 28, 2017). 30

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Secondly, from the perspective of political struggle for changes in social structure, political struggle is essentially a confrontation of interest contradictions between interest subjects. The political struggle between relevant stakeholders and political forces arises from the consolidation or change of political power, and maintenance or change of the structure of social interests. Therefore, the status, degree, development, and results of political struggles will undoubtedly affect the structure of social interests to varying degrees and directions, or adjust the structure of social interests, or fundamentally change the structure of social interests. Thirdly, the political struggle will change the social identity system and structure. A specific social identity system means a specific social mobility structure. In social life, if members of a particular group of society cannot switch from a certain social status to another higher status through normal channels, they may resort to political struggle. The change in the status of the third estate during the French Revolution proves this point. Therefore, the process of political struggle itself is a special process of social mobility. As the struggle develops, the social identity system and the status structure of social members will also change. Fourthly, political struggles affect the process of social change. “Societal changes are mainly due to the development of internal contradictions in society, that is, the contradictions between productive forces and production relations, between classes, and between the old and the new. Because of the development of these contradictions, the advancement of society is promoted, and Social metabolism is promoted.”32 Marxism believes that it is in the sense of class struggle as the subject of specific interests that class struggle is regarded as the direct driving force for the development of class society. “Without confrontation, there would be no progress. It is the law that civilization has followed to this day. So far, productivity has developed due to this law of class confrontation.”33 Of course, the development of human society does not always rise in a straight line, and twists and turns are common. The French Revolution has been repeated more than once, which is the embodiment. Among them, the key is to figure out which party represents the direction of advanced productive forces and historical development. Finally, from the perspective of the role of the political struggle in social and political development, the political struggle always functions in revolutions and reforms in political development. The political struggle will undoubtedly directly affect the changes in interest relations, political power relations and political right relations in political relationship, thereby changing the social and political structure. In the historical development of human political life, in the process of transition from one social-political system to another, “the political struggle is a means of social transformation.”34 Political development promoted by the political struggle will lead to

32

Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 1. p. 302. Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, p. 104. 34 Georgi Plekhanov, Socialism and Economic Struggle, SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1957, p. 34. 33

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the establishment of new political norms, political rules and political systems. Therefore, the political struggle is an act and activity that establishes and updates political norms and systems through changes in political power. Due to the various effects of the political struggle on social history and political subjects themselves, relevant parties often try to dominate and control in the process of the political struggle, grasp political power, and establish a specific political dominance and political order. The next chapter will provide more explanation.

Chapter 7

Political Ruling

7.1 The Meaning of Political Ruling 7.1.1 The Concept of Political Ruling “Ruling” is an ancient political concept. In the Book of Documents: Zhou: Officers of Zhou, it writes: “presiding over the governance of the regions, ruling all the other officers, and ensuring uniformity within the four seas.” Liezi says: “in ancient times, the sages ruled the heaven and earth in accordance with Yin and Yang.” Yan Shigu, an exegetical scholar in Tang Dynasty, noted: “To rule means to govern.” The characters of “ruling” in these ancient books mean command and governance. In the West, the concept of the ruling is to “rule” or to “dominate” in English and “dominer” in French. The word is derived from the Latin “dominus”, and “its original meaning refers to the relationship between the master and those who obey him.”1 Sociologist and political scientist Max Weber believes that “ruling should be called the obedience of orders among those who can be identified.”2 It can be seen that in Western vocabulary and discourse systems, the term “domination” refers to the domination, control and obedience of members of society. In the study of politics, the political rule has always been an important phenomenon that political scholars pay attention to. Several political scholars have explained and determined the meaning of the political rule from different positions and angles according to their own understanding. These explanations and determinations can generally be divided into two types: The first is to explore and explain the meaning of political rule based on the internal basis for the establishment of political rule or the obedience relationship of political authority. The representative opinions are the rule of the roman catholic church and the rule of patriarchy. The concept of the rule of the roman catholic church interprets 1

Raymond Aron. Main Currents in Sociological Thought. Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 1988, p. 587. 2 Max Weber, Economy and Society(Vol. 1), The Commercial Press, 1997, p. 81. © Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_7

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the relationship between political governance from the level of spirituality and belief and attaches political governance to the will of God. For example, China’s Book of Documents: Zhou: Announcement of Duke Shao says: “The dynasty of Xia was anointed with the decree of Heaven.” Western theocracy puts forward, “God’s work in the world has two aspects. The first aspect is the act of creation; the second is the rule of creation immediately after creation.” The concept of the patriarchal rule uses the natural relationship of people to explain people’s social connections. Traditional Chinese political thought advocates the integration of nation and family. It clearly pointed out in the Book of Documents: Zhou: Great Plan of Jizi: “The emperor should be the king of the people of the world just like their parents.”3 The representative of the patriarchal theory in the West is Robert Firmer in the seventeenth century in England. He believes that the rule of the monarch is the expansion of patriarchy. Adam was the first parent. “Not only Adam, but also the subsequent parents, have the authority to rule their children according to the patriarchal authority.”4 In modern times, Max Weber also believes that the traditional basis of political rule is patrimonialism.5 The second is to explain political rule based on the specific subject that holds the power of political rule. The representative ones are the concept of elite governance and bureaucracy governance. Representatives of the concept of elite governance include G. Mosca, M. Weber, V. Pareto and R. Michels. These scholars divide the members of society into the political elite and the masses and believe that political rule is actually the rule of the political elite over the public. On the other hand, the bureaucracy rule holds that in actual political life and the operation of power, the bureaucratic class and system play a decisive role. Social politics is actually under their control. Therefore, the political rule is actually bureaucracy rule. These explanations and determinations of the meaning of political rule involve certain specific elements of political rule, but they have either a strong idealistic worldview, or simple metaphysical analogies or intuitive description methodological characteristics, and they do not point out the essential meaning of the political rule. According to Marxist methodology, human beings are the product of social relations, and the nature of their social behavior is determined by the social relations in which the behavior occurs. Therefore, the nature of a particular social behavior phenomenon should be determined from the social relations in which they are located. Since the political rule is typical behavior of political power, and this behavior occurs between political power and other social-political forces and members of society, determining the meaning of political rule should be based on the specific social relationship that this political behavior produces. That is, the determination should begin with the political power’s restrictive relationship over other social-political forces and social members and start from the investigation of the internal contradictions of this relationship and its movement. 3

Thomas Aquinas. (1982). Aquinas’s Selected Political Works. The Commercial Press, p. 65. Robert Filmer. Patriarcha and other political works of Sir Robert Filmer Vol. 3. Quoted from A Brief History of Western Political and Legal Thought, Peking University Press, 1982, pp. 92–3. 5 Reinhard Bendix. (2002). Max Weber: An Intellectual Portrait. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, Chap. 11. 4

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What needs a special explanation is that the restrictive relation of political power is not simply equal to the political power relationship. As mentioned earlier, the political power relationship is the relationship between the powers of different political power subjects, or between different types of political powers constructed according to different functions of political power subjects. It reflects the relationship between political powers. Restrictive relation of political power refers to the relationship between political power and other social forces and members of society which embodies the relationship between political power and society. Using Marxist dialectics to examine this relationship shows that the restrictive relation of political power is inherently contradictory, and this contradiction is the embodiment of the constituent content of the interest relationship in it. As mentioned above, Interest relationship between prototype interest subjects has both interest commonness and interest difference and contradiction in order to achieve the requirements of common interests through the gathering and functioning of specific forces. To regulate and coordinate different interest relations, society has formed political power with the characteristics of restrictive relations. In the restrictive relation of political power, the differences and contradictions in the interests of the political power subject and other social-political forces and members of society, and other social-political forces and social members are reflected in the contradictory nature of the restrictive relation of political power. The common interests in the interest relationship include the commonality of interests between the political power subject and other social forces and members of society, and between other social forces and members of society. It is this commonality that embodies the identity of the restrictive relation of political power. This contradiction and identity of the restrictive relation of political power drive the political power subject to conduct political ruling behavior: The contradiction in the restrictive relation of power makes the subject of political power have to maintain the dominance required by the interests of the specific political relationship and the subjectivity of domination will. For this reason, the subject of political power needs to strengthen and condense the various elements and variables of political power to strengthen its own strength and improve its own capabilities. At the same time, the subject of political power must maintain its compulsory restraint on other forces and members of society in a particular political relationship in order to maintain its leading and dominance in this relationship. Since the dominant position of the subject of political power is produced and formed in the process of comparison with other social and political forces, and in the historical and socio-political process, various social and political forces will follow the social history and interest relations. Therefore, under the influence of the contradiction in the restrictive relation of political power, the dominant position of the political power subject is not to be done once and for all, but to continuously strengthen its own strength and improve power capabilities, and to compete with each other. It is maintained in the constant comparison of various developments and changes of other political forces. On the other hand, power restricts the identity in the relationship, requiring political power to control and maintain other social and political forces and members

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of society within the scope of maintaining common interests, that is, to control and maintain within the scope of power relations and social order. As Engels pointed out when analyzing class conflicts, the ruler in power “in order to prevent these opposites and classes with conflicting economic interests from destroying themselves and society in a senseless struggle, there needs to be a kind of superficial superiority over society. This kind of power should ease the conflict and keep it within the scope of ‘order’.”6 That is to say, for the realization of common interests and the normal operation of political power, political power does not only mean the existence and function of a powerful force that surpasses other social and political forces, especially the existence and role of purely coercive forces. Both history and reality have proved that in the face of a powerful, pure coercive force, members of society can have a variety of possible behavior choices. For example, people may take behaviors that escape the scope of the force in the sense of space or acts outside the scope of the force in the sense of life. They may also take a political behavior of confrontation or resistance to the force that causes both parties to die. Of course, people may also choose political obedience behavior. In terms of the original and actual meaning of politics, only when members of society choose political obedience, the identity of the political power restriction relationship can exist, and political power is meaningful. When members of society choose other behaviors, it not only means that political power loses its meaning, but also means that the interest relations on which political power restricts the relationship no longer exist. “Even the strongest person will never be strong enough to be the master forever, unless he transforms his power into rights and obedience into obligations.”7 Only when the conflicts of interest and conflicts between social-political forces and social members and restraint are controlled within the allowable range of social order and restrictive relation of political power, it will be possible for other social-political forces and members of society to adopt political obedience behavior choices relative to political power. Therefore, in addition to power coercion in the pure sense, political power is also the control and constraint relationship for other social-political forces and members of society within the effective scope of the operation of social and political power. This control and constraint relationship is a necessary political condition for the realization of common interests. It is also a necessary condition for the existence and function of political power. It can be seen that, driven by the contradiction and identity of the restrictive relation of power, in order to maintain its own power status and the restrictive relation of power, the political ruler must construct the control and restrictive relation of the political power body over other social-political forces and members of society. The basic way to construct this relationship is to transform political power into political authority and establish a relationship of authority and obedience between the subject of political power and other social-political forces and members of society. This behavior is political ruling. Therefore, the political ruling is nothing but a choice to resolve the inherent contradiction between power constraints, and it is the basic behavioral manifestation 6 7

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 3. Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The Social Contract. The Commercial Press, 1982, p. 8.

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of this contradiction. In terms of content, it is embodied as transforming the restrictive relation of power into a relation of political authority and obedience, thereby consolidating the status of the main body of political power, maintaining the existing restrictive relationship and ensuring the effectiveness of political power. In real political life, it is embodied as the behavior of the subject of political power to control social and political conflicts, maintain social and political order, and establish and maintain the relationship of authority and obedience with members of society. This definition of the political ruling can be understood as follows: The essence of political ruling is that the main body of political power maintains its own power status and existing power constraints, and then effectively realizes its interests and requirements. Among them, maintaining the status of the subject of political power and the dominance of the interests and requirements of the subject of political power in interest relations and political life are the basic starting points for the political ruling. Maintaining the restrictive relation of power allows political power to function normally, effectively implements the will to power, and maintains the interests of the subject of political power and requires the domination of interest relationships and political life, which is an important motivation for political ruling. The political function of the political ruling is to control and restrain the conflicts of interest and conflicts between social-political forces and members of society. Political ruling behavior is one of the power behaviors driven by the inherent contradictions of the restrictive relation of power. Its behavior orientation and political function are to build control and restraint relationships between the political power subject and other social-political forces and social members. Therefore, political ruling behavior is actually a power behavior characterized by control and restraint. From the perspective of the inherent contradiction of the restrictive relation of power, the political ruling is a way to solve this contradiction through control and restraint. Therefore, it is one of the political behaviors caused by the inherent contradiction of the restrictive relation of power. On the other hand, political ruling behavior is limited to controlling and constraining contradictions and conflicts within the scope permitted by social order. In other words, political ruling behaviors control and restrain social contradictions and conflicts within the scope permitted by political power and social order but cannot completely resolve these contradictions and conflicts. Nevertheless, the political ruling behavior is necessary to create the conditions and basis for the effective operation of political power in resolving these contradictions. Therefore, it is the basic political behavior generated by the inherent contradictions of the restrictive relation of power. The content of political ruling behavior is the transformation of political power into political authority and the restrictive relation of power into the relation of political authority and obedience. The basic way to control and restrain the contradictions and conflicts of social interest relations and maintain the order of social and political life is to build political authority and obedience relations. For this reason, the subject

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of political power uses various methods and channels to transform political power in the sense of a specific political force into political authority and transform the power restriction relationship into a political authority and obedience relationship. In political life, the effective degree of political power operation is usually positively related to the degree of political authority and obedience. In a particular social and political life, the establishment of the relationship between political authority and obedience is a necessary condition for the effective operation of political power. The more stable and consolidating the relationship between political authority and obedience, and the stronger and deeper its degree, the more effective the will and intention of political power will be implemented. The more smoothly the relevant systems and policies formulated by it can be implemented, the more likely it will be achieved and vice versa. Therefore, “on the one hand, it is a certain authority, no matter how it is caused; on the other hand, it is an absolute obedience. Regardless of the social organization, both are what we need under the material conditions on which the production and circulation of products depend.”8

7.1.2 The Characteristics of Political Ruling As a behavior of controlling social contradictions and conflicts and maintaining social and political order, the political ruling has the following basic features: 1.

The starting point of political ruling is to maintain the status of the main body of political power

Since maintaining the status of the main body of political power is the motive of the political ruling behavior, it must constitute the starting point and destination of the political ruling behavior. That is to say, the axes and guidelines of various factors of political ruling behavior, and many concrete actual behaviors embodied in social and political life are the maintenance of the status of the subject of political power and the implementation of the will and requirements of the subject of political power. For example, capitalist society maintains the dominant position of the bourgeoisie, and socialism protects the proletariat and the principal status of the people. This characteristic of political ruling behavior is the inevitable requirement of the contradiction inherent in the restrictive relation of political power. The contradiction determines that the dominant position of political power is a prerequisite for political power to restrict social forces and members of society. Therefore, maintaining the dominant position of power becomes the inevitable starting point of political power just as Lenin revealed capitalist politics as stated in the essential characteristics of the political ruling, “the forms of state ruling can be different. Where there is this form, capital uses this way to express its power, and where there is another form, capital uses another way to express its power, but in essence, the power is always

8

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 18. People’s Publishing House, 1964, p. 343.

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in the hands of capital”, “since capital exists, it rules the entire society.”9 On the other hand, political power restricts the identity in the relationship, indicating that the status of the subject of political power can only be realized in connection with other social forces and members of society. Therefore, maintaining the status of the subject of political power is not only to maintain its power, but also to maintain the principal and subsidiary connection between political power and other social forces and members of society. In social and political life, controlling social conflicts of interest and maintaining social and political order to ensure the status of the subject of political power are the norms for the subject of political power to design, construct and adopt political governance systems and policies, and become the norm of political ruling behavior and its effectiveness. The measurement and evaluation standards also make political ruling behavior concretely embodied as the control, domination, restraint, exclusion, or coercion of other social-political forces and social members by the power of the political subject. 2.

Political rule is based on the construction of political authority and obedience relations

Political power is a force condensed by various related factors under specific conditions while potency is a psychological effect formed on the basis of political power, which is transformed from political power. Political authority “usually uses political power as a backing, based on the appeal of justice or a great personality, and produces a highly stable and reliable political influence and a power relationship of domination and obedience.”10 Therefore, in order to transform the restrictive relation of power into a relation of political authority and obedience, the subject of political power must transform political power into political authority, and this transformation becomes the basic content and task of political ruling. This content feature of political rule is stipulated by the way to resolve the inherent contradiction in the restrictive relation of political power. The contradiction requires the subject of political power to transform its own power into political authority, and the identity requires the subject to make other political forces and members of society choose obedience behavior. The construction of the relationship between political authority and obedience solves the inherent contradictions in the relationship between political power and social constraints. Therefore, the construction of the relationship between political authority and obedience is an inevitable way for the subject of political power to achieve power requirements and will, thus forming the basic content of the political rule. The task of creating the authority of the subject of political power is embodied in the various activities and functions of political rule in social and political life. It is embodied in the attack and coercion of hostile forces, as well as the normality of restraints of the ruling subject, such as the members of the ruling class. At the 9

Selected Works of Lenin Vol. 37. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 73. China Encyclopedia Political Science Volume, China Encyclopedia Publishing House, 1992, P500.

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same time, only when the authority of the political power subject is established, can the political power subject transform into the political ruling subject in the political ruling relationship. 3.

Political ruling is based on the legitimacy of public social ethics

The relationship between political authority and obedience is the social and political connection between the subject of political power and other social and political forces and members of society. This social and political connection is not only manifested in the relationship in the sense of political power comparison, in the sense of political behavior and interaction, in the sense of the relationship between the political rules and the system, but also manifested in the consciousness and psychological relationship between the political power subject and other social-political forces and social members. Because of this, the transformation of political power relations into political authority and obedience relations must be based on political legitimacy on the moral level as the ethical and spiritual basis. The strengthening of the relationship between political authority and obedience also requires an ethical basis for political legitimacy. Therefore, political ruling behavior often takes the ethics of political legitimacy as the basis for behavior. Of course, in different social and political forms, there are different political legitimacy. This moral and ethical feature of political ruling behavior is an important basis for resolving the internal contradictions of the restrictive relation of political power. In the process of transforming the restrictive relation of political power into the political authority and obedience relationship, the political power subject balances and resolves the contradiction and identity, and makes this transformation recognized by the society as an important basis for public social ethics. Legitimacy supports political power. It requires that the subject of political power appears as a representative of the common interests of the society in form or substance beyond the various social and political forces and that political power must not only follow the ethical legitimacy required by the power subject’s interest but also adopt public ethical legitimacy recognized by members of society. Only in this way can political power establish and operate the relationship of authority and obedience within the whole society. When the political ruling behavior maintains the status of the subject of political power, it often uses legitimacy in the sense of public social ethics to demonstrate its authority. The moral and ethical characteristics of political ruling behavior are often reflected in social and political life: the subject of political power has the tendency to impose the legitimacy of public ethics in a particular society on the form, content, or behavior of political power, or the tendency to explain this legitimacy, arguing or packaging the form, content or behavior of political power. 4.

Political rule takes the control and restraint of contradictions and conflicts within the political order as its political function

In social and political life, the relationship between political authority and obedience usually requires that the contradictions and conflicts between social forces and members of society be controlled and restricted within the scope of the social-political order. Therefore, the activity of transforming the political power relationship into the

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relationship of political authority and obedience is often reflected in the activity of the main body of political power to construct and maintain political order. The reason why the construction and maintenance of political order have become the main daily political function of political ruling behavior is inseparable from the interaction between the internal contradictions of the restrictive relation of political power. Political order is not only the result of contradictions in the restrictive relation of political power, but also a requirement to resolve such contradictions. At the same time, political order is not only the embodiment of the identity, but also the guarantee of this identity. Therefore, the interaction of contradiction and identity will form order with a specific social scope and structure. The discovery, confirmation, and maintenance of this order to facilitate the effective operation of political power are the actual political functions of political governance. As Marx said, “the actual order of a society is a given state formed by the distribution of rights and obligations in a certain way. Therefore, the conflicts surrounding rights and interests are not only infringements on individual rights but the manifestation of Intrusion into the entire original social order. The extreme form of conflict is the struggle of isolated individuals against the dominant relationship. As the ruling class of society, it has to deter conflicts in order to achieve orderly society.”11 The political order constructed and maintained by political ruling behavior is composed of many complex factors. Therefore, it has the characteristics of a comprehensive composition. It is a combination of political power dominance and social publicity, of the combination of stability and orderliness and dynamic variability, of political power coercion and authority compliance, of the qualitative regulation of its dominant interest formation and the quantitative regulation of its degree and scope, of spontaneous order and constructive order, and of rigid order such as legal order, institutional order and flexible order such as psychological order and ideological order. The political order constructed and maintained by the subject of political power is embodied in the standardization and order of political power to realize the requirements of public social interests and coordinating different interest contradictions. It is actually manifested in the ordering of the internal relations, structure and process of political power, of the relationship, structure and interaction between other social and political forces, and of the relationship, structure and interaction between political power and social members. 5.

Political rule takes political and social security and stability as its value orientation

The political ruling is an activity in which the subject of political power controls society and political conflicts within the scope of the social and political order. It is an activity to establish and maintain political authority and obedience between political power and other political forces and members of society, as well as an activity to constrain these forces and members under control and restraint. Therefore, among the multiple values of public social interests and the multiple functions of 11

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2002, p. 37.

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political power, what political ruling seeks to achieve is the value of social security and stability. It takes these values as its basic orientation of behaviors. The value dominance and orientation of the security and stability of political ruling behavior is the manifestation of the inherent contradiction in the restrictive relation of political power, or in other words, the contradiction between political power and other social forces and members of society must be controlled within the scope of security and stability which determines the value dominance and orientation of political rule. The value dominance and orientation of political ruling behavior is a specific value in the multiple values of public social interests and a specific function in the multiple functions of political power. For the composition and normal operation of society, the realization of these public values is a necessary prerequisite for the effective function of political power. Therefore, the political ruling has the specific role of creating conditions for the effective operation of political power and the normal progress of social life. In actual political life, the political rule is usually carried out in accordance with the value requirements of security and stability. Thus, the realization of security and stability and the degree of realization have become the measurement and evaluation standard of the effect of the political ruling.

7.2 The Basis and Types of Political Ruling 7.2.1 The Basis of Political Ruling Political ruling behavior aims to transform the relationship of political power into a relationship of political authority and obedience. In this process, whether and to what extent the relationship of political authority and obedience can be established, and whether and to what extent it can be maintained and effectively operated after its establishment are determined by many complicated factors. Nevertheless, from the perspective of historical and realistic political life, the realization of the goal of political ruling and the effective implementation of the specific political ruling have their basic factors, which form the basis of the political ruling. In a nutshell, these foundations are mainly: 1.

Political power basis of the political ruling

The existence and function of political power is the basis and symbol of the existence and maintenance of political power relations, and also the basis for the implementation of the political ruling. Therefore, political power has prerequisite significance for the political ruling. Any subject of political power who wants to maintain political ruling over society and effectively implement its own will and requirements must ensure that in the balance of social and political power, it always controls and masters power that exceeds other powers, and can effectively use this power.

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In the same way, the strength of political ruling depends on the strength of political power as its primary foundation. Generally speaking, the two have a positive correlation. In this sense, the existence and operation of powerful political power is a necessary condition for strengthening and effectively implementing the political ruling. For political ruling, the strength of political power is determined by various factors or variables that constitute power, and at the same time, it is also determined by the consistency of these factors or variables under the social and historical conditions when the political ruling is implemented. For example, the violent factor in political power is often a direct and important factor in the establishment and operation of political ruling under the historical conditions of political revolution. After the establishment of political power status, the ruling power with violence as its core often functions on social politics with regulatory forms and methods. The power base of the political ruling at this time is often reflected as a regulatory power basis in political life. At the same time, for political ruling, the strength of political power also depends on the ability to transform political power into public social authority. The behavior of political ruling requires that the power of political ruling must be an authority that appears in a public form. Only when the subject of political power transforms its rule and control of social and political life into public authority, can it transform its own power and will requirements to the whole society. Only with the legal and effective order control of one’s own can one’s own strength and will requirements be implemented smoothly and effectively through the power machine. The strength of this transformation ability also determines the strength of the political power base of political ruling in a positively related sense. 2.

Social basis of the political ruling

The social basis of political ruling depends on the relationship between the main body of political power and other social forces and members of society. In order to form and consolidate its political ruling, the main body of political power needs to expand its social membership as much as possible and establish interest ties and even alliances with relevant social and political forces and social members to expand and strengthen the social foundation of the political ruling. The decisive factor of the social foundation is the interest relations between the subject of political power and the members of society. According to the analysis of the aforementioned interest relation, it contains two aspects, namely, common interests and conflicts of interests caused by different interests. For the social foundation, the higher the degree of common interests are, the lower the degree of conflict of interests will be, and the more conducive to the expansion and strengthening of the social foundation of the political rule will be, and vice versa. In social and political life, the interest relation between the subject of political power and the members of society has different meanings, which form the different constituent factors and states of the social foundation of the political ruling. The common interests in the meaning of the content can make social members become

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members of the main body of political power due to its different degrees and development changes. For example, specific members of society can become members of a specific ruling class; it can also make the main body of political power and specific social members and social groups form political alliances, such as China’s worker-peasant alliance. It can also enable political power to form political cooperation with specific members of society and social groups, such as China’s united front. The conflict of interests in the meaning of content makes it difficult for political power and specific members of society to form a social relationship and social foundation that supports political ruling. The common interests nominal in rules and forms usually make it difficult for relevant members of society to become the social basis of the political ruling. Correspondingly, the conflict of interests between rules and formal meanings has very limited influence on the social foundation. It can be seen that the social foundation is mainly composed of common interests with the same content between political power subjects and members of society. Obviously, the higher the degree of common interests in the meaning of the content is, the lower the conflict of interests will be, and the more politically governed will be. As a result, the social foundation can be strengthened and expanded, and vice versa. 3.

Public function basis of the political ruling

The subject of political power must effectively establish and maintain the order of political ruling. In addition to using political power for political coercion and control, it must also use this power to assume social functions. Therefore, the political ruling must be based on the performance of public social functions. As Engels said: “Political ruling is everywhere based on the execution of a certain social function, and political ruling can only be sustained when it has performed its social function.”12 If the social foundation is based on the common interests of political power subjects and members of society, then the social and public function is the realization of these common interests. Therefore, the basic significance of the public function of political power to the subject of political power in political ruling lies in: The subject of political power to undertake and perform public social functions is a necessary prerequisite for mastering, protecting and maintaining the authoritative position and role of political power. Political power is essentially the power of the subject of political power, but in the form, it is the public power of the entire society. Therefore, the establishment and maintenance of the dominant position of political power certainly depend on the strength of political power, but at the same time, it must rely on its commitment to social and public affairs. In this regard, in order to establish and maintain political ruling, the subjects of political power must undertake and perform public functions. The subjects of political power undertake and perform public social functions, which is also a basic condition for ensuring the normal operation of social life and maintaining the order of ruling. The normal operation of social life and the existence of social order are not only the social embodiment of the political ruling order, but also the social foundation for the normal and stable operation. The normal operation 12

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 523.

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of social life and the existence of social order require normal and effective handling of public social affairs, which needs to be realized by the subject of political power through undertaking and performing social functions. The subject of political power’s undertaking and performing public social functions is also the fundamental way for political power to continuously promote the development of productive social forces and thereby strengthen the ruling power. The power of political power lies in the control and application of the constituent factors of power, which develop and change with the status of productive forces. Generally speaking, developed productive forces tend to provide more powerful and effective political resources. For the development of productive social forces, the subject of political power to undertake and perform public social functions is an important realization condition. In this regard, assuming and performing public social functions is also an important way for political power subjects to strengthen their ruling capabilities. 4.

Psychological basis of the political ruling

Engels said: “The authority mentioned here refers to imposing the will of others on us. On the other hand, authority is based on obedience.”13 It can be seen that the relationship between authority and obedience formed in the political ruling is political power. The subject and the object of political power are composed of both sides. Therefore, the basis of the political rule includes the status of the object of political power in addition to the power and function of the subject. In other words, when the subject constructs the relationship between political authority and obedience, in addition to transforming political power into political authority, it also needs to construct the obedience psychology of social members. The key to the obedience of social members to political authority lies in the ideological and psychological recognition and consent of social members to the political ruling and its approaches and methods. It is this recognition and consent that constitutes the legitimacy of the political ruling, and this political legitimacy becomes the psychological basis of the political ruling. The process of the political ruling is the process of legitimizing political power. The formation and development of political identity and legitimacy have complex and multifaceted reasons. Nevertheless, Marxism believes that social existence determines social consciousness, and political identity, as a component of social consciousness, is also determined by people’s social status. Therefore, political identity and legitimacy depend firstly on the social relations of the members of society, and on the satisfaction of the interests of the social members in their social relations and the coordination of their interests. It is the fundamental source of generating and consolidating political legitimacy as well as the basic basis for social members to identify and recognize political authority. On this basis, the generation and development of political identity and legitimacy are also closely related to the public rules and public ethics of a particular society. That is to say, the degree to which the behavior of the political ruler conforms to the rules and ethical norms recognized by society 13

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 18. People’s Publishing House, 1964, p. 341.

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is also closely related. It will affect or even switch the recognition and consent of social members to political authority. As the ideological and psychological tendency of social members to identify with the political rule, political identification usually has three directions: to a specific political power holder or group; to the political system rules and core values embodied in a specific society; and to a specific social community. Political identity and political authority constitute the psychological order of social and political life, which influences the behavioral and institutional order of social and political life in the form of values and psychological trends, thus becoming the psychological basis of the political ruling. In actual political life, the psychological basis is of great significance. Only by effectively transforming political power into political authority and cultivating stable political identity and political legitimacy, can the specific political ruling order be established and maintained effectively. “The future and destiny of a political party, a regime, ultimately depend on the public attitude of the people.”14 At the same time, whether and to what extent the requirements and rules of the political ruling can be effectively implemented often depends on whether and to what extent political identity and political legitimacy can be established.

7.2.2 The Types of Political Ruling As the classification of other political phenomena, political scholars classify political ruling according to different standards. For example, Harold Laswell and Abraham Kaplan classify based on the dominant factors of political ruling into eight types, namely bureaucracy, aristocracy rule, ethics ruling, populace ruling, strongman rule, plutocracy, technocracy, and ideology ruling.15 Another example is the German sociologist Max Weber who classifies on the basis of political legitimacy and divides political ruling into three types, namely traditional authority, charisma authority, and legal authority. The so-called traditional authority is a type of political ruling that establishes political legitimacy based on the political values and rules formed by traditional customs and habits. It “is based on the general belief in the sanctity of the traditionally applicable traditions and the legitimacy of the ruler mandated by tradition to exercise authority.”16 In this kind of political ruling, social members politically identify with traditional political customs and habits. The so-called charisma authority is a type of political ruling in which political power holders and political rulers rely on the special charm and extraordinary qualities of their political personality to establish political authority and gain the political identity of members of the society. This kind 14

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA Vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 295. Harold Dwight Lasswell, and Abraham Kaplan, Power and Society: A Framwork for Political Inquiry, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1950, p. 54. 16 Max Weber, Economy and Society (Vol. 1), The Commercial Press, 1997, p. 241. 15

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of ruling “[is built on] extraordinary dedication to the sacredness, heroism, or role model of a person and the system inspired and created by him.” The so-called legal authority is on the basis of the political identity of members of society, that is, political legitimacy based on the authority of laws and political rules. It “is based on the belief in the systems and instructions stipulated by the ruler’s constitution.” People obey the rules of the law and political life, “submitting to the legal constitution, affairs, non-individual system and the superiors determined by it.”17 Although these divisions rely on specific factors of political ruling and involve certain characteristics and have certain enlightening significance for people to understand and grasp political ruling, the standard of this classification is not the nature of the political ruling. Starting from the Marxist social analysis method, the classification of political ruling should be based on the main body of political power and its interests. Only in this way can we grasp the essence of the political ruling, highlight and reflect its essential characteristics. According to this standard, social and political ruling can be divided into two types: the political ruling of the exploiting class such as the slave-owner class, the feudal landlord class, and the bourgeoisie, and the political ruling of the proletariat and working people. The ruling of the exploiting class over the exploited class is a common feature of the political ruling of the slave-owner class, the feudal landlord class and the bourgeoisie, which is established by the exploiters who rely on the means of production and social material wealth. It possesses and controls political power, thereby implementing economic exploitation and political oppression of the working people and exercising control and domination of society to maintain and realize its interests and maintain its social and political status. After the working class overthrew the political ruling of the exploiting class and seized power, it established the political ruling of the working class and the laboring people, taking the proletariat and the laboring people as the main body of political power. The ruling of the exploiting class is also a unified authority established based on the socialized productive forces and development requirements of large-scale industries. “In this way, we can see that on the one hand, there is a certain authority, no matter how it is generated; on the other hand, it is definite obedience. Both, regardless of social organization, are necessary for us under the material conditions on which the production and circulation of products depend. Moreover, we also see that the material conditions of production and circulation inevitably become more complicated and tend to expand the scope of this authority with the development of large-scale industry and agriculture.”18 In the course of social history, the political ruling of the working class and the broad masses of people is the political premise of the realization of interests. The Marxist division of political rule types can be understood as follows: (1)

17 18

The basic standard of Marxism to classify the types of the political ruling is the subject. First of all, unlike Western scholars who use other elements

Max Weber, Economy and Society (Vol. 1), The Commercial Press, 1997, p. 241. Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 18. People’s Publishing House, 1964, p. 343.

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(2)

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as the basis for dividing the types of the political ruling, Marxism categorizes political ruling from the perspective of the subjects of political ruling in social-political life. Second, Marxism determines the subject from the socioeconomic foundation, especially the ownership of the means of production. In social and political life, the owner of the means of production logically becomes the subject of political ruling who is nothing but the political personification of the ownership of the means of production. Therefore, the political ruling is the political embodiment of the ownership of the means of production. Third, unlike Western political scholars’ determining the subject according to specific individuals or groups, the subject of political ruling determined by Marxism is a social group created by economic relations, that is, a group of classes. Fourth, since the fundamental change of the ownership of the means of production has social and historical change significance, therefore, the type of the political ruling divided on this basis is the division of historical and social form significance. The realistic basis for Marxism to classify the types of political ruling is the realization and dominance of the interests of political rulers. Marxism’s classification shows that the dominant position of the political ruler is reflected in reality through the realization of its interests in social and political life and the dominance of interest relations. “In the past, all classes, after striving for ruling, always subject the entire society to the conditions for them to get rich, in an attempt to consolidate the life status, they have already obtained.”19 The power status of the political ruling subject creates political conditions for the realization of their interests and the dominance of interest relationships. In terms of the political process, system operation, policy formulation and implementation, the realization of the interests of political ruling subjects and the dominance of social interest relationship are the actualization and concretization of the status of political ruling subjects. Therefore, different types of political ruling mean the realization of the interests of different political governance subjects and the dominance of social interest relationships.

As the political rule divided by Marxism is carried out according to the class, which is the collective ruler, the realization and dominance of the interests of the political ruler in different types of political rule refer to the overall interests of the class as a group. Realization and dominance of social interest relations do not mean the realization and dominance of the interests of certain members of the political ruling class or groups. (3)

19

The important symbol of Marxism’s classification of the political rule is the control and dominance of the political ruler over society. According to Marxism, political rule is to control social conflict within the scope of the order. Therefore, in social and political life, the political rule is embodied in the control and domination of society and political society by political rulers. In this regard, whether the subject of political rule is in a controlling and dominant

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 283.

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position, and whether it has control and dominance over social and political life has become an important indicator of the type of political rule. Marxism’s division of political rule is also based on this sign. It needs to be pointed out that in various types of political rule, the control and dominance of the political ruler over the society not only includes the control and oppression of the opposing class, but also means the restraint and control of the members of the political ruler. Therefore, in terms of the meaning of the political rule, the control and dominance of the political ruler over society is not only the control of the political ruling class over the opposing class, but also the restriction of the political ruling class on its internal members.

7.3 The Approach and Function of Political Ruling 7.3.1 The Approach of Political Ruling The method of political ruling is the way that the subject of political power constructs, maintains and consolidates political ruling, and it is also the way that the subject of political power implements political ruling. In social and political life, these two aspects are organically unified. The political ruling is a specific behavior of political power. Therefore, the method of political ruling is the concrete manifestation of the role of political power in political ruling behavior. It is a specific activity formed by the subject of political power around the specific task of transforming the restrictive relation of power into the authority and obedience relationship. The process of transforming the restrictive relation of political power into the relationship of political authority and obedience is a complex process containing multifaceted factors. Therefore, the subject of political power has multiple functions in the process of constructing, maintaining, consolidating, and implementing the political ruling. These functions determine that political ruling has a variety of specific methods. In a nutshell, the main ones are: 1.

Method of the rule of enforcement

It refers to the way that the main body of political power directly realizes ruling with coercive force. Relying on the political power and resources they master and control, the main body of political ruling adopts methods such as coercive oppression, deprivation of rights, and disintegration of hostile groups, forces, and members of society that endanger the specific political ruling order to eliminate or reduce the threat, harm and destruction of the dominant position and social and political order. The method of rule of enforcement also includes the compelling force of political power by the subject of political power to conduct compulsive behavior on hostile groups, forces, and members of society that endanger a specific political order, such as restriction freedom of action and forced labor.

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The method of rule of enforcement is a direct manifestation of the nature of the political ruling and the direct use of political power. For the establishment, maintenance, consolidation, and implementation of the political ruling, the effectiveness of enforcement is more embodied in weakening of the threatening power harmful to the power, status, and ruling order of the rulers. 2.

Method of the rule of law

It refers to the way in which the subject of political power conducts political ruling in accordance with specific legal or institutional rules. The method of the rule of law is the regulatory form for the establishment and implementation of the political ruling. However, under different social backgrounds, it has different spirits and modes of realization and operation. In the traditional rule of law, legal rules are only a tool for political power subjects to conduct political governance. To govern a country by law means to govern society and the country by legal rules. In the modern rule of law, the law is the agreement and common rules between members of society, which constitutes the internal mechanism of the political ruling. The subject of political ruling carries out political and social governance in accordance with the spirit and stipulations of the law. The actual operation of the rule of law is to ensure that there be laws to abide by, to ensure that laws are observed, to follow and maintain the order of the law in order to realize and maintain the order of political ruling. For political life, the rule of law actually means political ruling in accordance with specific systems and rules. Therefore, the political rule is institutionalized, and the political process is regularized. Political activities are carried out in strict accordance with the requirements and regulations of the system and rules, and the order of the political behavior of members of the society is realized by the institutional order and the ruling order to maintain and implement the political ruling order. 3.

Method of the rule of performance

It refers to the way in which the subject of political power conducts political ruling with the performance of undertaking social functions and realizing public interests. The establishment and maintenance of the relationship between political authority and obedience and the implementation of political ruling require the organic combination of the subjectivity of political power and social publicity, which requires the subject of the political ruling to undertake public social functions in form or content, satisfying and realizing public interests in different meanings such as rules or content, so as to maintain or consolidate the foundation of public social functions of the political ruling. These requirements are embodied in the performance of the political power subject in assuming these functions, which forms the method of rule of performance of the political power subject. In the process of implementing this method, on the one hand, since public social functions are embodied in many aspects of public affairs, the method of rule of performance requires political power subjects to fully assume these functions. On the other hand, because public social functions have specific goals, the method of rule of performance often requires political power to effectively undertake public social

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functions in accordance with these goals. Only in this way can the subject of political power obtain different meanings and degrees of political legitimacy through the realization and satisfaction of the interests of social members, thereby constructing and maintaining political authority and obedience relations. 4.

Method of the rule of reason

It refers to the way of political ruling by ideology and thoughts and theories. Generally speaking, “the ruling thoughts of any era has always been nothing but the one of the ruling class.”20 Therefore, in a specific society and political ruling, the dominant ideology and thoughts and theories are the ideas of the political power subject. They reflect the specific socio-economic and political relations. “The dominant ideology is nothing but dominance. The conceptual manifestation of the material relationship of status is only the dominant material relationship expressed in the form of thought.”21 At the same time, in the transformation of political power into political authority, ideology plays an important role. On the one hand, ideology and thoughts and theories need to transform themselves into the universal form of the whole society from merely of the subjects of political power, enabling the ruler’s rationality to obtain the form of public reason; on the other hand, ideology and thoughts and theories must internalize their political values and propositions into the basic values and beliefs of social members with their rational and logical power to form the spiritual pillar of the lasting and effective political ruling, thereby constructing the legitimacy of political ruling in the sense of rational thinking. It can be seen that the method of political ruling by ideology and thoughts and theories is an activity that occurs and affects the rational thinking of social members, an explanation and demonstration of the rationality of a specific political ruling and a path to construct and maintain the legitimacy of political ruling and political ruling order. The theoretical propaganda, education and demonstration carried out by the main body of political power are its regular forms. 5.

Method of the rule of virtue

It refers to the way to construct and maintain the political ruling through social morality and ethics. Social morals and ethics are very important norms spontaneously produced by society. Moral ethics has social universality. It is not only a norm generally followed by members of society, but also acts on the social level where laws and systems do not function; moral ethics has a value, and its norms inherently contain the value of “what ought to be” of social behavior, which is dominating and adjusting the values of people’s behavior; morality and ethics are permeable. They form and adjust the values, views of right and wrong, and the views of good and evil of members of society in a subtle way, and then control and adjust their behaviors and behavior patterns; moral ethics have a reasonable influence on law, systems and rules. They often constitute evaluation norms for the rationality of laws, systems and rules, and constitute substantive obligations norms for members of society, thereby 20 21

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 292. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 98.

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affecting and restricting the establishment, implementation and implementation of laws, systems and rules. Because of this, moral ethics is an important tool for political power subjects to gain legitimacy in their political ruling and regulate the behavior of social members. “Law is written morality, and morality is the inner law. Both law and morality have the function of regulating social behavior and relations, and maintaining social order, and both have their status and functions in national governance. Law is safe in the world, and morality is inspiring. The effective implementation of the law depends on moral support, and the practice of morality cannot be separated from legal constraints. The rules of law morality are inseparable and cannot be partial. National governance requires the concerted efforts of law and morality.”22 Political power constructs and maintains political ruling in the way of moral and ethical construction and enlightenment. It must establish the public ethics of a specific society. At the same time, it must make its political ruling highly consistent with public ethics in the sense of value and norms aiming at establishing the legitimacy of morality and political ruling, occupying the moral high ground of politics and social morality and realizing the moral validity of political ruling. The rule of virtue includes the application of moral ideal, moral faith, moral norm, and moral tradition. In general, it is a way for political power to construct and maintain political ruling through the construction and maintenance of moral order. 6.

Method of psychological rule

It refers to the way of political ruling through cultivation and strengthening political psychological identification of social members. As mentioned earlier, the key to the obedience of social members to political authority lies in their ideological and psychological recognition and consent to the political ruling and its methods. It is this recognition and consent that constitutes the legitimacy of the political ruling, and this political legitimacy has become the psychological basis of the political ruling. “A political party, a political power, its future and destiny ultimately depend on the support of the people.”23 Therefore, this kind of cultivation and strengthening is actually the cultivation and consolidation of the psychological foundation of the political ruling. Cultivating and strengthening the political identification of members of society is of great significance to the political ruling. It is not only an important link in whether political ruling can be established. As the saying goes, “[the sage’s] mind being at peace, [his] country is also at peace. [His] mind being well regulated, [his] country is also well regulated.”24 It is also a critical factor to the effectiveness of political ruling. The disorder or failure of the social and political ruling is often closely related to the disarrangement or disorder of social members. Since the mentality to identify with the political ruling of social members to the political ruling has a specific orientation, the subject of political power often cultivates and maintains the political identification of social members accordingly, 22

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 133. XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Foreign Language Press, 2014, p. 15. 24 Guanzi: Xinshu. 23

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such as cultivating loyalty and trust to those in charge of a specific political power or a group, the identification of specific social and political system rules and their core values and emotions for a specific social community. The cultivation and strengthening of the psychological identification of social members is the process by which the subject of political power transforms their own values and theoretical norms into the psychological set of social members. Therefore, it is the way in which the ruling order is constructed and maintained in achieving the political goal by constructing and strengthening the specific psychological order of social members.

7.3.2 The Function of Political Ruling As a basic behavior of political power, the political ruling has specific meanings and functions in social and political life, mainly reflecting in: 1.

Political ruling safeguards and maintains the interests and power status of political power subjects

The political power subject’s political ruling behavior is based on safeguarding the interests of the political power subject and maintaining its power position as the starting point and end, which also constitutes the purpose and essence of the political ruling. The maintenance of the interests of the subject of political power and the maintenance of power status are of great significance. Therefore, for political power, the political ruling behavior is related to whether political power can exist and operate as power in actual political life, and whether it can maintain its control and restrictiveness of power; for a political relationship, it is related to the existence of existing political relations; for social life, it is related to the existence of existing political methods and ways for social members to realize their interests. Therefore, the political ruling has not only fundamental significance for the subject of political power, but also a decisive effect on social and political life. 2.

Political ruling guarantees and maintains social and political security

In the process of the political ruling, political power will prevent, combat, exclude, punish and suppress social and political hostile forces and all kinds of forces and persons that endanger the status of political power and social life, thereby ensuring the main body of political power and the safety of social life. Outside a specific country, political power defends and guards against aggression, interference, subversion, and destruction by external hostile forces, ensuring national security. Within a specific country, political power uses various methods to combat the harmful actions of hostile forces, ensuring the normal operation of political power and public social security. Of course, in different countries, the class essence of the social and political security guaranteed and maintained by the political ruling is different.

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Political ruling maintains the persistence of existing political relations

The political ruling takes place in the relationship between political power and society due to the inherent contradiction of restrictive relation of political power. It is this contradiction that makes political ruling must control the contradictions and conflicts of various social interests and social forces within its allowable and socially acceptable range and limits, so that political power can play a role in restricting relations, which allows the existing political relations to be maintained and survived. Therefore, the political ruling is the fundamental way to maintain the existing political relationship, and the political ruling behavior has also become the fundamental act of maintaining the existing political relationship. From the perspective of the relationship between political power and society, political ruling has created basic conditions for resolving the contradictions in the relationship between restrictive relations of political power. 4.

Political ruling guarantees the effectiveness of the role of political power

In the process of political power acting on society, the will and requirements of the subject of political power are realized through the relationship between political authority and obedience, and the effectiveness of political power is also reflected. The relationship between political authority and obedience is established and strengthened through the process of the political ruling. Therefore, the political ruling is a prerequisite to ensure the effectiveness of political power in society. In this sense, the political ruling creates political conditions for the social realization of political power. At the same time, the political ruling also determines the will and the degree to which the subject of political power is required to be realized in society and the effectiveness of political power. The stable relationship of political authority and obedience caused by strong political ruling can realize the will and requirements of the subject of political power to a corresponding degree, thus forming the corresponding power validity, and vice versa. 5.

Political ruling guarantees the political rights of certain members of society

Political rights are legal qualifications for members of society to claim and realize public interests, which are confirmed and guaranteed by political power. In terms of the basic attributes and characteristics of the political ruling, in the sense of the political rights of social members, the political ruling is also an act of confirming and guaranteeing the political qualifications of social members by political power. On the one hand, the political ruling confirms that certain members of society have and enjoy the legal qualifications to claim and realize public interests in accordance with the interests, will and requirements of the subject of political power, and exclude certain members of society from possessing and enjoying such qualifications. On the other hand, in social and political life, political ruling guarantees the political rights of its confirmed members of society but does not guarantee the political qualifications of unidentified members. In addition, the political ruling also punishes members of society whose political rights have been confirmed but violated the will and rules of the political power to deprive them of political rights, so as to ensure the realization of political rights of other members of society.

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In social life, political ruling constructs social and political order, and also creates political conditions for the realization of political rights, which can only be realized in the normal and orderly rules of political life, of which political ruling is the supplier. Therefore, the political ruling has the function of providing social and political conditions for the realization of political rights. 6.

Political ruling guarantees social order and stability and creates conditions for political management

In social life, order and stability are the necessary conditions for the normal operation of society and the orderly activities of social members. The social significance of political rule lies in creating the preconditions for the orderly operation of society. At the same time, in social life, public social interest is realized through the management of society by political power, and the management of society by political power can only be carried out in a state of order and stability in society and politics. This is what political management requires. This kind of social and political order and stable state is created by the political ruling behavior of the political power subject. Therefore, the political ruling is based on the construction and maintenance of social and political order, the maintenance and consolidation of political stability, and the implementation of political power for the society. Management and the normal performance of political management functions have created necessary conditions.

Chapter 8

Political Management

8.1 The Meaning of Political Management 8.1.1 The Meaning of Political Management In ancient Chinese books, “guan” means “taking charge” and “stipulating”, such as the statement in Book of Lord Shang: Cultivation of Authority that “administering the entire state but taking the advantage for their private benefit. This is the reason why the state is endangered.” and the statement in Xunzi: Enriching the State that “to lack wealth and generous endowments will leave one incapable of managing one’s subordinates.” In ancient Chinese books, the original meaning of “li” is to treat jade. Shuowen Jiezi says: “Li is to treat jade.” Strategies of the Warring States says: “The untreated jade is jade in the rough.” The extended meaning is renovating and organizing. Therefore, the combination of “guan” and “li” means regulation and management. In the West, the English counterparts for “guan li” are “administer” and “management”, and their basic meanings are “taking charge”, “handling”, “guidance”, “distribution”, etc., basically close to the meaning of management in modern words. The thought of political management is almost as remote as the generation of political thoughts. Whether in China or in the West, the thought of political management has already been produced when political thoughts emerged. The political thinkers and statesmen of the past dynasties have involved or explained the content of political management to varying degrees. However, linking “politics” with “management” to form the concept of “political management” has been a phenomenon since the twentieth century. Since the twentieth century, people have made different interpretations of political management. Some people think that “politics” means “management”. As mentioned earlier, the explanation by Sun Yat-sen, the pioneer of China’s revolution, that politics is the management of people, can be regarded as an explanation of political management, containing the meaning of politics as management. In this regard, it can be considered that political management is actually politics. Some people think © Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_8

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that political management is administration. For example, German sociologist Max Weber interprets political management as administrative management. He believes that “any ruling manifests itself as administrative management and performs its functions as administrative management.”1 Therefore, he equated political management activities with administration, thus thinking that political management is administration. Some people think that political management is about leadership and coordination in the process of realizing public opinion.2 Some people think that this kind of political management includes government leadership, legislative management, relationship management between government departments and government at different levels, etc.3 ; others believe that it includes selection and management of the cabinet, management of the relationship between ministries and agencies, determination of priority and core institutions, financial management, government-to-government relationship management, government-business relationship management, public consultation, reform, crisis and media management, etc.4 These explanations determine the meaning of political management from different angles and involve management activities of political power at different levels. However, they either ignore other behaviors that involve power in the political process, such as ruling behavior, or simply equate political management with administration, or only regard political management as the leadership and coordination of the realization of public opinion. Therefore, these interpretations do not go deep and fail to clarify the essential prescriptive nature of political management. Like political ruling behavior, political management behavior is the basic behavior of the political power subject. It is a political behavior that occurs between the political power subject and other social-political forces and members of society. Therefore, determining the meaning of political management behavior should also start from the investigation of the inherent contradictions of the restrictive relation of power. As mentioned earlier, the subject of political power has inherent contradictions and identity to the restrictive relationship between other social-political forces and social members. The contradiction and identity make political power subjects produce not only political ruling behavior, but also political management behavior. In the restrictive relation of power, the contradiction between interests and power status of the political power subject and other social-political forces and members of society requires political power subject to regulate the interest relations between them and regulates mutual interest relation and the behaviors of social-political forces and members of society based on these interest relations. Political management behaviors are produced in response to these requirements.

1

Max Weber, Economy and Society (Vol. 1), p. 271. Max Weber, Wissenschaft Als Beruf, Politik Als Beruf, International Cultural Publishing Company, 1988 edition. 3 Huang Ronghu(ed.). Public Management. Taiwan Shangding Culture Publishing House, 1999, p. 125. 4 Sandford Borins and Allan Blakeney, Political Management in Canada, 2nd ed., University of Toronto Press, 1998. 2

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In different social and historical stages and different countries, political power subjects resolve interest contradictions in interest relations, coordinate various interest relations, and regulate different social forces and members of society in ways that have essential differences which fundamentally stem from the differences in class nature of various societies and politics in history and real life. At the same time, different societies and countries have different historical traditions, cultural accumulations, basic national conditions, and ethnic composition, which will also cause great differences in the coordination of interest contradictions and relations. On the other hand, as a type of social management, political management has the same characteristics of management methods in different historical stages and different countries, thus forming the mutual reference and possibility of inheritance of political management in different historical stages. “Each stage of history has encountered certain material results, a certain sum of productivity, and the historical relationship between man and nature and between individuals has encountered a large amount of productivity, capital and environment passed on from the previous generation to the next. On the one hand, this productivity, capital and environment are changed by the new generation, but on the other hand, they also prescribe the living conditions of the new generation itself, so that it can get a certain development and have a special nature.”5 Political life in human society in the history of development, from political power to impose a monarchy-style direct restraint and regulation of society, to the management of the combination of democratic politics and bureaucratic structure rule, to multi-subject coordination and multi-method governance, to networked co-construction, co-governance and sharing, vividly and typically shows these characteristics of political management and governance. The identity in the restrictive relation of power requires political power to realize the common interests in the social interest relations, so that the contradictory interest subject and the social force subject can be identical to the social life and social community on the basis of realizing the common interests. Although the common interests have different meanings under different social and historical backgrounds, the requirements of identity in the restrictive relation of power are all embodied on the basis of the realization of common interests with different meanings by political power. It requires that political power must achieve, maintain and develop specific common interests, so that political power constraints can be maintained and the common interest basis for the generation and operation of political power can be transformed into social results, thereby ensuring or maintaining the life of a specific social community. It can be seen that under the dual drive of the contradiction and identity of the restrictive relation of power, in order to coordinate and solve the interest contradiction in the interest relation and realize the common interest requirements of the society, the political power subject must undertake public social functions and implement social management, which actually is political management behavior. Therefore, political management is just another alternative way to resolve the inherent contradiction in the restrictive relation of power as well as an important 5

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 92.

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manifestation of this contradiction. In content, it is embodied as transforming the restrictive relation of power into political and social consequences. In real political life, it is embodied in the management of public social life by political power, including coordinating and resolving social interest contradictions and conflicts, realizing public social interests, regulating and coordinating the behaviors of various social-political forces and members of society, and assuming public social functions and other behaviors. This definition of political management can be understood as follows: The essence of political management is that the main body of political power realizes the interests and requirements of the main body of political power in the way of realizing public interests and coordinating different interest contradictions. As the behavior of the subject of political power, political management is the same as political ruling in that the starting point is to realize the interests and requirements of the subject of political power. For example, the starting point of the social and political management of the exploiting class is to realize, maintain and develop the interests and requirements of the exploiting class. The starting point of socialist social-political management is to realize, maintain and develop the interests and requirements of the proletariat and the broad masses of the people. However, the way and meaning of political management to achieve this interest and requirement are different from that of the political ruling. First, it realizes the interests and requirements of political power subjects by realizing specific common interests. That is to say, although the meanings of common social interests in different social and political forms are different, they all contain the interest requirements of political power subjects. Therefore, realizing common social interests in a specific sense is also realizing the interest requirements of political power subjects. Second, the main body of political power realizes its interests and requirements by coordinating different interest contradictions and regulating various social and political forces on this basis. In actual political life, this coordination and standards provide conditions for the realization of the interests and requirements of political power subjects. The important function of political management is to resolve the inherent contradictions of the restrictive relation of power. Political management resolves the contradictions in the relationship between political power constraints by coordinating the vertical and horizontal contradictions of social interests and regulating the behavior of various social-political forces and social members. At the same time, political management realizes the common interests of society in different meanings and realizes the public needs of social members, thereby maintaining and ensuring the identity of the restrictive relation of power. It shows that political management is different from political ruling in terms of its behavioral orientation and actual functions. Political ruling behavior points to the construction of the relationship of political authority and obedience between the subject of political power and society. Its function is mainly to control and restrain the conflicts of interest and conflicts between social-political forces and members of society, thereby preparing political conditions for solving the inherent contradictions in the restrictive relation of power for political power. The direction of political management behavior is social interest contradictions and common social interests, and its function is to coordinate and regulate these

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contradictions and conflicts, realize the requirements of common social interests with different meanings, and solve the inherent contradiction in the restrictive relation of power. It can be seen that political management is not only the behavior of the main body of political power driven by internal contradictions, but also an important way to solve internal contradictions. The actual function of political management forms a social measurement standard for political management behavior. That is to say, whether political management behavior is effective, and the degree of effectiveness is measured by coordinating and regulating social conflicts and realizing specific common social interests. The degree to which the contradiction with horizontal interests can be coordinated and regulated, and the degree to which the common interests of a specific society can be realized, have become a measure of the effectiveness and performance of political power in political management. The content of political management is to undertake public social functions and public affairs. The process of political management is the process of transforming political power restriction into actual social results. In this process, the main body of political power coordinates, regulates, and resolves the conflicts and conflicts of different interests, and realizes the common interests of the society, which is reflected in the undertaking of specific public functions and the handling of public affairs. Therefore, actual and specific public affairs become the daily activities of political management. What needs to be pointed out is that the undertaking of public social functions and the management of public affairs are manifested in the management of human, financial, material, information and other elements in daily social and political life. Among these, the basic content of political management is the management of members of society and their mutual relations, and grasp, realization and coordination of the interests of members of society. As for the management of other elements of the objects in political practice, it is configured and implemented around the management of the interest requirements and interest relations of members of the society. In this regard, the basic content of political management is the management of people in political life, the regulation, organization, command, standardization, supervision and coordination of social members and their mutual relations.

8.1.2 The Features of Political Management As the behavior of political power to manage public social affairs, political management has the following basic characteristics: 1.

Political management is public

Political management is a path and approach for political power subjects to realize their own interests by assuming public social functions and realizing public social interests. Therefore, political management is characterized as public.

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The publicity of political management behavior is the manifestation of social interest relations, especially the common interests in the interest relations embodied in the feature of political power behavior, and it is also the prescriptive nature of these common interests for political power behavior. Therefore, the publicity of political management behavior originates from the requirements of social interest relations and common interests and these interest relations and specific common interests make political management aim at the realization of specific common interests, so that the goals of political management have specific publicity. At the same time, social interest relations and specific common interests also stipulate the specific public meaning of political management objectives. Due to the different social interest relations in different types of societies, the meaning of common interests is correspondingly different, which determines the public goals of political management in different meanings. As a political power behavior, political management is the management of social forces and members implemented by political power under the conditions of political authority and obedience. In this process, the combination of the political authority and obedience and the management objects and goals, on which political management depends to implement, endows specific public authority to political management, thereby making political management have a public authority, and the rules of political management become public social rules. The social functions and management of social affairs undertaken by political management are requirements for the realization of specific social interest relations and common interests. Therefore, these functions and affairs have the characteristics of public functions and public affairs, just as Marx analyzed the functions of capitalist countries. As pointed out, “this is exactly the same as in an authoritarian country, where the government’s supervision of labor and total intervention includes two aspects: the execution of various public affairs arising from the nature of all society, and various special functions arising from the opposition between the government and the masses.”6 It gives the publicity of political management at the level of functions and affairs of political management. 2.

Political management is organized

From the perspective of the history and social activities of the development of human society, any management is carried out through specific organizations. The implementation of the will and requirements of the management authority, the regulation of the management objects and their behaviors, are implemented in the form of organizations. Therefore, political management as a specific type of management has a specific organizational nature. The organization of political management is first reflected in the organic combination of various resources and elements on which management depends and operates, including manpower, material resources, financial resources, power, rights, information, geographic environment, ethnicity and traditional culture. In political management, these resources and elements are conducted through centralized allocation and 6

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 46. People’s Publishing House, 2003, pp. 431–432.

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organic combination. It is precisely by virtue of this configuration and combination that political power realizes the management of society. The organizational nature of political management is also reflected in the composition of the political system of political power and the political system of social members. In social and political life, the organizational requirements of political management are usually embodied in organizations of political power and of social members. The organizations in these two aspects both present a specific structure of the political system. As far as the organization of political power is concerned, the political power system is generally structured in accordance with specific bureaucratic structure rules and procedure rules. As for the organization of social members, political management is usually structured systematically in accordance with the requirements of politics in a society for the realization of the political rights of its members. This nature is also reflected in the cooperativity of political management operations. In the process of political management, various organizational departments of political power have a normative division of labor and collaboration, so that the management and operation forces of political power are greater than the arithmetic sum of the individual action forces of each department. There is a normative order and coordination between the subject of political power and the members of society, so that the political power can manage the society smoothly. 3.

Political management is accountable

Political management determines and assumes public goals and public functions in accordance with social requirements. By virtue of the political power and political authority it implements, it will turn into political and public social responsibilities of political management, which constitute the responsibility of political management. The responsibility of political management lies in the consistency of political management behavior with the common interests of members of society. Therefore, the responsibility of political management manifests itself as the public responsibility of political power. The requirements of social and political life for political management are the fundamental stipulations of political responsibility, which constitute the content and requirements of political responsibility, and become a yardstick for measuring political responsibility. The responsibility of political management is the norm for the behavior of the subject of political power, which includes the requirements of the interests of members of the society for the mandatory norms, permissive norms and prohibitive norms of the management activities of the subjects of political power, which are respectively reflected in how political management should behave, what can be done and what cannot be done, resulting in the mandatory responsibility, permissive responsibility and prohibitive responsibility of political management. The responsibility of political management is symmetrical with the power of political management. In the process of political management and social life, power and responsibility are Two Sides of the Coin. The two co-exist in political management power and are mutually symmetrical. It means that if you have political management power, you have political responsibility, and a corresponding political responsibility

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for what and how much political-administrative power you have. On the other hand, the responsibility of political management is closely related to the consequences of political management. Whether the responsibility of political management is undertaken and realized is usually reflected by the consequences of political management, and the consequences of political management also become the actual and reliable basis for the evaluation and accountability of political responsibility investigation. As political management is organized, the responsibility of political management is also embodied in the corresponding structure. That is to say, the responsibility of political management is allocated and distributed according to the level and department of the organization. The responsibility of political management makes political power and management activities subject to public social supervision. Of course, under different social and political forms, such public social supervision is carried out in different ways. In primitive society, public social supervision is a regulation in the sense of natural morality. In a slave society and feudal society, public social supervision is suppressed by authoritarian politics and the rule of man, which manifested as negative popular support. The capitalist society conceals the tyranny of capital power with public social supervision in legal and political forms. The socialist supervision of the people has become the real supervision and active guarantee for the implementation and investigation of political management responsibilities. 4.

Political management is service-oriented

Management also means service for social life and development and for political power subjects and their members. Political management undertakes public social functions and therefore has the characteristics of public social services. The service nature of political management is basically to serve the subject of political power and meet and realize the interest requirements of the subject of political power. The social functions required to undertake these requirements are the essential provisions of the service nature of political management, which actually embodies the essential attributes of political power. In social and political life, the serviceability of political management also manifests itself as serving the specific common interests of other social forces and members of society. Since the specific common interests of the society include the specific common interests of political power subjects and other social-political forces and members of society, serving this specific common interest is actually serving the interests of the subjects of political power. Or in other words, political management realizes its service to the subject of political power by serving specific common social interests. The service nature of political management is embodied as the main body of political power manages public affairs and provides public goods. Public affairs are affairs that members of society require to address in order to ensure the normal and orderly progress of social life. Due to the wide range of social life, the management of public affairs involves almost all aspects of social life. Public goods have the characteristics of non-exclusiveness in consumption and non-competitiveness in production, including tangible products, such as public projects and national defense, as well as intangible products, such as ideology, systems, laws, and rules.

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Political management takes the realization of the efficiency and fairness of public life as the basic value orientation

Political management behavior is the activity of the subject of political power to realize common interests of society and coordinate the relationship of social interests. It is the social embodiment of the will and requirements of political power. Therefore, in the multiple values of common social interests and the multiple functions of political power, what political management behavior strives to realize is the value of efficiency and fairness in public social life. Therefore, it takes these values as the basic orientation of behavior. Political management achieves the requirements of efficiency by effectively realizing common interests and regulating the realization of different interests, effectively regulating social interest relations, and promoting social development. At the same time, political management coordinates various social conflicts in various ways, and realizes social management in accordance with the fairness requirements of a specific society to realize the value of fairness. Since efficiency and fairness are mutually exclusive in a specific sense in actual social life, it is an important task of political management to coordinate these two aspects in management activities to achieve both efficient and fair social harmony.

8.2 The Functions and Types of Political Management 8.2.1 The Functions of Political Management The function of political management is the task of political power for the operation and development of society under the premise of the political ruling. From the decisive significance of social interest relations and the restrictive relation of political power for political management behavior, it can be seen that the functions of political management can be abstractly summarized as realizing common social interests, coordinating and regulating different interest contradictions and interest relations. In specific political management activities, these functions are embodied in many specific requirements and tasks. 1.

Realizing the common interests of society

Political management is the fundamental mechanism for realizing the common interests of society, which, therefore, is the basic task of political management. Obviously, under different social and historical backgrounds, the common social interests realized by political management have huge differences in nature, content, and meaning. For example, in an exploiting class society, the so-called common social interests, first of all, are the commonality of the fundamental interests of members of the exploiting class. At the same time, it also contains the consensus of the members of

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society on the basic rules and boundaries of interests needed to safeguard the fundamental interests of the exploiting class. The common interest of a socialist society is the commonality of the fundamental interests of the proletariat and the broad masses of the people. The functions of political management to realize the common interests of the society include the functions of determining, realizing, safeguarding, developing, and allocating common interests of society: (1)

Determining the common interests of society

Although common social interest exists objectively in social and political life, for political management, it requires the determination of political power and management subjects. This determination process is a process in which the subjectivity of the subjects of political power and management reaches objectivity. From the perspective of the socio-political process, political management has two basic ways to determine the common interests of society. One is proactive determination; that is, political managers take the initiative to investigate, understand and analyze the society or the market and its development status, and obtain and deal with it. The needs and content of the common interests of society are determined on the basis of relevant information. The other is passive determination, that is, members of society express interest requirements and will orientations in the political process in a formal or informal way of public opinion, and political managers determine common social interests on the basis of aggregation, analysis and understanding of these expressed interest requirements and intentions. Since the common interests of society are contained in the intricate social interest relations, determining the common interests of the society means determining not only the content or meaning, but also the boundaries between common interests and other interests in the society and their mutual relations, including the determination of the boundary between the common interests of society and the different interests of various members of the society and their mutual relations, the determination of the boundary between the interests of political managers themselves and the common interests of society, and so on. In the process of political management, the determination of the common interests of society has the requirements of time span, value sequence and practical matters. The requirement of time span requires political managers to determine the current common interests of society, the short-term common interests of society, and the medium and long-term common interests of society based on the distance of time under the premise of determining the overall common interests of the society; the requirements of the value order require political managers determine and coordinate the sequence of management and realization of the multiple values of the common interests of society according to the state of social development; the requirements of practical matters require political managers to transform the determined common interests of the society into concrete, actual and operable public issues and management issues, so that the common interests of society can be realized.

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The function of political management to determine the common interests of society includes not only the determination of the content of the common interests of the society, but also the determination of the specific ways and means to realize these interests, so that political management can be effectively implemented. (2)

Realizing the common interests of society

According to the determined common interests of the society, realizing them with the force of political power is the core of political management to realize the common interests of society. The basis for realizing the common interests of society is the organization and allocation of public resources. Public resources, that is, publicly owned resources, including resources in many aspects, including public natural resources, such as public forests, pastures, lakes, rivers, minerals, land, etc.; financial resources, such as the government through taxation and other public finance formed by the legal economic way; material and human resources, such as public materials and public human resources; information and technical resources, such as state-owned information and technology, and so on. Political power has ownership of these public resources. In order to ensure the realization of the common interests of the society, the political management process needs to effectively mobilize, organize and allocate these public resources to provide the basis and conditions for the realization of the common interests of the society. Under certain circumstances, political management can requisition personal resources to serve the common interests of society for the purpose of realizing the common interests of society. Of course, under different social conditions, the expropriation methods vary. The key to realizing the common interests of society is to provide public goods and public services. To realize the common interests of society, political managers must transform public resources into public goods and public services. Therefore, providing public products and public services is the key to realizing the common interests of society. The public products provided include public goods, public goods in spirit and public institutional goods. As far as the public services provided are concerned, they are mainly responses and responses to the common needs of members of the society. Obviously, public goods and public services provided by political management have requirements on quantity and quality. Therefore, ensuring that public goods and public services meet these requirements of the common interests of society is an important function of political management. On the other hand, the provision of public goods and public services has cost and benefit issues. Therefore, this provision in accordance with the principle of public reason maximization also constitutes an important function of political management. Realizing the common interests of society requires the unified behavior of the political power system. Therefore, coordinating the behaviors and policies of various power departments and levels is an important function of political management in the process of realizing common social interests. At the same level of political power, important conditions for the same operation and same direction of the political power

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system in the political management structure include the coordination and cooperation of power organization and various functional departments that realize common social interests, and the coordination and cooperation between different levels of political power. Therefore, unifying and coordinating these power departments and levels has become an important responsibility of political management. To realize common social interests, we need to follow the principle of balance. On the one hand, political management needs to balance different values contained in common interests such as security, order, efficiency, fairness, etc., so that these different public values can be realized in a balanced and coordinated manner; on the other hand, political management needs to balance the relationship between common interests of society with different interests in order to guarantee the common development of different interests while the common interests of society are realized and developed. (3)

Maintaining the common interests of society

Maintaining common social interests is an important condition for realizing and distributing common interests. Therefore, it constitutes an important function of political management. The maintenance of common social interests is firstly and concentratedly reflected in the maintenance of the public property. The so-called public property includes public resources and public products. For example, Article 12 of China’s Constitution stipulates: “Socialist public property is sacred and inviolable. The state protects socialist public property. It is forbidden for any organization or individual to use any means to occupy or destroy the state and collective property.” This provision fully reflects the nature of China’s socialist state with public ownership as the main body and reflects the maintenance of people’s common interests. In other countries, political management also maintains public property in different ways. The maintenance of common social interests is also reflected in the maintenance of public social organizations, such as the maintenance of national enterprises and public utilities and their personnel, the maintenance of organ of political authority and their personnel, and the maintenance of national military organizations and their personnel. The maintenance of common social interests is also reflected in the maintenance of the rules for the realization of common social interests. Political power, in accordance with relevant laws, systems and policy rules stipulated by the requirements for the realization of common social interests, has the compulsion and public legitimacy of power, and is an important condition for the realization of common social interests. Therefore, the maintenance of common social interests includes the maintenance and implementation of these rules. In its positive sense, the maintenance of the common interests of the society is also transformed into the maintenance of the requirements for the realization. That is to say, the maintenance of the common interests of the society is not only to prevent the occupation, infringement and destruction of public social interests, but also to require relevant organizations and personnel realize the common social interests in accordance with the goals of political management planning and decision-making.

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In the process of political management, there are various ways and means for political power to safeguard the common interests of society. Therefore, the legislative, administrative and judicial processes in the social-political process all have the responsibility and function of safeguarding common social interests. In these processes, the function of political management to maintain common social interests has common characteristics of review, evaluation, audit, monitoring and punishment. (4)

Distributing common social interests

The distribution of common social interests refers to the process of distributing the realized common social interests to members of society so that they can enjoy the common interests of society. It can be seen from this that the process of political management for the distribution of common interests in society is actually the process of distributing the already formed common benefits of the society to relevant members of society. The society’s regulation of political management formed around this process becomes the function of political management to distribute common social interests. Different from the market mechanism, which distributes according to economic rationality, the distribution of the common interests of the society by political management is carried out according to the principle of publicity. Therefore, under different social and political forms, the publicity in the sense of different classes and political governance determines different processes and results of political distribution and management. On the other hand, as a management behavior, the distribution of common social interests by political management has functional characteristics in a general sense. The distribution of the common interests of society by political management is carried out in accordance with the principle of multiple distributions. Therefore, this distribution is composed of multiple distributions. First, politics-based distribution, that is, the distribution for maintaining political dominance of power in the process of political management, including the distribution of national defense, public security, diplomacy and other interests related to the effective operation of the political ruling. Second, reward-based distribution, that is, the distribution of public labor. This distribution is usually a reward distribution for the public labor of public servants. Under certain circumstances, it also includes the reward-based distribution of labor for special needs for common interests. This distribution is usually done in the form of salary or remuneration. Third, return-based distribution, that is, the distribution of rights and qualifications for members of society to enjoy the common benefits of society. In specific public spheres and public affairs, it includes the distribution of rights and qualifications for members of society to enjoy public social goods. Fourth, qualification-based distribution, that is, the quadratic assignment of political power based on social development and conditions, including financial subsidies, transfer payments, social assistance and social security, etc., whose purpose is to adjust the differential advantage of interests among members of society and meet the special interests of special groups of people. Fifth, regulation-based distribution, that is, the distribution that creates conditions for the development and re-realization of the common interests of society, including public accumulation.

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Political management usually needs to follow the principles of social fairness and social justice for the distribution of common social interests. However, in different social history and political backgrounds, the so-called social fairness and justice have different meanings. Therefore, it has created fairness and justice of distribution in a different sense from specific societies and political backgrounds. Political management usually requires the establishment of necessary distribution rules and systems for the distribution of common social interests to form a mechanism to maintain political ruling, keep the stable development of society, and encourage relevant members of society. Therefore, the establishment of relevant distribution rules and systems is a necessary function of political management in the allocation of common social interests. (5)

Developing common social interests

According to the needs of social development, it is the function of political management to develop common social interests to create and provide conditions for the development of common interests of society. The function of political management to develop common social interests is first established on the basis of the mastery of the laws of social development. The degree of understanding and mastery of the laws and characteristics of social development by political managers fundamentally determines the degree of correct performance of functions in managing common social interests by politics. The function of political management to develop common social interests is also based on the grasp of the requirements of common social interests. In the process of social development, political managers’ determining and mastering the common interests of members of the society and understanding and mastering the requirements and trends of the development of common social interests constitute the basis for decision-making. The function of political management to develop the common interests of society depends on the political managers’ understanding and grasp of the conditions and opportunities for realizing development. Therefore, the political managers’ understanding and grasp of these conditions and opportunities have become an important factor in the development of common interests. It stipulates the possibility and feasibility of developing common interests and stipulates the functional content of political management under these constraints. The function of political management to develop the common interests of society also depends on the choice of ways and means of developing common interests. Different ways and means will require political management to have different functions and form different ways for political management to realize its functions. The function of political management to develop common social interests is usually embodied in the functions of formulating development strategies, analyzing and clarifying development conditions, selecting development paths, solving problems in development, implementing development measures, and implementing development strategies and plans based on the laws and characteristics of social development.

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In terms of the development of common social interests, political managers improve the quality and efficiency of common interests in accordance with the level of social development and the requirements of social members, which constitutes another level of development function of common interests. 2.

Coordinating and regulating interest conflicts and interest relations

According to the state of social interest relations, coordinating and resolving contradictions between different interests is another important function of political management. In social life, interest contradictions exist objectively and universally. The responsibility of political managers is to recognize and grasp contradictions, coordinate and resolve different interest contradictions. Therefore, the functions of political management mainly include grasping contradictions, analyzing contradictions, and resolving contradictions. (1)

Grasping conflicts of interest

Accurately understanding and grasping social interest contradictions is the basis for political management to coordinate and regulate interest contradictions. Therefore, it is also a basic aspect of the function of political management to coordinate and resolve interest contradictions. In actual social and political life, the interest contradiction in the social interest relation usually takes the actual problem as the occurrence and existence form, and “any form of movement contains its own special contradictions.”7 Therefore, through these problems, we can accurately grasp the interest contradictions behind the problems and determine the orientation of these contradictions, that is, to determine whether they belong to vertical or horizontal interest contradictions, which level and scope of interest contradictions all of which belong to the primary function of grasping conflicts of interest in political management. Since the problems and contradictions in actual social and political life are intricate and interrelated, there are many contradictions behind specific problems, things, and movements. Some of these contradictions are ideological contradictions, psychological contradictions or contradictions caused by other factors, not belonging to interest contradictions. Therefore, the coordination of social interest contradictions by political management needs to determine the interest contradiction among these complex and interconnected contradictions, so that the coordination and control of interest contradictions can be targeted. However, since interest and interest relations are of decisive and fundamental significance in social contradictions and social life, determining and grasping social interest contradictions among the many contradictions are actually determining and grasping the principal contradiction in social life. Determining the attributes of conflicts of interest is an important part of grasping conflicts of interest in the process of political management. In social and political life, the attributes of conflicts of interest between members of society are determined by specific social relationships, and the social relationships between members of society are diverse, such as people being in social class relationships, which makes social 7

Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 308.

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conflicts of interest have class attributes. For example, since people are in national relations, their conflicts of interests have nation attributes. Therefore, according to specific social relationships people live in, grasping the attributes of social interest contradictions is the basic way to grasp the interest contradictions. Confounding the contradictions of different attributes and confusing the different attributes of different contradictions are often important reasons for the failure of political management. Political management is actually an activity in which political power acts on society. It is also a mechanism in which social interests are realized and coordinated through coercive legal methods. In this regard, conflicts of interest in social interest relations that need to be resolved through political power constitute political management. The interests of the object are contradictory. Therefore, in actual social life, it is an important task in political management to distinguish and determine which contradiction in social interest contradictions is a contradiction that needs to be resolved by political power, and which contradiction is resolved through the market and the autonomous mechanism of social members. With the development of society and changes in conditions, conflicts of interest have the possibility of development and change. Therefore, political management needs to grasp the trend and direction of development and change of conflicts of interest and the possibility and direction of development and change of various elements of the contradiction. (2)

Analyzing conflicts of interest

In political management activities, in-depth and accurate analysis of interest contradictions is a further extension of the function of understanding and grasping interest contradictions and is also a prerequisite for effectively solving interest contradictions. Therefore, analyzing social interest contradictions has become an important function of political management. To analyze contradictions of social interests, the analysis of the causes for these contradictions is prior. As mentioned above, in social interest relations, there are objective and subjective causes about whether it is a vertical or horizontal interest contradiction. Therefore, the prerequisites for correct coordination and handling of contradictions are political managers’ thoroughly analyzing the different causes of different interest contradictions and different factors that promote these contradictions, and thus become the necessary functions for coordinating and resolving conflicts of interest. Analyzing the contradiction of social interests requires analyzing the degree and state of the contradiction. The degree of conflicts in social interests is an important basis for political management to adopt corresponding management countermeasures. For this reason, it is the task of political management to deeply analyze the degree of contradictions in social interests and accurately grasp the degree of contradictions. Since the basic function of political management is to coordinate and resolve social interest contradictions, the interest contradictions targeted by political management must be manageable and resolvable. That is to say, political management must be distinguished according to the degree of social interest contradiction. Only when the degree of contradiction is coordinated and within a resolvable range can

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the political management system be able to resolve the contradiction. The contradiction beyond this range becomes the contradiction of interests resolved by the political ruling. At the same time, political management needs to determine the state of conflicts of interest, including the state of conflicts of interest in the static and dynamic sense. Generally speaking, the conflict of interests in a non-confrontational state is a conflict of political management coordination and resolution. Analyzing the contradiction of social interests requires analyzing the main aspects of the contradiction. In a particular interest contradiction, what determines and influences the characteristics and development of the contradiction is usually the main aspect of the contradictory parties. “The main aspect is the aspect in which the socalled contradiction plays a leading role. The nature of things is mainly dictated by the main aspect of the contradiction that achieved the dominant position.”8 Therefore, in the process of coordinating and resolving conflicts of interest, determining and grasping the main aspects of conflicting interest relationships mean accurately grasping the crux of the conflicts of interest, and analyzing the main aspects of conflicting interest relationships which is an important focus of the analysis of conflicts of interest. The so-called analysis of the main aspects of contradictions is to make every effort to determine the main aspects of the conflicting parties in the specific interest contradiction, and to make it the main object of political management. To analyze the contradiction of social interests, it is also necessary to analyze the transformation conditions of the contradiction. Social conflicts of interest will undergo transformations under specific conditions. These transformations include changes in the nature, content, degree, and status of conflicts of interest. Therefore, the function of political management is to analyze the conditions of these transformations, and to take measures to coordinate and resolve different interest contradictions according to these conditions. (3)

Resolving conflicts of interest

Resolving interest contradictions on the basis of grasping and analyzing social interest contradictions is the implementation link of the function of political management to coordinate economic interest contradictions. Social conflicts of interest are usually resolved under specific conditions. Therefore, to resolve social conflicts of interest, we need to grasp and use favorable conditions. These conditions usually include the appearance and change of the causes of conflicts, the maturity and feasibility of the objective conditions for resolving contradictions, and the formation and maturity of the timing of resolving contradictions. Therefore, we must fully and accurately grasp these conditions and opportunities and foresee and predict them with a developmental perspective. The development of these conditions is an important task for political managers to resolve contradictions. On the other hand, in order to resolve conflicts of interest, political managers can use political power to create specific conditions so that they can be solved. An important prerequisite for resolving conflicts of interest is the establishment of rules for resolving conflicts. In the process of political management, the rules 8

Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 322.

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for resolving contradictions need to be determined by political power based on the principle of fairness and justice to reflect the fairness and justice value of society. At the same time, the rules of political management for resolving interest contradictions must have the credibility to ensure that political management has public and authority effects on the resolution of social interest contradictions. Only with fair, just, and credible rules can allow political management coordinate and resolve conflicts of interest in a reasonable and well-founded manner. The ideological method to resolve conflicts of interest is to recognize the diversity and complexity of conflicts of interest in society. Therefore, it is the basic requirement for political management to coordinate and resolve the conflicts of interest by adopting different methods based on the different nature, causes, degrees, content and characteristics of contradictions. “Using different methods to resolve different contradictions is a principle that Marxist-Leninists must strictly observe.”9 On this basis, different methods of political management coordination and resolution of different interest contradictions have emerged, such as authoritative arbitration, political consultation, plebiscite, behavior specification, and so on. On the basis of choosing different methods to resolve conflicts of interest, political managers also need to take targeted measures and programs based on the main aspects of different contradictions, so that the contradictions can be effectively resolved. The important task of resolving conflicts of interest also includes grasping the feasibility of resolving conflicts of interest. Generally, the feasibility is the consistency of the nature and conditions of resolving contradictions, the objective conditions for resolving contradictions, and the measures and methods for resolving contradictions. Obviously, the higher the degree of this coincidence is, the higher the feasibility of resolving the contradiction will be, and vice versa. It requires that in the process of coordinating and resolving interest contradictions, political managers must grasp the feasibility of resolving interest contradictions in a comprehensive, synthetical, and developmental manner, so that contradictions can be effectively resolved.

8.2.2 The Types of Political Management In social history and political life, political management is embodied in a variety of different forms. On this basis, people divide political management behaviors into different types in terms of different standards. As political management is not only a specific type of political activities and political behaviors, but also a specific type of management activities and management behaviors, the classification of political management can take political activities and management activities into consideration, and classify according to the basic elements of political management:

9

Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 311.

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1.

215

According to the essential interest objective, political management can be divided into the political management of different social forms, including the public management of primitive society, slave society, feudal society, capitalist society, and socialist society.

This distinction between the types of political management is mainly due to the difference in the essential interest objective achieved by political management. As far as political management is concerned, the so-called differences in the goals of essential interests are concentrated in two aspects: on the one hand, the essential interests of political management are different. Obviously, the primitive society “exists a certain number of common interests from the beginning, and the work of safeguarding such interests is under the supervision of the whole society, but individual members have to take care of it.”10 Therefore, the public management of primitive society is the interest of all members. In an exploiting class society, the starting point of political management and the nature of its interests are the interests of the exploiting class. In a socialist society, the goal of political management is to realize, maintain, and develop the common and fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. Due to the difference in the essential interest objective of political management, the meaning of the common interests achieved by these different types of political management in their social context is different: in primitive society, the realization of common interests is equal to the realization of all the interests of all members of society; the common interests of slave society is within the slave-owner class, and the common interest of the slave-owner class and other classes and strata of society is nothing but the common interests in the sense of concession and compromise formed by mutual struggle; in a feudal society, the so-called common interests have common substantive content and requirements within the feudal landlord class, and have common interests in the sense of form and struggle, concession, and compromise between the feudal landlord class and other classes, strata, groups and other social interest groups; in a capitalist society, the common interest is first of all the commonality of fundamental interests within the bourgeoisie, while between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat and other social interest groups, it is only the commonality in the sense of form and rules; the common interest of socialist society is the common sense in the unified sense of form, rules and content. Interests are concentrated in the fundamental interests of the masses of people. On the other hand, in terms of the control and coordination of conflicts of interest, primitive society is based on the automatic coordination of moral power; slave society is forced and controlled by violence; feudal society is based on joint coordination and control of political power, patriarchal power, and ethical power; capitalist society is the coordination of formal democracy and management mechanisms; socialist society conducts multi-faceted harmonious construction and coordination in accordance with the fundamental interests of people.

10

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 522.

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2.

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According to the functions, political management can be divided into legislation management, administration management, supervision management and administration of justice.

Legislative activity is an activity in which political power determines the requirements of social interests and its realization rules in the form of law, and it is also an activity in which political power determines the social, political and economic rights and obligations of members of society and its realization rules in the form of law. Legislative management is the management of these activities. From this, we can see that legislation management is the management of political power over its own activities and processes. In social and political life, legislation is carried out in the form of legislation and delegated legislation. Therefore, legislation management includes the management of the activities of legislation and delegated legislation. In terms of its specific content, legislation management usually refers to the determination, standardization and management of legislative organizations, legislators, legislative powers, legislative functions and legislative process. Administrative activities are activities in which political power executes and implements the public will of society in accordance with the requirements of social interests. Administration management is the management of these activities. The implementation of the requirements of social interests and public will is achieved through the normalization and regulation of social members by political power. Therefore, administration management includes the management of administrative power itself and the management of social members. As far as its own management is concerned, administration management includes the establishment and standardization of administrative organizational structure, the requirements and management of administrative personnel, the division of administrative powers, and the determination of administrative functions. As far as the administrative management of society is concerned, administration management includes the management of political, economic, social and diplomatic administrative affairs. Supervisory activities are surveillance activities conducted by political power against those in power. The purpose of supervisory activities is to realize the requirements of public social interests and maintain the ruling and public attributes of political power. Supervision and management are management activities for supervision agencies and their staff. In this regard, supervision and management activities are the management of their own activities by political power. Generally speaking, the management of the supervisory organ itself has the dual nature of overseeing the supervisory organ officers and ensuring the daily operation of the supervisory organ. As far as the supervision of the staff of the supervisory organ is concerned, it is usually carried out by the external supervision by organs of state power and internal supervision by supervision apparatuses inside the supervision organs to supervise the performance of their duties and compliance with the law; for the daily operation of the supervisory organ, the supervision management involves the management of the organization, position, and capital of the supervisory organ, as well as the legal extent of powers of the supervisory organ and the regulation and management of the work process.

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Judicial activities are activities of political power to maintain established social interest relationships and legal rules. Therefore, the administration of justice is the management of these activities in accordance with the requirements of safeguarding public interests and public rules. Since judicial activities are activities of political power, the administration of justice is also the management of political power over their own activities. In terms of its specific content, some scholars believe that the administration of justice mainly involves two areas: one is the organization and personnel management of the court, and the other is the operation and management of litigation. “Court management includes a number of specific matters, such as the organization and jurisdiction of the court, the selection and tenure of judges, and the recruitment, training and supervision of all other staff in the court, as well as routine secretarial affairs. The operation and management of litigation usually involve the handling of cases. Process and costs, as well as the establishment of uniform rules for court operations to reduce the confusion and imbalance in the handling of cases.”11 However, since the administration of justice refers to the management of political power and judicial activities, it is for all aspects of the investigation, litigation, trial, and execution. The standard management of the organization, personnel, authority, and process of judicial activities should all be the content of the administration of justice. Of course, due to the different characteristics of these links in the judicial process, their management requirements and methods are also different. 3.

According to the different objects, political management can be divided into the management of social members, political organizations, social organizations, and economic organizations.

The management of members of society is the requirements, norms and guidance of political power for the behavior of members of society which is driven by their interests and occurs in specific social relations and interest relations. Since the interest relation includes common interests and different interests among members of society, the management of political power over members of society is carried out in accordance with these two aspects. After the interests and interest relations of members of society are transformed into social behaviors, they are usually reflected in the social and political rights of the actors. Therefore, the management of the behaviors of social members by political power is embodied as confirmation, regulation and protection of the legal rights of members in social and political life. Of course, in different social forms, this kind of confirmation, regulation, and guarantee have differences in class nature, implementation methods and degree of realization. It can be seen that, for the political management of social members, on the one hand, political power confirms, regulates and maintains the mutual rights of social members, which reflects the adjustment of political power to the different interest relationships of social members. On the other hand, political power confirms, regulates, and guarantees the rights of members of society to influence and participate in public social life. It embodies the norms of political power for public social life and

11

Henry R.Glick, Courts, Politics, and Justice, McGraw Hill Book Company, 1983, pp.48—49.

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political life and is reflected as management of public political speeches, demonstrations, assemblies and associations by members, of political elections of members of society, and t of members of society in public decision-making. The management of political organizations includes the management of government organizations, political parties, and political social groups. Government organization is not only the organizational form and support for the operation of political power, but also the object of political management. Political power sets up government organizations in accordance with the needs of the political ruling. At the same time, it also manages government organizations in accordance with the needs of public interests. Its main contents include the establishment of government levels and institutions, the regulations of government operation rules, and the regulation and coordination of relations between government departments and levels, stipulation and implementation of government functions, supply and constraints of government finances, selection of government personnel and codes of conduct, etc. Party organizations are divided into ruling parties and non-ruling parties in political life. In social and political life, the ruling party controls and exercises political power. Therefore, the requirements and norms of political power for the organization and members of the ruling party are not only the requirements of the interests and will of all members of the society, but also the embodiment of the requirements and will of the ruling party for its own organization and members. In this regard, the management of the ruling party by social-political power reflects the common requirements of the society and the ruling party itself for the organization and members of the ruling party. The Chinese Communist Party’s proposal of running the country according to law and rule-based governance over the party essentially reflects this principle. The management of non-ruling parties by social-political power reflects the requirements and norms of the interests and requirements of members of society on these party organizations. In political life, the management of political parties by political power is mainly embodied through the party system. At the same time, it is also embodied through the legal norms and management of political power on the political behavior of party organizations and their members in public political life. Political power’s management on political social groups is the determination and standardization of their statuses, functions and activities. At the same time, it also contains norms for the personnel, finances and materials of political social groups as well as for the behavior of political social groups and personnel in social and public life. The management of social organizations includes the management of various nongovernmental organizations, including social welfare organizations, intermediary social organizations, and autonomous social organizations. Social welfare organizations are responsible for public affairs of a specific scope and content. In modern society, political power often cooperates with these organizations to realize public social interests. Social intermediary organizations have the function of connecting the government with enterprises and society, serving the market economy and society,

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communicating with various social entities and economic activity entities, and supervising social life and activities. The standardization and management of these organizations are necessary for political power to realize orderly social management in modern society. Autonomous social organizations are self-organizing channels for members of society. Self-governance for villagers in rural areas and urban selfgoverning organizations belong to this type. The relationship between political power and autonomous social organizations embodies the relationship between political power and society in the political sense. The regulation and guidance of autonomous social organizations can fully mobilize and give play to the active role of autonomous social organizations, which is helpful for maintaining social order, providing highquality public services, resolving social conflicts, and realizing good governance of society have basic and prerequisite significance. Therefore, it is an important content of political management. There are different contents of the management of economic organizations under different social forms. In the pre-capitalist society, the social production organization and the living unit are integrated, and the management of political power over the social life unit of the members of the society is the management of social production and economic organization. In a capitalist society, the management of economic organizations by political power is mainly the legal and institutional norms for industry organizations and corporate organizations. In a socialist society, the management of economic organizations by political power is mainly the management of stateowned enterprises, the regulation of other enterprises, and the regulation of economic cooperation organizations and professional associations.

8.3 The Methods and Functions of Political Management 8.3.1 The Methods of Political Management The political management method is the sum of the approaches, methods and paths that political power manages the society. They can be analyzed and confirmed from multiple angles and levels. For example, political management methods can be determined as administrative approaches, economic approaches, legal approaches, and policy approaches according to different means; according to different management levels in social and public affairs, political management can be determined as strategic management and policy management; based on the views and propositions of different management theories on the meaning and methods of management activities, they can be classified into system management approach, process management approach, scientific management approach, experience management approach and contingency management approach, etc. As a political power behavior of management, the way of political management is closely related to its behavior attributes. In terms of the attributes, political management means the management activity of political power for society. It is actually

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the behavior of political power in social management activities. Therefore, political management is the embodiment of political power’s function in political management activities. On the other hand, political management is a specific management activity, which is the embodiment of management behavior in the social and political field, so it has the stipulation of management behavior. Therefore, to analyze and grasp the methods of political management, we can start with the methods of political behavior and management behavior of political management. 1.

Analysis of the political behavior of political management

According to Marxism, in social life, people’s social and political behavior is determined by way of economic activity and the way people’s economic interests are realized. “It can be seen that things are like this: certain individual products in a certain way and has certain social and political relations.”12 To this end, we can start with the analysis and confirmation of political behavior from the way of economic activity and the realization of people’s economic benefits. In the historical development of human society, the modes of economic activity and the realization of people’s economic interests are mainly through the natural economy and market economy. For this reason, the methods of political management can be determined as political management methods on the basis of natural economy and market economy. The political management method based on the natural economy takes the natural economic activity method as the precondition. The so-called natural economy refers to a self-sufficient economic activity mode. Under this model, people engage in production activities for the purpose of satisfying the direct material and spiritual needs of themselves and their family members. Therefore, production activities are to achieve the use-value of products. Production meets the limits of the material and direct spiritual utility of the producer and his family members, thus becoming a closed production of limited scale and degree. The social effect produced by natural economic activities is that society is in its natural form. On the one hand, social component units are formed on the basis of natural living units. That is to say, the production unit and living unit of social members under natural economic conditions are usually their living units whose typical form is family under natural economic conditions, or its duplication and amplification form. The typical forms are families, gens, phratries, and tribes. Since the production activities of members of society aim to fulfill the direct material and spiritual satisfaction of themselves and their families, the living, production and social units that constitute the basic structure of society exist in a closed, complete and isolated manner, just like Marx’s analysis the social relations under French natural economy and his description as, “There are a large number of small farmers and their living conditions are the same, but they do not have diverse relationships with each other. Their mode of production is not to make them interact with each other, but to make them isolated. This isolation is reinforced by the inconvenience of transportation in France and the poverty of farmers. Their production sites, that is, small plots of land, do not allow division of labor and the application of science 12

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 71.

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during farming, so there are no diverse developments, different talents, and rich social relationships. Almost every farmer is self-sufficient and directly produces most of his own consumer goods. Therefore, most of their means of living are obtained through exchange with nature rather than social interaction. A small piece of land, a farmer and a family; next to another small piece of land, another farmer and another family. A group of such units form a village; a group of such villages forms a province. In this way, the broad masses of the French nationals are formed by the simple addition of some numbers of the same name, as if a bag of potatoes is integrated by each potato in the bag.”13 On the other hand, there is a lack of organic economic intercourse and connections between social members and production and living units. Although each production and the living unit has the same structure of interests, thus forming the identity of the interests of single production and living unit. However, it is difficult to form common social interests. “The identity of their interests does not allow them to form a common relationship with each other and a national connection.”14 Therefore, the natural connection between people becomes the main link of social connection. These natural ties are patriarchal relations, nepotism and acquaintance relationships that evolved from the development of people’s blood relatives and family relationships. On the basis of the social relations and social structure formed by the natural economy, a specific political management method has been formed with the following characteristics: (1)

Political management has the characteristics of patriarchal management

On the basis of the social relations formed by the natural economy, the patriarchal relationship in the blood relationship of people, the authority of clan, husband, and theocracy developed on the basis of patriarchy become the social and spiritual foundation of political power. “The authority of politics, clan, husband, and deity represents all feudal patriarchal thoughts and systems.”15 Therefore, the political power relationship becomes the social manifestation of the patriarchal family relationship. In social life and political management, those in charge of political power, such as the emperor in Chinese history, become parents in political life, and members of society become citizens. Just like Marx’s analysis of Chinese feudal society, “just as the emperor is usually respected as the father of the whole China, the emperor’s officials are also considered to maintain this patriarchal relationship with their respective jurisdictions.”16 In patriarchal political management, the state is regarded as the private property of the holders of political power. “Under the wide heaven, all is the king’s land. Within the sea-boundaries of the land, all are the king’s servants.”17 As a result, the concept of “family-governed monarchic country” is formed. On this basis, the hereditary system of political power and primogeniture are formed. 13

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 677. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 677. 15 Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol.1. People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 31. 16 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 691. 17 Classic of Poetry, Major Court Hymns, Decades of Bei Shan. 14

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Political management is highly centralized

Under the management of a family-governed monarchic country, political power is fixed to one. Therefore, the subject of political management is single and highly centralized. Regarding social management affairs, the emperor has the supreme and absolute power to act arbitrarily. For members of society, the power holders “are the authority standing high above them, the unrestricted government power that protects them from other classes and gives them rain and sunshine from above.” Such a centralized power system gives political management the characteristics of omnipotent management. On the one hand, political management integrates legislative, administrative, and judicial functions. On the other hand, political management is fully involved in social life. As Marx said, “The ownership of small plots of land is by its nature an almighty and a base for countless bureaucrats. It creates a uniform level of relations and individuals across the country. Therefore, it also makes the highest center have a uniform effect on each part of this uniform whole. It eliminates the middle ladder of nobility between the masses of people and state power. Therefore, it also causes the full direct interference of this state power and the full intervention of its directly affiliated agencies.”18 Therefore, political management has unlimited power as well as unlimited responsibility. Correspondingly, the personality of social members shrinks and tends to be dwarfed, with a high degree of dependence on political power. “They confine the human mind to a very small range and become a taming tool of superstition and a slave to traditional rules, resulting in that they cannot show any great deeds and pioneering historical spirit.”19 (3)

Political management is based on ethical rules based on consanguinity

Since the social bond of the natural economy is the natural blood relationship and its evolutionary social relationship, the blood relationship is maintained and regulated by the social, moral, and ethical relationship, and the political management is based on this ethical morality. As a management criterion, standards make social politics and social morality politicized. Political management takes moral education as the basic method, and moral value becomes the dominant value of politics. In the West, this kind of moral ethics appears in the form of belief in gods. This belief is combined with political power and management to form a political management method of caesaropapismunion of politics and religion. In Chinese history, this kind of moral ethics forms a secular program of rituals, which become the basis and norms of political management. (4)

Political management has strong characteristics of the ruling of man

The patriarchal management characteristics, centralized power model and ethical basis of political management determine that political management has a strong color of ruling by man. On the one hand, those in charge of specific political power manage with their own subjective will and use the will and requirements as the 18 19

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, pp. 681–682. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 765.

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rules of political management and operation. “The emperor is the law” is a universal political consensus. Therefore, the will of the person in charge of political power becomes the will of political management. Management activities are based on the will of the person in charge of power as the starting point and decision-making basis, and the change in the will of the person in power is transferred. Political management carried out on this basis is very unwary and arbitrary. On the other hand, the systems, methods, policies, and guidelines of political management are shifted by the existence and role of specific power holders, resulting in a specific phenomenon that “with the men, their policies flourish; without the men, their policies cease.” (5)

Political management is carried out in a single direct administrative order

Since the scope of political power covers the entire society, it cannot be managed through the role of intermediary social mechanisms, so that political management can only be carried out in the form of simple administrative orders. The laws and systems in social and political life are nothing but tools subordinate to administrative orders. The political management method based on the market economy takes the market economic activity method as the precondition. The so-called market economy refers to the mode of economic activity characterized by the exchange of products. Under this model, the purpose of people engaging in production activities is not to realize the use-value of the product, but to realize the value of the product and obtain surplusvalue or profit. Therefore, production has an infinite scale and degree of development trend and can only be achieved through economic links between them. The social effect produced by the mode of activity of the market economy is that the society forms social connections and social structure on the basis of market rationality. On the one hand, the purpose of production activities and the needs of exchange under the conditions of the market economy make social production units inevitably interact with each other, thus forming horizontal organic economic links between social members. On the other hand, under the effect of the law of value of the market, people’s mutual economic connection is a rational market connection, that is, a connection based on the maximum rationalization of the cost–benefit ratio. This kind of social connection formed by market economy rationality becomes the basis of social relations among members of society. Other social relations are built, operated and shift in accordance with the shifts of this connection. On this basis, members of society first form common economic interests, and then form other common interests in content and meaning. On the basis of the social relations and social structure formed by the market economy, a specific political management method has been formed with the following characteristics: (1)

Political management has the characteristic of contract management

Under the action of the market economy mechanism, the realization of the interests of the members of the society and the organic economic relations between each other are formed through market contracts. With the influence and effect of market economic relations on social connections, this contractual relationship has gradually expanded

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to social connections and social relations among members of society. The interest relations between social members have the characteristics of contractual connections. On this basis, political power follows this contractual relationship for social management. Therefore, political management under market economy conditions replaces patriarchal management under natural economic conditions with contractual management, and contract management becomes a characteristic of political management. “This kind of contractual right relationship (regardless of whether the contract is fixed by law) is a relationship of will that reflects an economic relationship. The content of this right relationship or relationship of will is determined by the economic relationship itself.”20 (2)

Political management is the management of limited power and limited liability

The organic economic interest relation between social members formed by the market economy has made the society form a market mechanism for realizing the interests of social members, and then the special interests of social members can be realized through the market mechanism, which makes the society divided into the private and public sphere. The market is a mechanism for realizing private special interests of natural persons and legal persons, which mainly plays a role in private sphere, while politics is a mechanism for the realization of the common interests of members of society, that is, the public interest, which functions mainly in the public sphere. It makes the management of society by political power limited to the public domain and public interests. Therefore, political management under the conditions of a market economy is management of limited power. Correspondingly, the responsibility of political management is also limited. (3)

Political management is based on market economy rationality

The social connection formed by the market economy is built and operated around the rationality of the market economy. Therefore, the rationality of the market economy has become the basic bond of social operation and the basis of political management. In political management, the rationality formed by the market economy has gradually become the basic criterion of management, which makes the social and political life market rational. Therefore, the political process has gradually developed into a quasimarket process. At the same time, the rationalization of the market economy naturally excludes the natural connections between social members, such as blood kinship and family relations, so that market economic rationality gradually replaces the natural connections between social members. (4)

Political management is conducted in a legal manner

The establishment and operation of the market economy have highlighted the interests of members of society and the relationship of their mutual interests and the interest demand of social members and the boundaries of interests are clearly defined. On this basis, the rights and obligations of members of society are clearly defined, thus preparing the premise and foundation for the political management of the rule of 20

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 23. People’s Publishing House, 1972, p. 102.

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law. The rational relationship of market economy and political management contract between members of society requires the standardization, institutionalization and routinization of political management, the supremacy of the authority of rules, laws and systems, and the equality of rights and the stability of politics before the law and political operation, which makes political management inevitably exclude the ruling of man and proceed in the ruling of law. (5)

The relationship between the subject and object of political management forms collaborative governance

Under the leadership and implementation of the ruling party and the government, political management forms a subject-object relationship in which multiple subjects participate, collaborate, and govern together. On the basis of this relationship, political management strives to implement the following principles: legitimacy is the principle that social order and authority are recognized and obeyed; transparency is the principle of open political information; accountability is the principle that the subject and object of political management are responsible for their behaviors; the rule of law means that the law is the supreme criterion of political management, that political management operates in accordance with the law, and that everyone is equal before the law; responsiveness is the principle that the subject of political management responds to the needs of the object in a timely and responsible manner; effectiveness means that political management has principles of high efficiency, effectiveness and efficacy.21 (6)

Political management is carried out by multiple methods and mechanisms

Due to the existence of the market mechanism, political power can and must manage society by various means. On the one hand, political power can be managed by direct administrative command. On the other hand, political power can use laws, regulations, policies and other means to achieve changes in social, economic and other behaviors of members of society through the regulation and control of market mechanisms to meet the requirements of political management. At the same time, the main body of political management can also adopt a negotiated governance mechanism to achieve democratic governance through open and rational public consultation22 ; it can implement the supply of public goods through the participation of multiple economic components in coordination and phased decentralized management; highquality public services can be provided through the government’s procurement of public services from social forces and the outsourcing of government public affairs. 2.

Analysis of the management behavior of political management

In management activities, the way of management behavior is usually reflected in the behavior of each link in the management process. Therefore, political management 21

Yu Keping(ed.). Governance and Governance in a Good Manner, Social Sciences Literature Publishing House, 2000, pp. 9–10. 22 Wang Puqu, “Consultative Governance and Human Rights Realization in China”, in Journal of Peking University (Philosophy and Social Science Edition), No. 6, 2012.

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behavior is reflected in the way of each link in the management process. These process methods run through various types and aspects of political management. The process and methods of political management are all implemented by political power subjects and political managers, reflecting the political leadership status of political power subjects and political managers. The political leadership of the main body of political power and political managers is achieved through these processes and methods. Therefore, political leadership in political management is the sum of these processes and methods. From the perspective of management behavior process methods, political management methods mainly include political planning, political decision-making, political organization, political command and political monitoring. (1)

Political planning

Political planning is the act of planning and deploying political power in the management of society in terms of its management objectives, tasks, conditions and methods. Planning is usually the primary link and behavior of the management process. Therefore, political planning is the primary behavior of political management. As far as the social interest foundation of political power is concerned, political planning is a pre-planning for the realization, maintenance and development of public social interest and regulating different interest relationships. In the practice of political management, political managers usually have specific ideas for realizing, maintaining, and developing public social interests and coordinating different interest relationships. These ideas come from both political managers’ judgments on the state of social interests and political management tasks. Judgment and planning, therefore, these ideas form the goals of political management. Public social interests and different interest relationships have different meanings and requirements in the time span. Therefore, political management has different time goals. Around these goals, the long-term planning goals, mid-term planning goals and short-term planning goals of political planning are formed. Public social interests and different interest relationships are also different in the level of span. Therefore, political management has different levels of goals, which determines that political planning forms different levels of planning, such as strategic planning and implementation planning. The realization of political management intentions not only depends on the determination of management objectives, but also depends on the analysis and selection of the conditions, ways and methods of achieving management objectives by political managers. Therefore, the content of political planning includes the objectives, conditions, and determination and planning of approaches and methods of political management. All these contents constitute the political management strategy, and the way to implement the strategy constitutes the general plan of political management. The main characteristics of political planning are: pre-determination, that is, the pre-determination and planning of political management goals and the intended actions of managers, and the pre-planning of future behaviors of management; predictability, that is, the realization of political management goals and branch goals, pre-measurement and estimation of the conditions and resources of the goal, the ways and means to achieve the goal; coordination, that is, considering of multiple

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comprehensive factors, planning and deploying in accordance with the principle of overall coordination; moderate flexibility, that is, considering the complex and diverse factors that affect the implementation of political planning when planning for future behavior, and leaving a specific room in the planning; directionality, that is, political planning reflects the behavioral intentions of political managers, and is indicative of the implementation and development of management behavior; normalization, that is, political planning is carried out in accordance with the normative procedures of the political process and once the plan is formed and approved, it has political or statutory effect and has a normative function with different meanings for social and political activities; strategic feature, that is, it has the characteristics of the sum of the goals of political planning, the ways to achieve the goals, policies, principles and strategies. In social and political life, the specific entities of political planning include national strategic planning, such as China’s national economic and social development planning; legislative planning, that is, planning that determines the will and rules of political management; administrative planning, that is, planning for the implementation of specific management tasks and so on. (2)

Political decision-making

Political decision-making is the decision-making behavior of political power on political management activities. In essence, political decision-making is the behavior of political managers to determine the specific interest requirements and methods to be realized, maintained and developed. Political decision-making should be carried out in response to the requirements of social and political life and the tasks of political management. Similar to political planning, political decision-making is divided in terms of the time period, such as long-term decision-making, mid-term decision-making, and current decisionmaking; in terms of levels, such as macro decision-making, mid-level decisionmaking, and micro-level decision-making. Different from political planning, political decision-making is not the conception and design of the will and intention of political power to manage society, but the decision on the problems and affairs it faces and the solutions to it. Therefore, it is the actual implementation of political management behavior. For political management, political decision-making is the starting point of the implementation process of political management behavior. Political decision-making has the characteristics of public authority and public selectivity. Political decision-making is a decision made by political power around public interests and rules. Obviously, the publicity of decision-making power and content determines that political decision-making is a public decision. The decisionmaking attributes of political power give it political authority. Therefore, the basis and content of political decision-making determine its public authority, embodied in that political decision-making is legally compulsory and restrictive to all social-political forces and members of society. At the same time, as a public decision, political decision-making has the characteristics of public selectivity. From the perspective of management, decision-making

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is choice, and the process of decision-making is actually the process of decisionmaking. Therefore, political decision-making is actually a process of decisionmakers’ selection. On the other hand, political decision-making is public decisionmaking, so it is actually a process of public choice. In political management activities, this kind of public choice is either a collective choice made by members or representatives of society, such as modern legislative decision-making; or it is a choice made by decision-makers on public interests and their tasks, which involve collective choices of the public such as administrative decision-making. Therefore, political decision-making as a public choice process requires multiple choices. It needs to choose between the personal preferences and common interests of different members of the society, and it needs to choose between different decision-making schemes to solve public problems. To make a decision between multiple values of public interest, it is also necessary to make a choice in terms of timing, conditions and methods of decision-making. In social and political life and political management practice, political decisionmaking has different forms. In summary, they are mainly: legislative decision, that is, political power determines the public social interest requirements and public rules; administrative decision, that is, political power implements public decisions on interests and public rules; judicial decisions, that is, political power to safeguard public interests and legal rules under different socio-political conditions. These different forms are exercised in different ways. In natural economy and centralized politics, legislation, administration, and justice are integrated by the centralized ruler. Therefore, political decision-making is carried out by the centralized ruler. Under the conditions of market economy and democratic politics, legislative decisions are usually made by legislative institutions. Of course, under the authorization of legislative institutions, the administrative agency also engages in specific legislative decisions; administrative decisions are made by the administrative agency or executive leader; the judicial trial is implemented by specialized judicial organs. (3)

Political organization

Political organization is the act of integrating and distributing various resources by political power to realize political planning and decision-making. As the political organization is an important basis for the operation of organization management, it is an important link and step for the realization of political management. The basic characteristics of political organization behavior are: ➀ political nature, that is, political organization is the behavior of constructing an organization by political power, and the resulting organization has the nature and function of political power and therefore, the organization formed by the self-organization of social members is not political organization; ➁ rationality, that is, in accordance with the objectives and functional requirements of political management, political organization behavior starts from the actual conditions and environment and constructs a reasonable and effective organization; ➂ orderliness, that is, in accordance with specific organizational principles, the organization’s structure setting and process design to realize the effective operation of political power in institutions, departments

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and levels; ➃ regularity, that is, political organization behavior implements organizational principles and stipulates specific organizational systems, norms and procedures; ➄ dynamics, that is, with political management goals, changes in functions, conditions, environment and resource elements require corresponding adjustments and changes in political organizations. Political organization is essentially a process of structurally regularizing political power. Therefore, the fundamental factor in the establishment of political organizations is the functions of political power, actually embodied as organizational positions. Therefore, political organizations can achieve political management. The job setting required by the goals and functions is the center, integrating and disposing of human, material, financial, power, rights, and information elements to form a specific structure, so that these elements can be brought together into an overall force and coordinated to achieve political management goals. The process of political organization requires the implementation of the principles that are conducive to the realization of political management goals, the overall coordination of the organization, the establishment of duties according to matters, and the combination of power and responsibility. In organizational design, the organizational structure should be designed according to the different fields and functions of political management. Generally speaking, it includes the design of management scope, of organizational levels, of organizational functions, of organizational positions, of organizational powers, and the allocation of organizational staff and many more. In addition, the cultivation of specific political organization culture is also the content of political organizations. In political life, the organizational behavior of social and political power is mainly reflected in the construction and adjustment of general government organizations. Therefore, the establishment and adjustment of the structure, mechanism and system of legislative, administrative, and judicial organs are the main tasks of political organization behavior. The organization of political parties and political social groups is usually the political behavior of specific members of society, not the behavior of social-political power. (4)

Political command

The political command is the act of political power in accordance with specific political plans and goals, relying on political organizations to control and coordinate social members to achieve political decisions. In management activities, the command is a necessary condition for the orderly operation of society and the realization of social goals, as Marx said: “All large-scale direct social labor or joint labor needs more or less command to coordinate individual activities, and perform various general functions produced by the movement of producing the whole—different from the movement of this overall independent organ. A single fiddler directs himself, and a band needs a conductor.”23 In political management, the political command is actually embodied as the relationship between political power and society members. Therefore, it is the process 23

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 2012, p. 208.

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of transforming political power will and requirements into the behavior of social members as well as political management into actual social consequences. The basic characteristics of political command are embodied in the following aspects. ➀ Leadership, that is, political power leads the operation and development of society and politics in accordance with the requirements of political management. ➁ Dominance, that is, political managers use political power to demand and limit the behavior and behavior of social members. ➂ Coordination, that is, political power coordinates the behavior of social members in different forms to achieve the purpose of cooperation. Political coordination generally includes authority coordination and communication coordination and so on. ➂ Operability, that is, political power makes political management a specific operation step and technique in the process of putting political decisions into practice. Since the political command is the process of achieving management objectives and implementing political decisions, it should take the implementation of the requirements of political management objectives and the realization of political decision-making intentions as the basic starting point; on the other hand, due to the factors affecting management objectives and decision-making in the implementation process as well as social and political changes and complex possibilities, the political command can be carried out in accordance with specific conditions and environment in the command process, and adopt flexible and diverse strategies in the implementation process under the guidance of the principle of contingency. In political management, the political command is usually an action taken in the administrative process. Therefore, the implementation process of administrative power can be understood as a political command process in the sense of the political management process and links. (5)

Political supervision

Political supervision is the behavior of supervision and standardization of political power over public officials and members of society in the process of political management. Political supervision has the function of safeguarding the interests of members of the society, safeguarding political decision-making and organizational rules, and preventing, correcting, and punishing public officials and members of society for their excessive behaviors. The basic characteristics of political supervision in political management are: ➀ power, that is, the supervision behavior of political power instead of political rights; ➁ legitimacy, that is, the legitimacy of supervision given by the public nature of political power; ➂ monitoring, that is, preventing and correcting violations of supervision objects; ➃ accountability, that is, investigating and punishing violations. Political supervision includes two aspects: one is the supervision and monitoring of the behavior of public officials, and the other is the supervision and regulation of the behavior of social members. As far as the supervision and monitoring of the behavior of public officials are concerned, the supervision of political management is the supervision of political power over political power, including vertical and horizontal supervision. Vertical

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supervision is the supervision of higher-level powers in different hierarchical structures over lower-level powers, such as the supervision of central power over local powers, and the supervision of higher-level leaders over their subordinates; horizontal supervision is the mutual supervision of powers at the same level, which is collectively manifested as having a supervisory function or the authority that specializes in supervision functions oversees other authorities and personnel at the same level, such as the supervision of the People’s Congress of China over the administrative, supervisory and judicial organs and their personnel at the same level, and the supervision of China’s supervisory commission and audit department over other state institutions and government departments and their public officials at the same level. The purpose of the supervision of public officials is to check and control the conformity and appropriateness of the behavior of public officials and institutions and their results with the requirements of public interest and political decision-making. Therefore, political supervision in this sense is actually positive. In the sense of both positive and negative aspects, supervision in the positive sense is usually the performance evaluation of the behavior and results of public officials and institutions, in order to check the quantity and quality of public benefits realized by public officials and institutions, while supervision in the negative sense is to check the violations of public officials in implementing the will of the subject of political power and implementing political management to control their behavior and its consequences. In the process of implementing political supervision, determining relevant supervision standards is the primary task, including determining the standards, scope and content of supervision and inspection, formulating and implementing behavior evaluation standards and methods for public officials and institutions, and determining the standards and methods of corrections and penalties for violations. At the same time, the implementation of supervision requires effective power allocation and scientific and reasonable systems, laws and procedural rules to legally and reasonably monitor the behavior of public officials and institutions. In addition, supervision requires professional skills and effective information communication to ensure the scientificity and accuracy of supervision. The state supervisory system set up in the national political system of China in 2018 typically reflects this kind of political supervision. As far as the supervision and regulation of social members are concerned, the supervision of political management is the supervision and regulation of social members by political power. Regarding violations of the rights of others and public interests, the supervision and regulation in political management are implemented by administrative power and judicial power according to the differences in the nature of the behavior of members of the society. Social risk management and social security are the basic ways to supervise and control members of society.

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8.3.2 The Functions of Political Management According to the functions, political management, as an important political behavior of the main body of political power, plays an important role in social and political life: 1.

Political management is the foundation for strengthening and consolidating political ruling

In social and political life, political management plays an important role in maintaining and strengthening the status of the subject of political power. Under the influence of political power on society, and around the status and interests of the subject of political power, there is a dialectical relationship between political management and political ruling that promotes each other. If the relationship between political authority and obedience established by the political ruling is the operation of political management, political management, therefore, is the necessary foundation for the implementation of the political ruling. Therefore, political management strengthens the ruling of specific political power. In terms of the power base of political ruling, political management strengthens and enriches the constituent elements of political power by assuming social functions and developing social economy, and resolves the negative weakening factors of political power by coordinating conflicts of interest, thereby enhancing and strengthening political power; in terms of the social foundation of governance, political management integrates political power through the allocation of social resources and the organization of political life, and expands political power through the expansion and realization of common social interests, thereby strengthening the social foundation of political governance; in terms of the public function foundation of political governance, political management has become a direct way to establish political ruling and strengthen political authority by realizing public interests and undertaking public functions in form or substance; in terms of the psychological basis of political rule, political management strengthens the political identity of social members by meeting the needs of social members and fulfilling the requirements of social interests, and weakens the disobedience of social members by coordinating and solving social conflicts of interests. At the same time, the maintenance and indoctrination of specific political culture by political management undoubtedly strengthens the psychological foundation of the political ruling. Therefore, political management is the basis for strengthening political ruling. 2.

Political management is the social realization mechanism of political power

Political power is an authoritative realization mechanism of interests, which is the stipulation of the society and social interest relationship on political power. If the ruling behavior of political power creates political conditions for this social prescriptiveness, political management is the realization of this prescriptive social behavior. First, political management is a mechanism for realizing, maintaining, developing and distributing common social interests. Under the role of the characteristics of common social interests, political activities are actually a selection mechanism for

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social members to realize common interests. In political life, political management relies on the legitimacy, authority and compulsory binding force of political power, through the provision of social development goals and channels, the allocation of public resources, the organization of political power and social labor, the assumption of public functions, and the provision of public services and public goods in order to realize common social interests; through the supervision and monitoring of political power, to make up for the shortcomings of the market mechanism, standardize social life, and maintain common interests; through the promotion of economic and social development, common interests are developed. Therefore, political management is the basic realization mechanism of common social interests. At the same time, political management is also a mechanism for the distribution of common social interests. On the basis of realizing common interests, political management determines the content, share and method of each member of the society to enjoy common social interests, thereby realizing the legal authority of the distribution of common social interests. Second, political management is a mechanism for coordinating and resolving social conflicts. Political management determines and maintains the boundaries and content of common social interests in accordance with specific reasonable values of social fairness and justice, regulates and maintains the relationship between different interests, coordinates and resolves the relationship and contradictions between the common interests of the society and different interests, and coordinates and resolves the relationships and contradictions between different interests, so as to realize the harmony of interests among members of society. At the same time, political management is a mechanism for achieving harmony between various social values formed on the basis of interests. When political management makes political planning and political decision-making, it coordinates the relationship between different public values of common interests, between public values and social members’ personal value requirements, and even between the value of society and nature, so as to achieve harmony between different values. It can be seen that political management is a mechanism for realizing, maintaining, developing, and distributing common social interests, a mechanism for regulating and resolving social interest relations and conflicts of interests. In fact, it is a mechanism for social realization of political power and the resolution mechanism of the inherent contradiction in the restrictive relation of powers. 3.

Political management is the way to realize political rights

In a specific social and political life, political power and political rights originate from the same common interests. Therefore, in the specific social background, the common interests realized by political management and by political rights claims are identical in nature, content and form. In this regard, the process of political management to achieve common interests is actually a process of implementing the political rights of specific members of society as a social and political result. From the content point of view, as a legal member of society to claim and realize the public interest, the claim of political rights to the common interest and its realization is implemented and realized through political management. In the extended sense,

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the common interest includes the common interests of members of society and the normative requirements for different interests. The realization of common interests and the norms of different interests by political management are both organic parts of the common interests and realization of common interests. In this regard, political management is the social realization of specific political rights that advocate common interests and is the political way to implement the content of common interests. From a formal point of view, the process of political management confirming, realizing, maintaining and developing common interests is a process from the political rights of specific members of society to political power and then to social results, or in other words, the process of realization and development of common interests. It is a process in which the political rights of specific members of society are continuously implemented as social results by means of political management. It can be seen from this that if political ruling confirms and guarantees the political rights of specific members of society, then political management realizes these political rights. Therefore, political management has become a way to realize political rights. 4.

Political management is a positive guarantee for the orderly operation of society

The continuous satisfaction of the material, cultural and spiritual needs of social members is a necessary prerequisite for the orderly operation and normal development of social life, and the process of political management to realize and develop social benefits is the process of continuously meeting the material, cultural and spiritual needs of social members. Only when political power effectively fulfills the functions of political management can the orderly operation and continuous development of social life be achieved, and political management thus becomes a guarantee for the normal progress and orderly development of social life. At the same time, political management through the organization of political power and social life, through the regulation and supervision of the relationship between political power and social members and between social members, and through the regulation and governance of the behavior of political power holders and social members, makes social life operate in accordance with specific social and political systems and rules, ensuring the orderly development of social and political norms, and realizing the standardization, institutionalization and legalization of national governance. It can be seen from this that if political ruling guarantees the order and operation of society in the sense of coercion and authority, political management actively guarantees the realization of social interests, the regulation of social relations and the regulation of social behavior, maintaining orderly operation and development of society. 5.

Political management is an important way of social development

Relying on the strong political power and the conditions of political authority, political management affects and guides the development and advancement of society in

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the sense of social development and the realization of interests; political management determines the direction of social development by political planning and political command; political management realizes the common interests of the society and regulates different interests, so that members of the society are satisfied with their interests and needs, thereby generating new needs, which makes the society continue to obtain the driving force for development. Therefore, political management not only enables the realization of political power in society, but also promotes the development of society, so that political power, together with market mechanisms and social organization mechanisms, becomes an important and basic way for the development of human society. Political management methods and political forms will continue to develop in this social development. The history of human society and political development shows that the success or failure of political management not only has a decisive significance on the specific political ruling, but also has an important and far-reaching impact on the progress, regression, stagnation and twists of the society in development. Therefore, the correct implementation of political management in accordance with the requirements of society is not only a requirement for the interests of political power subjects and political ruling, but also a requirement for the satisfaction of the interests of members of society and the normal operation of society. It is also the inevitable progress and historical development of human society and the modernization of national governance and is the necessity for mankind to gradually move towards comprehensive development and liberation.

Chapter 9

Political Participation

9.1 The Meanings and Types of Political Participation 9.1.1 Definition and Characteristics of Political Participation The two Chinese characters of “participation” (“can” and “yu”) once had the same meaning as modern words in Chinese classics, but the two were often used separately. There is a usage of “can” in the Book of Han, in the sentence “Each time there was a major debate in the royal court, he typically participated in making military strategies”. The Book of the Later Han also has a similar usage: “Whenever a person is selected, the staff is consulted.” The word “yu” also means “joining” in ancient Chinese. This usage was seen earlier. There is a saying in I Ching that “Were it not the thing most capable of change under heaven, how can it be so effective as this?” In Analects of Confucius, there is also the saying “though I am not in office, I have been consulted about it.” However, participation in politics in ancient China basically meant that the monarch and his ministers conspired to make political decisions, not political participation in the modern sense. In Western culture, the corresponding word for “can yu” in English is “participating” and in French “participer”, both of which come from the Latin “participare (participatus)”. As early as in ancient Greek political doctrines, there was already a certain idea of political participation. However, political participation thought in the modern sense is derived from the thought of people’s rights in modern democratic theory. Some scholars divide various theories on democracy into two categories, “that is, the democratic theory that emphasizes citizen participation and the democratic theory that restricts citizen participation.”1 The theory of participation in democracy is represented by Rousseau, Mill and others. Rousseau’s theory of participatory democracy provides an earlier theoretical basis for political participation. After Lincoln put 1

David Miller, Vernon Bogdanor. (1992). The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Science. China University of Political Science and Law Press, p. 563.

© Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_9

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forward the political thought of “of the people, by the people, for the people”, the idea of political participation gradually became clearer. The first modern theorist to discuss the practical and theoretical significance of civic political participation is Alexis de Tocqueville.2 However, the concept of political participation in politics was first used and studied by Western scholars after World War II. Early research on political participation focused on various explanations of Electoral Studies or voting behavior. In other words, political participation research is developed from election research. Since the 1960s, the emergence and rise of political sociology have greatly expanded the research scope of political participation. Of course, Western political scholars’ research on political participation serves the political ruling of the bourgeoisie, and they conceal the essence of capitalist domination and money politics to a large extent. Due to the different angles of analyzing and observing the behavior of political participation, different scholars have different understandings of the meaning of political participation, among which representative views are: First, it is believed that political participation is the act of influencing or trying to influence the distribution of public welfare. Second, it is believed that political participation is aimed at influencing national or local government actions or organized civilian actions. Third, it is believed that political participation is all actions (or inactions) that individuals or groups of individuals consciously or unintentionally oppose or support, change or maintain certain characteristics of a government or group. Fourth, it is believed that political participation is all voluntary activities of individual citizens who intend to directly or indirectly influence political choices at all levels of the political system.3 Fifth, it is believed that political participation means that members of society choose rulers and directly or indirectly form voluntary activities in public policy formation.4 Sixth, it is believed that political participation refers to ordinary civilians who directly or more or less intend to influence the choice of government personnel, and/or the legal actions they take.5 Marxism attaches great importance to the issue of political participation, and its classic writers regard it as an important symbol of the realization of democracy after the working class has gained power. Lenin once made a series of brilliant expositions on the people’s participation in political management. He believes that political participation means that the people “participate in state affairs, set the direction for 2

Anthony M. Orum. (1989). Political Sociology: Power and Participation in the Modern World. Shanghai People’s Publishing House, p. 281. 3 The above four views are those of Booth and Slagerson, Nelson, Conge, Verba and Ney, etc., see Patrick J. Conge, “The Concept of Political Participation: Toward a Definition” in Comparative Politics, 1989(4). 4 David L. Sills, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, New York: Macmillan Inc., 1968, pp. 252—253. 5 Fred I. Greenstein. (1982). Politics Science of Non-government in Political Science: Scope and Theory Volume 4. Youth Cultural Enterprise Co., Ltd.

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the country, and determine the form, tasks, and content of state activities.”6 He highly praised the attempts of the people of the Paris Commune to participate in power management and believed that the direct management of people is a manifestation of the Soviet regime’s succession to the Paris Commune. In summary, Marxism has two basic aspects in grasping political participation: first, political participation is a necessary way for the working class and people to directly manage the working class’s state affairs and realize political rights and people’s democracy; second, political participation is the participation of ordinary citizens in political affairs. According to the Marxist analysis method and the discussion of political participation, combined with our analysis of political participation as the behavior of political rights, it can be considered that the behavior of political participation arises from the relationship of political rights. The inherent contradiction of political rights lies in the contradiction between the form and content of political rights. On the one hand, political rights exist in the form of the legal political qualifications of a relatively single subject of political rights; on the other hand, political rights are the content of political rights subject to the common interests of a specific group. Therefore, the single subjectivity of political rights in form and the common interest in content form the contradiction between the individuality of the subject of political rights and the publicity of the common interests of specific groups. It is this contradiction that promotes the behavior of political participation so that political rights can only be realized through the participation of individuals as the subject of political rights in social and political life, and the inherent contradictions of political rights can only be resolved through political participation. It can be seen that political participation is the behavior of ordinary citizens to participate in political life through various legal methods, and affect the composition, operation mode, operation rules and policy process of the political system. It is an important way that political rights are realized. It reflects the status, role and scope of choices of citizens in social and political life as well as the content of political relations. According to the definition, the basic characteristics of political participation are: (1)

6

From the perspective of the subject, political participation is the political behavior of ordinary citizens. On the subject of political participation, some scholars believe that it is all members of society while some scholars deem it as all citizens, and some scholars distinguish political participants from political professionals. We define it as the activities of ordinary citizens, excluding the activities of government officials and professional political activists, in order to distinguish political participation from other political activities. If the subject is all social members participating in politics, political participation behavior will generalize to general political behavior. At the same time, it needs to be pointed out that only citizens can become the main body of political participation. In the era of slave society and feudal

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 128.

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society where “the commoners may be made to follow a path of action, but may not be made to understand it,”7 it is impossible for the subjects to participate in politics. Although there were indeed some people-oriented thoughts and ideologies of attaching great importance to the masses of the people at that time, in these ideas, people were nothing more than tools to consolidate the autocratic monarchy. The purpose of these ideas was to establish the emperor, raise the emperor, and serve the emperor, and the status of members of society as subjects cannot be changed. As far as the meaning of subjects is concerned, there is only an obligation standard, which does not include the content of civil rights, let alone political participation. “Not the same as a subject, a citizen is an active participant in the process of the political input, which is the process of making political decisions.”8

(2)

7

From the perspective of the content, political participation is a behavior of citizens claiming common interests. Therefore, political participation is actually a citizen’s political rights behavior, and it is a manifestation of political rights taking citizens’ political behavior as the carrier. In this regard, the content of political participation is citizens’ assertions about common interests. Because citizens’ claims for common interests involve many aspects of social and political life, their political participation involves almost all content and processes of social and political life. From the perspective of the legal relationship, political participation is the relationship of political rights, obligations and responsibilities between citizens and public power. Citizen politics is the essential content of democratic politics. Democratic politics is a politics where sovereignty rests with the people. In political life, citizens not only have legal rights, but also have an obligation to perform responsibilities and obey the law. Therefore, fulfilling political rights and obligations is an essential feature of citizens. Political participation is actually a process by which citizens exercise their political rights such as the right to know, participate, express, and supervise. The reason why democratic politics is democratic politics is that it is closely related to the realization of citizens’ rights to participate in politics. As Lenin pointed out when talking about democratic systems, all democratic systems “mean the formal recognition of all citizens as equals and the recognition that everyone has equal rights to determine the state system and manage the country.”9 Because of the unity of citizens’ political rights and obligations, political participation is a process of political obligations as well as a process of political rights. For the citizen as the subject of political participation, political participation is based on his commitment to democratic values and rules, and political participation is also the actions taken by him because of his political loyalty to public power, a nation or a certain political group, and the public interest.

Analects of Confucius: Taibo. Gabriel Abraham Almond. (1989). The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, p. 199. 9 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 96. 8

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(3)

(4)

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For the subject of social-political power and other citizens, to recognize the political participation of a particular citizen is to recognize the citizen’s right to participate in politics, and it has an obligation to respect this right and its exercise. It means that ordinary citizens should actively participate in government affairs, understand the government’s decision-making process and methods, express their views, transform their requirements into support, and participate in the input process of the political system. The political power and other citizens must respect the political participation of specific citizens. From the perspective of the extension, political participation is limited to influencing government activities by legal means and does not include illegal actions. If the extension of political participation is extended to illegal violent activities, political participation includes confrontational political actions that overthrow the existing political order. Generally speaking, people under an autocratic system can only realize their political rights through political struggle. In a democratic system, citizens’ political rights are usually realized through political participation, and only in special circumstances will they resort to political struggle. In authoritarian societies, political life is usually only related to a few members of society. Farmers, craftsmen and businessmen, who make up the majority of the population, may or may not realize how government activities affect their lives. Except for occasional petitions to the government to alleviate political oppression, they generally think it is impossible to influence political power and its activities. Under political coercion, since they lack legal means to express and realize their own interests, they often rise up to change their political power and influence political power behaviors through revolutionary political struggles, including both legal and illegal methods. In a democratic society, commodity exchange under the conditions of a market economy activates the interests and rights consciousness of social members, and the market mechanism and the corresponding democratic system provide legitimate and normal channels for the expression of interests of social members. In this way, there is room for political participation, and citizens generally realize their wishes through legal participation. Political participation by no means means that everyone personally acts as the subject of political management, because as long as politics exists, political management can only be carried out by a few members of society. However, in the democratic era, ordinary citizens can influence or control political power through such legal activities as political participation. In fact, this is the scope in which political participation functions. From the perspective of the goals and targets, it is not just confined to government decision-making, but includes all political life directly or indirectly related to government activities. Although some people think that political participation is all issues related to the distribution of public welfare, some people believe that it involves all problems of the government, and some people deem that it only involves government decision-making issues. According to Marxism, the goal and object of political participation should be political life. Marx referred to the Paris Commune system as a social republic,

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which contained this meaning. Lenin also emphasized when discussing political issues: “Politics means participating in national affairs, setting the direction for the country, and determining the form, tasks, and content of national activities.”10 Therefore, citizen participation in political life should undoubtedly include participation in all political activities. These characteristics show that the behavior of political participation is the realization of citizens’ political rights, which is determined by their relationship with political power. In political relations, “everyone is in his place, and in a certain position, people expect him to always act in a certain way.”11 As a socialist country, China affirms the political status of people as masters in order to protect the political rights of citizens. Therefore, citizens’ active concern for and participation in public political life are the political rights and obligations of every citizen.

9.1.2 Types of Political Participation According to different standards, people can classify political participation behaviors into different types. Some scholars classify political participation according to the behavior patterns and divide it into three types: spontaneous participation, mobilized participation, and passive participation. Spontaneous participation is the behavior of citizens consciously exerting influence on the political process based on their own interests and needs. Mobilized participation is the activity that affects the political process caused by citizens inspired by others or in response to the call of the government. Passive participation refers to that citizens are indifferent to political issues or take negative behaviors towards political activities for conscious or unconscious reasons. These three types are not as easy to distinguish in political reality as in political theory. The actual state of political participation in any country is a mixture of mobilized participation, spontaneous participation, and passive participation. The difference is the scope and combination of the three types under different conditions. Under normal circumstances, the scope of spontaneous participation of countries with a high degree of democracy is greater than that of other types. The scope of passive participation of countries with a low degree of democracy is larger, and the role of state mobilization and participation is more prominent in those countries in the process of transition between the two. There is a dynamic relationship between these three types of political participation. Initially, it belongs to the state of passive participation behavior. After the persuasion or inducement of others or the government, it will be transformed into a mobilized participation behavior. The mobilized participation will gradually transform into a way of voluntary performance of civic duty, that is, internalized into spontaneous 10

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 128. Gabriel A. Almond, Jr. Powell. (1987). Comparative Politics Today: A World View. Shanghai Translation Publishing House, p. 62. 11

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participation. Conversely, behaviors that are initially spontaneous participation may also become mobilized participation due to manipulation. When the mobilized participation fails or the participant’s sense of responsibility suffers, it may continue to decline to passive participation, such as political indifference. Of course, the dynamic relationship between these three types does not affect the intrinsic prescriptiveness of the three as types of political participation. This type of division has a certain significance for analyzing the actual situation of political participation. These different types of analysis of political participation can reflect the intention and motivation of citizens’ political participation to a certain extent. Nevertheless, this classification does not go deep into the nature and political functions of political participation. In this regard, political participation is linked to the nature of a specific social-democratic political form, and its political function and significance are in specific democratic politics. Therefore, it is of essential significance to distinguish the types of political participation in accordance with the Marxist division of different democratic political forms. According to this standard, political participation can be divided into two historical types: political participation in capitalist countries and political participation in socialist countries: The political participation of capitalist countries is inseparable from capitalist democracy. As a national system, capitalist democracy is a democratic system based on the premise of the so-called “liberty, equality, and fraternity” principle, with a parliamentary system as the core, including the separation of powers, party politics, universal suffrage, the legal system, and supervision. This state system is established on the basis of opposing feudal autocracy, and it is a superstructure compatible with the capitalist economic foundation and the realization of interests. The development and operation of the political system of capitalist countries is based on capitalist ownership. The capitalist mode of production is different from the pre-capitalist mode in that it takes the operation of the capitalist commodity economy as its way of realizing its benefits. Therefore, some apparent equality and liberty principles in the capitalist commodity economy are applied to politics. In terms of power and political rights, a series of surface facilities and mechanisms for citizens’ political participation have been formed. For example, the parliament ostensibly represents public opinion, which provides a stage for citizens to participate in politics. The election system marked by universal suffrage has become a legal mechanism for citizens’ political participation. In addition, party politics and freedom of association also provide channels for citizens to participate in politics. For the interests of capital and the political ruling of the bourgeoisie, this kind of citizen participation has the effect of safeguarding its political ruling. First of all, it can conceal the inequality in the realization and distribution of political power and actual benefits with the apparent equality and liberty of political rights, thereby concealing the essence of the capitalist political ruling. Second, it is a political barometer of the bourgeoisie and provides a basis for the bourgeoisie to adjust relevant policies in a timely manner. Third, it can use political participation as a tool to quell and adjudicate contradictions and competitions among different groups within the bourgeoisie, thereby effectively maintaining the overall ruling of the bourgeoisie. It can use political participation to alleviate the contradictions within the capitalist society

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and give people a chance to vent their dissatisfaction. In fact, since “wealth uses its power indirectly but more reliably in the process of formulating policies by the capitalist government,”12 the political participation of ordinary citizens is actually nothing more than a political tool in the bourgeois political arena. The political participation of citizens of socialist countries is an important part of socialist democracy. There is an essential difference between socialist democracy and capitalist democracy. Socialist democracy is a state system compatible with the socialist market economy. It is established in the process of opposing bourgeois political ruling and is a superstructure based on the socialist economic system. In socialist democratic political life, the masses of people are the masters of the country and people are the main body of all activities in society and the country. People’s interests are the starting point and destination for the party and the country to formulate lines, principles, and policies. As the main body of various activities of the country and society, people must participate in the management of state affairs and the state’s economic and cultural activities. Socialist political ruling is essentially the ruling of the proletariat and the working people. This opens up broad prospects for the proletariat and the working people to enjoy full liberty and true equality, and also provides them with the necessary conditions to participate in the management of the country and society. The socialist political system provides a certain political form to express the interests and will of people who enjoy political rights. At the same time, the continuous improvement of the legal system in socialist countries also provides practical guarantees for citizens’ political participation under socialist conditions. Therefore, Lenin clearly stated that in a socialist society, “since the masses of people have stood up for the first time in the history of civilized society, they independently participate not only in voting and elections, but also in daily management.”13 In the practice of the Chinese revolution, construction, development and reform, the Communist Party of China insists on taking political participation as an important way of people’s democracy. The first-generation central leadership collective of the party with Mao Zedong at the core established the institutional basis for China’s people’s democratic dictatorship and political participation. After the reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping pointed out that in socialist countries, people’s democratic politics must “discuss and handle affairs with the people.”14 Jiang Zemin pointed out that it is necessary to actively expand citizens’ orderly political participation and ensure that people implement democratic elections, democratic decisionmaking, democratic management, and democratic supervision in accordance with the law, and enjoy extensive rights and freedoms. Hu Jintao pointed out that it is necessary to expand the orderly political participation of citizens, mobilize and organize people to manage state and social affairs, economic and cultural undertakings in accordance with the law, and propose that the people’s right to know, participate, express and supervise must be guaranteed.

12

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 173. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 112. 14 Deng Xiaoping. (1994). Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping Volume 2. People’s Publishing House. 13

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Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era has made rich and profound expositions on people’s democracy and citizens’ legal participation in politics. He pointed out: “The main criteria for judging whether a political system is democratic and effective are whether the country can conduct leadership transitions in a lawful and orderly manner; whether the people can administer national, social, economic, and cultural affairs in accordance with the law; whether people can openly express their demands; whether various sectors of society can participate effectively in national political affairs; whether state decision-making is rational and democratic; whether talent from a variety of sectors can enter systems of national leadership and administration through fair competition; whether the governing party can exercise leadership over national affairs in accordance with the Constitution and the law; and whether the exercise of power is subject to effective constrains and supervision.”15 In the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he emphasized: “We will improve the way the Party exercises leadership and governance to ensure that it leads the people in effectively governing the country. We will expand the people’s orderly political participation to see that in accordance with the law, they engage in democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight… to ensure that the people enjoy extensive rights and freedoms as prescribed by law… to ensure the people’s rights to be informed, to participate, to be heard, and to oversee.”16 In addition, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made a multi-faceted discussion on adhering to the path of socialist politics with Chinese characteristics, strengthening the protection of the system of people being the masters of the country, and advancing the extensive and multi-layered institutionalization of consultative democracy. In practice, China’s People’s Congress is an important way for people to achieve political participation and democratic politics. The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference is an important institution for people and social organizations to participate in and discuss politics. In addition, governments at all levels have consultation meetings, hearings, and informal talks on public decisionmaking. Democratic conferences and consultative governance have all shaped the forms and specific channels for Chinese people to participate in politics extensively. The complaint reporting system at all levels, media supervision, etc., gives people multiple levels and ways to realize political rights and participate in political life. With the development of the orderly political participation of citizens, the degree and breadth of the realization of citizens’ rights continue to develop. It shows that the fundamental difference between political participation under socialist conditions and capitalist conditions is that socialism must truly “universally absorb all laborers to manage the country,” which, however, is a “difficult task.”17 15

Xi Jinping: Speech at the Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the National People’s Congress, People’s Publishing House, 2014. 16 Xi Jinping: Decisively Win the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects, and Win the Great Victory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era- A Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Daily (October 28, 2017). 17 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 34. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 49.

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According to Marxism, “rights must not exceed the economic structure of the society and the cultural development of the society restricted by the economic structure.”18 Political participation as a citizen’s political right is related to everyone’s interests. The interests of every citizen must be restricted by the structure of social interests. For a long time, due to the constraints of many factors in history and reality, there is still room for the development of citizen political participation under socialist conditions. With the development of socialist political civilization and democratic politics, socialist political participation will surely be fully developed.

9.2 Ways and Conditions of Political Participation 9.2.1 Ways and Means of Political Participation As an act of realizing the political rights of citizens, the main methods of political participation are: 1.

Political voting

Political voting is a way of political behavior for individual citizens to express their political preferences or attitudes between competitive policies, between political and public candidates, or between other controversial political issues. There are many ways to vote, which can be expressed by voice, such as answering “yes” or “no”, “yeah” or “nay” “agree” or “object,” etc.; it can be expressed by gestures, such as raising hands and applauding to show approval or disapproval, etc.; it can be expressed by posture, such as standing to express approval or disapproval, or even standing on one side instead of the other; it can be expressed in writing, such as a ballot, writing a name or marking on it, etc.; it can also be expressed through electronic signals, that is, electronic voting. Generally speaking, people who vote by voice, gesture or posture are public voting. Although written expressions and electronic signals can also be used for public voting, they are usually the technical methods used in secret voting. Initially, the ancient Greeks voting by depositing pebbles in one of two urns is where the term “election” related to voting comes from. Since voting is related to the original meaning of elections, people generally compare voting with elections, and even regard voting as a unique way of elections. However, there is actually a difference between the two. Political voting is a way for citizens of a country to express their political inclination in various fields such as elections, recalls, and referendums. The development of voting to this day is no longer limited to one aspect of elections. It has different goals and functions in different aspects. In the sense of elections, the role of voting is to determine the public officials of a particular country, state officials or other political organizations equivalent to such public officials. In the sense of referendum, the role of a referendum is to influence national policies, to vote for or against a government decision, or to 18

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 305.

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vote on measures proposed by international organizations, which is also called a referendum in the modern world. The referendum is a means of direct democracy, which began in Switzerland in the sixteenth century. In 1800, France also approved a new constitution using a referendum. In 2005, the citizens of France, the Netherlands and other countries approved the constitution of the European Union in a referendum, and in 2017, the United Kingdom’s referendum on withdrawal from the European Union was the same. A referendum may not always bring positive effects. Under certain historical and cultural conditions, it will be used by a small number of people to turn a democratic referendum into a populist referendum. In those days, Hitler of Germany used this means to grab power.19 In the sense of recall, the role of voting is to influence the survival of the government or the survival of individual government personnel, that is, to vote for trust or distrust in the composition of the government or specific government officials, so as to show citizens’ political attitudes toward the government. Because of the importance of voting in these aspects, some scholars call it one of the two basic methods of social choice in a democratic system.20 2.

Political election

Political election refers to in a state or other political organization in accordance with statutory procedures and rules, all or part of the members choose one or a few people to fill a certain political or public office of the organization. Political election is important content and operating mechanism of modern democratic politics, as well as an important way for citizens to realize political rights and participate in politics. Political “elections have the basic characteristics of consensus of rules, universality and equality of rights, selectivity of behavior, the secrecy of voting, and regularity of elections.”21 In addition to voting, election activities also include political contributions, voter organization, political propaganda and other activities that affect the election process or results. Political elections are divided into direct elections and indirect elections. In direct elections, voters directly vote for public officials according to electoral districts, and in indirect elections, voters elect representatives, and then the elected representatives vote. Voting, as the basic and common behavior of ordinary voters to participate in politics, is the most obvious behavior in the election process and voting activities constitute the core behavior of election activities. In the election process, voting requires ballots, specific voting procedures and counting procedures. From the perspective of the role of voting in elections, the election process is the process of turning votes into seats or positions. However, voting is not equal to election after all, nor is election equal to voting. Not only is voting limited to voting in elections, but also election 19

David Miller, Vernon Bogdanor. (1992). The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Science. China University of Political Science and Law Press, pp. 563–564. 20 Another method is the market mechanism, which is usually used for economic decision-making. See Kenneth J. Arrow. Social Choice and Individual Values. Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 1987, p. 3. 21 Wang Puqu, The Theory and System of Elections, Higher Education Press, 2006, p. 1.

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activities are not limited to voting activities. It also has political effects in other aspects. Election activities need to raise funds, and political contributions have become a way for citizens to participate in politics in this regard. However, donations of an individual or legal person political are mainly participation behaviors in the context of money politics. Elections in socialist countries are generally funded by the state or collectives. Election activities also require a lot of organizational work. Citizens’ political participation in this link is mainly to actively register as voters, and even directly engage in some organizational work, such as supervisors and vote-counters. Election activities are inseparable from political propaganda. All political parties or candidates must carry out propaganda activities on the basis of drawing up an election program. Citizens mainly engage in political lobbying, but political lobbying is not an activity carried out by all citizens. It is mainly the political participation of members of the party that organizes campaigns or other people who assist in the campaign. Among various political participation behaviors, the election is an important institutionalized effective means for ordinary citizens to control the government. At the same time, citizens also express their political opinions and wish to decisionmakers through regular elections. However, the election is not the best way to express everyone’s political will to decision-makers, because election is not continuous, but are held regularly. The general political significance of elections is to legitimize elected persons to obtain a certain political office or public office. It has the role of refereeing political competition and evaluating political candidates. In terms of democratic politics, “it is very important to allow people’s representatives to participate in the management of national life and social life through elections in accordance with the law, and it is also very important to allow people to participate in the management of national life and social life through systems and methods other than elections. People only have the right to vote but not the right to participate widely. People can only be awakened during voting and enter a dormant period after voting. Such democracy is formalistic.”22 3.

Political association

Political association refers to the political behavior of a persistent group organization formed by citizens with common interests. This kind of organization may be dedicated to special interests, or the public interest of society, but its basic goal is to influence government decisions. After a citizen joins the organization, regardless of whether he participates in the organization’s activities that affect the government, the fact that he participates in this organization itself constitutes a way of political participation. Since political group organizations include two major categories: political parties and political associations, political associations accordingly include organizing or participating in party activities and club activities. Participation in party activities is mostly concentrated during elections in capitalist countries. Since the basic task of a capitalist party is to manipulate elections, the participation of citizens of capitalist society in party activities and election activities 22

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Vol 2. Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 293.

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are often identical. Only when citizens participate in the supervision of the opposition party can they have political participation meaning different from elections. In socialist countries, since political parties have regular activities, citizens’ participation in political parties is an independent form of political participation. In China, the Communist Party is the ruling party, and other political parties are participating parties. Citizens’ participating in the Communist Party or other political parties are all political participation. The main activities include participation in governance, political consultation, and providing suggestions and criticisms. In general, it can be summarized in three major aspects: participation, deliberation, and evaluation in state affairs. Participating in club activities in capitalist countries mainly refers to citizens’ joining pressure groups. In the West, pressure groups represent and safeguard the special interests of society. Although they do not have the conditions for a party and the purpose of controlling power, they actively participate in political activities and try to influence public policies and government behavior. In order to realize the interests of their own groups, pressure groups must participate in political activities. As long as citizens participate in such organizations, they constitute political participation. In socialist countries, political associations are the more significant part of social groups that participate in politics. They are also composed of members of society who have common interests in certain aspects. In China, political organizations are generally political and social organizations, including trade unions, Communist Youth League, Women’s Federation, the industry and commerce association, etc. These groups represent the interests of different members of society and share fundamental interests. Therefore, they have become an important form of organization for participating in the management of state affairs. As long as citizens participate in these organizations, it means that they have engaged in political participation activities. 4.

Political expression

Political expression is the behavior of citizens exercising their right to political expression and appeal. Citizens express their political views and attitudes through legal approaches and methods, thereby influencing government policies and behaviors, mainly including political gatherings, political petitions, political speeches, and so on. Citizens use political expressions to influence the government, mainly to converge into a collective effect, so that the government clearly feels certain interest requirements and support intentions. A political assembly is a temporary gathering of specific members of society for a common purpose to hold a meeting, jointly express their political views, and put forward some kind of support or request to the government. In capitalist countries, citizens often express their political demands through certain gatherings, prompting the government to change certain policies. For example, Greenpeace often holds gatherings for ecological and peace issues. Socialist countries have more political gatherings, mainly organized political activities to collect or express citizens’ opinions, show certain support to the government, and supervise government work or make critical suggestions.

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Political petitions are behaviors of citizens expressing their opinions and hopes on public affairs and public policy matters to the government or local public organizations. The content and method of the petition are regulated by the specific laws of each country. For example, a parade is where citizens walk along the street with slogans or flags to express some kind of celebration, memorial, support, protest, condemnation, etc. Another example is a demonstration in which citizens gather in public places to express certain political demands or political sentiments, thereby demonstrating their strength and determination. Protests and demonstrations are an important way of political petitions in most countries in the world today, but specific guidelines vary from country to country and must bear corresponding obligations. Political speech refers to citizens’ expressing and propagating their political claims and opinions through words, mainly in oral or written forms. Participation in political speech in modern society is mainly through the use of mass communication tools to form political opinions to influence government decisions. In capitalist countries, political speech is ostensibly promoted as one of the basic human rights, but in fact, Western countries have imposed legislative, judicial, and administrative restrictions on the freedom of participation. People of socialist countries use political opinion to play an important role in the political life of the country, influencing public policies, supervising the behavior of state agencies and government officials, and so on. 5.

Political contact

Political contact means that citizens solve certain political issues in order to seek the benefit of individuals or a small group of people by contacting relevant government officials and influencing them. Political contact itself includes both legal and illegal acts. Contact in the sense of political participation only refers to legal political contact and does not include illegal or even criminal acts such as bribery or threats. In capitalist countries, citizens’ political contacts include two main forms: personal contacts and lobbyism. Personal contact refers to citizens contacting bureaucrats and statesmen for personal or small-scale interests, for example, contacting members of parliament or administrative officials for enrollment, employment, security, transportation, etc. In this form, the purpose of the request upon the decisionmaker is very clear. But the intensity and scope of the form’s influence are obviously limited because it is done for personal reasons and through individual contacts. Lobbyism is not necessarily for personal gain. It refers to the activities that individuals or groups try to influence decisions of government officials or political leaders on issues that involve many people through contact with government officials and political leaders, such as supporting or opposing a legislative proposal or administrative decision. Lobbyism is often carried out by lobbyists hired by a certain consortium. These lobbyists are mainly former congressmen or former administrators who are familiar with government procedures. Therefore, participation in lobbyism as a form of political contact basically has nothing to do with ordinary citizens in the lower classes of society. In socialist countries, citizens have various forms of political contact, such as interviews with government officials on the citizen reception day, communication

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with government officials in the form of seminars and through letters and visits, and even direct interviews with leaders to state their own opinions. In China, the institutionalized channel of political contact is the complaint system, which means citizens contact the government through letters or visits. The government has specialized agencies for handling letters and receiving visits from citizens. Citizens use letters and visits to supervise the government, urging the government and the ruling party to improve policies and work, and better grasp the conditions of the people, which is also one of the regular ways for citizens to pay attention to political issues and engage in political participation. 6.

Political indifference

Political indifference indicates a state of mind, but in the study of political behavior, political science gives it a behavioral dimension to indicate a lack of participation. If the first several types of political participation can be classified as spontaneous participation or mobilized participation, then political indifference should be classified as passive participation. Political indifference is the expression of a passive political attitude in political behavior, that is, not participating in political life, and citizens are indifferent to political issues and political activities. As a means of political participation, political indifference may result from four reasons. First, after a long period of political catastrophe, citizens are tired and disgusted with social and political life or lose confidence in political goals and are indifferent to politics. Second, the authority base and effectiveness of political power decline, which causes the function of political participation to decline. Third, political power and government credibility decline, and people’s trust in political management declines, which in turn leads to a decline in political participation enthusiasm. Fourth, in countries with well-established social systems, some citizens do not participate in politics because, under normal circumstances, the political institutions have solved most of the problems of their members. It does not matter whether they care or participate in politics. Although political indifference indicates a certain political attitude of citizens and affects government policies in a specific sense, political indifference is not conducive to the government’s grasp of the actual situation and the government is prone to make arbitrary decisions. Moreover, if the political indifference is adopted by citizens because they have lost confidence in the government, under certain conditions, it may develop into political disobedience and even lead to political resistance. The negative effects of political indifference must be paid attention to.

9.2.2 Basic Conditions and Influencing Factors for Political Participation As mentioned earlier, political participation is essentially a product of democratic politics. Therefore, democratic politics is a political condition on which political participation depends. In democratic politics, individual citizens can manage social and political affairs, but cannot directly or fully manage social and political affairs.

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The statement of citizens being able to manage social and political affairs means that citizens have the right to participate in the management of social and political affairs and have the ability to exert their influence within a certain range. The statement that citizens cannot directly or fully manage social and political affairs means that not all citizens have the ability to directly participate in the management of social and political affairs, and not all social and political affairs need and may be directly managed by all citizens. In this sense, the behavior of political participation is connected with political management. In other words, in democratic politics, the political management of the majority by the minority is combined with the participation of the majority in the management process. People’s ability and inability to manage social and political affairs are determined by social, political, economic, and cultural factors in democratic politics. These factors are also the basic factors affecting political participation. 1.

Economic development

The level of political participation of a country is closely related to its economic development. Generally speaking, there is a positive correlation between economic development and political participation. First, the development of the commodity economy in the market mechanism in the democratic era has created more participating citizens. Economic development has increased national wealth and degree of education, provided people with opportunities for employment in higher-status occupations, and enhanced people’s awareness and ability to participate. Second, economic development will inevitably bring about constant changes in social interest relations, so that citizens have to resort to political behaviors to safeguard and further realize their own interests. For example, in the change of interest relations, the emergence of new interest groups will threaten the existing groups, and there may be some tension in the interest relations between different groups. This kind of tension creates group consciousness within each group, which causes groups to resort to political power and adopt collective behaviors to compete with other groups in order to expand and safeguard their own rights. Third, economic development also promotes the expansion of government functions, which also means that the government has expanded its role in society, and citizens affected by the government’s role have to increase their participation in order to affect the government’s role in turn. The more government activities affect citizens and their groups, the more these citizens or groups of citizens feel that the government is related to their own purposes, and the more actively they work to influence the formation and decision-making of the government. Finally, the carrier of social and economic development is the nation-state, which means that economic and social development is expressed in the form of national development. Therefore, for individual citizens, economic development makes the relationship between the individual and the nation-state increasingly important, which invisibly increases the national consciousness of each citizen. A very important aspect of modern national consciousness is the citizens’ sense of rights and obligations towards the state. The concept of citizenship composed of rights and obligations has laid a broad foundation for mass political participation.

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Of course, not all economic development will necessarily lead to the expansion of political participation. Due to the effects of social, cultural and other factors and the constraints of political development, within a certain period of time, political participation in a particular country will lag behind economic development. 2.

Social status

The social status reflects a certain social identity of citizens. People usually judge one’s social status based on education, occupation, income, power, prestige, etc. The combination of these indicators determines the hierarchical structure of different social statuses of citizens in society. Since the level of social status is directly related to the strength of people’s political influence, it is also related to the realization of people’s interests. Therefore, citizens who are at a higher level in terms of wealth, education, occupation, power, and prestige have a higher degree of political participation in general while those who are at a lower position in social stratification have a lower degree of political participation. While various factors that constitute social status collectively exert their influence on political participation, they also have an effect on political participation. A large number of empirical studies have shown that citizens with high incomes have a higher degree of political participation, and they have strong political interests, political awareness and political responsibility. Well-educated citizens have sound cognitive skills, and citizens with high academic qualifications are also more concerned about politics, which to some extent strengthens the relationship between education and political participation. In terms of occupation, citizens of occupations that are heavily influenced by politics are more likely to participate in politics. People who enjoy power or privileges and have high social prestige have significantly higher political participation than others. However, since social status is not the only factor that affects political participation, the correlation coefficient between the two varies in different countries. Empirical studies have shown that certain social status factors in some countries may also show a negative correlation with political participation. It is necessary for people to further examine the influence of other factors on political participation. 3.

Political psychology

From the perspective of behaviorism research, any political behavior is driven by a certain psychological motivation. Political participation is also inseparable from the driving force of its psychological factors. Political sociology has three main conclusions about the psychological factors of political participation. The first point is the discovery of one of the psychological qualities related to people’s participatory activities: personalities, the consciousness that a man himself is able to influence statesman and political order. This is defined as a citizen’s awareness of political effects, that is, a citizen’s personal self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-realization political tendency to influence local government activities. The second psychological quality related to citizens’ participation in politics is their trust in and support for the political system, including support for the government, political parties and their leaders, and love for the country or community. The third psychological factor related

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to citizens’ political participation is the degree of citizens’ concern for the political process and their sense of political responsibility. This is very closely related to social status. Generally, citizens at a higher level have a higher degree of participation in political activities. Nevertheless, people often find that these three psychological factors are difficult to explain the motivation for political participation. Some people have reached a certain level of status and education in social stratification. They have a strong sense of political effect, political trust, and political responsibility, but they rarely participate in political activities. From the perspective of motivation, the psychological reason for this situation lies in the perception of the cost of political participation. Perhaps people think that their own interests can be realized without participation, or that participation is too costly, and the cost outweighs the gains, which will affect the degree of political participation. The analysis shows that there are many motives that drive people to participate in politics. Political studies can simply summarize them into the following six aspects. The first one is “paying attention to the rewards that can be obtained.” The second is “thinking that choice is important.” The third is “believing that one can help change the outcome.” The fourth is “believing that if one does not act, the outcome will not be satisfactory.” The fifth is “having knowledge or skills about current problems.” The sixth is “just overcome fewer obstacles to act.”23 If people are thinking exactly the opposite, then it proves that people have no or lack of motivation to participate in politics. 4.

Political mechanism

As a political behavior, political participation is bound to be influenced by politics itself. In essence, the fundamental nature of the political system has a major impact on political participation. But as far as the political operation mechanism is concerned, the factors that directly play a role in political participation mainly include the election system, party system, and supervision system. Election, as a political system, is a procedure and rule by which citizens choose certain public officials in accordance with the law. It is closely related to the parliamentary system, government system and judicial system. According to the statutory electoral system, citizens choose public opinion representatives or public officials through direct or indirect elections. Therefore, the electoral system is important for citizens to exercise participation in political power. The election system ranges from restricted elections to universal suffrage, from unequal elections to equal elections, from indirect elections to direct elections, from free voting to mobilized voting, and from the disclosed ballot to secret ballot. This series of development and changes are accompanied by process of expansion and deepening of political participation. A political party system is a form in which political parties control power or intervene in politics, which is affected by the interest structure of societies and the social, economic, cultural, historical and other aspects of the environment. Studies have 23

Robert Alan Dahl. Modern Political Analysis. Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 1987, p. 138.

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shown that the political party system can only increase the level of political participation if it has gained widespread recognition and loyalty from citizens. Therefore, the interest representativeness, scientificity, and instructiveness of the party program, the degree of realization and protection of the interests and rights of citizens by the party system, the social class foundation and composition structure of the party, the actual political actions and policies, plans, goals of the party, etc. will greatly affect the state of political participation. The supervision system, like the election system and the party system, is an important pillar of modern democratic politics. A complete supervision system includes constitutional supervision, parliamentary supervision, administrative supervision, judicial supervision, political party supervision, supervision by public opinion, social supervision, etc., all of which are directly or indirectly related to political participation. From the perspective of citizen participation, the soundness of the social supervision system directly affects the level of political participation. Therefore, a sound social supervision mechanism provides citizens and citizen groups with normal channels of organization and public opinion, which is an important condition for political participation. 5.

Social opportunity

Citizens’ political participation is not only affected by economic, institutional, and psychological factors, but also by the social opportunities created by the combination of these conditions and innate personal conditions. Social opportunities include factors such as age, gender, race, etc., as well as the aforementioned socio-political, economic and cultural environment. Age restrictions are universal, and a citizen under the age of 18 cannot participate in elections in many countries. Gender restrictions are both social and natural. Although social restrictions rarely exist in the world today, due to objective reasons, females’ political participation opportunities in many countries are significantly less than male citizens. Ethnic restrictions are man-made natural restrictions, which are originally unreasonable, but so far, in certain areas, it has been an obstacle to political participation. As for the uneven opportunities caused by the socio-political, economic and cultural environment, it is caused by historical reasons. The development of human society is gradually overcoming these phenomena and creating an environment of equal opportunities for all citizens to participate in politics.

9.3 Functions and Development Direction of Political Participation 9.3.1 Functions of Political Participation As the main way to realize the political rights of citizens, political participation plays an important role in both political life and social life.

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In terms of its political role, it is mainly reflected in: (1)

(2)

(3)

24

Political participation is an important way for citizens to use their political rights and qualifications to influence political power and its functions to ultimately realize their interests. Political power bears the function of social resource distribution. In order to claim their common interests and special interests, citizens must realize political rights and be connected with political power. Political participation is the most direct and main form of connection between citizens and political power. Therefore, it will inevitably affect the distribution of interests. Every citizen wants to assert and realize his interests through political participation. In fact, they can get or partly get corresponding satisfaction as the limit.24 Political participation affects the legitimacy of political ruling. Political participation is based on citizens’ political identification with the country as their psychological condition. To a certain extent, the identity of the country is the recognition of political ruling, that is, the recognition of the legitimacy of political ruling. In a capitalist country, for the normal operation of the political system, the country needs to constantly adjust the contradictions or opposition between the government representing the interests of the bourgeoisie and the masses, between different interest groups within the bourgeoisie, and between the bourgeois ruler and members of the class. The political participation of capitalist countries plays exactly this role. Political participation makes the bourgeois government show the image of caring for the public and serving public interests. At the same time, political participation embodies the political rights of citizens in form, making the working people mistakenly believe that a country is an object they can trust and rely on. In a socialist country, people are the masters of the country, and citizens’ political participation behaviors ensure that the people are the masters of the country. Since the principle of the socialist political ruling is that all power belongs to the people, political participation directly reflects this principle. Political participation affects the democratization of political management. The important content of the democratization of political management is citizens’ participation in the process of political management and the restriction on the subject of political management. Through political participation, citizens express their wishes and choices for the distribution of public interests and common interests, and the government has continuously obtained relevant information. It means that citizens express their interests and requirements through political participation and participate in government policymaking. Especially in socialist countries, through citizens’ participation in political life, the ruling party and government can understand people’s sentiments, communicate public opinions, grasp the actual situation, and then formulate and implement correct paths, guidelines, and policies. However, since citizens reflect most of the direct interest requirements through political participation,

Samuel Huntington, No Easy Choice, Huaxia Publishing House, 1989, p. 184.

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(4)

(5)

257

it requires the government to pay attention to combining immediate and longterm interests, short-term and long-term behavior when formulating policies. In the process of policy implementation, citizens can inject constant vitality into political management by participating in the management of social affairs and state affairs, and by participating in the activities of basic organizations, which is conducive to the smooth implementation of government policies. The democratization of political management is incompatible with bureaucracy and corruption. Citizens’ political participation restricts the government’s political management activities through the election and removal of public officials, through the expression of opinions and public opinion supervision activities, or through direct intervention in the management process, so as to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of political management and promote the institutional building of democracy. Political participation affects the development of political culture, including citizens’ political attitudes, political emotions and political consciousness. Through political participation, citizens can increase their sense of responsibility towards the country and their tolerance towards the political system, that is, “For the rise and fall of the country, everyone has duties.” Citizens can also grow into citizens with more democratic ideas and capabilities through political participation. Through political participation, they can cultivate their awareness of caring about the future of their nation and country and understand how to realize their political rights in accordance with the law. Citizens can feel their personality and value in this process. More importantly, through political participation, citizens can raise their awareness of their rights and obligations and strengthen their sense of political responsibility. Citizens will gradually realize that political participation is an inalienable right and also an unavoidable responsibility. Therefore, political participation is an important way for citizens to educate themselves and cultivate a healthy and rational political personality. Political participation affects social and political stability. It is worth noting that political participation is not always in a positive correlation with political stability. It can enhance or undermine political stability. In actual political life, the influence of political participation on political stability depends on the will of citizens and the ability of the political system in the process of political participation. When the government conforms to and reflects the will of the people, citizens maintain a sense of oneness with the country through orderly political participation. When the political system provides conditions for all of this, political participation can enhance political stability. When the government violates public opinion, the sense of political frustration of citizens becomes stronger, and the relationship between the government and citizens becomes increasingly tense. Citizens must express their distrust or dissatisfaction through political participation while the political system lacks the corresponding endurance and resilience. The government lacks institutionalized diversion power, but only non-institutionalized coercive power. All of these may make the relationship between citizens and the government tense, leading

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to political instability. When political participation takes place in a form that cannot be accommodated by political systems, such as in a disorderly manner, political participation will also undermine political stability. In terms of its social role, the role of political participation in the social environment is mainly manifested in its impact on economic development, social equity, social mobility, and social autonomy. (1)

(2)

25

Political participation affects social equity. Political participation is a process by which people express their interest requirements. It can make the policy of social interest distribution formulated in a way that meets the wishes and needs of citizens. When citizens’ desires are not met, there will be a strong sense of social frustration, and people will put pressure on the government to strive for the realization of their own interests. Inequality and frustration are not only the driving force of political participation, but also the problems that political participation needs to overcome. “Facts show that a higher level of political participation often leads to a more equal distribution of national products.”25 The degree of economic equality of public participation in a society mainly depends on the breadth of political participation in the society. Not only that, but political participation can also enable the state to play its role as a promoter of economic and social welfare. The emergence of the Western welfare state was not discovered out of the conscience of the ruler. To a large extent, it is the result of citizens’ participation and struggles and the ruler had to make concessions. For example, competitive elections, as a way of political participation, are an important factor that prompts the government to distribute material benefits more widely. Of course, if political participation is exploited, it may also allow manipulators to take the opportunity to expand their share of social interests, especially when the participation of a group pays too much attention to distribution issues and neglects to create more total income, which often leads to volatile political choices, reduces social efficiency and aggravates differences in political life.26 Political participation affects economic development. Economic development actually involves the efficiency and vitality of society. It is generally believed that the issue of fairness and efficiency is a logical paradox and antinomy in real life. This antinomy is very obvious in the role of political participation. For example, expanding political participation will put pressure on social equality policies and will consume capital savings for economic growth before the economy takes off. For another example, the expansion of political participation may affect political power and reduce the efficiency of economic growth policies and political instability that may be caused by political participation will also become a factor hindering economic growth.27

Irma Adelman, Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations, quoted No Easy Choice by Samuel Huntington, Huaxia Publishing House, 1989, p. 79. 26 Mancur Olsen, The Rise and Decline of Nations, The Commercial Press, 1993, pp. 48–52. 27 This is the view of J.M. Nelson, R.M. Marsh, E. Widder and others. See Ikuo Kabashima, Political Participation, Economic Daily Press, 1989, p. 55.

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(3)

(4)

28

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However, these effects do not constitute a reason to deny the positive significance of political participation for economic development. Judging the impact of political participation on economic development should be based on the content of political participation and its historical conditions. The cost-benefit choices of citizen participation can affect the resource allocation and social effects in economic policies. The choices in decision-making are directly linked to results, which will force public officials to act in accordance with the principle of economic benefits. In other words, supportive political participation can strengthen the government or the ruling party to promote economic growth policies. Since economic growth is inseparable from social vitality, political participation has a positive effect on the efficiency of economic development in this sense. Political participation not only communicates information exchange between citizens and the government, but also promotes the realization of many direct interests of citizens. Therefore, it can not only pool ideas, realize citizens’ political rights, mobilize their political enthusiasm, but also increase their satisfaction with political power and their behaviors, thereby providing a source of power for economic development. However, it is particularly important to note that if the participants form a special interest group, and only for the purpose of influencing the distribution of benefits, it will also affect the adoption of new technologies and redistribute resources to form specific profit sharing groups and monopoly of these groups, thereby reducing the economic growth rate to a certain extent.28 Political participation affects social mobility and autonomy. Political participation affects social mobility through its interrelationship with social mobility. It has an effect on social mobility by gaining opportunities for social mobility, such as education, job hunting, and relocation. Political participation also affects social autonomy. Citizens directly act on autonomous social organizations by participating in the management of basic political life and social affairs and promote the development of the autonomous social system. Political participation affects historical development. As an important part of political democracy, political participation can promote the continuous development of human society. Judging from the overall historical role, political participation in an era when people could but could not fully manage social and political affairs, promoted the transformation of social ability from “inability” to “ability”, which is a long historical process. In this process, political participation not only plays an indirect role by influencing politics and society, but also directly serves as a means of development, and promotes the changes of politics and social progress through the process of promoting political revolution and political transformation.

Mancur Olsen, The Rise and Decline of Nations, The Commercial Press, 1993, pp. 66–71.

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9.3.2 Development Direction of Political Participation The direction of political participation is a controversial issue. On the one hand, from a cross-sectional perspective, because of many variables that affect political participation, the trend of changes in political participation is extremely complex, and it is difficult to simply determine. For example, while some forms of participation increase, other forms of participation may decrease; some politically inactive groups may become more involved in politics, while the participation of other groups may decrease, or even withdraw; when activities affecting the central government increase, certain forms and channels of local participation may shrink day by day. All these have made the development and changes of political participation seem confusing. On the other hand, the prevalence of elite governance and technological dominance in the world today has caused many people to fall into anti-democracy and anti-participation. As a result, these people make negative judgments about the development direction of political participation, which confuses more people. Western classical democracy believes that people can participate in politics by implementing the majority principle and respecting the rights of the minority. The theory of elite governance believes that national policies are determined by a powerful minority rather than by the majority of the people and they deem that people are basically passive, indifferent and information-ineffective. Technocracy is exactly the same as the theory of elite governance, emphasizing that the modern world has entered a post-industrial society and that democratic governance should be replaced by more effective technical experts’ control over social politics, thus denying the possibility of expanded political participation. So, how do we view the development direction of political participation? As long as people use the Marxist view of history and politics and view political participation from the perspective of historical development, we can observe the development direction of political participation. As the content of democratic politics, political participation is essentially related to the political ruling. The historical logic of political ruling is from the political ruling of the early exploiting class to that of capitalism, then to that of socialism, and finally the political ruling of the whole society is realized, that is, the demise of the political ruling. The logic of political participation is consistent with this, that is, from the political participation of citizens in the capitalist society to socialism, and finally to the political participation of the whole society in a classless society. At that time, there would be no political participation, but the whole society of selfmanagement, which is exactly what Lenin said: “The more complete democracy is, the closer it becomes to the situation when it becomes superfluous.”29 The process requires a long historical period, but it is precisely the historical trend of political participation in the development.

29

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. People’s Publishing House, 1985, pp. 97–98.

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Related to the political ruling, the development of political participation also involves the subject of political participation behavior. The development process of the main body of political ruling is embodied from the ruling of a few people to that of the majority and then to that of all people. At first, political participation was also the right and behavior of a minority. After the realization of universal suffrage in the capitalist society, although the majority is the subject of political participation in form, it still has to be restricted by the ruling of the minority. The socialist society is established in accordance with the principle that the people are the masters of their own affairs, just like Article 2(3) of China’s Constitution: “People administer state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings and social affairs through various channels and in various forms in accordance with the law.” Undoubtedly, the main body of social-political participation in socialist society is the broad masses of people, and with the development of socialism, the scope and number of participants in politics are still expanding, until all members of the society are involved. Therefore, from the perspective of the development and change of the main body of political participation, the basic direction is from the participation of a few to that of the majority and eventually to that of all. As far as the behavior of political participation is concerned, the initial method of participation is only regular voting and elections. Later, not only do voting and election acquire new contents respectively and become two activity forms, but other new methods such as political associations also come out one after another. Especially in the socialist society, various forms such as political deliberation, policy consultation, policy hearings, complaint system have appeared, and political participation has shown diversified forms and has been continuously developed. Therefore, the development of political participation behavior from singularity to diversification to multi-layer is also one of the development directions of political participation. It can be seen that although the development of political participation has sudden fluctuations within a certain period of time and within a region, from the perspective of long-term historical development, the continuous expansion and deepening of political participation in human political history is irresistible. Specific to a country, if it wants to expand its political participation as its democratization process deepens, it must comprehensively consider various variables that affect political participation and its development. First, we must promote social and economic development. Only in this way can we have the material basis for political participation in development. Second, we must cultivate citizens’ sense of political responsibility and improve citizens’ sense of political identity and political quality. Otherwise, political participation will lack the corresponding social foundation and ability foundation. Third, it is necessary to increase the government’s prestige and political civilization so that the government can win the trust of the people and establish a good government image. Only higher political legitimacy can bring about higher levels of political participation. Finally, the institutionalization of politics must be strengthened. While encouraging people to understand politics and attracting people to participate in

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political life, we need to establish and improve the adjustment mechanism of political participation, so that the system of political participation can be matched and adapted to political participation activities to ensure the healthy development of political participation, thereby maintaining social and political stability and order.30

30

Samuel P. Huntington, Political Oder in Changing Societies, Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 2008 edition.

Part IV

Political System

The political system is the embodiment of the organizational entity and system of political relations and is the organic composition of the social-political organization and political system. The political system generally includes two aspects: one is the social and political organization, which is a collection formed by people according to certain principles and rules to realize or try to realize their own interests and rights through political power. It generally has common interests, powers, and claims of rights of specific nature and content; it has a specific way of physical existence, so it is a material objective reality; it has specific constituent members, which can be individuals or a secondary political organization; it has specific operating rules and activities. The second is the political system, which is a statutory stipulation on the relationship and activities of various political forces in order to realize the orderly operation of social politics in accordance with different interest requirements. It includes not only the fundamental political system and its constituent principles, but also the concrete political system and its constituent principles; it has a statutory and regulatory nature within a specific range, and at the same time, it is relatively strict and stable. The fundamental reason for the composition and function of the political system is that social and political organizations and political systems are important ways, methods, and tools for people to effectively aggregate interest requirements, form and use political power, and realize political rights. Therefore, people often form political organizations and formulate corresponding political systems in accordance with common interests in order to realize their own interests in political life. The political system is formed and developed on the basis of the political behavior of members of society. People form political organizations and political systems in political activities and use these organizations and systems to implement the political ruling, political management, and political participation. The development of political behaviors such as political ruling, political management, and political participation has promoted the further development and improvement of political organizations and systems.

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Part IV: Political System

In contemporary political life, the state and its political system, political parties and party systems, political associations, and their operating rules are the basic components of the social-political system. Among them, the state and its political system have a central and leading position and are the organization and system embodiment of public social power; the ruling party and party system are the organizations and methods that govern the public power of the society, which is the specific organization and system form of political power; the non-ruling party and political associations and their system rules are the political organization and methods through which the members of society realize political rights, express the requirements of various interests, and affect the public power of society. Therefore, they are the organization and system embodiment of political rights.

Chapter 10

State

10.1 Meanings and Types of State 10.1.1 Several Non-Marxist State Definitions Some non-Marxist countries analyze the concept of “国家” (guojia, country/state), which has appeared long ago in ancient Chinese books. The Chinese character “国” (country or state) comes from the ancient Chinese character “國”, which contains “一” (land), “口” (population), and “戈” (force). It can be seen that the ancient Chinese character “国” already contains several elements of a state. Before the Qin and Han dynasties, the meanings of “国” (country/state) and “家” (family) are different. The estates of feudal princes and great officers were called “states” and “fiefs” respectively while the entire territory of the sovereign is called “land under heaven”. After Qin unified China, “国家 (guojia, country/state)” became common with the “天下 (tianxia)”. In the West, most of the ancient Greek countries were city-states, so “country” refers to the polis. In ancient Rome, republics prevailed. “Country” refers to this republive, which means the public in a city. In 1513, the Italian Machiavelli used the Latin “status” to refer to “country” in his book The Prince. In 1538, the Englishman Stucky used the English “state” of “status” in the book England. From then on, “state” has become a special concept of “state” in the political sense, meaning certain elements of the state such as land, people, government, and governance technology. In the history of politics, the state has always been an important object of research by political scholars and thinkers. Therefore, the definition of the state is diverse. In summary, the representative definitions of non-Marxist countries mainly include: 1.

Theory of social community

Aristotle of ancient Greece pointed out that the state is a union of many families and villages, and it is organized to achieve a perfect and autonomous life.1 1

Aristoteles, Politics, Commercial Press, 1965, p. 140.

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Cicero of ancient Rome believed that the state is an organization composed of many social groups based on the common sense of rights and the concept of mutual benefit.2 The 19th-century German philosopher Kant also believed that “a state is a union organized by many people in accordance with the law.”3 In the eyes of contemporary Western political scholars, the state is usually regarded as a community of specific social life. It can be seen from these statements that the basic feature of the theory of social community is to regard the state as a group of people living together for a specific purpose. This statement only refers to the superficial social characteristics of the state. At the same time, it does not distinguish the state from social groups such as clans and tribes. 2.

Theory of management union labor

In the process of studying the state, some sociological anthropologists believe that the state originated from the need to manage joint labor in the low level of human productivity. According to their views, in the early stages of human society, production tools were simple and crude and the society’s ability to resist floods and droughts was low. Therefore, to organize these major projects and activities, specific organizations and personnel needed together human, material and other resources. In the process of historical development, the need to organize and manage these labors led to the birth of the state. For example, Karl A. Wittf believes that the state originated from the needs of society for water control. Therefore, such a society is a “hydraulic society”,4 and the organization of water control has become the reason and characteristic of the formation of the state. When analyzing this problem, Max Weber also pointed out: “Irrigation is a key issue in the cultural evolution of Egypt, West Asia, and China. The problem of water control solves the problem of the existence of the bureaucratic class, the compulsory servitude of the dependent class and the dependency of the subordinate class on the functions of the imperial bureaucratic group.”5 Although the theory of management union labor points out the natural attributes of a particular state’s economic functions, it does not illustrate the social attributes of the state, let alone the nature of the state’s class interests and social foundation. Therefore, it fails to reveal the nature of the state. 3.

Theory of state contract

The theory of state contract originated from the ancient Greek thinker Epicurus. In the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, with the development of capitalist market exchange and contractual behavior, bourgeois political scholars such as Grotius,

2

Mokichev, A History of Political Theory, China Social Sciences Publishing House, 1979, p. 77. Immanuel Kant. The Metaphysical Elements of Justice: The Science of Right. The Commercial Press, 1991, p. 139. 4 Karl A. Wittfogel. Oriental Despotism. China Social Sciences Press, 1989. 5 Max Weber, General Economic History, Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 1981, p. 133. 3

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Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and others perfected this theory from the perspective of the law of nature and made it an important ideological weapon for the bourgeoisie to overthrow the ruling of the feudal state. It holds that before the birth of the state, people were in a natural state and had inherent natural rights. Because the life of people in the state of nature was inconvenient or insecure, they made social contracts with each other and surrendered part of their rights, thus forming the state. It can be seen that a state is actually a social contract formed by people in the natural state according to rational principles. The theory of social contract actually reflects the capitalist way of interest exchange and exchange relations. However, since the state of nature and the social contract are only historical fabricates, the view of the social contract of the state is historical idealism. 4.

Theory of state

The theory of state elements mostly defines the state based on the etymological meaning of the word “state”, starting from the visible characteristics of the state. The theory of state elements generally has the theory of three elements and of four elements. The so-called three-element theory means that the state has people, land, and sovereignty. For example, Liang Qichao believes: “Then what is a state? There are land and people. The affairs of the inhabited land are governed by the inhabiting people who make their own laws and uphold them. Where there is sovereignty, there is obedience. The state in which everyone is a sovereignty holder and an obeyer can be named a fully established state.”6 The so-called four-element theory is to add a government in addition to the people, territory, and sovereignty. For example, the American political scientist Ghana believes: “A state is a society composed of many people; it permanently occupies a certain territory; it is not subject to foreign ruling; there is an organized government that the people customarily obey.”7 The theory of state elements only describes the appearance of the state and does not reveal its nature. At the same time, since it defines the state from the constituent elements, it confuses the distinction between state and the “realm”. In addition, there are also definitions of the theocracy of the state and national organism theory, which attribute the birth of the state to the will of God, or mechanically compare the state with biological or other natural phenomena. Therefore, they not only fail to reveal the nature of the state, but also generate great confusion in people’s understanding of the state. Only the Marxist view of the state can truly accomplish the historical task of revealing the nature of the state scientifically and profoundly.

6 7

Liang Qichao. Collected Works of Yinbingshi Vol. 1. Shanghai: Guangzhi shuju, 1907, p. 265. J. W. Garner. Political Science and Government. Shanghai: The Commercial Press, 1934, p. 50.

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10.1.2 The Nature of the State Marxism reveals the essence of the state from the perspective of the opposition of social class interests and the emergence of the state. That is to say, in all social relations, Marxism believes that the social relations that determine the emergence of political power organizations like the state are the economic relations among social members, the labor process dominating relations and the distribution relations of production results determined by the ownership of product means in the economic relations. At the end of primitive society, with the emergence and development of the social division of labor, social productivity has been greatly developed. The development of productive forces, on the one hand, makes social material wealth exceed the minimum needs of maintaining social members’ production and life, and forms surplus products, which makes it possible for people to possess surplus products; on the other hand, the demand for labor increases, which makes it necessary to absorb new labor. Therefore, the clan, tribal chief and military leader in primitive society took advantage of their own position and practical convenience to seize the social means of production and surplus wealth, and turned prisoners of war, poor and indebted people into their own labor force, thus resulting in the private ownership of the means of production and the free possession of other people’s labor, and the society was divided into slave-owner class and helotry. The emergence of the social division of labor, private ownership and class led to great interest differentiation and interest opposition for the first time in human society. On the one hand, the interests of the slave owners and the slave class are fundamentally antagonistic and conflicting; on the other hand, the interests of different slave owners based on private ownership are also antagonistic. At the same time, the division of labor makes residents “divide into quite stable groups according to their occupations” and “each group has many new common interests.”8 In the face of such changes in the structure and relationship of social interests, the original system of public power and its organizational facilities in the clan society has lost its original basis of common social interests and is not competent for the political role of safeguarding the interests of the slave owners and coordinating the new contradictions of interests. The clan system has been out of dated. “With the development of the division of labor, there is also a contradiction between the interests of individuals or individual families and the common interests of all people who interact with each other.” “It is precise because of the contradiction between the special interests and the common interests that the common interests take the independent form which is separated from the actual individual interests and the overall interests.”9 In order to maintain and realize their own economic interests, suppress and control the resistance of the slave class, and coordinate other contradictions of interests, the slave class needs a new and different “special public power”.10 Therefore, it takes 8

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 112. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 84. 10 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 94. 9

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advantage of its dominant economic position, creates new official positions to serve such interests, “creates new organs to protect its own interests,”11 and establishes violent groups to suppress resistance, so the state came into being. Therefore, Engels pointed out: “the state is the product of the society at a certain stage of development; the state is the recognition that the society has fallen into insoluble self-contradiction, split into irreconcilable opposites, and is unable to get rid of these opposites. In order to prevent these classes, whose economic interest conflict with each other, from annihilating themselves and society in meaningless struggle, we need to have a kind of power that is superficially superior to society. This power should ease the conflict and keep the conflict within the scope of “order”. This kind of power, which is generated from society but self-contained in society, is increasingly different from society. The power is the nation.”12 According to the historical investigation of the origin of the state, the classic Marxist writers pointed out the nature of the state. Engels pointed out: “The state is nothing but a machine for one class to suppress another.”13 Lenin also pointed out: “The state is a machine to maintain the rule of one class over another.”14 It can be seen that the state is a “special public power” organization in the class society, which is different from the public power in the primitive society. According to the above definition and related discussion of the classic Marxist writers, this kind of particularity is mainly reflected in the following aspects: (1)

11

The state is a public social power organization that implements class rule, and its essence lies in the class rule. After the class of human society came into being, “with society itself entering a new stage, that is, the stage of class struggle, its nature of organized social forces has to change (and experience a significant change), and its nature as a tool of class autocracy.15 Therefore, unlike the public power of the clan society, the state is not the power of all the residents, but the tool of political domination by those who possess the means of production over others, whose basis is the interests of the ruling class. In this sense, the state is “a force increasingly divorced from society.” In the process of political rule, the state must perform specific political management functions. “Political rule is everywhere based on the performance of certain social functions, and political rule can only be sustained when it performs such social functions.”16 However, political management is only a means to achieve class rule, not its essence. The duality of state class rule and political management is the reflection of the contradiction between the selfrealization of the interests of the ruling class and the way of social realization in the nature of the state.

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 112. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 170. 13 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 13. 14 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 37. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 66. 15 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 118. 16 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 523. 12

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(3)

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In essence, the state is class ruling, but in form, it is often shown as an independent force above the society. This is because “the existence of the state proves that the class contradictions are irreconcilable.”17 It is precisely for the sake of controlling the contradictions and maintaining the ruling order that the ruling class founded the state, which requires the appearance of “state power as a superficial mediator” and the existence and function of the power superficially superior to the society. Nevertheless, the public social form of state existence cannot replace its class nature. A country divides its people by region. The basic link of the formation and maintenance of the clan society is the blood relationship among the members of the society. After the emergence of class relations, it replaced the basic role of natural blood ties, and prompted social members to move in order to seek the interests of their own class. Members of different clans and tribes live together. In order to facilitate the political rule of social members and enable them to realize their public rights and obligations in the place where they live, “Dividing by region is regarded as the starting point.” “No matter which clan or tribe they belong to, the method of organizing nationals according to their place of residence is common to all countries.”18 The State is a unique machine of violence. Lenin pointed out: “The particular institutions that systematically use violence and force people to obey brutality is called the State.”19

As a kind of violence machine, the State is different from the armed organizations of the clan society in the following aspects: First, the State has not only armed people but also material appendages such as prisons and various compulsory organs, that is, permanent organs of violence, while the armed organizations of the clan society are only residents who organize themselves as armed forces. Second, state violence is exclusive to the ruling class, and it is the primary basis to safeguard the interests of the ruling class, consolidate social order, and deal with foreign enemies. The armed organization of the clan society is composed of all the residents, which mainly uses to deal with foreign enemies. In contrast, the inner clan society mainly uses moral force to maintain order. Thirdly, the State is systematic violence and a delicate machine of violence. At the same time, the armed organizations of clan society do not have the routine and delicate nature of state violence. Among the above three differences, the essence of national class rule is the most fundamental. The difference between the public power of the State and the clan society in the division of residents and violent organizations is only the natural extension and specific performance of the essence of national class rule. According to the exposition on Marxist classic writers on the nature of the State, it can consider that the State is a political ruling and management organization backed by violence, which is organized according to the principle of regional division by 17

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 6. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 171. 19 The Collected Works of Lenin, Vol. 37, People’s Publishing House, 1986 edition, p. 62–63. 18

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the economically dominant class to safeguard and realize the common interests of the ruling class. As Marx said: “The State is belonging to the ruling class and each individual realizing his common interests are forms in which the whole civil society of that era obtains full expression. Therefore, we can conclude: All common rules and regulations mediated the state and have political forms.“20

10.1.3 The Types of History of the State Different political scientists have used different standards to classify countries according to other characteristics of countries. For example, according to the degree of their government’s mastery of national sovereignty, they can be divided into sovereign countries, partial sovereign countries, and colonial countries; according to the number of people holding state power, they can divide into monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy; according to the geographical environment, they can be divided into maritime State and continental State, and so on. Owning to the nature of the State is the organization of a specific class to safeguard its interests and carry out political rule and management; these classifications do not reveal the class nature of the State, so they are non-essential classifications of the state. Marxism divides state types by the economic basis of the State and the class interests that occupy the dominant position. According to this standard, we can divide countries in human history into four basic types: slave countries, feudal countries, capitalist countries, and socialist countries. 1.

Slave-owners’ State

Slave-owners’ states first appeared in Egypt in the early 40th century B.C. Later, Babylon, India, and China in Asia also established slavery states. The Greek citystates based from ancient Greece and later Roman Republics in Western Europe in the eighth century B.C were all slavery states. A slave-owners’ State is a political organization in which the slave owners use their political power to exercise their political rule and management, maintain their privileged political status and fundamental interests, and oppress and exploit the slaves. In the slave-owners’ states, the slave owners hold the political power and enjoy the political rights, while the slave class is the ruling one and has no political status and privileges. Slave-owners’ States generally established based on the patriarchal clan system and the principle of enfeoffment. The king is the most prominent slave owner. He enfeoffs the feudal princes and governs the places. The State combined the spheres of these vassals. In the slave-owners states, the state organizations have initially formed. The positions and functions of various organizations have divided, and the state organization system has initially formed. 20

Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3, People’s Publishing House, 1960 edition, p. 70–71.

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Feudal State

In 475 B.C., China entered the Warring States period and began a feudal society, which led to the formation of a feudal state. In 476, the fall of the West Roman Empire marked that West Europe entered the feudal society and gradually formed a feudal state. The feudal state is the ruling machine for the feudal landlord class to protect their interests and oppress the peasantry. Therefore, it is essentially the dictatorship of the feudal landlord class over the peasantry. The feudal State established based on the feudal landlord ownership and the principle of the feudal landlord class’ economic and personal enslavement to the peasants, which made the feudal State have the following characteristics in its organizational system: First, the supreme power of the feudal State owned the monarch. Therefore, the organizational structure of the feudal State generally presents a pyramid shape. The monarch is at the top of the pyramid and is the leader of the highest political power and highest decision-maker of the feudal State. The monarch’s will is the will of the State, the order of the monarch is the law of the state, and the likes and dislikes of the monarch are the right and wrong standards of the State. Second, to maintain the rule of the feudal landlord class and realize the political control of the whole society, feudal states often set up extremely large bureaucrats and raised a massive team of bureaucrats. At the same time, the essential orientation of political power in feudal society was the orientation of official standards in the state organization system, which prompted people to compete and seek more official positions. Therefore, the feudal States’ organs overstaffed, and the overflow of redundant officials became more and more serious. For example, there were 24,000 officials in China at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, but by the time of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty, the number was increased to 120,000. Third, the feudal State organized the whole society into political life, so that the State became the society. The feudal countries adopted comprehensive political control over the club through military, military service, registered residence, Baojia system, and taxation system, so that political organizations and social life were unified, thus forming a feudal autocratic control over the whole society, as Engels said; “In the middle of the century, property, commerce, social organizations, and people are all political.”21 3.

Capitalistic State

Capitalistic states were established by the bourgeoisie representing the capitalist mode of production in the political struggle with the feudal landlord class according to their interests. In today world, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada, and so on are all representatives of capitalistic countries. Capitalistic states built based on capitalist relations of production and economic relations. The private ownership of capitalistic product means and wage labor are the essential characteristics of capitalistic economic ties. It is on this basis that the 21

Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3, People’s Publishing House, 2002 edition, p. 42.

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common interests of the bourgeoisie emerge and form the root of the relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat and the working people. This is a conflict of interests. Capitalistic states are political power organizations that control, cheat, and even suppress the proletariat and the active people based on the common interests of the bourgeoisie. Capitalistic states are the organization and institutionalization of bourgeois political power. Since the political power of capitalistic states is in the hands of the bourgeoisie, the organizational principles, system establishment, and practical activities of capitalistic states are controlled, mastered, and manipulated by the bourgeoisie. In different periods, the bourgeoisie will, according to different situations and their interests, adopt different organizational structures, institutional settings, and modes of activities, either suppress the proletariat and the masses of working people or cheat the proletariat and the broad masses of working people. Capitalistic states aim at safeguarding and serving the common interests of the whole bourgeoisie. Owning to different interest classes and groups within the bourgeoisie, capitalist countries concentrate on representing and protecting the interests of certain types or groups in a certain period or on specific issues. On the whole, however, capitalist countries are committees for managing the everyday affairs of the bourgeoisie and tools for safeguarding and serving the fundamental interests of the bourgeoisie. Capitalistic states are the most developed and complete organizations among the exploiting class countries. They have a rigorous organizational system, a clear division of power and functions and scope of authority, full institutional setup and supervision mechanism, complete political procedures, and corresponding laws and regulations. The whole political system operates under the influence of money politics, which maximally guarantees private capital and suppresses resistance of people. Capitalist society has a history of several hundred years since it established. During this period, capitalism has gone through the stages of unrestrained capitalism and monopoly capitalism. Accordingly, capitalistic states have the forms of unrestrained capitalism and monopoly capitalism. (1)

Non-monopoly capitalistic states

Non-monopoly capitalistic states are bourgeois countries in the rising period of capitalism, which connected with the free development stage of a capitalist economy. The economic characteristic of non-monopoly capitalist countries is that the bourgeoisie realizes the interests of capitalists and capitalist groups using an open market, free competition, and free trade based on the fundamental interests of capitalist, private ownership, and exploitation of wage labor. The class character of the non-monopoly capitalist countries is that the free bourgeoisie is the main body of the bourgeoisie. It occupies the central position in the national political life and formulates various laws, regulations, and policies according to its interest requirements and the way of interest realization. The political feature of non-monopoly capitalist countries is that the government carries out political rule and management in a liberal way. The so-called liberal way

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“means to take measures such as expanding political rights, carrying out improvement, giving in and so on.”22 In terms of a national system and political power structure, it is embodied in the democratic system with a representative system as the main symbol, especially the power of Parliament far exceeds the executive and judicial power. In terms of state functions, it embodied in “negative state” and “minimum state,” and laissez-faire policy. Basically, the government does not directly intervene in social and economic life. (2)

Monopoly capitalist countries

Monopoly capitalist countries are bourgeois countries when capitalism develops to monopoly stage. With the development of capitalism, the contradiction between capital private ownership and socialization of production in capitalist production is becoming increasingly fierce. On the one hand, the degree of socialization of modern largescale production greatly improved; on the other hand, social means of production and wealth are more concentrated in the hands of a few monopoly bourgeoisie through mergers, forming the special interests of monopoly bourgeoisie. The formation of the interests of monopoly capital makes the conflicts between the interests of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, the conflicts between the interests of monopoly capital and small and medium-sized capital within the bourgeoisie, capitalist countries and colonial countries, and capitalist countries gradually deepen and even intensify. To protect the interests and rule of monopoly capital, capitalist countries gradually changed from free capitalist countries to monopoly capitalist countries. The essential characteristics of monopoly capitalist countries are as follows. First, monopoly consortia directly combined with state power to control and manipulate national political force. This combination has two aspects: first, monopoly capitalists directly enter the government cabinet and Parliament; second, monopoly capital manipulates social and political processes and government decision-making. Second, in social and economic life, the interests of monopoly consortia far exceed the individual interests of capitalists. Therefore, the main content of politics in capitalist countries has shifted from the protection of personal freedom, and rights to the protection of interest groups, especially the interests of monopoly consortia. The freedom and rights of citizens have been weakened and reduced accordingly. Third, the power of Parliament, which symbolizes capitalist democracy, has gradually weakened, while the administrative authority, which facilitates monopoly capital groups to exercise political rule and management, has slowly strengthened. Fourth, the government actively intervenes in social and economic life, and the negative State turns into the positive State, to maintain the ruling through the decisive intervention and adjustment of political power to social contradictions. Since the 1870s, the major capitalist countries have developed into monopoly capitalist countries. In the development process, the monopoly capitalist countries adopted the specific forms of fascist states and welfare states.

22

The Collected Works of Lenin, Vol. 20, People’s Publishing House, 1989 edition, p. 68.

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A fascist country is a special kind of monopoly capitalist country. In capitalist countries where the political and economic crisis is severe, the democratic tradition of the bourgeois Parliament is weak, and the revolutionary and progressive forces are relatively small, the monopoly bourgeois political and military oligarchs will openly abandon the capitalist democracy and safeguard their own rule and interests by the terrible totalitarian regime. Fascist countries generally controlled the social, political, economic, and cultural life in a military or paramilitary way, suppressed the proletariat and the working people in the cruelest and brutal manner, controlled the social thought with the fascist belief or the theory of racial superiority, and transferred the domestic contradictions with the crazy foreign war. The typical representatives of fascist countries are Germany, Japan, and Italy from the late 1930s to the late second world war. The feature of welfare states is that capitalist countries intervene in social and economic life to ease class contradictions and ensure the regular operation of social and economic life by establishing and subsidizing public social utilities, implementing and improving a whole set of the social welfare systems. Roosevelt’s new deal in the 1930s is a signifiant attempt to implement welfare policy. After the Second World War, many capitalist countries in Europe made welfare policy a welfare system and developed it into a welfare state. However, the welfare state is a way to adjust social class contradictions through redistribution of social wealth by state power on the premise of ensuring a monopoly capital to control production means. It does not change the nature of monopoly capitalist State. After the 1970s, with the changes of social and economic structure and the intensification of global market competition, new changes have taken place in the welfare state and social security system that the western countries boast of themselves: on the one hand, the so-called “welfare state retrenchment” has become a global trend; on the other hand, the Western governments try their best to shift the responsibility of social security, social welfare and public service to the market, society, community and even family. This kind of responsibility has transferred in different degrees and types among the State, market, society, community, and family. As a result, the so-called “welfare state” pushed to the “welfare society,” and the social welfare undertaken by the state is reduced. This shows that monopoly capital has the characteristics of exclusive state power. Since 2008, serious financial crisises and government debt crisises have occurred in western capitalist countries, which shows the profound relationship between the capitalist democratic political system and social welfare. And it is the so-called “domestic deficit.” As a result, the capitalist democratic system, welfare system, economic, and social development and effective governance are in an unprecedented dilemma. 4.

Socialist countries

Based on the contradictory movement of private ownership of production means and socialization of production in a capitalist society, the socialist countries established by the proletariat, which represents the new productive forces, breaking up the capitalist state machinery by the interests of the proletariat and working people. A socialist country established based on socialist political relations. In essence, it upholds the interests and wills of the proletariat and the masses of the people, who

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account for the vast majority of the population, and exercises dictatorship over a small number of exploiters. Socialist countries take the common interests of the proletariat and the masses of working people formed based on socialist economic relations as their economic and welfare characteristics. The dominant position of public ownership and the common interests it had developed are the fundamental signs that distinguish socialist countries from all exploiting class countries. Therefore, a socialist country truly represents the fundamental interests of the people and serves the people. On the other hand, in socialist countries, the government, as the representative of the interests of the proletariat, and the masses of the people, “also has certain contradictions with the masses of the people. This kind of contradiction includes the contradiction between national interests, collective interests, and individual interests, democracy and centralization, the leader and the leaded parts, the bureaucratic style of some state functionaries and the masses. “However, these contradictions” are based on the fundamental unity of the interests of people.”23 A socialist country is a new type of democracy and dictatorship. It is “a new type of democratic state (democratic for the proletariat and the poor in general) and a new type of dictatorship (dictatorship for the bourgeoisie).”24 That is to say; in the past, the exploiting course countries were the dominant ones. The dictatorship of the exploiting class over the exploited class and the working people was democracy over the dominant exploiting class. In contrast, in the socialist countries, the dictatorship of the proletariat and the active people over the former exploiting class was democracy over the people. The combination of democracy for the people and dictatorship for the enemy has formed the democratic tranny of people, which has become a new type of democracy and dictatorship in human history. Socialist countries are led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants, which is the class characteristic of socialist countries. The two classes of workers and peasants are the main body of socialist society. Intellectuals are a part of the working class. The socialist govrnment is the embodiment and guarantee of their political power and rights. Socialist countries take the leadership of the proletarian party as their political characteristics, and confirm the leadership from the system and politics. The common party carries out its leadership over the socialist country through its own ideological and political line and the political role of the party members. Socialist countries take the guidance of Marxism as their ideological characteristics. Marxism is a theoretical summary of the interests and will of the proletariat, and a scientific exposition of the law of the development of human society. Therefore, it guides the proletariat to establish its own country and develop the socialist cause. With the continuous development of political, economic, and social practices in socialist countries, Marxism has also developed. Under its guidance, socialist countries will continue to move forward along the right path.

23 24

Selected Works of Mao Tsetung, Vol. 5, People’s Publishing House, 1977 edition, p. 365. The Collected Works of Lenin, Vol. 3, People’s Publishing House, 1995 edition, p. 140.

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10.2 The Form of the State 10.2.1 Organizational Form of State Power The structural form of state political power is state government, which refers to “what formed a certain social class should take to organize the organs of state power that oppose the enemy and protect itself.”25 The structural form of state political power is inseparable from the state system. The so-called state system refers to “the status of all social classes in the state,”26 that is, which class is in the dominant position and which class is being dominated. Because the status of the ruling class in the State directly determines the class attribute of the state, and the state system embodies the class essence and class interests of the State. It can see that the form of state power organization and the state system are the relationship between form and content. Generally speaking, the state system is the primary determinant of the form of state power organization. At the same time, the state system must reflect and realize through a certain structure of state power organization. “Without a proper form of political power organ, one cannot represent the state.”27 In addition to the class nature of the State, the specific historical conditions, economic lifestyle, cultural tradition, national composition, and the comparison of political forces also affect the choice of particular regime in a country and historical development stage. Because of the complexity of the factors affecting the political system of a particular government, “There is no identical political system in the world, nor is there a political system model applicable to all countries. “To be of unequal quality is the nature of things.” Different countries have different national conditions. Each political system of a country is unique and determined by its people. It is the result of long-term development, gradual improvement, and endogenous evolution based on its historical heritage, cultural tradition, and economic and social development.”28 From the actual situation, countries with the exact nature may have different forms of political power organization. For example, the United Kingdom and the United States are both bourgeois countries, but the United Kingdom adopts constitutional monarchy, and the United States adopts a republican system. Countries with different natures may also have the same forms of political power organization. For example, in Greek slavery, Athens adopted the republic system, and modern capitalist countries also had the republic system. The specific forms of government are various, which do not directly and reflect the class nature of the state as the national system.

25

Selected Works of Mao Tsetung, Vol. 2, People’s Publishing House, 1991 edition, p. 677. Selected Works of Mao Tsetung, Vol. 2, People’s Publishing House, 1991 edition, p. 676. 27 Selected Works of Mao Tsetung, Vol. 2, People’s Publishing House, 1991 edition, p. 677. 28 Xi Jinping’s speech at the conference celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the National People’s Congress, Central Party Literature Publisher, version 1 in June 2016, p. 60. 26

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Because of the diversity of the structural forms of state power, there are various criteria for political scientists to classify the types of government. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus first divided the government into monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy according to the number of rulers. Aristotle followed these criteria and revised them into monarchy, aristocracy, and republic. Later political experts put forward different measures according to the way of the supreme power holder, the term of office, and the degree of combination between the State and the government, and then divided the political system into different types. According to the application of Marxist classical writers to the concept of different types of government, we can see that there are two main criteria for the classification of the types of Government: one is the number of people in order of the highest state power, and the other is generation and tenure of the people in charge of the highest state power. According to these two standards, the national government of all ages can divide into monarchy and republic. Monarchy is generally the monarch in charge of the highest state power. The monarch is usually inherited by the eldest son and the implementation of lifelong tenure. In a republic, several people are in charge of the highest state power, and those are elected and have a specific term. There are monarchy and republics in exploiting class states. According to the actual authority of the monarchy, the political form can divide into an autocratic monarchy and constitutional monarchy. An autocratic monarchy is a common form of government in slave owners’ countries and feudal countries. Its main feature is that the monarch has absolute supreme power. The will of the monarch is the will of the State. The monarch is not subject to the restriction and supervision of anyone or institution. All the emperors in China are autocrats. There are two varieties of autocratic monarchy. One is a hierarchical monarchy. To coordinate social interests, the monarch establishes a hierarchical conference composed of monks, nobles, business people, and citizens as an advisory organ team, which generally enjoys the right of tax approval. This regime existed in Western European countries after the middle ages. The second is the aristocratic monarchy, in which the highest state power is nominally in the hands of the monarch, but in fact, the monarch is manipulated by others. Constitutional monarchy is one of the forms of government in bourgeois countries. It usually exists in countries where the bourgeoisie is not very powerful in political revolution, and the revolution ends in the political compromise between bourgeoisie and feudal landlord class. Constitutional monarchy itself is the product of the center. The actual situation of capitalist countries is not the same, so the status and actual authority of the monarch is not the same. According to this difference, the constitutional monarchy can further divide into a dual monarchy and parliamentary monarchy. In the form of a dual monarchy, there are two power centers: the monarch and the Parliament. The monarch’s power is limited by the parliament and the Constitution. However, the monarch has the ability to appoint the government, dissolve the parliament, and enact the body. Dual monarchy generally exists in countries with feudal solid forces and relatively weak bourgeois political forces, such as the German empire before the first World War, Nepal, Morocco, Jordan nowadays, and so on.

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The Parliament of a parliamentary monarchy is the center of the highest power of the State. The government is produced by the Parliament. The monarch is limited by the constitution and the parliament, and generally only has the symbolic meaning of the State. The members of the parliamentary monarchy are elected and have a specific tenure, while the monarch is hereditary and holds office for life. Therefore, the parliamentary monarchy is only a partially incomplete monarchy. This kind of regime is usually adopted by those countries whose bourgeois revolution is not thorough enough, and it is still retained in Britain, Japan, Spain, and other countries. The republicanism of exploiting class countries can divide into the Aristocratic Republic and the Democratic Republic. The highest state power in the aristocratic is controlled by the consul of the slave-owner aristocracy, who is elected by people and has a limited tenure. The noblemen formed the Senate, which held the actual power of national legislation, administration, diplomacy, military, and so on. The consul can call the Congress of People, but the Congress of People has no legislative power, only the right to vote on public affairs. In addition, in the aristocratic republics, there were elected officials to protect the people. Aristocratic Republic is a kind of historical government, which existed in the ancient Greek Republic of Athens and the ancient Roman Republic before B.C. Because they are essentially the political rule of the slave-owner class, their Republic is limited to the slave-owner aristocracy and the free people, not including the slaves. The Democratic Republic is a form of government widely adopted by bourgeois countries. The scope of its republic includes all citizens. The highest state power is held and exercised by many people. Those who are in charge of these powers are elected and implement the system of limited tenure. According to the status and authority of different functional organs and positions, democratic republics can be divided into parliamentary and presidential republics. In the parliamentary Republic, the Parliament holds the supreme power of the country. The cabinet elected the Parliament and is responsible to the Parliament. The president is only a “figurative head of state” and does not hold absolute power. His status, role, and authority are similar to those of the monarch in the parliamentary monarchy. The difference is that the former is elected, while the latter is inherited; the former bears political and legal responsibility for political activities, while the latter has no responsibility. Nowadays, Italy, Austria, India, and other countries all practice parliamentary republics. In the presidential Republic, the supreme state power is held and exercised by the president and the Parliament according to their different functions. The president and members of Parliament are elected respectively and have a specific tenure. The cabinet organizes the president and is responsible to the president. The president is not only the head of State but also the head of government. There is a power restriction relationship between him and the Parliament. The typical example of a presidential Republic is the United States. Besides, there is a committee system in the Democratic Republic, the typical country of which is Switzerland. There are the Federal Parliament and the Federal Council in the committee system of government. The latter is composed of several

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members elected by the former, who collectively exercise executive power. The Committee has no right to deny the Parliament’s resolution or dissolve the Parliament, and the Parliament has no right to make the members of the Committee resign. Members of the Federal Parliament and the Council are subject to a tenure system. Proletarian countries generally adopt a real democratic republic to ensure that the political status of the people as masters of the country can be realized in the organizational form of political power. However, due to different historical conditions and situations in other countries, the proletarian government has various forms in different periods and countries. From the development history of common government, the typical formats are Paris Commune, Soviet and Congress of People. Paris Commune is the first attempt of the proletariat to establish its own country, so its form of government is the rudiment of the proletarian State. The characteristics of the Paris Commune regime are: first, direct election system. All administrators of the State elected universal suffrage, accountable to the voters, supervised by the voters, and can be replaced at any time. Second, the rotation system of state management personnel. The method of general election system and recall of state public officials enables all the people to take turns to hold public office. Third, the commune committee is the highest organ, exercising legislative and executive powers unified. Fourth, the standing army and the old-style judges and police should be abolished. The standing army should be replaced by all the armed people. The judges and police should also be elected by citizens and can returned at any time. The Paris Commune is a new type of “certain form”29 of the proletarian socialist Republic. It laid a moral foundation for the establishment of the common regime. The Soviet government is a form of Soviet state government developed by Lenin according to the principles of the Paris Commune and the organizational structure of the Russian proletariat in the socialist revolution. In the 1905 Revolution of Russia, the workers in the Urals founded the Workers’ Representative Soviet, that is, the Workers’ Representative Conference (“Soviet” is the transliteration of Russian “covet”, meaning “conference”) as the leading organ of workers’ fighting, which was widely adopted by workers in various places. In the 1917 revolution, the Russian working class held the All Russian Soviet Congress. After the victory of the October Revolution, the Soviets became the political organization of the Russian proletariat. The essentials characteristics of Soviet government are as follows: first, the Soviet Congress is the highest organ of state power, its members are elected or replaced by the people, with a specific tenure, and the Soviet Supreme Presidium is its permanent body. Second, the Soviet Union was composed of the federal house and the national house, which had equal power status. Third, the Soviets could formulate, amend or repeal laws, regulations, resolutions and approve national economic plans. Fourth, the Council of Ministers, the Supreme Court, and the procuratorial organs of the Soviet Union were all created by and accountable to the Supreme Soviet. Fifth, the local Soviets at all levels are the highest organs of local power, and other organs of power are created by them and are responsible to them.

29

The Collected Works of Lenin, Vol. 31, People’s Publishing House, 1985 edition, p. 177–178.

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The form of government of the People’s Congress was created and developed by the Chinese people in the long-term political practice under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. It germinated in the first period of the Civil Revolution. It developed continuously in the second period of the Civil Revolutionary War, the war of resistance against Japan, and liberation. Since the first Constitution of the People’s Republic of China in 1954 confirmed that the people’s Congress system is China’s entire system. China’s constitution has always confirmed that the People’s Congress system is China’s entire political system. The main characteristics of the People’s Congress system are as follows: First, all state power belongs to the people, and the organs through which the people exercise state power are the National People’s Congress and local people’s congresses at all levels. Second, deputies to the National People’s Congress and local people’s congresses at all levels are democratically elected, accountable to the people, and subject to their supervision. Third, the administrative, judicial and procuratorial organs of the State are all formed by the People’s Congress, which is responsible for and supervised by it.

10.2.2 Forms of State Structure The form of state structure is the Constitution of the relationship between the central and local power organs, the whole and the part of a country. It embodies the relationship between the central and regional power in the form and principle of state organizational structure. According to the different forms of central and local power, the state structure can be mainly divided into unitary States and composite States. 1.

Unitary State

A unitary state is a unified sovereign state composed of several administrative regions or autonomous regions. The essential characteristics of a unitary state are as follows: (1) (2) (3) (4)

(5) (6)

The country has a unified constitution and other basic laws The State has a unified legislative, administrative and judicial system The State has a unified organ of the central government, and the highest state power belongs to the central part; The administrative units and autonomous units of the whole country are divided according to regions, and the local power of each region must be governed by the central power; Citizens have a unified nationality; The central authorities exercise the diplomatic power uniformly. The local administrative and autonomous units do not have independence, so they do not have independent diplomatic power.

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Thus, in a unitary country, the central authority holds the main and unified political power and governs the local force. The relationship between regional control and major power is obeying and being obeyed. The people’s Republic of China is a unitary country. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China stipulates: “The People’s Republic of China is a unified multi-ethnic country jointly created by the people of all ethnic groups.” In terms of the relationship between the central and local governments, the Constitution establishes two principles: one is to ensure the unified leadership of the central government, insisting that the local governments obey the central government and the lower ones obey the higher ones; the other is to give full play to the enthusiasm and creativity of the local governments under the unified leadership of the central government. According to the characteristics of China as a multi-ethnic country, the people’s Republic of China implements the system of regional ethnic autonomy. Autonomous ethnic regions generally enjoy more power than other administrative regions. In addition to China, Japan, France, and so on also implement the unitary system. 2.

Composite State

A multiple State is a union composed of several independent states or political entities (such as the republic, State, league, nation) through a specific agreement. According to the degree of union, there are comprise federal states and confederal states in composite forms. Comprise federal states, also known as alliance state, is generally composed of more than two political entities (state, republic, and nation). The characteristics of comprise federal states are as follows: (1)

(2)

(3) (4)

The State has the highest legislative, executive and judicial organs and exercises the highest political power of the State. The constituent units of the Federation also have their own independent legislative, executive, and judicial organs. These organs have no subordinate relationship with the central organs, and they exercise political power in their respective administrative areas; The State has a unified Constitution and fundamental laws; however, within the scope of the suitable body and fundamental rules, each federal unit has its constitution, and laws; Each citizen is both a citizen of Federation and a citizen of a federal unit. In terms of foreign relations, the Federation is a sovereign state in international politics, and the central government has diplomatic power. However, the constituent units of the Federation also have a certain degree of independence in foreign exchanges. They can sign contracts with foreign governments on some minor matters within the scope of the Federal Constitution. Some constituent units of federal countries can also join international organizations with independent qualifications.

In today world, there are mainly the United States, Germany, and so on exercising federalism.

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A confederal state is a kind of National Alliance, an alliance formed by several independent sovereign states for specific purposes. The main characteristics of a confederal state are as follows: (1)

(2) (3)

(4)

Each member state is an independent sovereign state, and they are equal to each other. There is no relationship of subordination and restriction between them, and they only take concerted action to some extent; The Confederacy itself is not a sovereign state. Generally, the Confederacy does not have a unified supreme authority, unified army, tax payment, or citizenship; The Confederation has a consultative organ of the member states of the Confederation. Its members are mainly held by the heads of government of the member states. Its primary function is to consult the everyday affairs among the member states; The everyday activities among the member states of the confederal State are based on the treaties signed by all parties.

It can be seen that the confederal State is not a state in the complete sense but a loose international organization. Nowadays, the European Community and the association of Southeast Asian nations are the specific organizations of the Confederation. In addition, there were monarchical and political states in the history of a hybrid system. A royal nation refers to the union of two countries, which agree to be ruled by one monarch by some kind of treaty. Still, both countries have their constitutions and power organs and have sovereign status in international relations. An entire nation is a national union formed by more than two republics through some kind of treaty. A country has a unified head of State, constitution, and organs of power. As a unified sovereign state in international relations, each member state has its body and organs of energy and has certain political independence. Personal nation and entire nation are both multiple unique systems. In practice, the state structure is influenced by many factors such as geographical features, ethnic composition, historical tradition, cultural ties, national character, and so on. At the same time, it is influenced by the different historical development processes, political conditions, and traditional cultures.

10.3 State Institutions 10.3.1 Meanings and Principles of the Establishment of National Institutions The meaning and setting principles of national institutions are the sum of various organs established by the ruling class by certain principles to realize and safeguard their own will and interests and complete the functions of political power. They are the organizational entities and rules of political power. At the same time, it is also composed of specific political personnel and staff, as Mao Zedong said when talking

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about national institutions: “The State is the tool of class struggle. Class is not equal to the State. The State is made up of a part (minority) of the dominant class.”30 Generally speaking, national institutions have the following characteristics: (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Class nature. As an organizational way and tool for the ruling class to form and exercise political power, national institutions are created and operated according to the interests and ruling will of the ruling class. On the other hand, the personnel of national institutions is often composed of political elites in the ruling class to realize their interests effectively. Substantiality. National institutions generally exist as organizational entities. They have not only specific material forms, but also have specific positions and personnel compositions. Therefore, national institutions are recognizable in appearance. Strict organization. As an organizational entity, the establishment and operation of national institutions follow specific corporate principles and procedures, and the division of labor and cohesion among various institutions have different degrees of rigor. The strict organization of state institutions is the concentrated embodiment of the State as a ruling machine. Specific functions. Generally speaking, national institutions perform all the functions of political governance and management. From the perspective of different state institutions and departments, they serve other political positions. Therefore, the national institution itself is a complex of roles and institutions.

Setting up state organs refers to the direction of the relationship between state organs with different functions determined by the ruling class when organizing state organs. It embodies the relationship between political powers with other tasks in the principle of setting up state organs. The principles of setting up state institutions are usually related to three factors: (1)

(2)

(3)

National factors. Specifically, it is the interest realization of the ruling class and the requirement of the ruling will. Because this kind of interest realization way and the will request are linked with the specific economic relations and the mode of production. Therefore, the setting principle of the state organ is inseparable from the specific economic ties and the mode of production. Political factors. In general, the setting of state institutions is consistent with the organizational form of state power. Therefore, the setting principle of state institutions is also determined by the state regime. Social factors. Two leading social factors affect the principle of setting up state institutions. One is the cultural traditions and national customs of different societies. The other is the additional requirements for setting up national institutions due to the differentiation of social interests and the changes in the content and scope of political functions to varying stages of social development.

From the perspective of the history of social and political development, there are three main principles for the establishment of national institutions, namely, the principle of 30

Selected Works of Mao Tsetung, Vol. 5, People’s Publishing House, 1977 edition, p. 357.

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centralization, the principle of separation of powers and balances, and the principle of democratic centralism. The principle of centralization of power is common in the establishment of institutions in slave-owner and feudal countries. The essential content of the principle of centralization of power is that the supreme legislative, administrative, judicial, supervisory, military, diplomatic power of the State is concentrated in the king or emperor, and all state affairs and decisions are transferred by his will. The State establishes institutions according to the will of the king or the emperor, all of which are responsible to the king or the emperor, and their principal officials are appointed or replaced by them. It can be seen that the principle of centralization of power is linked with autocratic politics. The principle of separation of powers and balances is the principle of setting up institutions in capitalist countries. The focus of separation of powers and balances has two essential contents. First, political power is divided into different types according to other functions. Locke, the first bourgeois political scientist who put forward the theory of decentralization, divided power into legislative power, executive power, and alliance power. Montesquieu, the later French Enlightenment thinker, divided power into legislative power, executive power, and judicial power. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of China’s democratic revolution, further divided political power into legislative, administrative, judicial, supervisory, and examination powers. Second, the control of different functions forms a mutual restriction relationship. Aristotle in ancient Greece put forward the idea of power restriction. Later, Montesquieu further put forward the capitalist democratic principle of power restriction. In the constitution of the United States after the war of independence, the focus of balance of three powers was first formally adopted. The implementation of the separation of powers and balances in the establishment of state organs is often reflected in the establishment of different organs of power according to foreign functional abilities, such as legislative organs, administrative organs, judicial organs, etc. At the same time, these organs have the power of mutual supervision and mutual veto, thus forming joint restrictions. The principle of separation of powers and balances, as the organizing principle of the bourgeoisie in the construction of political power, is the product of the gradual formation and development of the capitalist political system and the organizational focus of national institutions. It has both specific historical significance and inherent class limitations. This principle should be analyzed dialectically under the guidance of historical materialism. Compared with the autocratic rule of the feudal landlord class, the principle of separation of powers and balances has a particular historical significance. In the late feudal society, the capitalist commodity economy developed in Western Europe, and the new bourgeoisie grew stronger and stronger and produced political demands. With the deepening of the contradiction between the bourgeoisie and the feudal lords and the aristocracy, the political struggle gradually became fierce. The bourgeoisie tried to obtain power from the feudal kings and aristocrats using separation of powers, and the idea of separation of powers became the ideological weapon for them to express their political demands. In the practice of bourgeois revolution, the bourgeoisie broke the

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feudal autocracy and privilege, weakened the power and status of the king and nobles, made political transactions with the feudal lords, reached a political compromise, obtained political position and energy, and formed a pattern of separation of power. As the principle of setting up state institutions, the separation of power also replaced the autocratic the feudal monarch. Separation of powers and balances is a means for the bourgeoisie to achieve class separation of powers, weaken and break the feudal autocratic rule. It has played a historically progressive role in the victory of the bourgeois political revolution and the destruction of the tyrannical rule of the feudal lords. After the bourgeoisie seized and consolidated the political power, the principle of separation of powers and balances has played a specific role in balancing the interests of the factions and groups within the bourgeoisie, safeguarding the overall interests of the bourgeoisie, preventing the bourgeoisie oligarchs from exercising political dictatorship, and even restraining the political corruption of the specific bourgeoisie groups and the staff from their state organs. However, in terms of its class attribute, the separation of powers and balances is based on the private ownership of capitalist means of production. In contemporary capitalist countries, the principle of separation of powers and balances is essentially the principle that different interest groups of the bourgeoisie restrict each other and jointly safeguard their overall interests, which inevitably has its class limitations. As far as its fundamental principle is concerned, this principle decomposes the unified national sovereignty, and negates the federal political focus of the supremacy of people’s power. As Marx pointed out: they regard “decentralization as a sacred and inviolable principle. In fact, this kind of decentralization is just a division of labor in daily affairs to simplify and supervise national institutions”.31 The purpose of this division of labor is to consolidate the rule of the bourgeoisie, and the ruling power will never be assigned to the working class and the working people. On the other hand, different interest groups within the bourgeoisie formed based on capitalist private ownership can realize their interests by influencing the power of different functions, restrain the interests of others, and regulate the government’s behavior, to coordinate the interest contradictions within the class, balance the power of various groups, and maintain the stability of the bourgeoisie rule. However, in essence, the principle of separation of powers and balances is to safeguard the overall and fundamental interests of the bourgeoisie. Here, “in fact, the state is no more than an organizational form that the bourgeoisie must take to protect their property and interests at home and abroad.”32 From the perspective of the dominant value of the national institutions’ operations, to realize the overall interests of the bourgeoisie and balance the interests of different classes and groups within it, the principle of separation of powers and balances of capitalist state institutions negates and destroys the direction of the supremacy of public opinion proclaimed by capitalist democratic politics, and places the interests and chief position of the bourgeoisie above the people’s sovereignty as its state

31 32

Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 5, People’s Publishing House, 1958 edition, p. 224–225. Marx and Engels Selected Works, Vol. 1, People’s Publishing House, 1995 edition, p. 132.

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group. And regard it as the highest dominant political value of the operation of the organization. As far as political decision-making is concerned, the principle of separation of powers and balances of capitalist state organs separates the unified state sovereignty into separated and balanced powers. Because these powers represent different classes and interest groups of the bourgeoisie, in the actual decision-making process of capitalist countries, the subject of decision-making is described by ordinary citizens or citizens in legal form. It has become the spokesman of other classes and interest groups of the bourgeoisie who hold other political power organs, which distorts public opinion and leads to the variation of the main body of political decision-making. As far as the process of political decision-making is concerned, the principle of separation of powers and balances in capitalist state institutions makes political decision-making a game of bargaining and political transaction between forces of alienation and balances. Different classes and interest groups of the bourgeoisie hold different powers and operate the political decision-making process according to maximizing their interests, which makes the political decision-making process of capitalist countries often present mutual constraints and battles between different power organs. Therefore, it will result in the inefficient operation of state power and weaken the overall function of state organs. For example, in the United States, the president and Congress are independent of each other, often contradict each other. Congress often boycotts the presidents’ bills. The president also vetoes them from time to time, which makes American democracy fall into the strange circle of executive-legislative power and the conflicts between different interest groups and political factions behind it. In terms of the results of its political decision-making, the balances between various parallel powers have caused the bourgeois political parties to use different organs of energy to fight and wrangle with each other, distorted the public rationality of political decision-making, and weakened the efficiency of political decisionmaking and implementation. In capitalist countries, political decision-making under the principle of separation of powers and balances is either the result of competition, strife, compromise, and trade between different classes and interest groups of the bourgeoisie, or the result of bilateral or even multilateral alliances formed collaboration between these classes and groups.33 Democratic centralism is the organizational principle of socialist national institutions. In the process of the founding of the people’s Republic of China, Mao Zedong expounded the tenets of new China’s political power organization. She pointed out: “Democratic centralism should be adopted, and the People’s Congress at all levels should decide on significant policies and elect the government. It is democratic and centralized. That is to say; it is centralized based on democracy and under the guidance of centralism. Only by this system can we not only show extensive democracy and enable people’s congresses at all levels to have a high degree of power, but also centralize the handling of state matters, enable governments at all levels to centralize 33

William A Niskannan, Bureaucracy and Public Economics, translated by Wang Puqu, China Youth Publishing Group, 2004 version, p. 271–272.

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the handling of all affairs entrusted by people’s congresses at all levels, and guarantee all necessary democratic activities of the people.”34 Xi Jinping pointed out that “Democratic centralism is the basic principle of China’s state organization form and mode of activity.” We should “be good at using the principle of democratic centralism to uphold the authority of the party and the state and safeguard the unity and unity of the whole Party and the whole country.”35 In the report of 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping once again stressed: “Improving and implementing the system of democratic centralism, adhering to the integration of centralization of democracy and the democracy under centralized guidance, fully developing democracy and being good at centralization and unification.”36 The basic meaning of the principle of democratic centralism is as follows: (1)

34

Concentration based on democracy. China’s democratic centralism cannot exist without extensive people’s democracy, which is the premise of the the democratic centralism organization principle. Therefore, in a political process, we must insist that all power belongs to the people, that the people manage state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings, and social affairs by the law, extensively listen to the opinions and suggestions of the people, conduct democratic elections, make democratic decisions, and accept the supervision of the people. Mao Zedong repeatedly stressed the importance of implementing socialist democracy. He said: “Without the full implementation of proletarian democracy, there can be no real proletarian centralism.” Without proletarian democracy, “this kind of centralization, or unification will be false, empty and wrong.”37 Deng Xiaoping pointed out: “Without democracy, there would be no socialism, and there would be no socialist modernization.”38 Only by fully implementing socialist people’s democracy can we ensure the correct centralization of state power and decision-making. Xi Jinping pointed out that “Looking forward, we must adhere to the principle of democratic centralism, encourage the free airing of views, gather advice from all sides, and get every member of society to think and work for a common cause so that we can achieve success in all our programs, consolidate the political situation of stability and unity, and harmonize the relations between political parties,

Selected Works of Tsetung, Vol. 3, People’s Publishing House, 1991 edition, p. 1057. Xi Jinping: “Speech at the Conference to Celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the National People’s Congress,” People’s Daily, September 6, 2014, 02, Edition. 36 Xi Jinping: “Decisively building a well-off society across the board and seizing the great victory of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era - at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China”, People’s Daily, 28 October 2017. 37 Collected Works of Tsetung, Vol. 8, People’s Publishing House, 1999 edition, p. 296. 38 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping Vol. 2, People’s Publishing House, 1999 edition, p. 168. 35

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(2)

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between ethnic groups, between religions, between social strata, and between our compatriots at home and overseas.”39 Democracy under centralized guidance. Socialist democracy is inseparable from centralization. The centralization of democratic centralism is not the arbitrariness of a few people but the concentration of the wisdom of the broad masses of the people to serve their fundamental interests. Socialist democracy is realized under the leadership of the proletarian party and the supervision, restriction of the state law. It is a democracy under centralized guidance. Democratic elections and decision-making should be carried out by the law. According to the principle that the minority is subordinate to the majority, voting results should be produced using voting and showing hands. This guarantees the regular operation of the socialist democratic system and the superiority of the socialist political system. Deng Xiaoping once pointed out: “democratic centralism is also our superiority. This system is more conducive to the unity of the people, much better than western democracy. When we make a decision, we can implement it immediately.”40 Xi Jinping also pointed out that “China’s socialist system can concentrate on doing great things is an important magic weapon for our achievements.” We should concentrate our efforts on major projects, focus on major projects, focus on cutting-edge projects, and basic projects, to form a solid joint force to promote independent innovation.” The combination and dialectical unity of centralism based on democracy and democracy under the guidance of centralism. Democracy and centralism complement each other. We can’t emphasize one side and ignore the other. As Mao Zedong pointed out, socialist democracy “cannot exist without freedom or discipline; it cannot exist without democracy or concentration”.41 Deng Xiaoping also stressed that: “We are practicing democratic centralism, which is the combination of centralism on the basis of democracy and democracy under the guidance of centralism.”42 Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must uphold and improve the system and principles of democratic centralism, and urge all kinds of national organs to improve their ability and efficiency, enhance coordination and cooperation, form a strong force to manage the country and political affairs, and effectively prevent the phenomenon of mutual restraint and serious internal friction.”43

As far as its political operation mechanism is concerned, democratic centralism is essentially a principle of political coordination among the different interests of the 39

Xi Jinping: Promoting the Development of a Wide-ranging and Multi-layered System of Consultative Democracy, Xi Jingping the governance of China Vol. 2, 2017, P. 296. 40 Anthology of important documents since the 18th National Congress of CPC, Central Literature Publishing House, 2016 edition. 41 Collected Works of Tsetung, Vol. 7, People’s Publishing House, 1999 edition, p. 209. 42 Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping Volume 2. People’s Publishing House, 1994 edition, p. 175. 43 Xi Jinping: Strengthen Confidence in the Political System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, Xi Jinping The Governance of China Volume 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, P. 288.

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people. It recognizes the diversity of interests among the people, and at the same time, confirms the fundamental consistency of the people’s interests. Diversity and character lay the foundation for the principle of political coordination based on democracy. In the process of implementation, the implementation of democratic centralism includes two methods: one is the process of expressing and coordinating the interests and demands of all elements, and the other is coordinating the interests of all aspects and the fundamental interests of the people. Democracy and centralization are the unity of these two processes. Therefore, the process of implementing democratic centralism is the process of coming from the masses to the masses. Democratic centralism respects the majority and protects the minority; it adheres to democracy and emphasizes the legal system; it opposes the will of the minority over the collective, and it opposes anarchism and radical democratization. In the organization of national institutions, the principle of democratic centralism is embodied in the following aspects: The composition of national institutions follows democratic principles. As an organ of power, deputies to the national legislature, namely the People’s Congress, are elected by the people and are responsible to the people. The operation of the parliament adopts democratic procedures. In the process of legislation and decisionmaking of the parliament, the principle of extensive democratic discussion and the subordination of the minority to the majority should be implemented. The People’s Congress at all levels and their standing committees exercise collective leadership. The implementation of state power follows the principle of centralization and unification. The National People’s Congress is the highest organ of power and the power source of administrative, judicial, and procuratorial organs. Administrative organs, supervisory organs, judicial organs, and procuratorial organs come from the People’s Congress and are responsible. State power is exercised centrally and uniformly by the National People’s Congress, and state organs such as administration, adjudication, and procuratorial organs perform their duties according to the law under the unified leadership and supervision of the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee. In terms of the relationship between the central and local governments, following the principle of giving full play to the initiative and enthusiasm of the local governments under the unified leadership of the central government, local state organs must strictly implement the laws, regulations, decisions, and orders formulated and promulgated by the National People Congress, it’s Standing Committee and the State Council. At the same time, they should also manage local public and political affairs according to law, place, time, and circumstances.

10.3.2 Major National Institutions National institutions are complex and diverse, and there are different national institutions in other countries at other times. However, generally speaking, national

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institutions mainly include the head of state, the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. 1.

Head of State

The head of state is the actual or formal highest representative of a country at home and abroad, the true master or symbol of national sovereignty, and the head of state in the system of national institutions. The establishment of the head of state is not only the need of the internal division of labor of the national government, but also the need of the country’s foreign exchanges, and even the need of the national spirit pillar. Therefore, there are generally heads of state in various types of governments. The head of state is generally divided into two forms: one is an individual head of state. That is, a person takes the head of state alone. China takes the form of an individual head of state, and Britain, France, the United States, Japan, Italy and other countries also take the form of a separate leader of State. The second is the collective head of State. That is, more than two people jointly act as the head of state, such as Switzerland and San Marino. The head of State may be held by the highest representative of a particular country, such as the president of the People’s Republic of China; the chief executive, such as the president of the United States; or the person symbolizing the highest power, such as the emperor of Japan and the queen of England. The head of state can be elected and hold office for a term, such as the president of France and the president of the United States; it can also be hereditary and have office for life, such as the head of the kingdoms. The functions and powers of the head of state vary from country to country. Generally speaking, they are: to promulgate laws; to appoint or remove senior officials in state organs; to call parliament to declare martial law, amnesty, emergency, or declaration of war; to communicate with foreign countries as the highest representative of the state; to promulgate honors and confer honorary titles and certificates on behalf of the state. In addition, some heads of state are also commanders of the national armed forces and command the national armed forces. 2.

Legislature

The legislature refers to the state organs that can make, amend, repeal or restore laws. In modern countries, it generally refers to the Congress, Parliament, Council, national assembly, and other institutions. The legislature is the organizational embodiment of federal legislative power. According to the internal organizational structure of the legislature, it can be divided into the bicameral legislature and a unicameral legislature. The bicameral parliament is composed of two chambers, such as the Senate and the House of Representatives in the United States, the home of Lords and the home of Commons in the United Kingdom, and the federal house and the house of nationalities in the former Soviet Union. The terms of reference of the two chambers, the method of selecting their members, and their terms of office are different, restricting each other.

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There is only one legislative entity in the unicameral legislature, which is relatively unified in authority, legislative procedure, member selection, and tenure. The specific responsibilities of the legislature mainly include the following: (1)

(2)

(3)

(4) 3.

Enact, amend and repeal laws. The legislature not only has the power to enact, amend and repeal the constitution (the fundamental law of the state) but also has the power to enact, amend and repeal various specific laws. In some countries, the ability to interpret the law belongs to the legislature. However, in some federal republics, the legislatures of the affiliated republics or states have the ability to enact, amend and repeal their laws without violating the primary federal law. To examine and pass the state budget and final accounts, and to supervise their implementation. The state budget, taxes, government bonds, special appropriations, and so on proposed by the executive authorities must be examined and approved by the legislature. Their implementation must be reported to the legislature. In socialist countries, the legislature also has the responsibility to review and approve the national economic development plan. Organize or supervise the government. The legislature can organize the government, or manage the government’s policies and the behavior of its members. Its main ways are to question, deliberate, dissolve the government, or impeach, remove its members. Other decisions on the significant policies of the state, such as approving the declaration of war, etc. Administrative organs

The state administrative organ is the organ that implements the state political decision, manages the state administrative affairs and various administrative functional departments, and is the organizational embodiment of the state executive power. The state administrative organ is generally composed of the head of State Administration, such as the prime minister, the premier, the president, the leaders of various administrative departments and the administrative public servants. The methods of selecting the three members of the state administrative organs are different: the executive director is either elected, or appointed by the parliament or the head of state; the heads of various administrative functional departments are generally set by the executive director; the general administrative public servants are either selected to enter the administrative organs through examinations or by the leaders of various levels or personnel departments. The scope of responsibilities of administrative organs is relatively broad, which mainly includes: (1) (2) (3)

Organize necessary human and material resources to implement various decisions, motions, and proposals passed by the legislature. To formulate various policies, issue administrative orders, and manage the social economy, culture, science, education, and health. To lead the work of administrative organs throughout the country and recruit, promote, manage, appoint and remove administrative staff.

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To be responsible for or assist in establishing, training, deployment, and command of military forces. Handle external affairs. Supervisory

The supervisory organ refers to the organ that the State exercises legal supervision over public officials. Usually, the supervisory organ mainly implements the statutory investigation power and disposal power. The cases involving the federal law need to be transferred to the national judicial organ for disposal according to the procedure. The supervisory organ is relatively independent, and its operation is usually not interfered with by administrative, judicial, and other organizations and individuals. The supervisory organ is generally created by and responsible for the legislature. In our country, the supervisory organs, the state administrative and judicial organs restrict and coordinate with each other and are jointly responsible for the National People’s Congress which produced them. 5.

Judiciary

The judicial organ is the department to maintain the law, so it is also called the organ to try and investigate the criminal responsibility and put forward the public prosecution. It is the organizational embodiment of the national judicial power. According to different functions, judicial organs are generally composed of three parts: reconnaissance, litigation, and trial. Reconnaissance is a kind of activity in which the crime-solving organs accurately and quickly find out the situation, obtain evidence and arrest the criminals. Therefore, it is assumed by the judicial action organs, such as the Public Security Departments. The prosecution department is generally responsible for litigation, whose function is to clarify the case, determine whether it constitutes a violation of the law, and prosecute on behalf of the state. Generally speaking, the procuratorial department of the government has the power of public prosecution. The trial is usually held by the court. The court is divided into ordinary court and special court. Ordinary courts are divided into varying levels according to different levels of government, such as senior, intermediate and grass-roots courts. Special courts refer to courts of particular departments, such as military courts, etc. In addition, there are other courts according to different cases, such as a civil court, criminal court, and so on.

Chapter 11

Political Parties

11.1 Meanings and Types of Political Parties 11.1.1 The Essence and Essential Characteristics of a Political Party In ancient Chinese books, the word “party” has many meanings. Generally speaking, it refers to the grass-roots units of residents, “Five families compose a neighborhood, five neighborhoods compose a community, five communities compose a hundred, five hundred compose a party.”1 ; It refers to close relatives and friends, such as “To cultivate harmony with all the kindred and close friends of parents.”2 ; It refers to groups with leaders, such as “When the phoenix fly, tens of thousands of birds will follow. At this moment, come the characters of clique and party.”3 ; The following meaning is the collaboration of political, bureaucratic factions derived from the above meaning, such as “The feudal princes are guild, but their ministers do not report. This forms partisanship”.4 This kind of bureaucratic factions occurred from time to time in ancient Chinese histories, such as the Hook Party in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Upright Clique in the Tang Dynasty, the Yuan you Clique and the Yuanfu Clique in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the Donglin Clique in the late Ming Dynasty. It can be seen that the meaning of the word “party” in ancient Chinese books is different from that of the party in a modern political sense. In the west, the word “party” was translated as “party” in English, “parti” in France, “parti” in German, “Partido” in Spanish, and so on. They all come from Latin “pars”, which initially means “part,” and later extended to a social and political organization. 1

Zhou Li · Guan Ji · Da Situ. Book of Rites: Record of the Dykes. 3 Shuowen Jiezi. 4 Book of Han: The Five Sons of Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty. 2

© Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_11

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Since modern times, many western political scientists have defined political parties, and some of them are representative, such as: (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

For example, Edmund Burke, a conservative political scientist, believes that “A political party is a group of people who work together to achieve the consensus of particularism to promote the national interests.”5 This view regards the promotion of national interests as the basis for the existence of political parties. It does not clarify the political nature of political parties, nor clearly explain the status and role of political parties in national political life. The political party is regarded as the tool of the election. Harold D. Lasswell, an American political scientist, believes that a political party is a group that plans a wide range of issues and proposes candidates in an election.6 However, this definition does not explain why political parties can become election tools. At the same time, it confines political parties to election tools and ignores other social and political functions of political parties. The political party is regarded as a kind of organization of political power. For example, American political scientist Thoreau thinks that a political party can be said to be an organization of political power, which is characterized by exclusive political function, stable structure, exclusive party members, and the ability to dominate the election campaign.7 This view simply sums up a political party as a political power organization, which neither indicates the basis of a political party nor the difference between a political party and other political power organizations. People who think that political parties are tools for people to choose public officials, such as David Truman, a modern American political scientist, pointed out: “Political parties are regarded as a mechanism through which people can choose the right people among those who pursue public office.”8 This statement does not point out that the political party is a political tool for those who choose public officials. It ignores that the fundamental purpose of people forming a political party is not to select public officials, but to realize their interests.

In addition, some scholars believe that the political party is the group that the people control the government, is the interest expression and interest aggregation structure and so on. Marxist classic writers use the theory of historical materialism to combine the party and class interests closely, to reveal the nature of the party scientifically. At the same time, they summed up the characteristics of the party itself, to distinguish the party as the representative of class interests from other political organizations. 5

The Works of Edmund Burke (II), London: Oxford University Press, 1930, p. 82. Harold Dwight Lasswell, and Abraham Kaplan, Power and Society a Framework for Political Inquiry, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1950, p. 169. 7 Frank J. Sorauf, Political Polties in American System, Boston: Little Brown, 1964, p. 13. 8 The Governmental Process: Political Interests and Public Opinion. Tianjin People’s Publishing House, pp. 294–295. 6

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As early as in the Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx and Engels pointed out that “Communists are the most resolute part of the workers’ political parties in all countries that always push forward the movement.”9 Indeed, Marx and Engels not only pointed out the characteristics of the Communist Party, but also pointed out the general characteristics of the political party. Later, Lenin further pointed out the nature of political parties: “Under normal circumstances, in most occasions, at least in modern civilized countries, class is led by political parties.”10 “The party is the advanced class of consciousness and the vanguard of the class.”11 And “The most rigorous, complete and obvious manifestation of the political struggle of all classes is the struggle of all political parties.”12 Mao Zedong also pointed out: “A political party is a society, which means a political community. The first category of political culture is parties. The party is a class organization.”13 It can be seen from this that Marxism holds that a political party is essentially a concentrated representative of the interests of a particular class, a leading force in the political forces of a specific type, and a political organization composed of the political backbones of various classes to seize or consolidate the political power of the state. According to this definition, political parties have the following essential characteristics: (1)

Political party is a class organization, so it has a distinct class character

The foundation of a political party is class interests. It is to realize the common interests of the type that people form a political party to control the power of the class, which makes the political party have distinct class characteristics. Political parties are class organizations, but they do not exist when there are classes. This is because, in addition to taking class interests as the basis, the emergence of political parties still needs specific conditions, which mainly include: the technical possibility of unified contact among class members; the formation of class consciousness as a whole; and the political possibility of class members’ organizational activities. Therefore, it was only in modern times that big industry organically united the members of the bourgeoisie and formed a unified and robust class consciousness. Bourgeois democracy made it possible for the organized political activities of the bourgeoisie, so bourgeois political parties came into being. To confirm that a political party is representative of the interests of a particular class does not exclude that a political party may also be the representative of the interests of a specific class. Because class members can be divided into several types, and 9

Collected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 185. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 39. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 21. 11 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 24. People’s Publishing House, 1990, p. 38. 12 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 12. People’s Publishing House, 1987, p. 127. 13 Selected Works of Tsetung, Vol. 1–5. People’s Publishing House, 1997, p. 335. 10

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the specific interests of the type will also encourage people to form a particular political party and fight with the administrative party. Therefore, the struggle, between different political parties may be the concentrated full of the class struggle, or the concentrated image of the political struggle between other classes in the same type. (2)

The party is the vanguard organization of the class

The party is the vanguard of the course, which is mainly reflected in the composition of the party members, ideological characteristics, and the political role of the course From the perspective of membership, party members are generally composed of the most dynamic, active, and politically capable people in class politics. Therefore, political parties condense the essence and backbone of class politics, thus becoming the political core of the class. From the perspective of ideological characteristics, a political party reflects the interests of the class and represents the will of the course. Therefore, the party’s thought and theory are the highest embodiment of class thought and consciousness. In this sense, a political party is the vanguard of class thought. From the perspective of the political function of the party to the course, the party is usually the political leader and organizer of the class, and also the political representative of the members of the course. In these aspects, party’s role far exceeds that of other political organizations, so that the party occupies the primary and “firstclass” position in the political activities of the course. Therefore, the party is the political vanguard of the class. (3)

Political parties have specific political goals and programs

Any political party must have its own political goal. The political plan of a political party generally includes two closely related aspects: one is the political goal, that is, to seize or consolidate public social power; the other is the social goal, that is, the goal of colonial governance and social development. The social goals of a political party can be divided into short-term goals and long-term goals. The short-term goals are the political needs of the party for the current stage of social development, and the long-term goals are the social conditions and social requirements that the party will ultimately achieve. To effectively organize political forces and carry out political activities, a political party must raise its political goal to a specific political program. “If a political party does not have a program, it cannot become a relatively complete political organism that can always stick to its line in any turning point of events.”14 The party’s political program generally includes analysis and judgment of the political situation, social situation and its development direction, the party’s political and social goals and propositions, and the specific ways and measures for the party to achieve its goals. Engels once said: “After all, a new program is always an open flag.”15 In practical political life, the party’s program can be divided into the highest program and the lowest program because the party’s political goals are high and low. 14 15

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 39. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 21. Collected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2009, p. 415.

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Political parties have specific organization and discipline

To give full play to the role of a party as the leading political force of a class, and realize the party’s political goals and programs, a party must have specific organizational principles, forms and disciplines. Generally, the organization of political parties has a hierarchical structure, which is mainly related to the division of national administrative regions, administrative units, or electoral units. In the war periods, the organizational structure of political parties is closely associated with the establishment of the army. There are two kinds of Party Discipline: written and unwritten, related to the habits and needs of political life in various countries. The organization and discipline of political parties can be divided into strict and loose. The proletarian party takes strict organization and rigid discipline as a reliable guarantee to defeat the enemy. Of course, such strict organization and demanding discipline are based on the fundamental interests of the proletariat, the unity of the will of the proletariat, and a high degree of consciousness. Some bourgeois parties also have strict organization and discipline. Still they are based on the blind obedience of their members and the terrorist means of organization, such as the fascist party. Other bourgeois political parties, such as the Republican Party and the United States, are not very strict in organization and discipline. They only determine their members by-election. However, even such parties still have a complete set of organizational structures and operating procedures. These essential characteristics of political parties reflect the basic features of political parties as a whole. They also constitute the basic signs to identify political parties, and these signs are organically linked. Therefore, people should judge whether a social-political organization is a political party according to one of these characteristics.

11.1.2 Types of Political Parties Like distinguishing other political things, people often divide political parties into different types from different aspects and according to different standards, such as legal parties and illegal parties according to whether they have legal status. The ruling, participating, and opposition parties according to whether they are in power; and the number of seats held by political parties in Parliament are divided into the majority party and the minority party. According to their political ideas and ideological tendencies, they are divided into the conservative party, the radical party and the intermediate party, and so on. Marxism holds that the essential attribute of a political party lies in its class nature. Therefore, to distinguish essentially different types of political parties, we must take the class interest basis of political parties as to the basic standard. In contrast, other measures can only be used to identify the non-essential differences between political parties on the premise of the class interest standard.

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The class standard of distinguishing political parties is displayed in three aspects. First, which class’s interests and will are embodied in the party’s guiding ideology. Second, which class’s requirements are represented by the party’s program, principles, and policies. Third, which class’s interests are sought by the party’s actual activities. As for the composition of the members of a political party, they can be members of their class or members of other types, but they serve their style. Therefore, the origin of the members of a political party generally does not constitute the standard for judging the class nature of a political party. According to the standard of class interests, political parties can be divided into a bourgeois party and the proletarian party. The bourgeois political party is a political party whose aim is to safeguard and realize bourgeois interests and political will. Bourgeois political parties are based on the class struggle and factional interest struggle in a modern capitalist society, and there are two ways to produce it: (1) (2)

From different political parties in parliament, it gradually developed into an independent party through political activities. Forming a political party outside Parliament.

The political parties in some capitalist countries were formed in the social class struggle and political struggle, and the parliament was even created by these parties through effort. For example, the Liberal Party and the constitutional improvement Party of Japan at the end of the nineteenth century were formed for the purpose to safeguard the interests of the bourgeoisie, and one of their political propositions was to set up a parliament in Japan. After the Second World War, the main bourgeois parties in Japan, Germany, Italy, and other countries were organized outside the parliament. Then entered the parliament in parliamentary party groups. Although there are many kinds and different names of bourgeois political parties in contemporary capitalist countries, they also have common characteristics: (1)

(2)

(3)

16

It represents the interests of the bourgeoisie. Although different bourgeois political parties may represent various capital consortia or the interests of various strata in the bourgeoisie, general secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “A political party in the west is often a representative of a class or a certain aspect.”.16 However, as a whole, the bourgeois party is invariably the representative of the interests and demands of the bourgeoisie. It is composed of bourgeois political activists. Most of the bourgeois political parties in capitalist countries nowadays are dominated by some professional “party hacks.” These people are familiar with the capitalist political rules, have rich experience in party affairs, and control and manipulate the party organizations. Election and parliamentary struggle are the main political activities. Due to the establishment of a capitalist political representative system, most of the bourgeois parties in the leading capitalist countries operate within the scope of

Xi Jinping and Obama at Zhongnanhai Yingtai, what exactly did they talk about? People’s Daily, http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/1114/c1001-26025214-3.html.

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usual system, and take the competition for political positions and the struggle around proposals and bills as the primary activities. Most organizational systems are relatively loose, and there are few unified political activities outside the election activities.

The working-class party is the representative and vanguard organization of the proletariat’s interests and the broad working people. It is produced and developed in the process of class battle between the working class and the bourgeoisie. In the early days, the battle between the working class and the bourgeoisie was limited to spontaneous struggle in the economic field, so the organization of the working-class organization was only some economic and social groups. With the development of the struggle of the working class and the emergence of Marxism, the working class has gradually realized its social and historical mission and political mission. Its struggle has changed from spontaneous to the conscious stage, and forming a proletarian party to lead the working class in political battle has been put on the agenda. In 1847, Marx and Engels founded the first international common party, the Communist League. In August 1869, the German proletariat launched the first common party within the scope of a nation-state, namely the German Social Democratic Labor Party. In 1903, Lenin reformed the former Russian Social Democratic Labor Party and founded a new revolutionary party, the Russian Bolshevik party. In 1921, the combination of Marxism and the Chinese workers’ movement produced the Communist Party of China. In addition, in the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, the proletariat also formed international political parties, such as the First International, the Second International, and the Third International. The essential characteristics of the proletarian party are as follows: (1)

(2)

17

It represents the development requirements of advanced productive forces. The proletariat is closely related to the socialized mass production and is the personality undertaker of the socialized production. Therefore, it is representative of the progressive productive forces. As the vanguard organization of the proletariat, the common party logically has the characteristics of representing the advanced productive forces. Therefore, the proletarian party’s “All struggle, in the end, is to liberate and develop the productive forces”.17 Representing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. The proletarian party regards the interests of the proletariat and the working people as its interests. In the movement, the common party does not seek the interests of a particular group or faction, but the interests, of the proletariat and the broad masses of working people; it does not have its particular interests, but takes the interests of the proletariat and the broad groups of working people as its interests. “All the work of the proletarian party is serve the people wholeheartedly and to realize, develop and safeguard the interests of the people”.18

Jiang Zemin on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. Central Party Literature Press, 2002, p. 577. 18 Jiang Zemin on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. Central Party Literature Press, 2002, p. 577.

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From the process of historical development, the fundamental interests of the proletariat and the broad masses of working people lie in the realizing of the complete liberation of humanity. Therefore, the proletarian party takes the completion of this liberated Communist society as its highest goal and board ideal. Take Marxism as the guiding ideology and represent the direction of advanced culture. “The guiding ideology is the Spiritual Banner of a political party.”. Marxism is the theoretical embodiment of the proletariat’s interests and the ideological summary of the law of development in human society. Therefore, proletarian political parties take Marxism as their guiding ideology and theoretical guide, to ensure that they are at the forefront of the workers’ movement in ideological theory and correctly lead the working class and the working people in social and political practice. At the same time, we should absorb all the outstanding achievements of human culture and promote and build social culture. It is composed of advanced elements of the proletariat. As the vanguard of the proletariat, the members of the proletarian party concentrate on the excellent character of the proletariat. They have the broad ideal of communism and the belief in Marxism. They have a high degree of ideological and political consciousness, the spirit of selfless dedication to the proletariat’s cause, the indomitable revolutionary perseverance, and the noble character of being strict with themselves. Have strict organization and discipline. In the struggle with the bourgeoisie, the proletarian party takes rigorous organization as its essential weapon. Therefore, the common party generally takes democratic centralism as its organizational principle, unifies the will and action of the whole party with strict party discipline and party rules, forms the entire party into an advanced fighting force, and guarantees its political struggle and realization of the proletariat’s interest with strict organizational discipline.

Therefore, to establish the party by faith, to build the party by thought, to strengthen the party by theory, to govern the party by the system, and to govern the party strictly in an all-round way are the critical points for the proletarian party to win an invincible position in the practice of striving for the liberation of the working class and the people. We need always to represent the fundamental interests of the working class and the people, grasp, and follow the laws of proletarian revolution, the rule of the Communist Party in power and the law of socialist social construction. It is the fundamental purpose of the common party to strive for the complete liberation of the working class and humanity by the law of the development of human society.

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11.1.3 The Role of Political Parties A political party is the product of the development of class interest conflict in modern times. As the representative of class interest and the leader of class power, the political party plays an increasingly important role in contemporary political life. Generally speaking, these functions are mainly reflected in the following aspects: 1.

Condense the interests and political consciousness of the class

Every class has its specific interest requirements and political consciousness. Still, when a class exists in its State, these interest requirements and political consciousness are often scattered, superficial and changeable. However, the political party theorizes, centralizes, politicizes, deepens, and clarifies the class’s interest requirements and political consciousness with its own theoretical program, principles and policies, to effectively condense the class’s interest requirements and political consciousness. Therefore, Engels pointed out: “After all, a new program is always an open flag, and the outside world will judge the party according to it.”19 2.

Gather and develop class political power

Political parties are the concentrated representatives of class interests. However, the realization of class interests cannot be achieved only by political parties themselves. Therefore, any political party must maximize its political power. There are two ways for a party to strengthen its political power. One is to mobilize and organize its own political power, and the other is to win over other class members. The basic way for a proletarian party to gather and develop its political power is to educate the masses so that they can realize their own interests; to connect with the masses, we should not only get together with them, but also take the lead and play an exemplary role; to mobilize the masses, organize them and fight for their own interests; to unite the masses and strive for the support of the overwhelming majority to the greatest extent. However, bourgeois political parties often gather their political power by means of propaganda, agitation, even solicitation, deception and bribery, which also shows the egoistic nature of bourgeois politics. 3.

Influence and lead social and political life

In a modern country, any political activity is a practical process for a specific class to realize its own interests and will. As a class organization, a political party must take influencing and leading political life as its main political function. Before and after gaining power, political parties have different ways of influencing and leading political life. When a political party is not in power, it often influences the political life of the country by formulating its own platform, principles, policies and strategies, and organizing the party members and the masses to engage in legal or illegal, peaceful or violent, in Parliament or out of Parliament political struggles, so as to make it develop in the direction beneficial to itself. After gaining power, political parties will control and supervise the state’s political power as the ruling party, and 19

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 19. People’s Publishing House, 1963, p. 9.

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transform their political programs and policies into the state’s principles and policies, and promote them to the society with state power. At the same time, political parties also control and influence the development direction and actual process of national political life by sending party members to assume important national positions and directly participate in the implementation process of national policies. 4.

Cultivate the political backbone of the class

The party is not only the representative of class interests, but also an important institution of political socialization of a specific class. Therefore, the party not only gathers the political elites and backbones of its own class, but also creates a specific political and cultural atmosphere with its specific party platform, theory, organizational principles and activities. In this atmosphere, the party members are educated, their political quality is improved, their political consciousness and spirit of fighting for their own class are strengthened, and their actual political ability is cultivated. Therefore, it is the political party that trains and prepares the political backbone for the class, and through them leads the class to achieve specific political and social goals and accomplish the historical mission of the class. There are various ways for political parties to train class political backbones. Generally speaking, there are formal training and informal training. Formal training means that the party improves the quality of Party members to the established training objectives with some formal training institutions, training plans and training procedures; informal training improves the quality of Party members through daily political education and actual political activities. The political backbone trained by a party is not limited to playing a role within the party. In social and political activities, a party often transports its own backbone to other social and political groups and governments, so as to expand the scope of the party’s role and enable the party to play a more in-depth, direct and effective political influence. 5.

Influence international politics and international affairs

Nowadays, political parties are not only an important factor in domestic politics, but also an important force in international politics. Political parties or party alliances can be the specific subject of international politics. The relationship between political parties can be an important part of international relations. Political parties can carry out specific forms of political activities on the international stage in order to realize and safeguard the interests of the class they represent. In the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, the international political party organizations of the proletariat, such as the League of Communists, the First International, the Second International and the Third International, played an important role in organizing the political struggle of the international proletariat, safeguarding the interests of the international proletariat, and promoting human progress and justice. Today, in addition to the proletarian parties, the third world nationalist parties such as the Palestine Liberation Organization and the South African National Congress also play an important role in international politics and influence the development of international politics.

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11.2 Political Party System 11.2.1 The Meanings of the Party System The political party system refers to the institutional provisions on the social and political status and role of political parties, as well as the ways, methods, and procedures of taking power or participating in politics, which are stipulated by national laws or formed in actual political life. The formation and development of the political party system are influenced and affected by many factors, the most important of which are as follows: (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Social interest structure formed based on specific production relations. Based on capitalist private ownership, the personal interests of capitalists occupy the main content and dominant position of social goods. To realize their interests, capitalists must organize many different political parties for political competition, thus forming a multi-party match. Based on socialist public ownership, the common interests of the proletariat and the working people occupy the dominant position in society. The proletarian party represents this interest, so it is the ruling party of socialist countries. Other political parties represent the interests of different working people, so they cooperate and supervise with the ruling party. The development and maturity of various class forces and political forces. All kinds of political forces have been formed based on different class interests and stratum interests. However, the emergence of a specific political party as the leading force of political struggle is a sign of the maturity of a particular political power, and the formation and development of the party system are that the party’s role in political life has been greatly enhanced, and the relationship between the party and other political parties, political associations and members of political society has been dramatically enhanced in political activities. Different national regimes. Different national polities stipulate that political parties have different roles, modes, and procedures in other national political life. In the parliamentary republic, the political party system is closely related to the parliamentary system. The principal activity place of the political party is in the parliament, and its main activity way is to compete for seats, control seats, and then control the state power. In the presidential Republic, the political party system is not only related to the parliament but also directly related to the president. Political parties not only fight for seats but also fight for the presidency. In the fascist dictatorship, only one political party was allowed to exist and act, thus forming the fascist one-party system. Different electoral systems. The division of constituencies, the method of selecting members and the number of votes, the election procedure and the process of counting votes, will also affect the actual form of the political party system. For example, the secondary election system and the proportional

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representation system often lead to multi-party, thus forming a multi-party system. In addition, the factors affecting the party system include historical and cultural traditions, national structure, regional elements, and so on. The political party system has its characteristics: First, the political party system is established by the interests of the ruling class. Its greatest principle is to help maintain the political rule of ruling class and realize its interests. Therefore, the ruling class can change the political party system according to its interests and ruling needs. Second, the political party system can be prescribed by statute law or by constitutional convention. The government system generally has clear, specific and specific provisions of the law. In contrast, the political party system can be stipulated in principle in the constitution, or it may be formed by the constitutional practice, without explicit legal provisions. Third, the party system not only stipulates the status, role and mode of activities of the party itself, but also profoundly affects the national political system, political system, and the mode of political activities of social members. There are different classifications of the political party system. For example, A. S. Banks and R. B. Textor classify the party systems as one-party systems, one-party dominant systems, one-and-one-half-party systems, two-party systems, and multiparty systems. G. Sartori and others divide the party system into non-competitive party system and competitive party system. Italian scholar J. LaPalombara and others classify party systems as hegemonic and turnover party systems according to their ruling style. Marxism advocates that according to the nature of the political party system, the political party system should be divided into capitalist political party system and socialist political party system. On this basis, a further distinction should be made according to the characteristics of different political party systems.

11.2.2 Political Party Systems in Capitalist Countries The party system in capitalist countries is also called party politics, which is the legal rules, procedures, and ways for the parties in capitalist countries to carry out social and political activities. According to the number of parties in power rotation, the party system in capitalist countries is usually divided into two-party systems, multi-party systems and one party systems. 1.

Two-party system

The two-party system in capitalist countries is also called the “two-party confrontation system.” It mainly refers to the system that the two major political parties representing the interests of different groups of the bourgeoisie take turns to control the state political power, organize the government, and preside over the state political affairs through the election. Because the two major political parties are often equal,

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they compete fiercely in the election process. After the election, the ruling party and the opposition party confront each other and constantly attack each other. Therefore, the two-party system in capitalist countries is also called the “two-party competition system” or “two-party confrontation system.” In capitalist countries, the “two parties” in the two-party system only refers to the number of parties in power in turn, rather than the actual number of political parties in the country’s political life. In fact, in capitalist countries with the two-party system, in addition to the two major parties in control in turn, there are many other small parties. However, because of their weak political power, they cannot be in power alone as the main political party. Still, they can only influence government decision-making and social and political life in other ways. The two-party system was formed and developed based on the competition between the British Tories and Whigs. Later, with the expansion of British colonial power and political culture, the two-party system was widely used in the United States, Canada, and other member states of the British Commonwealth. Among them, the British two-party system and the American two-party system are the most typical. The British two-party system is closely related to the parliamentary system in its national system of government. The members of the house of Lords are not elected by-election, so they are not affected by the activities of political parties. The seats in the house of Commons are contested by political parties through election campaigns. The party that wins the majority of hearts is the ruling party, and the rest are the out parties. At the same time, the voting intention of party members in the house of Commons is determined by their party. The two-party system in the United States is combined with the presidential system in the national system of government. The distinction between the ruling party and the opposition party is determined by whether they obtain the presidential position. At the same time, the congressman and other political positions are also elected separately. Therefore, there is not necessarily a corresponding relationship between the ruling party and the majority party in Congress. At the same time, American political parties do not have a unified dominant role in the voting intention of their congressmen. Party members may or may not take the same voting position as their party. Therefore, it is difficult for political parties to control the stable majority in Congress. The two-party system in Britain and the United States has a lot to do with their electoral system. Both countries implement a single-round majority voting system. Only one representative is selected in each constituency of the country, and a candidate can be elected if he obtains a simple majority. Therefore, the voter vote is one-off, and there are only two choices, which has a great impact on the formation and stability of two political parties rather than multiple political parties. In essence, the two-party system in capitalist countries safeguards the interests and dominant position of the bourgeoisie. The two parties of the bourgeoisie not only represent different capital groups, but also represent the “two-handed method” of ruling the people with their differences in policies.20 Therefore, the so-called rotation of the two parties in power is just the alternate use of the two-hand method 20

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 11. People’s Publishing House, 1962, p. 399.

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of ruling. As Engels said, it “does not rely on keeping the regime in the same hands to make itself immortal, but adopts such a method: it makes the regime put down from one hand in turn, and then immediately grasped by the other hand.”.21 On the other hand, the two-party system in capitalist countries is a means by which the bourgeoisie deceives the people. “The two bourgeois parties use their bravado duels to deceive the people and divert the attention of people to their vital interests.”.22 The choice people make between the two major political parties is only to choose different means of bourgeois rule, but not to touch the essence of capital rule. Therefore, people “can see two groups of political speculators, who take turns in power and use the dirtiest means for the dirtiest purposes, while the people are unable to deal with these two big groups of politicians.”.23 2.

Multi-party system

The multi-party system in capitalist countries refers to how many political parties compete for national political positions and take turns or jointly govern. Because there are many political parties competing side by side in the election, like Parliament and another political process of capitalism with a multi-party system, this multi-party system is also called “multi-party systems”. The reasons for the formation of a multi-party system are complex. Generally speaking, the class structure and political power structure of a country adopting a multi-party system are relatively complex: On the one hand, various capital groups, capital classes, and social classes have formed political forces with specific strength around their interests. On the other hand, the political points of the working class and the Communist Party are relatively strong, with various points competing on the political stage and different political parties competing. It is the normal state in political life. Because it is difficult for a specific political party to form absolute control over politics, a multi-party procedure has come into being and played an important role. At the same time, the emergence and function of the multi-party system are closely related to the electoral system of the country that implements the multi-party system. These countries generally implement the proportional representation system, each constituency can elect more than two members, and the seats are distributed according to the proportion of votes. Under this kind of election system, some small parties have a lot of room for survival and movement. They can concentrate their voices and make their candidates elected, thus ensuring the existence of a multi-party system. In today world, most capitalist countries implement a multi-party system. Developed capitalist countries include France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Belgium, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, etc.; developing capitalist countries mainly include Turkey, India, Philippines, Thailand, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Panama, Ecuador, etc. Capitalist multi-party countries can be divided into two basic types: 21

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 11. People’s Publishing House, 1962, p. 399. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 22. People’s Publishing House, 1980, p. 211. 23 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 12. 22

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(2)

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In China, many political parties are evenly matched, and none of them can maintain an absolute advantage in the election for a long time. Therefore, the ruling party is either a party that has won a relative majority in the election by chance, or a coalition of several parties that have jointly won the majority. Typical examples are France and Italy. During the 18th-century bourgeois revolution in France, multi-party politics was formed. During the Third and the Fourth Republic of France, there were sometimes more than 20 parties in parliament, and the government was composed of several major political parties. Italian parliament seats are held by more than a dozen political parties, including the Catholic Democratic Party, and the cabinet is also composed of these parties individually or jointly. Although there are many political parties in China, one has been dominant for a long time and is in a separate ruling position. A typical example of this is Japan from 1955 to 1992. The main political parties that occupy seats in Japan are the Liberal-Democratic Party, Japan Socialist Party, the Clean Government Party, the Democratic Socialist Party, and the Communist Party. However, the Liberal Democratic Party is the most powerful and has been in power for a long time since 1955. Cabinet seats are only distributed among different factions in the Liberal Democratic Party. This kind of multi-party system is only a multi-party system in the formal sense. It has become a one-party system. Some people also call it a “one party dominating system”. However, since 1993, Japan’s “one party dominant system” has become a history, becoming a typical multi-party country.

The politics of a multi-party country has the following essential characteristics: First, there are many parties, and their situation is complicated. In capitalist countries with a multi-party system, there are as few as five or six political parties and as many as hundreds of political parties. For example, in the first general election of India in 1951–1952, there were 192 political parties. The social background and interest foundation of each political party are very complex, showing a situation of class, nationality, caste, and other comprehensive differentiation, with the party outside the party and faction within the party. Second, the cabinet changes frequently, and the political situation is unstable. Because there are many parties, and the composition of the government depends on the result of the party election mechanism. It is tough for a party to win the majority of votes in a multi-party country. Therefore, the government is often formed by the party alliance, which is very unstable. Once it breaks down, it will cause a government crisis. For example, during the Fourth Republic of France (1946–1958), the government changed 20 times. The most extended term of the government was only more than a year, and the shortest was only two days. Another example is that the Italian government changed 44 times from 1946 to 1983, and the average term of office of each government was about 10 months. Frequent changes of government have a continuous impact on social politics, resulting in constant political instability.

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Third, political parties continue to form party alliances, and with the development of the political situation, party alliances continue to produce new differentiation and combination. Due to the close balance of political parties, to obtain the majority in the election, the main political parties often form a specific political alliance, and after winning the election, the political parties including the alliance divide up the cabinet positions. In the exact political process, the coalition changes with the specific situation. Since the multi-party politics of the bourgeoisie is controlled by the big bourgeoisie, all in all, the multi-party system, in essence, is only a tool to maintain the bourgeoisie’s rule and prevent the working people. 3.

One-party system

The one-party system in capitalist countries refers to a system in which the state power is entirely controlled by a bourgeois political party, and other political parties are not allowed to exist in law. And in fact, there are two types of countries with a bourgeois one-party system; one is a fascist country, the other is a contemporary nationalist country. Fascism is the product of the combination of monopoly capital, feudal autocracy, and militarism. In the 1920s-1930s, the monopoly capital of the capitalist countries such as Japan, Germany, and Italy were facing a comprehensive crisis. To maintain their dominant position, the monopoly bourgeoisie of these countries abandoned the bourgeois democracy. It used their feudal autocracy and militarist cultural tradition to implement full totalitarian rule and one-party autocracy. The fascist one-party system represents the interests and demands of the monopoly capital. All other political parties are banned openly, and the activities of all other political parties and groups are strictly prohibited. The dictatorship of terror and bloody rule are carried out, and violence and massacre are taken as the main means of party rule. The crazy military expansion is carried out. One-party system in contemporary nationalist countries mainly exists in African countries. Most of these countries used to be imperialist colonies. In striving for national independence and developing national capitalism, the leading forces of social politics gradually developed into nationalist political parties and implemented the one-party system. This one party system represents the common interests and demands of the national bourgeoisie, recognizes the rights of citizens and coexists with some democratic procedures such as representative system to varying degrees, maintains political stability with one party in power to ensure social and economic development. It supports the unity and independence of the country and opposes imperialist attempts to split and enslave. Therefore, this one-party system has a specific historical role in the particular social development stage and political background.

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11.2.3 The Political Party System in Socialist Countries The political party system of socialist countries is the primary method and way for proletarian parties to grasp the political power of the country, lead the proletariat and for all the people to carry out socialist revolution and construction, and suppress the resistance of hostile classes. The primary feature of the party system in socialist countries is that the proletarian party is in the leading position. This leadership position is mainly determined by the following factors: First, the historical development process of socialist countries. The socialist government is established by the proletarian party leading the proletariat and the broad working people through the proletarian revolution and struggle. The leading position of the common party in this process is the choice of history and the people. After establishing the socialist country, the top role of the common party in the revolution and struggle will logically change into the ruling party position of the socialist government. Second, the interest structure of socialist countries. Because of the historical, cultural, regional, economic relations, ethnic and other factors, socialist countries have different interests. However, the establishment of socialist economic ties makes the people of socialist countries have common interests. In the interest structure of socialist countries, these common interests have fundamental, overall and longterm significance. To safeguard and realize these kinds of interest, we must have an advanced political party to represent these kinds of interests and act as the social and political leader. This party is the proletarian party. As Xi Jinping pointed out when discussing the political attributes of Communists, “A political party in the west is often represented by a certain class or a certain aspect, and we must represent all the people.”24 Third, the characteristics of the proletarian party. The proletarian party is the representative of the advanced productive forces. It follows the law of historical development, firmly believes in and pursues the common ideal of socialism and the lofty ideal of communism, and takes its responsibility on the realization of a high degree of people’s democracy, social fairness and justice, and the all-round development of human beings based on highly developed social productive forces. The fundamental goal of socialism and communism is the inevitable goal of human being’s liberation of nature and society and the all-around development of human beings. These goals are the necessity of the development of human society’s history. As Xi Jinping pointed out, “Achieving communism is the highest ideal of our Communists, and this highest ideal is the need for generations to struggle.”25 24

Xi Jinping and Obama at Zhongnanhai Yingtai, what exactly did they talk about? People’s Daily, http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2014/1114/c1001-26025214-3.html. 25 Xi Jinping: Being a County Party Committee Secretary Like Jiao Yulu- Speech at the Symposium of the Students of the Training Class of the County Party Committee Secretary of the Central Party School, XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA Volume II, Foreign Language Press, 2017, pp. 142–143.

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Fourth, the cultural development requirements of socialist countries. In socialist development, there are many cultures and ideologies, and the development of socialist society needs the guidance of advanced civilization. Because it is connected with the progressive productive forces and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people. Therefore, the proletarian party represents the progressive culture of social development, which makes the common party in a leading position. Therefore, as Xi Jinping pointed out in the discussion of the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the key to doing well in China lies in the party. “The essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The greatest advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Upholding and improving the party’s leadership is the foundation and lifeblood of the party and the country, and the interests and happiness of all ethnic groups.”26 Due to the different historical conditions of the development of socialist countries, there are also differences in the political party system in socialist countries. From the historical process of developing a socialist government, there are two main types of its party system, namely, the proletarian party leadership system and the multi-party cooperation system under the leadership of the common party. 1.

The leadership system of the proletarian party

The leadership system of the proletarian party means that in a socialist country, the proletarian party is the only legal party and holds the state power. The typical representative of this party system is the Soviet Union before 1989. The proletarian party leadership system of the Soviet Union was formed under specific historical conditions. After the victory of the October Revolution, due to the large population of the petty bourgeoisie, there were also several petty-bourgeois political parties in Soviet Russia. These petty bourgeois political parties also joined the Bolshevik party in the struggle against foreign armed interference. However, from 1918 to the end of 1922, these petty-bourgeois parties openly opposed the leadership of the Bolshevik party, opposed the dictatorship of the proletariat and the socialist revolution, and even launched and participated in the armed rebellion against the Soviet regime, forcing the Bolshevik party to part with them. At the same time, because these petty-bourgeois parties were divided and had many factions, their political power and role gradually weakened The Soviet Union finally formed the proletarian party leadership system. The main characteristics of the leadership system of the common party are as follows: The proletarian party is the only legal party. All kinds of interest relations among the people are solved through the common party’s leadership of various social organizations. The proletarian party, on behalf of the proletariat and the broad masses of the working people, is in charge of the state power alone, and its party members hold the leading positions of the government.

26

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Foreign Language Press, 2017, E-Edition, p. 53.

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In addition to the Soviet Union before 1989, Romania, Hungary before 1989, and Albania before 1990, all practiced the leadership system of proletarian political parties. 2.

The system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of proletarian political parties

The system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the proletarian party refers to the method in which the common party takes cooperation and political consultation with other parties as an essential way of supervision in a socialist country. A typical example of this is the multi-party cooperation system under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China came into being and developed in the historical process of the Chinese revolution. During the democratic revolution, the objects of the Chinese course were imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism, while the national bourgeoisie, petty bourgeoisie, and their intellectuals were the allies of the course. As the representatives of their interests, the democratic parties actively cooperated with the Communist Party. They participated in the democratic revolutionary struggle, thus laying the historical foundation for the multi-party cooperation and political consultation system under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. After establishing the socialist system, with the changes of social class structure and social structure, the original democratic parties have become the representatives of some of the Socialist Workers and patriots they contact. They support the leadership of the Communist Party and participate in socialist construction, which has become the realistic foundation of the multi-party cooperation and political consultation system led by the Communist Party of China. It is on this basis that China’s political party system has been constantly improved and developed. The characteristics of the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China are as follows: (1)

(2)

In the national political life, in addition to the Communist Party of China, there are eight other political parties, namely, the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, the China Democratic League, the China Democratic Foundation Association, the China Democratic Promotion Association, the China Rural Workers Democratic Party, the China Party for Public Interest, the Jiusan Society, and the Taiwan Democratic Self-government League. These political parties are legal parties and active forces in socialist political life. The Communist Party of China enjoys a recognized leading position and is the ruling party, while other political parties are participating parties.

“The essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The greatest advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Communist Party of China.”27 27

Xi Jinping: Decisively Win the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects, and Win the Great Victory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era- A Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Daily (October 28, 2017).

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Therefore, the leadership of the Communist Party of China is the political basis of China’s party system. The leadership of the Communist Party of China includes political, ideological, and organizational leadership. Adhering to the political leadership of the Communist Party of China means sticking to the core position of administration of the Communist Party of China in taking overall responsibility and coordinating all parties, following the basic stand, viewpoint, and method of Marxism, reflecting the requirements of the times and the will of the people by China’s national conditions, political conditions, social conditions, and people’s conditions, determining and formulating political objectives, political lines, principles and policies, and going through legal procedures. Adhering to the ideological leadership of the Communist Party of China means persisting in educating all Party members and the people with Marxist theory, constantly arousing their ideological consciousness, publicizing and mobilizing them to work hard to realize common interests. Adhering to the organizational leadership of the Communist Party of China means sticking to and playing the role of the political core and Battle Fortress of the party organization, playing the vanguard role of party members, training, selecting, assessing, and supervising leading cadres, recommending them to state organs, implementing the party’s mass line, and ensuring the implementation of the party’s line, principles and policies. In the new era, there is a dialectical unity between adhering to the leadership of the Communist Party of China and improving the party’s leadership. Adhering to the party’s leadership essentially means that the Communist Party of China is the leading core of the socialist cause. Improving the party’s leadership is to strengthen the party’s leadership and ruling style, and strengthen and improve the party’s ruling ability. They promote and interact with each other to ensure the party’s overall leadership. The Communist Party of China exercises not only ideological, political, and organizational leadership over the government, but also political leadership overall democratic parties. The primary contents of democratic parties’ active participation in the discussion of state affairs include: participating in the consultation of national policies and candidates for national leadership, participating in the management of national affairs, participating in the formulation and implementation of national policies, laws, and regulations, and participating in state power. The institutions, ways, and means for democratic parties to join in and discuss state affairs are as follows: the People’s Congress, the People’s Political Consultative Conference, regular or irregular symposiums between the Communist Party of China, and personages of various democratic parties holding leading positions in the government, etc. (2)

The relationship between the Communist Party of China and the democratic parties is consultation, cooperation, and mutual supervision. Different from the political competition like mutual strife and mutual disintegration in the party politics of capitalist countries, the multi-party cooperation system under the leadership of the Communist Party of China is built around the general goal of creating a socialist modern government based on the coordination of various interest relations, which determines that the relationship between the Communist Party of China and the democratic parties and between democratic

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parties themselves is harmonious. And their political activities are carried out through consultation and cooperation. On the other hand, there is a relationship of mutual supervision between the Communist Party of China and the democratic Party. The primary criterion of such leadership lies in whether their respective political decisions and behaviors are conducive to the development of the socialist cause and whether they are conducive to the proper coordination and implementation of the people’s interests. The relationship between the Communist Party of China and the democratic parties and its operation mode is positive and constructive, which undoubtedly ensures the stability and harmony of China’s socialist construction. In the new era, the relationship of cooperation and consultation between the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the democratic parties is essentially the relationship between the consistency of fundamental interests and the diversity of interests. Therefore, to adhere to the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, we should “correctly handle the relationship between consistency and diversity, and the key is to persist in seeking common ground while reserving differences.”. On the one hand, we should constantly consolidate the shared ideological and political foundation, including reducing the existing consensus and promoting a new agreement, which is the basis and premise. On the other hand, we should give full play to democracy, respect and tolerate differences.”28 According to these characteristics, the Communist Party of China puts forward “long-term coexistence, mutual supervision, sincere treatment with each other and the sharing of weal or woe,” and treat it as the basic principle of the multi-party cooperation system under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, which has also become the basic principle of the relationship between the Communist Party of China and the democratic parties. China’s Chinese Communist China, led by the CPC’s multi-party cooperation and political consultation system, is a new type of party system with Chinese characteristics. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the multi-party collaboration and political consultation system led by the CPC is a fundamental political system in China and a tremendous political creation of the Chinese Communist Party, China’s people, and democratic parties, and independents. The new political party system in recent years has the following new features: First of all, it is the combination of Marxist party theory and China’s reality. It can genuinely, widely, and persistently represent and realize the fundamental interests of the broad masses and all aspects of interest demands, and effectively avoid the disadvantages of the old party system of representing a small number of people and interest groups. Secondly, it uses the mechanism of cooperation and political consultation to unite all political parties and personages of non-party closely and strive for the common goal, effectively avoiding the disadvantages of one party’s lack of supervision, or multi-party’s taking turns in power vicious competition. 28

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 303.

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Third, through institutionalized, procedural, and standardized political consultation and deliberative democratic institutional arrangements, it brings together opinions and suggestions from all sides, promotes scientific and democratic decisionmaking, and effectively avoids the disadvantages of the old political parties’ decision-making and administration caused by party, class, regional and group interests. The system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China is of great significance to China’s socialist construction: it is conducive to the coordination of various interest relations and the resolution of various interest contradictions based on consistent fundamental interests; it is conducive to the mobilization of the enthusiasm of all parties and the gathering of all forces in the building of socialism; it is conducive to the construction of socialist democratic politics and the strengthening of socialist democracy The conscientization and democratization of political decision-making can protect people’s political rights and prevent political corruption; it is conducive to the positive and healthy development of socialist politics, to create a stable and harmonious political environment for socialist construction.

Chapter 12

Political Associations

12.1 The Meanings and Characteristics of Political Associations 12.1.1 The Definition of Political Associations Political organization is an essential political phenomenon in modern political life and an essential part of the modern political system. However, in the study of political science, there is a little clear definition of the connotation of political organization. People often equate the concepts of an interest group, pressure group, and the lobby with political organization. However, from the perspective of actual political life, the meaning of political organization is different from that of these concepts. First, political associations are various from interest groups. Interest groups are social groups in which people with specific common interests combine and take joint actions for everyday purposes. Interest groups may or may not be involved in social and political life. Only the groups involved in political life and try to realize their own interests by influencing the government’s policies and behaviors are political organizations. Secondly, political organizations are different from pressure groups. A pressure group is to exert political pressure on the government and government officials to achieve their interests. It is the general way of capitalist social-political organizations to achieve their interests and requirements, reflecting the opposition between different interests of capitalist countries and between other interests and the government. However, pressure groups cannot summarize and reflect the nature, activity mode, and interest relationship characteristics of political organizations in socialist countries. The concept of political community is a general generalization of social interest groups that influence political decision-making in different societies. Third, political organizations are other from the lobby. The lobby refers to the interest group in the capitalist countries that tries to influence the parliament to formulate and amend bills. It is a pressure group in the capitalist countries that exerts political influence and pressure on the parliament in a specific way. Because the pressure group in capitalist © Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_12

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countries exerts pressure not only on the Parliament, but also on the executive and judicial departments, it is necessary to strengthen the court’s power. However, the extension of the lobby is smaller than that of pressure groups, and smaller than that of political groups. Based on the above analysis, we can define political organizations as social organizations that are organized to participate in and influence the process of government policy-making, change, and implementation by specific interests in social and political life. In a sense, political organization is not a political phenomenon in modern politics. As early as the Middle Ages in western Europe, various handicraft guilds and political guilds represented people with different interests and influenced social and political life. However, the role and influence of such organizations in political life at that time were weak. Their members did not have clear political consciousness, so they were different from the political organizations in modern political life. In contemporary social and political life, the political community has been dramatically developed. It has become an indispensable part of the social and political system, which has an essential impact on political life and the formulation and implementation of government policies. The formation of political organizations is not only the requirement of social and political relations, but also the embodiment of the organization and system of political participation: First, from the perspective of social interest relations, there are all kinds of social relations in social life, thus forming all types of interests and interest relations. The diversity of social relations makes social interest relations present specific structures and hierarchies. Therefore, if we say that the state is based on the common social interests with class interests as the essence and common interests as the form, and the political party is a political organization and institutional structure based on class interests or class interests, then the political organization is an organization and institutional form based on a variety of social relations and their interest relations. It is the organization and system embodiment of the interests of various social relations and social structure levels beyond the common interests of the society. To realize or maintain these interests through political power and rights, people often form specific groups and intervene in the political process. Second, from the perspective of the role of political power, since modern times, significantly since the current, the status and role of political power in social life have dramatically expanded and strengthened, and the government’s policies have a profound and massive impact on all aspects of social life. In capitalist countries, after capitalism developed from the stage of free competition to the set of monopoly capitalism, monopoly groups are directly combined with state power. The government directly intervenes in economic life and social life on a large scale, which dramatically expands the scope of the government’s role in social life and improves the degree of its role, so that all social strata, groups, industries, regions and so on can be separated to realize their interests. They focus on political power and the government’s public policy to a large extent, to organize specific associations and influence public policy. In socialist countries, political power represents the fundamental interests of all the

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people, and political decision-making is related to the interests of all the people, which makes the people ask to express their specific interests and requirements to political power in a particular way of community organization, and then realize the interests of the people through political power. Third, from the perspective of the role of political rights, in social and political life, political organizations are the embodiment of citizens’ political rights. However, in the historical process of social and political development, the emergence, development, and function of political organizations are based on democratic politics. Democratic Politics in capitalist society is essentially bourgeois democracy. However, because it takes the form of democracy on the surface and gives citizens legal political rights, it provides possibilities and conditions for the formation and activities of political organizations. On the other hand, capitalist democratic politics implements the separation of powers. The powers with different functions are often used by various interest groups and classes in the capitalist society to serve themselves. Therefore, the separation and balance of powers provide the possibility for the realization of the form of citizens’ political rights, for citizens to organize political organizations according to the requirements of political rights, and for political organizations to seek effective ways to influence politics. The essence of democratic politics in socialist society means that the proletariat and the working people are masters of the country and that the political rights of the people are genuinely and equally realized. Political organization is an essential social organization and institutional form for citizens in a socialist society to participate in social and political life, learn people’s political rights, form policies serving people’s interests in favor of public power, and help these policies put into practice. Therefore, the socialist political organization is the necessary organization and system for the proper and equal realization of socialist citizens’ political rights, and the embodiment of the organization and method of citizens’ political participation in socialist society. It is not only produced under the conditions of socialist democracy, but also an integral part of the socialist democratic system.

12.1.2 The Characteristics of Political Associations As a specific social and political organization, a political association has the following common characteristics: 1.

The interests and goals of political organizations are single and specific

Political organizations take specific interests as their foundation of formation. There are two ways to form such specific interests: First, it is formed based on all kinds of social relations among social members. As we pointed out in the analysis of the structure of human social interests, people not only form class relations based on the demand for the possession of means of production, but also form a variety of social relations according to different social

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characteristics and needs. These social characteristics include age, gender, occupation, income, living area, specific social experience, and status, etc. The interests of various political organizations are formed based on these relations. Second, it is the common interest of social members in the specific interest relationship. On the one hand, in the particular interest relationship, social members will form specific common interests, such as specific groups, strata, nationalities, etc., with specific common interests. On the other hand, in social life, social members in different social relations and interest relations will form standard requirements and views on specific social and political issues related to their interests, and develop common interests on this basis. These two ways and means of forming the specific interests of political organizations make the interest requirements and goals of political organizations more single and detailed than those of the state, political parties, and other political organizations. It is either the interest requirements of a specific part of the society, rather than the vital interests of all members of the society, or the interests of members of the community around a specific social and political organization. The interests formed by problems are not the interests created by all social and political problems. Therefore, for the members of political organizations, their interests are relatively straightforward, direct, and specific. 2.

Political association is a political organization formed by social members according to specific rules

Political organizations are the organizational and institutional entities in the social and political system. Therefore, from the loosest and temporary political organizations to the most rigorous and long-standing political organizations, they all have specific organizational forms. This characteristic of political organization is different from that of a social-political group. The latter is often only a natural or artificial gathering of specific political members, and does not have a particular organizational form. The internal organizational structure of political organizations is different in different social and political backgrounds. For example, the organizational structure of capitalist social and political organizations is generally loose, and their activities are changeable. In contrast, the organizational structure of socialist social and political organizations is relatively tight, and their actions are fairly standardized. At the same time, the degree of strictness of the internal organizational structure of political organizations is also other due to the different status and roles of other political organizations in social and political life. Generally speaking, political organizations, which are more important in social and political life, play a more significant role and influence, are more closely organized than other political organizations. The composition of the members of political associations generally follows the principle of self-consciousness and voluntariness. The members of political organizations can voluntarily participate in or withdraw from specific political organizations according to their interests. Within the scope of political organizations, their members enjoy equal rights in a name or fact and undertake particular obligations. However, members of political organizations can have all kinds of membership at the same time. For example, members of the Communist Youth League of China,

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the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the All-China Women’s Federation, and so on. Members of the Veterans Council of the United States can also be members of the All-China Peasant Association. Political organizations allow their members to have multiple memberships of similar organizations simultaneously, which is one of the characteristics of political organizations different from political parties. In general, a political party does not allow its members to have multiple party identities simultaneously. 3.

Political organizations participate in the government’s policy process, and influence the formulation, revision and implementation of government policies

In social life, social members and social groups have many ways to realize their interests. For example, they can strive for and learn their interests and requirements through market exchange, negotiation between the two sides, and non-governmental consultation. One of the essential characteristics of political organizations is that they take government policies, guidelines, regulations, and even judgments as to their activities. The goal of the exercise is to participate in and influence the formulation, revision, and implementation of these policies, guidelines, regulations, and even judgments. Therefore, political organizations realize or safeguard their interests through political channels, which is the difference between political organizations and social organizations that recognize their interests through non-political channels. On the other hand, political organizations realize and safeguard their interests through political channels, which is limited by participating in and influencing the government’s policies, guidelines, regulations, and even judgments. It does not make acquiring or holding political power as a means to realize its interests. At the same time, it generally does not have its political program. Because of this, political organizations are different from political organizations of political parties. 4.

Political organizations are mass political organizations

Although political organizations are the organizational elements of the socialpolitical system, they are mass political organizations, not part of the government. The mass characteristic of political organizations is mainly reflected in the following aspects: First, the membership of political organizations has mass characteristics. “Mass character is the basic characteristic of mass organizations.”1 In addition to specific unique political associations, in general, political organizations do not require their members to have specific advanced character, but need their members to have specific interests and to fulfill their particular rights and obligations. Therefore, the members of political organizations have a broad mass character. Second, political organizations serve the specific interests of the masses. To realize the particular interests of the groups is the starting point of specific political organizations. In actual social and political life, it is the primary political role of the political association to act as the representative and defender of the specific interests of the masses. 1

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, E-Edition, p. 301.

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Third, the goals, policies, activities, and internal organization of a political association are decided by the masses themselves through specific procedures and rules. Therefore, a political association is the organization of the masses themselves. Fourth, political organizations have direct and extensive ties with specific masses. Political organizations directly represent the interests of a specific part or aspect of the masses, and their members are now composed of these masses. In these senses, political organizations are equal to living among ordinary people, now feeling their life, emotions, attitudes, and requirements, so they are closely related to them.

12.2 Types of Political Associations 12.2.1 Technical Classification of Political Associations In modern political life, there are a large number of political organizations. To understand and grasp the nature and characteristics of different political organizations, people have classified them according to different standards. In these classifications, there are mainly two types, the technical category based on the specific external characteristics of political associations and the social nature classification based on the social attributes of political associations. The so-called technical classification is mainly based on the specific external characteristics of political organizations, and the standard to divide political organizations are: 1.

According to the interests maintained and pursued by political organizations

According to the interests maintained and pursued by political organizations, political organizations are often divided into political organizations that maintain or pursue special interests and political organizations that maintain or pursue public interests. The political organizations which maintain or pursue special interests take the maintenance and promotion of their specific economic, political and social interests as the goal, and achieve this goal through specific political activities. The goods they maintain and pursue focus on the particular requirements of particular members of the club, generally cannot cover all members of the society, do not include public social interests. Such political organizations as the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, the National Agricultural Movement, China’s Trade Unions, the chamber of commerce and industry, etc. Political organizations that maintain or pursue public interests generally realize or promote public interests related to all members of society through political activities. They belong to this type of political organization, such as social and political organizations that demand environmental protection, advocate peace and oppose war, clean demand government, protect consumers’ rights and interests, oppose the death penalty and nuclear weapons.

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According to the specific social characteristics of the members of political organizations

According to one aspect of the social characteristics of political organizations, political organizations can be divided into industrial workers, business owners, farmers, farm operators, teachers, students, people of color, women, youth, veterans, people with religious faith and other political organizations. It is a common standard for the masses to identify political organizations according to the specific social characteristics in real political life. However, this standard often makes the types of political organizations extremely diverse, and it is difficult to achieve the requirements of people’s classification and identification of political organizations. At the same time, because people’s specific interests are often associated with their particular social characteristics, this division method is only from the perspective of political community members. 3.

According to the degree of autonomy of political associations

According to the degree of autonomy, political organizations can be divided into entirely autonomous political organizations, dependent political organizations, and cooperative political organizations. A completely independent political association means that when engaging in political activities to protect and promote the interests of its members, and it does not rely on the will of other political organizations, but is entirely independent of other political organizations, like independent trade unions in capitalist countries. Another kind of political organization is a collective member of a political party, or an organization under the party’s leadership. The interests it represents are subordinate to the interests of the party to which it belongs, and its political activities depend on the party’s will to a certain extent. These political organizations are so-called dependent political organizations. This kind of political organization is more common in France, Italy, and other countries. In a socialist government, the interests of political organizations are subordinate to the fundamental interests of the party and the state, and they must accept the leadership of the Communist Party. They are also dependent political organizations. Cooperative political organizations are typical in Scandinavian countries in Europe. Various major on political organizations, such as those in labor, industry, and commerce, and agriculture, have regular contact with the government. They form a specific Negotiation Committee to formulate policies through negotiation, which is often called political corporatism. 4.

According to the legal status of political organizations

According to the legal status of political organizations, political organizations can be divided into legitimate political organizations and criminal political organizations. Legitimate political organizations refer to political organizations that carry out activities in a fair way on the premise that national laws recognize their existence and activities. Generally speaking, a large number of political organizations in political life are legitimate political organizations. Illegal political organizations are political organizations that are formed without legal permission and operate in an illegal way, such as unlawful guilds, gangs, terrorist organizations, conspiracy and intelligence

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organizations that are involved in the political process and influence policy decisions and implementation. The technical division of political organization provides help for people to understand it. However, to grasp the social nature of different political organizations, we must also classify them into social attributes, that is, to put them into a specific political relationship and social-political background. According to this classification, political organizations can be divided into pressure groups in capitalist society and political organizations in socialist society.

12.2.2 Pressure Groups in Capitalist Society Thr pressure group, also known as a political interest group, is the main form of capitalist social and political organizations. It means that those people with specific interest requirements and social and political opinions influence the formulation, revision, and implementation of government policies by pressure to protect their interests and ideas. The pressure group in capitalist society is formed based on capitalist private ownership, and it is the organizational embodiment of the interesting relationship started based on capitalist economic relations. Capitalist private ownership and its distribution relationship make the diversification of people’s needs and interests caused by the social division of labor and technological development become the antagonistic interest relationship between people in a capitalist society, and form various political interest groups of mutual struggle, mutual contention, and mutual strife, as James Madison wrote in The Federalist Papers, “Party struggle means some citizens… They are against the rights of other citizens, or the permanent and collective interests of society. “2 And “he most common and lasting cause of Party strife is the difference and inequality of property distribution. Property owners and proletarians always form different interest groups in society. The same is true of creditors and debtors. Groups of landowners, manufacturing groups, merchant groups, financial groups, and many smaller groups are bound to form in civilized countries, thus dividing them into different classes and being dominated by different emotions and opinions.”.3 The “party struggle” here also includes the struggle of interest groups. A capitalist social pressure group is the product of monopoly capitalist political development. As mentioned earlier, when capitalism developed to the monopoly stage, monopoly groups directly combined with the state, and political power intervened in social and economic life, which significantly strengthened their role and influence. On the one hand, this kind of political situation has dramatically increased the attention of all social classes, strata, groups, and factions to political power and 2

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay. (1980). Federalist Papers. The Commercial Press, p. 45. 3 Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay. (1980). Federalist Papers. The Commercial Press, p. 47.

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government decision-making. On the other hand, because monopoly consortia are closely combined with political power, it is not enough to influence the direction, scope, strength„ and decision-making process of political power only by relying on the traditional individual vote and representative system. Different classes, levels, groups, factions, and so on, in addition to using capitalist party politics, have to adapt and develop pressure groups as a specific political and social group to influence political power and government decision-making. It can be seen that the pressure group is the further development of capitalist democratic politics in the monopoly period, and is a supplement to the traditional bourgeois-democratic political system with universal suffrage, representative system, and party politics as the main contents. Capitalist social pressure groups have the general characteristics of political organizations, but also have their features. These characteristics are as follows: First, there are many kinds of pressure groups. With the development of capitalism, the number of pressure groups in its political life is increasing. The most typical one is the United States. According to the official statistics of the United States, there were 17,644 non-profit social groups in the United States in 1983, most of which were pressure groups. At the same time, there are more and more kinds of pressure groups, which not only involve all walks of life, but also have foreign interest pressure groups, which not only involve major social problems, but also involve people’s hobbies. Second, pressure groups have a wide range of activities. In the beginning, the main target of pressure groups as members of Parliament, and most of their activities focused on influencing the legislative process. With the development of capitalist politics, the scope of activities of pressure groups has been dramatically expanded. It not only affects the actions of Parliament, but also exerts influence on the administrative process and judicial process. At the same time, it also involves the election and appointment of members, executive heads and judges, and affects the activities of political parties. In many capitalist countries, “Interest group is a basic factor,” and “Organized interest group is a part of American political life.”4 Third, pressure groups have opposite interests and repel each other in political activities. The pressure groups in capitalist society are based on the contradiction of class interests. Therefore, some pressure groups representing the interests of the working class and the working people in capitalist society are opposed to the bourgeois pressure groups and the bourgeois government. Secondly, within the bourgeoisie, in addition to maintaining the private ownership of capital and dealing with the proletariat and the working people, different classes and factions share the same interests, and their other interests are mutually exclusive and antagonistic. On this basis, various interest groups, as well as between them and the government, are also fighting against each other. The opposition and exclusion between pressure groups in capitalist society mainly influence politics in the form of pressure. Fourth, pressure groups have specific legal status. Pressure groups have become an essential part of the capitalist political system. By capitalist countries often give pressure groups a legal basis and use special laws to control them. For example, the 4

David B. Truman. (2005). The Governmental Process: Political Interests and Public Opinion. Tianjin People’s Publishing House, pp. 9–11.

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emergence and role of American pressure groups are mainly based on the provisions of the first amendment of the US Constitution: “Citizens have the right to peaceful assembly and appeal to the government to correct injustice.” In 1946, the U.S. federal court enacted a more comprehensive “Federal Law on the Management of Extramural Activities” to precisely manage the extramural activities of pressure groups. Capitalist social pressure groups have not changed the nature of capitalist social politics. Although the capitalist pressure group provides away and form for the working people to express their interests and engage in legal, political struggle, it has not changed the fundamental interest basis of capitalism private ownership of capital, nor the pattern of monopoly groups or even a few political and economic oligarchs controlling politics. Based on private ownership, these monopolies and oligarchs not only hold political power, but also form pressure groups representing their interests or dominate other pressure groups, which makes the whole social pressure group politics “highly selective and unable to serve various scattered interests. This system has obvious tendentiousness, abundant capital, and no representativeness. It helps the interests of a few people.”5 Therefore, it is better to say that the pressure group is a change of bourgeois ruling methods, which in the final analysis serves its political rule.

12.2.3 Political Associations in Socialist Society The political organizations in socialist society are formed and operated based on socialist economic and social relations. Public ownership of production means it is the essential feature of socialist economic relations. It is based on public ownership that the people have formed fundamental common interests. On the other hand, the existence of a variety of economic components in the socialist society, and other social relations created by people according to nationality, region, occupation, age, gender, and so on, leading to interest differences and contradictions among the people. To realize various interests by participating in the political process based on the common fundamental interests, the people not only play the role of participating parties connected with a specific part of the masses, but also organize different political associations to enter the political process in the form of associations. The background of social and economic relations and interest relations in the formation and operation of socialist social and political organizations determines that they genuinely reflect and represent the people’s interests. At the same time, different political organizations and other political organizations have the common interests of supporting socialism and building socialism. The relationship between them is non-confrontational and non-competitive, so its operation mode is also harmonious. In addition, the activities of political organizations are subject to the fundamental

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E.E. Schattschneider. (2000). The Semisovereign People: A Realist’s View of Democracy in America. Tianjin People’s Publishing House, p. 34.

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interests of all the people, and take the existence and realization of these fundamental interests as the premise of their existence and activities. There is a close relationship between the socialist social and political organizations and the socialist state power. According to the interests it represents, the socialist social and political organizations should realize the specific interests of different social groups. Therefore, it is a social mass political organization. According to the requirements of the socialist interest relationship, it has to realize its specific interests based on learning the fundamental interest requirements, and coordinate the relationship between the two, which makes it a part of the state power system. The dual identity of the socialist social-political association makes it not wholly independent from the social organization outside the state power system, but the quasi subject of political management: It has the specific power of political leadership, implements the government’s policies and decrees, and at the same time, it also deals with the contradictions between its members and other groups in a specific way among members. It has greatly strengthened and tightened the connections between political organizations and the government. Under the leadership of the Communist Party, the socialist social and political organizations are the intermediary to realize the connection between the party and the people. The Communist Party is the vanguard of the proletariat, the representative of the fundamental interests of the proletariat and the working people, and the leading political force of the socialist society. Political organizations are the bridge linking the party and the masses of all parts of society and their specific interests, because “without some” transmission devices “that connect the vanguard with the masses of the progressive class and the working masses, it cannot be realized dictatorship.”6 It can be seen that the relationship between the Communist Party and the socialist social and political organizations is that of leading and being led. “Our trade unions, the Communist Youth League, women’s federations and other mass organizations are mass organizations directly led by the party, and bear the great responsibility of organizing and mobilizing the masses to work together to complete the party’s central task.”.7 Therefore, “We must do an excellent job of the party’s mass work from the political height of consolidating the party’s ruling class basis and mass basis, and ensure that the party always breathes with the broad masses of the people, shares a shared destiny, and his heart to heart. We must make the mass organizations more energetic, more robust, and powerful, and make them a significant force in promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.”8 Socialist social and political organizations are also critical organizational forms for the proletariat and the working people to exercise their democratic rights and learn political management. The socialist political organization itself is not a unique democratic facility in the national political power system. Still,it can provide and create conditions for different people to enter political life and exercise their democratic 6

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 40. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 201. XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Foreign Language Press, 2017, E-Edition P300. 8 XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, E-Edition, p. 299. 7

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rights. At the same time, socialist social and political organizations are organizations that people learn politics, acquire political knowledge and skills, and thus lay the foundation on participating in or directly managing state affairs. Just as Lenin pointed out when he discussed the role of trade unions in socialist countries at that time: “From all aspects, the trade union is a school, a school of learning unity, harmony, to protect one’s interests, to preside over the economy, and to manage.”9 At present, the most important political organizations in China are Trade Unions, Youth and Women’s Organizations: 1.

Trade Union

The China Trade Union is a mass organization of the working class under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, a bridge and link between the party and the masses of workers, and an essential social pillar of the socialist state power.10 The primary duties of trade unions are to reflect and safeguard the goods of the masses of workers, coordinate the relationship between such interests and the interests of the state and the collective, educate the groups of workers themselves, and supervise the work of enterprises and government departments. China Trade Unions implement the organizational principle of combining industry with region. That is, each member of the grass-roots unit organizes a grass-roots trade union. A specific department or similar department establishes an industrial trade union or working committee according to the needs, the trade union of the state administrative units such as provinces, cities, autonomous regions, and counties is the highest trade union organization in the local area, and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions is the highest trade union organization in the whole country. 2.

Youth Organization

The most important national political organizations composed of Chinese youth are the Communist Youth League of China, the All-China Youth Federation, and the All-China Students’ Federation. The Communist Youth League of China is a mass organization of advanced Chinese youth, an assistant and reserve force of the Communist Party of China, and a school for child to learn communism. Its primary duty is to organize young people to learn Marxism and modern scientific and cultural knowledge, guide young people to join the cause of socialist construction, and make young people become educated workers with socialist consciousness. Its organization includes congresses at all levels and the committees because of that. The All-China Youth Federation is a collaborative organization of all youth organizations in China. It must unite the youth of all ethnic groups and all walks of life in the cause of socialist construction. It is comprises the Communist Youth League of China, the All-China students’ Federation, the All-China Christian Youth Association, the All-China Christian Women’s Youth Association, and the Youth organizations of provinces, cities, and autonomous regions. The highest organ of power is 9

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 40. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 294. XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Foreign Language Press, 2014, E-Edition P38.

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the National Committee, composed of representatives selected and specially invited by member organizations. When the committee is in recess, its standing committee will preside over its work. The All-China Student Union is a joint organization of the national student union of colleges and universities. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, its primary responsibilities are to unite the students of colleges and universities all over the country, implement the party’s education policy, organize and promote the learning and sports activities of college students, promote their all-round development, at the same time, safeguard and reflect the interests and requirements of college students, and communicate with the government and college students. Its organization is composed of the student union and graduate student union of all colleges and universities in China, and the highest authority is the National Student Union Congress. 3.

Women’s organizations

China’s women’s political organizations are mainly the All-China Women’s Federation, which is the mass organization of women. Its primary responsibilities are to safeguard the rights and interests of women and children, mobilize and educate women to participate in the cause of socialist construction actively. The All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF) implements the group membership system. The women’s workers’ committees, family members’ committees or women’s committees of all units or systems, and patriotic women’s organizations constitute the members of ACWF. The highest organ of power of the All-China Women’s Federation is the National Women’s Congress, which forms the Executive Committee of the Women’s Federation. When Congress is not in session, the executive committee leads and presides over the daily work.

12.3 The Functions of Political Associations in Political Life 12.3.1 The Manner of Political Associations Functions First, the purpose of political organizations in political life is to influence policies through a series of activities of interest expression, to safeguard and promote the interests they pursue. In different countries and historical stages, there will be significant differences in the face of the interests of political organizations. But generally speaking, there are two ways of action of political organizations: capitalist society and socialist society. In the capitalist society, there are two ways of action of political organizations: usual way and strange way. The so-called usual way means that political organizations use conventional, nonconfrontational means and legal ways to express their interests. In modern society, most political systems have different degrees of openness, and many political systems

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recognize the status of political organizations and protect their interest expression. In this kind of political system, political organizations tend to take regular and legal means to express their interests, to safeguard and promote their interests more effectively and decently. In the usual way, it can be divided into direct expression and indirect expression. The direct phrase refers to direct communication with people who participate in the government’s public decision-making. The specific ways can be summarized as follows: First is that representatives of political organizations or full-time extracurricular activities directly lobby those who participate in decision-making. This is the most common and essential way of interest expression in western developed countries, especially in the United States. Here, the people who participate in decision-making mainly refer to members of Parliament and government administrative officials. Lobbying for members by political organizations mainly refers to direct contact with members and their assistants to state the group’s position, views, and degree of attention to the motion under consideration. Political groups also lobbied government officials directly. The administrative departments of many countries have also taken relevant measures to this end, sending special personnel to dialogue with political interest groups. For example, the executive branch of the French government has an advisory body, which specially organizes representatives of political organizations to listen to their lobbying face to face and debate some significant issues. The second is to provide information and intelligence for government public decision-makers. Government officials and members often need accurate and reliable information and intelligence when making decisions. At this time, political organizations can take advantage of the gap, adapt to their requirements, and provide them with information and intelligence on relevant issues in time, to influence the government’s public policy. The ways of providing information and intelligence include sending people to help government officials or members conduct particular research, help them draft bills and reports, attend hearings of legislative committees and subcommittees, express opinions on relevant statements, participate in various government advisory committees, or provide relevant information through Internet and e-mail. The third is that hold social activities to communicate with government officials and members. Social activities are an essential means for political organizations to get along well with government officials and members of Parliament. In capitalist countries, all kinds of political organizations attach great importance to the relationship with government officials and members of Parliament. After establishing a harmonious relationship, they can carry out in-depth lobbying activities more efficiently. In the United States, all kinds of political organizations and extra murals often arrange various social activities for government officials and congress members according to their different hobbies, such as inviting them to a particular place for vacation and so on. Fourth, support the campaign of government officials and members. In the process of the election campaign, political organizations support candidates who can represent or endorse their interests to be elected or appointed by current members by

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supporting the nomination of candidates, providing political donations, assisting voters in registering, and mobilizing voters to vote. Indirect interest expression means that political organizations use their members, public opinion tools, or other organizations to influence public decision-makers. This is a roundabout but effective means of interest expression. In western capitalist countries, all kinds of political organizations mobilize their members and even mobilize voters in relevant constituencies to lobby, such as mobilizing members and voters to write letters, send e-mails, make phone calls and even visit members of parliament; using mass media tools to create public opinion; forming alliances and united front with other political organizations; and even going beyond the government’s public decision-making The policymakers directly appeal to the general public to vote on a specific issue, such as issuing a public proposal, holding a referendum of their own opinions, etc. In addition to the above-mentioned standard ways of expression, the political organizations in capitalist countries often resort to some strange and compulsory forms of interest expression. Some of these expressions are legal, while others are illegal. Legal ways include judicial proceedings, legal demonstrations, and protests. Illegal coercive means include coups, terrorist activities, and banned demonstrations. In capitalist countries, influential political organizations are usually willing and able to use the regular expression of interests to achieve their interests. However, some political organizations are underprivileged. Although they are willing to use the normal way to achieve their own interests, they are often unable to do so, so they turn to the abnormal expression of goods with a specific mandatory nature. They either appeal to the court to file an administrative lawsuit, accusing the administrative organ of carrying out a certain government’s public decision and damaging their interests; or they take more compulsory means, such as go on strike, cease the trade, boycott classes, sit in, demonstration, mass conference, leaflet distribution, etc. In western countries, many powerless and weak political organizations adopt these methods, and have achieved some success. For example, in the early 1960s, African American organizations held protests for equal rights. Finally, they forced the US Congress to pass the civil rights legislation in 1964, thus protecting the interests of African Americans. In developed capitalist countries, political organizations generally do not use coups or terror to express their interests. However, many countries in the world had or still had closed political systems. The regular expression of interests of political organizations was suppressed, or only limited to a few powerful classes. Under such high-pressure politics, all kinds of political organizations can only express their interests through illegal means, illegal demonstrations, or terrorist means such as assassination, explosion, hijacking, kidnapping, or even extreme means such as violence and coup. In many countries of the third world, political turmoil and military coups are typical examples of various political organizations intervening in the political process illegally and influencing the government’s public policies. In socialist countries, the fundamental interests of all political organizations, political parties, and the state are the same, and political organizations play their roles on this basis. The main ways of action are as follows:

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First, political organizations participate in People’s Congresses and CPPCC meetings at all levels through their representatives to discuss and decide on state affairs. In China, on the one hand, deputies to the people’s congresses at all levels attach importance to the overall interests of the people; on the other hand, they represent the interests of the masses in their regions, industries, departments, and groups and reflect their voices. This enables political organizations to remember their interests through the People’s Congress and other legitimate channels, and affects the national legislation and policy-making. The second is to participate in the research and decision-making of policies and resolutions of the central and local Party organizations, governments, or relevant departments. In China, the Secretary of the Communist Youth League is generally a member of the Party committee at the same level and can attend major meetings of governments and Party committees at all levels. Leaders of women’s federations and trade unions can also participate specific meetings of Party committees, governments and relevant departments at all levels. Through these meetings, the political associations not only closely cooperate with the work of Party committees, governments, and relevant departments at all levels, but also actively reflect the voices and demands of their members, thus affecting the policy-making of the party and the government. Third, to participate in the work and activities of the central and local governments at all levels and the specialized agencies related to the interests of youth, women, and workers. For example, the Communist Youth League participates in the recruitment work of the Ministry of people’s armed forces, and the Women’s Federation participates in the protection of women’s rights and interests of the Ministry of civil affairs. Our political organizations can also realize their interests by participating in these work and activities. Fourth, supervise the work of state administrative organs and their staff. In China, political organizations have the right to oversee the work of state administrative organs and their team, so that they can effectively implement government decrees concerning the interests of their members. For example, the trade union law of our country stipulates that the trade union has the right and responsibility to supervise the administrative organs to implement the government decrees concerning the interests of workers. Therefore, trade unions in China can mobilize and organize the masses of workers to supervise the implementation of government laws and regulations concerning vital interests, such as labor protection, labor insurance, labor system, wage distribution, housing management, and market prices, to safeguard the specific interests of workers. In addition, political organizations such as the Communist Youth League, trade unions, and Women’s Federations often hold symposiums and joint meetings with governments at the same level to report on their specific work, study and solve specific problems reflected by political organizations such as the Communist Youth League, trade unions and Women’s Federations.

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12.3.2 Functions of Political Associations As a political interest group, the role of political associations in political life mainly includes symbolic function, ideological function, communication function, instrumental function, economic function, and political socialization function. These functions not only show the complexity of the needs of the members of political associations as social forms, but also explain the fundamental reasons for the existence of political associations. The symbolic function of political association is also called the expressive function. Political organizations can provide their members with various symbolic or expressive rights and interests. For example, as a member of the Communist Youth League of China, he has an organizational identity, according to which he can obtain the rights related to this identity, such as expressing his views on specific issues to the party and government organs through the League organization, participating in the political activities of the League organization, such as political learning, etc. The symbolic function of political organizations is essential to political organizations, because it determines the scale, development prospects, and status in the political life of political organizations to a certain extent. For example, communism plays a leading role in China’s ideology, so the Communist Youth League plays a vital role in China’s political life. It can provide its members with symbolic functions of positive significance, so that Chinese youth who believe in communism can join the League organization, so that the Communist Youth League can develop and grow in China, occupies an important position in China’s political life, and play a more significant role of the government. The ideological function of political organizations refers to the belief that political organizations can reflect the romantic nature of their members. For example, the Communist Youth League of China reflects the communist view of its members. Consumer associations reflect the opinion in “consumer sovereignty” or “consumer supremacy.” The chamber of Commerce composed of big capitalists in the United States reflects the idea of American capitalists in the American free enterprise system. The ideological function of the political community shows the need of the political community. That is, the political community must form its reasons to promote the self-interest of the members of the organization or realize a specific proposition. When the United States Federation of labor and industry (AFL-CIO) struggled to abolish the right to work law, which prohibited the organization of trade unions, it used the ideological banner of American workers’ natural rights and so on, thus making its political activities morally reasonable. The communication function of political associations refers to that political associations provide information or materials about the industry, their members, and other specific issues for their members, political officials, members or people’s representatives, and the general public. This function is also crucial to the political community. The reason is that political organizations need to mobilize their members and convince government decision-makers such as members or government officials of their views, to a large extent, depends on the quantity and quality of information they

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can provide. Not only that, for some political groups, it may also be a very important function. For example, one of the main functions of the Communist Youth League, the Women’s Federation, and the trade union in China is to transmit the ideas and interests of the members of the association to the party and state organs on the one hand, and to convey the policy intention of the party and state organs to the members of the association on the other hand. The instrumental function of political organizations refers to that political organizations are used by their members to achieve a particular goal, such as the US Anti War Group is used to end the Vietnam War, and the right to life group is used to prohibit abortion. The instrumental function is also an essential function of political organizations, because the essence of political organizations is to maintain and promote the specific interests of specific social members. A political organization is a political group, but its activities and interests are closely related to the economy. In capitalist countries, many political interest groups are established and developed in pursuit of economic interests. For example, the American Petroleum Association, the national manufacturers association, the Chamber of commerce, and small business groups are political organizations composed of various capitalists. The purpose of these political the organizations is to safeguard the economic interests of capitalists by using political means through the power of organization. In China, to some extent, political organizations also strive for economic benefits for their members. For example, trade unions supervise relevant government departments to implement relevant laws and policies, and protect employees’ financial interests in labor wages, labor protection, labor insurance and life. The political socialization function of the political organization can make its members develop specific political personalities, and learn and acquire political knowledge and skills through the activities of the political association. Political organization is an important medium and place for the political socialization of social members. On the one hand, its members understand the rules and skills of political life by participating in the activities of political associations and social-political life; on the other hand, political organizations also influence its members with specific political values and political norms, so that they can develop distinct political personality. In capitalist countries, different political organizations construct different political characters. In a socialist society, the political organization is a school for social members to develop socialist political character and learn to manage themselves and community. These functions of political organizations determine that they have an essential influence on social and political life: In capitalist countries, all kinds of political organizations, through their interest expression activities, protect the interests of their members to varying degrees, realize their interest requirements, and affect the political life of capitalist countries from all aspects. First of all, it impacted the change of political power in western countries through its campaign activities. After the Second World War, due to the emergence and development of many political organizations, the status of political organizations in political life has become increasingly important. Many political parties and

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candidates in western capitalist countries have increasingly relied on the support of political organizations. Influencing the election results has become not only the way for Western political organizations to express their interests, but also one of the essential roles of political organizations in political life. Secondly, political organizations influence the national legislation and the policy of the executive department through activities outside the court. In addition, through their interest expression activities, political organizations also play a role in coordinating the relations among various classes, strata, and social groups in capitalist countries, thus maintaining the usual political order of capitalist countries. In socialist countries, all kinds of political organizations also realize the interests of their members in varying degrees through interest expression activities, and also affect the political life of socialist countries from all aspects. Its primary performance, one is in the party, the government and the masses of the association played a bridge and link role. In China, political organizations such as trade unions, the Communist Youth League, and Women’s Federations not only reflect the interests of their members to the party and the government, so that when the party and the government formulate policies and laws, they can consider the interests of various interest groups to the maximum extent, but also publicize the policies and laws of the party and the government to their members, to make them the conscious actions of the people. It makes the party and the government have closer ties with the people. Second, through the supervision of the party and the government, the political organizations have promoted the construction of the party style of the ruling party and government’s clean government to a certain extent. In the process of rapid economic development, the ruling party and government of socialist countries are generally faced with how to be clean and honest. In this situation, political organizations stand on the position of safeguarding the interests of the people, as a specific social and political force, by its close relationship with the party and the government, through democratic supervision, can correct the unhealthy tendencies within the party and the corruption of government staff abusing power. Third, various political groups participate in and discuss state affairs through multiple forms, which has a particular impact on the policy-making and legislative activities of the party and the state.

Part V

Political Culture

Political culture is the psychological and spiritual reflection of political relations. It is a complex synthesis of people’s feelings, understanding of politics, and moral norms formed in social and political life. Political culture exists as a form of the concept. It is a social-political ideology and a product of social and political relations acting on the brain. Therefore, the nature of specific political culture is determined by specific political ties. "A certain culture is a reflection of the political and economic ideology of a certain society."1 In a class society, political culture has a distinct class nature, and the nation, group, region, and so on will also leave a deep brand in the political culture. As a social, ideological phenomenon, political culture has relative independence and initiative. On the one hand, it does not change mechanically with the change of specific political relations, but can be retained by way of ideas. On the other hand, it has a substantial psychological and spiritual control over social-political associations, and political life. "Political culture is the soul of political life and has a subtle influence on political ecology."2 Political culture can be passed on and spread through a variety of political socialization media and ways, so that it can continue. Political culture generally consists of political psychology and political thought. Political psychology is the surface and perceptual part of political culture, and political thought is the deep and rational part of political culture. Political culture is disseminated and practiced through the process of political socialization. Therefore, political socialization is an essential content of political culture research. In social and political life, political psychology is widely distributed and scattered in the social psychology of social members. Therefore, political psychology is mainly the spiritual phenomenon of political rights, and the political psychology of the person in charge of political power is not only closely related to the political psychology of social members, but also a tortuous reflection of the political psychology. At the same time, in social and political life, the dominant thoughts are the thoughts of the rulers. 1

Selected Works of Tsetung, Vol. 2, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 694. XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, E-Edition p. 182.

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Therefore, the chief political views in specific social politics are the concentrated embodiment of the will of political power, and other political beliefs only function within the scope of the intention of ability of the ruling class. Political socialization is a way for social life and political power to develop the authority personality and right personality of social members through specific courses, to form the political identity and moral rights of ideology and culture.

Chapter 13

Political Psychology

13.1 The Meaning and Characteristics of Political Psychology 13.1.1 The Meaning of Political Psychology The word “psychology” comes from the Greek word “psyche,” which initially means soul. It is the general term of psychological phenomena such as feeling, perception, memory, thinking, emotion, will, temperament, character, and ability. Psychology is the function of the human brain and the reflection of objective things and their relations in the human brain. Psychology comes into being at a particular stage of material development. When the animal’s form of review evolves to the receptive stage, simple feeling first appears; then, under the influence of the external environment, with the development of animal nerves, the sprouts of perception, memory, and thinking appear. Human psychology is the continuation and the highest stage of animal psychological development. In social production and practice, people often have one or another relationship with nature and society. Nature and culture, as the “object” of objective existence, stimulate people’s psychological activities as the “subject” all the time. Whether as a whole or as an individual, the psychological process is highly complex and colorful. In the process of human growth, all kinds of psychology are bound to form. When people are exposed to political relations and political life, under the stimulation and guidance of various political information, people’s psychology will be branded with politics, thus forming political psychology. In the west, the study of political psychology has a long history. As early as 2000 years ago, Plato began to analyze the psychological basis of a political system in The Republic. So far, there are two ways for western scholars to define the meaning of political psychology: First to determine the meaning of political psychology from the perspective of human nature. For example, Aristotle put forward the famous proposition “Man is a © Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_13

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political animal,” which introduced human nature and human psychological requirements into the study of political science. Starting from human nature, he explained the inevitability and necessity of citizens’ participation in national political life. In the fifth century, Machiavelli took “universal egoism” as his general judgment of human psychological characteristics in his book The Prince,. Accordingly, he elaborated the way of the monarch’s governing the country. Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and other political scholars in the 17th or eighteenth century, starting from the theory of human nature, used the method of psychological analysis to explore the source of political power and the general rules that should be followed in its operation. Second, according to the principle of general psychology, political psychology is only a specific psychological phenomenon. This kind of determination is embodied in modern political psychology. At the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, with the birth of psychology, some psychologists and political scientists began to consciously and systematically apply the relevant knowledge of psychology to the study of political phenomena from their respective perspectives, and gradually established a rather eye-catching new frontier discipline political psychology.1 In 1908, British scholar Graham Wallas published Human Nature in Politics, which discussed the stimulation and instinct, rational decision, and choice. In the United States, Charles Merriam was the first person to connect psychology and political science. In his book New Features of Political Science (1952), he proposed to use scientific methods to conduct a detailed investigation and micro research on the political process, political behavior, and political psychology. In 1930, Harold Lasswell published his famous work Psychology and Politics, followed by New Features of Political Science (1935), Power and Personality (1948), Analysis of Political Behavior (1949), etc., which expanded the scope of western culture. The research scope of Fang’s political scientists has established the basis and principles of studying political behavior and political activities from the perspective of psychology. Therefore, it can be seen that in the long historical process, western political scholars and political psychologists have determined the meaning of political psychology in many aspects. Its primary characteristics are either chosen from the perspective of human nature or isolated psychological phenomenon,. Still, they have not put the political, psychological phenomenon into specific social relations, and have not connected with people’s political practice. To define the meaning of political psychology, they are either idealistic, or general psychological, technical level rather than social level, so they lack social profundity. The social research method of Marxism holds that the social spiritual phenomena, including psychological phenomena, are formed in specific social and economic relations. At the same time, they are formed and developed in people’s social practice. “In the social production in which people live, there is a particular, inevitable relationship that does not depend on their will, that is, a production relationship that is suitable for a particular stage of development of their material productive forces. The sum of these production relations constitutes the economic structure of the society; that 1

Jiang Yungen. (2002). The Psychological World of a Politician. Xuelin Publishing House, p. 4.

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is, there is a legal and political superstructure erected on it, and there is a particular form of social consciousness to adapt to the realistic basis. The mode of production of material life restricts the whole process of social life, political life, and spiritual life. It is not people’s consciousness that determines people’s existence; on the contrary, it is people’s social existence that determines people’s consciousness.2 Therefore, to determine the social, spiritual phenomenon and psychological phenomenon, we must consider the primary role of social relations and social practice. According to this method, we can see that psychology is a spontaneous psychological reflection of social and political concerns, political behavior, political system, and political development in social and political practice. It is manifested in people’s cognition, emotion, attitude, emotion, interest, desire, and belief of political relations. The combination of these factors constitutes the political personality of social members. The definition of political psychology can be understood as follows: As far as its subject is concerned, the issue of political psychology is “political man,”, not “biological man.” The so-called “political person” refers to the person in a specific political relationship and political life and has a specific political consciousness. Political psychology is the psychological reflection of social members on political relations and political life. Here “social members” refer to “political people” in political specific ties and political life. It can refer to an individual, such as a political leader or an ordinary citizen, or a class, stratum or social group, such as proletariat and bourgeoisie, “blue-collar” They are the “middle class” and “white-collar class,” intellectuals, college students, etc. In terms of its formation process, political psychology is the psychological projection of social members to social and political life in the process of political socialization. In its growth and development, social members are educated and inherited by typical culture and political culture, forming specific temperament, characteristics, quality of will, and traditional habits. On the other hand, social members are constantly stimulated by the realistic political environment they depend on, including various political relations, political systems, political culture, political process, and political development. Political psychology is formed under the influence of these two factors. In essence, political psychology is a spiritual phenomenon and a reflection of political reality. Political psychology is a kind of embodiment of the human brain’s inductive function, which belongs to the spiritual phenomenon. Its essence is the reflection of social existence and political reality. The so-called political reality here refers to all aspects of human political life, such as social-political relations, political systems, political behaviors, and political phenomena. Political psychology originates from objective political reality and is subject to social, political, and economic conditions. As far as its form of reflection is concerned, political psychology is an intuitive and spontaneous psychological reflection. It forms and exists in a potential form and is an unsystematic and stereotyped perceptual knowledge of political life. 2

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 32.

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As far as its factual content is concerned, political psychology is an intuitive and fuzzy induction to political phenomena such as political relations, political behaviors, and systems. In real political life, it shows people’s specific political cognition, political emotion, political motivation, and political attitude. Different individuals, classes, strata and groups, nationalities may have other political cognition, emotion, motivation, and attitude tendencies, which become the primary factors of their other characteristics of political personality.

13.1.2 The Characteristics of Political Psychology As a spiritual phenomenon, political psychology is the psychological reflection of social and interest relations. Therefore, the characteristics of political psychology are first determined by the social relations of social members. That is to say, the social relation’s attributes of social members determine the political psychological details of social members in terms of change. For example, different classes have different political psychology and different nationalities. They often have different national political psychology. In addition, from the perspective of epistemology, political psychology, as a specific spiritual phenomenon, has the following characteristics: 1.

Political psychology is the social members’ perceptual cognition of social and political phenomena

As a social, spiritual phenomenon, political psychology is the spiritual reflection of social members in social and political life and practice. This kind of reflection is usually experiential and perceptual. Political emotions, emotions, wishes, motives, customs, and interests are the intuitive feelings and perceptions of social members for political life and political phenomena. From the perspective of epistemology, political psychology is the “first step” in social members’ understanding of politics. It is the stage of feeling when they begin to contact the outside world.3 The characteristics of political psychology as political perceptual knowledge are mainly manifested in the following aspects: (1)

(2)

3 4

The emergence and formation of political psychology is a spontaneous process. It is formed naturally in people’s daily life and interaction according to their experiences and intuitive feelings. Political psychology is the feeling and perception of the appearance of politics. From the perspective of political psychology, social members’ observation of political phenomena “only sees all things and phenomena in the process, sees one-sidedness of all things, and sees the external connection between all things”.4 Therefore, it is a series of free and straightforward impressions and reflexes. So it is a feeling and perception of the surface state and development of political phenomena, and its content is superficial in understanding.

Selected Works of Tsetung, Vol. 1, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 290. Selected Works of Tsetung, Vol. 1, People’s Publishing House, 1991, pp. 284–285.

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(3)

Political psychology is an irrational spiritual phenomenon. Political psychology is a kind of political consciousness without rational thinking,. That is to say, political psychology is a kind of spiritual phenomenon that has not been abstracted and thought but has risen to the level or state of consciousness. Compared with political thought as rational, cognition, it is not a rational abstract state of consciousness, but an irrational vague impression and the connection between these impressions. Therefore, social and political phenomena exist in the spiritual level of social members in an intuitive and non-abstract state.

2.

Political psychology shows the interesting tendency of specific interest subjects

As a specific spiritual phenomenon, political psychology shows the concern of social members for their interests and the possibility and requirement of their realization through political channels. The interesting tendency of political psychology is highly related to the interesting relationship of social members. The social interest relationship of social members determines the position from which social members feel social-political life and political phenomenon, and the motivation of social members to recognize social political phenomenon. At the same time, it determines the political cognition, political emotion, and political attitude of social members to a great extent. Therefore, in different interest relations, social members with other interests will have different political psychology. In this regard, the goods and interest relations of social members are of leading and dominating significance to the formation and development of their political psychology. On the other hand, because political psychology is the surface, intuitive feeling, and perception of the social and political phenomenon of social members, it is perceptual knowledge. Therefore, in social and political life, political psychology only shows the interesting relationship and interest tendency of social members, rather than profoundly reflects the specific interest relationship and interest requirements; it only vaguely reflects the interests of social members Relationship and interest tendency, rather than reflecting these interest relations and interest requirements. At the same time, due to the surface and intuition of political psychology, the understanding of political psychology to realize the interest requirements of specific interest subjects through social and political channels or other ways is also vague. In social and political practice, the political psychology of social members often confuses the boundaries between politics and non-politics. It uses or demands political power or political power, and it is beneficial to realize the requirements of non-political ways. 3.

Political psychology reflects an intuitive political phenomenon

As a social and political phenomenon, political psychology is the perceptual cognition of social and political phenomenon. That is to say, the difference between political psychology and other social psychology is that it is not the psychological perception of all social phenomena, but only the psychological perception of social and political phenomena.

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Due to the cognitive characteristics of political psychology, political psychology is the social members’ perception of the intuitive political phenomenon. Therefore, it is the social members’ feeling and feeling of the political appearance, and does not reflect the deep political connection and law. In social and political life, political psychology often reflects intuitive, superficial and perceptible political phenomena. These political phenomena mainly include political authority, political behavior, and political system. Therefore, the content of political psychology is often the feeling and perception of social members for these political phenomena. 4.

Political psychology has the potential accumulation

In terms of its existence and manifestation, political psychology has potential. Political psychology, like other social psychology, has no explicit external form in a specific environment and time range, but potentially accumulates in the hearts of social members. That is to say, political psychology is a latent political and cultural phenomenon, which exists in the heart of social members in a scattered and perceptual form. Therefore, it is a deep, hidden, and complex to grasp political and cultural phenomenon. Political psychology usually does not have a strict logical structure, nor does it have a overall unified form. It is often difficult for people to grasp political psychology in a logical way of thinking in social life, but only through scientific and professional psychological measurement can they understand and grasp it. On the other hand, political psychology is the psychological accumulation of social members. Political psychology is the experience precipitation of social members in the long-term social and political life. It is also the psychological accumulation of political culture formed in a specific society for a long time. These psychological deposits are deposited in the psychological depth of social members and create the psychological set of specific social members. Because of this psychological set, political psychology presents the relative stability of the deep and overall psychological tendency of social members. The strength of political psychology and the changeability of its daily contents constitute the deep and surface structure of political psychology.

13.2 The Formation Basis and Constituent Elements of Political Psychology 13.2.1 The Formation Basis of Political Psychology First, the formation of political psychology is based on the social-political life, and political reality. The political psychology of social members presents the characteristics of difference. The difference in political psychology is fundamentally caused by the different social interest relations, political power, and political rights relations of various social members. In addition, the reason for these differences lies in the complex role of the basis of political psychology.

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As a spiritual phenomenon, political psychology is the interaction between the objective social and political environment and subjective consciousness. Therefore, political psychology has both a subjective and factual basis. 1.

Objective basis

The objective basis of political psychology refers to the factors and conditions external to social members and contribute to the formation and development of their political psychology. The objective basis of political psychology consists of many elements, which are the social environment for the formation and development of political psychology. Marx pointed out: “People create their history, but they do not create it at will, not under the conditions they choose, but under the conditions directly encountered, established and inherited from the past”.5 This established condition inherited from the past is the social environment. The social environment is the general term of material conditions, social ideology, social organization and system, social customs and habits, social production, and lifestyle of a specific society. The social environment is the objective basis of political psychology. Because the social environment is the external world connected with the political subject, it is the factual content of people’s consciousness, concept, and psychology. From the sociological point of view, social members always live in a particular social environment. The formation process of their psychology and consciousness is the process of social members being socialized. In other words, political psychology is a kind of psychological accumulation formed based on long-term feeling and understanding of the social environment in the process of social life. The social environment has become the general social background of political psychology, which often affects the political psychology of social members. The social environment has its structure. From the perspective of its relationship with the formation and development of political psychology, it can be divided into the following four levels: (1)

The material environment of Political Psychology

The so-called material environment is the general name of all the material conditions on which a society depends. It is manifested in material productivity, means of production, and technology in various physical and chemical structures and forms. The so-called material environment of political psychology is the general term of social material production and the material conditions that social members rely on to survive. Among them, the level of social material production refers to the level of productivity development of a society; the material conditions on which social members depend for survival refer to the material means and needs such as clothing, food, and shelter that social members have for survival. Material life is not only the first premise of human existence, but also the first condition of human life. Marx pointed out: “To” create history, “people must be 5

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 585.

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able to live. But to live, we need to eat, drink, live, wear, and do other things first. Therefore, the first historical activity is the show of materials to meet these needs, that is, the production of material life itself, and it is such a historical activity that is an essential condition for all history”.6 According to the essential viewpoints of dialectical materialism and historical materialism, material life is the factual material basis of spiritual life, so it is the objective material basis of all social psychology, including political psychology. Plekhanov once pointed out that people’s “habits, customs, views, intentions, and ideals should necessarily be suitable for people’s lifestyle and the way they get food”.7 In other words, fundamentally speaking, the development level of productive social forces and the level of material life that people enjoy determine and restrict the content and level of psychological activities. First of all, from the perspective of the development of the general social psychology, the production level of material life reflects people’s ability to transform nature and organize social life That ability determines people’s overall cognitive level of nature and society; secondly, from the perspective of social individual psychological development, material living standard and social productivity level and their changes constitute the material conditions for the formation and evolution of individual psychology, which determines people’s social demand level and is the material driving force of personal psychological stimulation and response; thirdly, from the perspective of the object of psychological response From the point of view, the production level of material life is always closely connected with specific social resources and social relations (including political resources and political links) as the economic basis of psychological activities and all social existence of superstructure. The development and change of social productivity eventually lead to the evolution of psychological reaction object. As the material basis of political psychology, the material environment plays a role mainly by stimulating political demand, providing political resources, and changing political ways. Material needs are the first needs of human beings. Material living conditions, that is, material interests, are the most fundamental content of interests and needs in social and political life, and the most important source of political behavior motivation and purpose. When the material living conditions and production level change, people will inevitably generate new interest demand and political cause due to material interest stimulation. Material living conditions and material wealth are also the essential factors of social and political resources and the essential means to achieve political goals. Whether there is enough material wealth and sufficient political resources is an essential reason for forming different individuals and different social and political psychology. If a person or a country has enough material wealth, it will have critical political resources. Therefore, in political life, it will show the psychological tendency of self-confidence, positivity, stubborn attitude, daring to be responsible, and not 6

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 79. Georgi Plekhanov, Socialism and economic struggle, SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1957, p. 175.

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easy to be controlled by others; on the contrary, it will show the psychological characteristics of dependence, negativity, and fear. The level of productive social forces and material living conditions are also closely related to the political way of society, and the political behavior of individuals, just as the decentralized and self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy is often associated with political autocracy. In contrast, the large machinery industry and commodity economy are generally associated with political democracy. With the development of productive social forces and the content and level of material life, people’s material and spiritual needs and the means to meet these needs have correspondingly changed, and people’s way of thinking and behavior has also changed. This change will eventually be reflected in the socially and politically practice, such as the adjustment of political relations, the redistribution of political power, the redefinition of political rights, the change of political system, and so on. In this case, some customs and habits of people in the past political behavior mode, such as personal tendency or group spirit, militant tendency or peaceful coexistence, passive or active, will also be changed accordingly. These changes will turn into the psychological accumulation of social members, thus forming a new political, psychological tendency. (2)

The social relation environment of political psychology

People are engaged in production to meet their own needs. In production and life, people form specific economic and social relations. Through these economic and social relations, people’s needs are transformed into people’s various social interests. These kinds of social relations and interest relations play an essential role in the formation and development of people’s political psychology. Generally speaking, the common social relations and typical interest requirements will make people form a standard political psychology. For example, the specific class relations and class interests, national relations and national interests, group relations and group interests are people’s class political psychology and national political psychology, which are the foundation and motivation of the formation and development of group’s political psychology. Different or opposite social relations and social interests are the causes of people’s political, psychological differences, contradictions, and even mutual antagonism. Among all kinds of social relations and interests, people’s economic ties and interests are incredibly decisive for people’s political psychology. This kind of social relations and interests, with the ownership of means of production and the distribution of wealth as the main content, not only affects political psychology, but also affects other social relations and interests, thus further affecting people’s political psychology. In a class society, economic relations and interests are often manifested as class relations and interests. Therefore, class relations and interests in class society play an essential and decisive role in people’s political psychology. The role of social relations and social interests in political psychology is mainly manifested in two aspects: First, it stipulates the social content of people’s political psychology. It is the specific social relations and social interests that make political psychology manifest as the political psychology under the specific socio-economic condition and the political psychology of different social groups under the specific

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socio-economic form. Second, it stipulates the social orientation of people’s political psychology. The typical social relations and interest relations will make people have the same political psychology direction, and vice versa. Therefore, the social orientation of attitude, value, emotion, and motivation in political psychology is inseparable from social relations and social interests. (3)

The political system environment of political psychology

In his book The Basic Problems of Marxism, Plekhanov believes that social psychology, including political psychology, is “partly determined by the economy and partly by the whole social and political system growing up in the economy”.8 He also pointed out: “The relationship between legal power and politics produced by a certain economic structure has a decisive impact on the whole psychology of human society”.9 Here, Plekhanov pointed out another objective basis of political psychology—social and political relations and political system. Because the political relationships is the deep content of politics, and a political system is the shallow embodiment of political relationships, the induction of the political psychology as perceptual knowledge to political relationship is realized through the effect of political system on political, psychology. As an institutional environment of political psychology, the political system plays a vital role in the following aspects: First, the social and political system is an essential source of political psychology. Different social and political systems will form other political, psychological characteristics, while similar social and political systems will form similar political, psychological factors. The autocratic system often creates an obedient or hostile character of subjects, while the democratic system often creates an independent and optimstic feeling of citizens. Second, the social and political system determines and restricts the development level of political psychology. Because the social-political system is an essential source of political psychology, different system forms provide different values and norms, and cultivate other political emotions and attitudes. In the process of the formation and evolution of the individual’s political psychology, the social-political system not only determines the basic tendency and characteristics of his political psychology, but also restricts the transformation and evolution of this tendency and characteristics to a new type. For example, under the social and political system based on fundamentalism, it is challlenging to realize the transformation of citizens’ psychology from extreme emotion to rational participation. Third, the change of social-political system will inevitably bring about the evolution of political psychology. Social-political system is an essential means to cultivate social members and regulate individual behavior. Therefore, changing social political system is the primary way to transform social-political psychology. 8

Selected works of Georgi Plekhanov philosophy, Vol. 2, SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1959, p. 275. 9 Selected works of Georgi Plekhanov philosophy, Vol. 2, SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1959, p. 275.

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The ideological and cultural environment of political psychology

Social members are not only in the specific material conditions, social interest relations, political relations, and institutional forms, but also in the specific ideological and cultural atmosphere. Undoubtedly, the psychological activities of society members are also profoundly influenced by their romantic and cultural atmosphere. In this regard, the so-called ideological and cultural environment of political psychology is the romantic and cultural atmosphere of social members, including various ideologies such as religion, philosophy, art, literature, and science, and different cultural traditions such as customs and habits. As a social ideology, ideology and culture are the direct or indirect reflection of social political and economic life, resulting from systematic consciousness and rational thinking. The romantic and cultural environment of political psychology mainly refers to the ideological and cultural background of social members. This kind of background is interwoven by the predecessors’ rational thinking achievements, such as philosophical thought, political thought, scientific thought, economic thought, and other spiritual products, and is presented to people in the form of historical tradition, which has become the factor that consciously or unconsciously dominates people’s political life and behavior. Different ideological and cultural edification will bring up different political personalities. The same person will have different political attitudes when exposed to distinct romantic and cultural atmospheres and backgrounds. The influence of ideological and cultural environment on a person’s political cognition, emotion, and attitude is often achieved through a long-term subtle form. This kind of subtle influence mainly includes: cultivating social members’ methods of observing, experiencing and understanding the world; directly or indirectly promoting specific values; providing alternative ways of behavior, and so on. Generally speaking, the material environment, social relationship environment, political system environment, and ideological and cultural environment constitute the static environment and background of political psychology. In fact, in addition to these factors, the social environment that forms the objective basis of political psychology also has elements that external factors social members and affect political psychology, such as various behaviors and activities in the political process, various events, and policies in political life, etc. Political behavior (such as political rule, political management, etc.), political activities (such as election and election campaign, celebration, party activities, political assembly, etc.), political events (such as political revolution, political murder, violent terrorist events, political movements, etc.) and government policies are the objects that people directly feel in their daily political life, so they are also the social basis for the generation and development of political psychology. 2.

Subjective basis

Different types of social environments, as other external stimulating factors, will promote people to have different political psychology. However, under the stimulation of the same external environment, other political subjects will produce different

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reactions and form different political psychology. This shows that the subjective conditions of social members are also the basis of political psychology and the cause of different political psychology.10 The so-called subjective basis of political psychology refers to the conditions of social members themselves, which mainly refers to the mentality or psychological background that social members have formed. Generally speaking, the subjective basis of political psychology consists of the following structures: (1) (2)

(3) (4)

The structure of natural biological characteristics of social members mainly includes temperament, gender, age, and so on; The psychological structure of social members mainly refers to the psychological state or background that has become an individual characteristic, including feeling, cognition, emotion, emotion, and will; The social experience structure of social members mainly includes the knowledge, skills, experiences, and habits that people master; The personality tendency structure of social members mainly refers to individual desire, will, interest, hobby, idea, belief, etc.

These structures are the essential factors leading to the differences in political psychology. In terms of its attributes, some of these structures have natural attributes, while others have social features. In these structures, individual temperament and psychological background are the main factors that constitute the personality characteristics of social members, and also the main factors that affect their political attitude. Temperament is a hereditary and unchangeable biological characteristic, which is closely related to the speed, strength, and stability of people’s psychological processes. For a long time, psychologists have been engaged in the study of people’s temperaments. According to people’s psychological activities, people’s temperament is divided into sanguine temperament, choleric temperament, phlegmatic temperament, and melancholic temperament. The scientific basis of this classification needs to be further studied. Still, it reveals the relationship between the difference of innate human temperament and the difference of acquired psychology and behavior. The individual’s psychological background refers to the mentality or psychological mode formed when an individual enters political life. Generally speaking, children, teenagers, and young people are the main stages of personality psychological maturity. Individual psychological background is gradually formed in daily life using conditioned reflex, imitation, and active learning. It is characterized by relatively stable identification tendency (self-esteem consciousness), the cognitive tendency (intelligence level and cognitive structure), and emotional tendency (trust or suspicion, good and bad feelings, joys and sorrows). Individual temperament and psychological background are the main factors of personality. Because of their relatively stable characteristics and natural attributes

10

Ma Wenhui. (1996). On the Essence and Attribute of Political Culture. Cass Journal of Political Science, p. 4.

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or formed in the early stage of life, they inevitably have an impact on the political attitude and behavior pattern of social members.

13.2.2 The Constituent Elements of Political Psychology As a form of perception of social and political life, political psychology results from interaction between social psychology and people’s political life. As far as its constituent elements are concerned, political psychology generally includes political cognition, political emotion, political motivation, political attitude, political custom, political belief, and so on. These elements have their characteristics and functions, but they are connected to form an organic whole of political psychology. 1.

Political cognition

Political cognition refers to the awareness, judgment, and evaluation of the political subject on different figures, events, activities, and their laws in political life, that is, the cognition and understanding of various political phenomena. The formation of political cognition must have three elements: the cognitive, the cognized, and the situation. The process of political awareness is a psychological process in which the mmental, the cognized, and the situation interact. According to the different processes of psychological development, the process of political cognition can be divided into three processes: political perception, political impression, and political cognitive judgment. Political perception is a comprehensive reflection of different attributes, aspects, and relationships of mental objects (such as political figures, political systems, and political activities) by social members. The result is the formation of a holistic concept of an object. A political impression is the imaging reflection of the political subject to the cognitive object based on political perception, which results in a relatively static memory in mind. Political mental judgment is the political subject’s evaluation and inference of mental object based on the above two processes. In real social and political life, people with a certain level of intelligence and cognitive structure, through different degrees of political practice, under the stimulation of the objective social and political environment, will inevitably produce some intuitive and unconscious psychological reactions to various political phenomena, to form a more stable intuitive impression and knowledge. The process of political cognition is the basis of the whole political, psychological system. In the process of political awareness, people not only acquire all kinds of political knowledge, but also form a certain sense of political identity. Political knowledge is the necessary cognitive basis for social members to engage in political activities and choose political behaviors; and the apparent political identity consciousness, that is, the political consciousness to determine the boundary between “self” and “non self”, and to identify “ego” and “nonego.” is the cognitive premise for social members to form a certain sense of political belonging. Therefore, the

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process of political cognition is of fundamental significance to the development of political psychology and the formation of political attitudes. 2.

Political emotions

Political emotion is the inner experience and feelings of social members on the political system, political activities, political events, and political figures in political life based on political cognition. It is the psychological reaction of social members to various political objects, such as likes and dislikes, feelings of love and hate, beauty and ugliness, intimacy and distance, trust and distrust, etc. Political emotion consists of two psychological levels. The first level is the political emotion at a lower level, that is, the short-term subjective experience of social members in political life according to the satisfaction of their political expectations and needs, which can be divided into upbeat and the positive emotional experience (such as happiness, joy, satisfaction, etc.) and negative emotional experience (such as depression, pain, fear, sadness, anger, etc.). Political emotion is more physiological and primitive, and has the characteristics of significant fluctuation, instability and challenging to control. The second level is political emotion at a higher level, which is a complex and stable psychological experience of social members in the cognition of political relations, such as admiration for leaders and heroes, love for the motherland and nation, indifference to empty political doctrines, etc. Political emotion is a kind of high-level spiritual activity, which is characterized by persistence, stability, rationality, and easy self-control. Political emotion is formed based on political cognition. The formation process of political sentiment is a spontaneous process. When social members complete the process of political awareness, they will naturally have some psychological experience and feelings to the cognitive object. However, social members are not passive “sensors”, and their psychological experience and feelings are not mechanical reflection. Therefore, the content of social members’ psychological experience and feelings of cognitive objects, that is, the inclination of political emotions (enthusiasm or indifference, like or dislike, respect or contempt), is determined by their mood. 3.

Political motivation

Political motivation refers to the internal driving force that motivates and maintains the political activities of the political subject to achieve a specific political purpose. It is hidden behind people’s political behavior and is the internal driving force of political behavior. As a psychological process, political motivation is composed of the interest needs of social members and political goals. The interest demand of social members refers to the psychological reaction of social members to their lack of material, cultural and spiritual state, and the desire to change from unsatisfied state to satisfying state. The interest needs of social members usually include natural needs (such as the needs for clothing, food, shelter, and sex) and social needs (such as the needs for security, belonging, self-esteem, and love). The political goal of social members refers to the comprehensive reflection of the political channels and conditions that can meet

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their interest needs, it is a comparative choice of political power, political rights, behaviors, and organizational systems. Political motivation is the direct cause of social members’ political behavior. Stimulated by the external environment and other factors in the social and political life, the political subject of social members will consciously or unconsciously feel the lack of their interests, resulting in a particular psychological desire; when the specific political power, political rights or behavior, the organizational system can meet this interest demand, the social members will take a particular political behavior to pass the political rights The way to realize and meet their own interests needs. Political motivation is of great significance in people’s political activities. It determines the consciousness and enthusiasm of people’s political activities, and is the direct cause of political behavior. 4.

Political attitude

Political attitude is a relatively stable comprehensive psychological reaction tendency of social members to political power, political rights, and their basic forms, manifested as a tendency state of affirmation or negation, approval or opposition to specific political power, political rights, and political system. Compared with other elements of political psychology, a political attitude has its own characteristics: First, political attitude is a unique psychological element. It is not the psychological reaction itself, but regulation of psychological response. Political attitude is composed of political cognition, political emotion, and political motivation. The different combinations and configuration of these three components constitute the other contents of political attitudes, such as the political value tendency formed by the combination of political cognition and political sentiment, the political motivation tendency formed by the combination of political motivation and political emotion, and so on. Second, it is a comprehensive psychological factor. That is to say, political attitude is neither juxtaposed with other psychological factors, nor formed when other psychological factors are included, but the psychological result after other psychological factors are formed. When political, psychological activities show a specific-political attitude, it is not a single manifestation of a particular psychological element, but a systematic and stereotyped belief system, including political consciousness, political value, and political belief. Political attitude plays a vital role in the process of political psychology. It is the preparation stage of political behavior and the vital link to transform political psychology into political behavior. The inclination of political attitude determines the choice direction of political behavior. In the process of the formation and development of political psychology, these elements become an organic whole. As an indispensable part of the formation and development of political psychology, they are interrelated and interdependent, and together constitute the political psychology.

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13.3 Types and Functions of Political Psychology 13.3.1 Types of Political Psychology Political psychology is a social, spiritual phenomenon with rich content and complex structure. According to different standards and research angles, political psychology can be divided into different types. For example, according to the psychological tendency and content of social members for political power and political authority, it can be divided into rebellious psychology, worship psychology, identity psychology, and others; according to the state of political psychological development, it can be divided into normal psychology, morbid psychology, and abnormal psychology. Because political psychology is a specific spiritual phenomenon, in social and political life, it takes the psychological subject as the material carrier, so people usually divide the types of political psychology according to the different political, psychological topics, that is, the undertakers of political psychology. According to this standard, political psychology can be divided into individual political psychology and group political psychology. 1.

Individual political psychology

Individual political psychology refers to the political, psychological activities and states of social members in the particular state. It is the psychological reflection of the political relationship and all social and political experience, and also the product of particular social and political practice. Society is made up of individuals, and political life is also made up of the behavior of individual social and political members. Through the process of individual political learning, an individual forms his political psychology, which includes his political ideas, political attitudes, political positions, political beliefs, political values, and political norms, as well as his basic understanding and attitude towards politics. As an individual, the social member is not an isolated existence, but an individual in various social and political relations, and he cannot get rid of the influence of social and political psychology as a group. However, the individual’s unique personality psychology still plays a vital role in explaining social and political phenomena and political behavior. In individual political psychology, according to the different political roles and roles played by social members in political life, other types can be divided. Among them, the political psychology of political leaders and the political psychology of ordinary social members are the two most basic types. (1)

Political psychology of political leaders

Political leaders are the general name of all kinds of political roles that play the role of leadership and organization in social and political life. Political leaders have different political psychology from ordinary people. On the one hand, this difference comes from their psychology. On the other hand, it comes from the objective requirements

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of their political role, that is, the so-called “He who is a particular office, should plan for the administration of its duties.” The success or failure of a political leader depends not only on various social conditions and individual talents in a specific historical period, but also on his personality characteristics composed of emotional factors, rational characteristics, and will characteristics. The personality psychology of political leaders has obvious commonality, which is mainly manifested in five aspects: talent, personality, political tendency, political ability, temperament, and personality. Politicians and political leaders must have the skills of foresight, insight, organization, speech and judging the situation. The organic unity of these talents often produces great subjective power. Political leaders, due to their different personality psychology, political practice, and roles, will also form different types of political, psychological characteristics. For example: Actively positive type: very confident, optimistic, gregarious, clear goal, hard work, full of pioneering and innovative spirit, at the same time, addicted to a leadership role, infatuated with political power. Actively harmful type: aggressive, hard-working, not easy to satisfy, full of fantasy. However, they hold a negative attitude towards political power and do not think it is easy and happy to be a political leader. Passively active type: law-abiding, gregarious, very concerned about their image in the eyes of others, very addicted to the position of leader, intense desire for power, but often conservative, not good at decision-making, lack of innovative consciousness. Passively negative type: introverted, conservative, easy to retreat, advocate the less work, the better, lack of interest in leadership positions. (2)

The political psychology of ordinary social members

The political psychology of normal social members refers to the political psychology of normal individuals corresponding to political leaders. In real political life, the political psychology of ordinary individuals varies considerably. According to their concern for political life, they can be divided into apathetic political psychology and enthusiastic participation political psychology. Apathetic political psychology generally has a cold attitude towards political life, lacks interest in political activities, pays little attention to public affairs and attractions, and in some cases, even resists and resists the process of political socialization. The political psychology of enthusiastic participation is just the opposite. This kind of political psychology is susceptible to political life and political events, has a strong desire to participate in political activities, is keen on public affairs, and in some cases, has a great interest in political power. In the actual social and political life, the variability of the political psychology of ordinary social members is greater than that of political leaders. Therefore, indifferent political psychology and enthusiastic participation political psychology tend to change or interact with each other in different periods, different political environments, and different interests.

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Group political psychology

Group political psychology is the political consciousness, political emotion, political motivation, political attitude, and corresponding political behavior formed by individuals in the everyday political activities and political environment. In other words, group political psychology reflects social groups on their specific political relations and political relations with other social groups.11 Group political psychology is based on individual political psychology, but it has its characteristics. Firstly, the group political psychology has the attributes of de individuality; secondly, the group political psychology perceives the political relationship and political life according to the common interests of the particular group; finally, the group political psychology is infectious, and the members of the specific group are easily influenced by the group’s psychology and emotion to produce the herd psychology. In group political psychology, according to different social and political groups, can be further divided into class political psychology, national political psychology, group political psychology, class political psychology, and mass political psychology. Among them, class political psychology, national political psychology, and group political psychology are the most psychological types with group characteristics, and they are also the most popular ones in current political research. The most important psychological phenomenon. (1)

Class political psychology

Class political psychology refers to the joint reflection of the members of a class on the social and political phenomena and political relations, as well as the interest needs, interest emotions, political attitudes, and political motives of the course. It is the product of class political activities. The social and economic status of a class determines its psychological level. The subjective and objective characteristics of class’s living conditions, class’s social practice, social experience, lifestyle, and other class activities form the basis of the formation of class’s political psychology. Class political psychology is the typical expression of class interests, views and emotions, which is reflected in different levels: on the general level, it shows that members of the same class have similar social and political psychological characteristics; at the higher level, it shows that class members realize their class attributes and the differences between their class and other classes; at the highest level, it shows that the class members have the political consciousness and the belief to act together for the interests and goals of the whole class by seizing or maintaining the political power. Generally speaking, class political psychology has the following characteristics: Common political cognition. Because class members have the same social, political and economic status in social, and political life, and assume similar social and political roles, they have a common mental tendency towards social and political relations and various political phenomena. This common cognitive tendency is mainly reflected in the political identity of class members. It is easy for members of the same 11

Liu Songyang & Liu Feng. Political Psychology. Henan People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 103.

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class to form some kind of political identity, which first comes from the individual’s understanding of the situation and status of one’s own, and the similarity between them. Common political feelings. The ties of class ties form the political relations, the everyday social life, and the typical cognitive tendency of the class, which leads to the political emotion different from other classes. The shared interest demands consciousness and motive. The typical class status determines the amount of social material wealth and spiritual wealth possessed by the class. It thus determines the interest demand structure, and direction of the class members. When this kind of interest demand is realized, revealed and connected with a certain political goal, it becomes the common motivation of class members’ political behavior. The commonality of class political psychological elements determines the typical political attitude of class members. The slave owner class and slave class, the feudal landlord class and peasant class, the bourgeoisie, the petty bourgeoisie, and the proletariat are the primary basic classes in history. Their different political psychology constitutes the historical form of class political psychology. (2)

National Political Psychology

National political psychology is the sum of the psychological characteristics of a political character, feelings, and habits formed in the long-term development of various nationalities. One of the essential characteristics of a nation is its expected psychological quality, which is formed under the long-term common social living conditions and reflects the psychological characteristics of its own culture and consciousness. The formation of national psychological aspects has an indirect or direct influence on political activities. The primary contents of national political psychology are national political spirit, national political emotion, and national political consciousness. The national mood is the relatively stable everyday life and public mental state, and spiritual value of a specific nation; the national political emotion is the national members’ identification, attachment, and love of the national community and public power; the national political consciousness is the national members’ meaning of the political status of the country they belong to and the status of the nation in the political relations with other nations knowledge. As the embodiment of national style, national political psychology has selfawareness, centripetal, and cohesion. The characteristics of national political psychology constitute the critical foundation and fundamental aspects of a specific national political character. (3)

Group political psychology

Group refers to a group of people who depend on each other and influence each other to achieve specific goals, and restrict their members through certain organizational norms. The group’s political psychology is the group’s psychological perception and

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feeling of political relations, the realization of the group’s interests through political channels, and political life. As the group is loose in social life, its political psychology is rough and unstable. On the other hand, when the specific interests of the group need political appeal and realization through political channels, the political psychology of the group will become particularly strong. The political psychology of the group is often closely related to the psychology and style of the political leaders of the group. Different leadership styles create a different psychological atmospheres of the group, thus affecting the political psychology of the whole group. At the same time, the political psychology of the group is interactive and competitive with the political psychology of other groups. In social and political activities, the psychological feelings of different groups for their interests and political requirements will reflect their characteristics and styles in the competition of other groups.

13.3.2 The Role of Political Psychology As an essential part of political life, political psychology is of great significance. This kind of important significance has always been valued by people. Mencius, an ancient Chinese thinker, once expounded the truth that “Those who win the hearts of the people win the world”; Guan Zhong discussed the relationship between political psychology and political order, and pointed out that “(The sage’s) mind being at peace, (his) country is also at peace. (His) mind being well regulated, (his) country is also well regulated”.12 Han Fei studied the relationship between political psychology and political rule, and believed that “All those who orderly govern the land must resort to human propensities”.13 Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of the Chinese bourgeois revolution and democratic statesman, once specially discussed the problem of psychological construction and pointed out that “The prosperity of politics depends on the vitality of the people”.14 Lenin, the leader of the proletarian revolution, also stressed the importance of social and political psychology, warning: “If we can’t understand the emotions of the masses, and are not good at working with the masses and mobilizing the working masses, we can’t play the role of the Social Democratic Party’s revolutionary vanguard”.15 Xi Jinping pointed out that the public attitude for or against the future of any political party will ultimately depend on the hearts of the people.16

12

Guanzi: Xinshu. The Complete Works of Han Fei Tzu: Eight Rules. 14 Selected Works of Sun Yat-sen, People’s Publishing House, 1979, p. 117. 15 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 10. People’s Publishing House, 1987, p. 334. 16 XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Vol. 1, Foreign Language Press, 2014, E-Edition P23. 13

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After the twentieth century, political psychology has become a common concern in political science. With the deepening of political research and the application of modern scientific concepts and research methods, political analysis has become specialized, thus forming an independent discipline of political psychology. The relationship between political psychology and political life is a two-way interaction. On the one hand, political psychology comes from social and political life; on the other hand, once formed, political psychology has a dynamic effect on social and political life. To sum up, the role of political psychology is mainly manifested in the following aspects: (1)

Political psychology influences the formation and development of political power and rights

Political psychology is the perceptual reflection of political relations, reflects the public opinion of social politics, and affects the formation and development of political power and political rights. First of all, political psychology is the psychological feeling and perception of social members for their interests and interest relations. Therefore, the fundamental reason for the formation and development of political psychology is the interest needs and interest relations of social members. The interest requirements and interest relations in different social ties will give other contents and characteristics to the political psychology of social members. Therefore, political psychology is the spiritual embodiment of the interest requirements and interest relations of social members, showing the interest and interest tendency of social members. Secondly, political psychology is a critical component factor and foundation of political power and political authority. The cognition, emotion and attitude of political psychology to political power reflect the social members’ opposition to specific political power, affect the power composition of political power to a certain extent, and affect the formation and consolidation of the relationship between political authority and obedience to a significant extent. Thirdly, political psychology is an essential spiritual premise of political rights. The specific social and political psychology and its psychological set play a highly positive and negative role in the formation and development of political rights. (2)

Political psychology is the medium of political behaviour

Engels pointed out: “the influence of the external world on people is reflected in people’s minds. It becomes sense, thought, motivation and will. In short, it becomes” ideal intention “and becomes” perfect power “through this form”.17 This shows that psychology is the intermediary of the force (stimulation) and reaction (behavior) between the outside world and people. Human behavior is always dominated by certain psychology and consciousness. In social and political life, from political individuals to groups, classes, political parties, and governments, their behaviors are influenced and dominated by certain political psychology. Political psychology is the intermediary link of political behavior.

17

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 21. People’s Publishing House, 1965, p. 324.

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It profoundly affects people’s attitudes and views on the political system, political events, political figures, government policies, and other political phenomena, thus significantly affecting the content, direction, and way of people’s political behavior, that is, in the political life and political process, people’s participation or non-participation behavior, the method, breadth and depth of participation. The relationship between political psychology and political behavior shows that: First, the political behavior of social members has specific psychological background and reasons. To deeply analyze and understand specific political behavior, we must deeply study the hidden political psychology, such as political motivation, political emotion, etc. Second, to promote or change the political behavior of social members and achieve the purpose of political control, we should not only use the necessary legal and political means, but also influence their political psychology. Political propaganda, political-ideological work, and political education are the essential ways to control their political psychology. (3)

Political psychology is the barometer of the social, political situation, and the basis of political power

Generally speaking, the social and political situation, such as social interests and interest relations, will be expressed through the political emotions, political attitudes, and political intentions of social members, especially the people. These political, psychological phenomena constitute the political atmosphere, social thoughts, and public opinion of a specific society. Through their changes, we can feel the pulse of the political situation, recognize the direction of public opinion, and grasp the development trend of social politics. Therefore, social and political psychology should be the primary fundamental for policy-making and adjustment. Only by comprehensively learning the social and political psychology, correctly estimating the political situation, and accurately understanding the aspirations of the people, can we formulate correct policies in line with public opinion. (4)

Political psychology is the influencing factor of political development

Political development is the change and development of social and political relations, which is essentially caused by the internal contradictions of social interest relations. The social and political psychological tendency is the psychological basis of this contradictory movement. In the process of development, political development is affected by both objective and subjective conditions. When the objective needs are met, people’s understanding of political development and change, emotion, attitude, desire, and other emotional psychological factors play a vital role in social and political development. The influence of political psychology on social and political development is mainly reflected in: any political action needs to conform to the trend of social and political psychology and the people’s will. Therefore, political psychology plays a restrictive and prescriptive role in the direction and mode of political development. In fact, development in human history is to a large extent the choice of people’s will and mind; any political action needs the participation of the people, in which social

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and political psychology has a solid social-psychological cohesion function for the formation of the power and strength of political development. In this regard, social and political psychology is an essential way of political action; the result of any political developing formation and consolidation needs the support and sustain of political psychology, that is to say, the political relations and political forms formed by social and political development still need the help and centripetal role of social and political psychology.

Chapter 14

Political Thought

14.1 The Meaning and Characteristics of Political Thought 14.1.1 Definition of Political Thought The so-called “thought” should have two meanings, that is, the thought activity as a process and the thought idea as a result. The former can be interpreted as “thinking,” while the latter can be summarized as “viewpoint,” “idea,” and “opinion.” Therefore, “political thought” should also have two meanings: political thought activity as a process—political thinking and political mind; the other is the political thought view as a result—political theory and political viewpoint. Political thinking forms particular political views and ideas or doctrines. In political science, the so-called political thought is the general term of the views, ideas, and opinions formed by social members in political thinking. It reflects people’s self-awareness, and system of various political activities, political phenomena and various political relations and their contradictory movements hidden behind in social life. It is a manifestation of political culture. The subject of political thought is naturally every member of the entire society. However, real people are not isolated individuals, but “social people” in various social relations. Therefore, the subject of political thought is all the individuals in these social relations. Everyone may more or less form or “acquire” specific political thoughts in the political process. Among them, a few members become the ideological representatives of a particular class, stratum, or political group because of the integrity, profundity, systematicness, and creativity of their thoughts, that is, political thinkers. To a certain extent, their thoughts represent the highest level of political thinking in a certain period. Therefore, the study of their political theories can not only grasp the political tendency, political requirements, and wishes of a certain class, stratum, and political group in a certain period, but also understand the development of human political thinking. Political thought is the rational thinking of human beings on political issues, and it is a means for people to understand reality and closely integrate with reality. © Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_14

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“Many great political thoughts can not only illuminate the existence of reality, but also illuminate the way forward. Without these thoughts, human life would be in darkness”.1 Political thought is people’s rational understanding and grasp of political reality. It appears in various political views, political theories, and doctrines, political propositions, and opinions. Therefore, political thought is an advanced and complex thinking activity that depends on people’s rich and profound social, and political experience, extensive social and political knowledge and knowledge, diligent research and attentive thinking. Political thought is the reflection of objective political reality in people’s minds. First of all, in essence, political thought, as a kind of spiritual activity and political consciousness, comes from real political life. The object of political thought is real political life, which includes the political relationship between people and the various political activities and phenomena dominated by the political relationship. Secondly, as an advanced thinking activity, political thought is not only an intuitive reflection of the actual political life. In other words, political thought does not only stay at the individual and intuitive reflection level of the above political reality elements, but also grasps its essence by thinking about the political reality of various appearances, that is, the political reality hidden behind various phenomena Governance relations and their contradictory movements. Finally, political thought is a dynamic reflection of political reality. It originates from people’s confusion about real political life and their conscious consciousness of seeking the ideal answer. Moreover, it infiltrates their respective values into the thinking activities of seeking the solution. Through rigorous logical reasoning and rational analysis, it establishes a relatively complete and systematic thought and concept system. Political thought is an integral part of political culture. Compared with political psychology, it is a kind of visual political culture. That is, it is expressed using language, words, and other perceptible material forms. As George Holland Sabine, an American scholar of political thought, pointed out: “Anthropologists like to say that man is an animal that” breeds culture, “while Marshall McLuhan, a theorist of communication system, calls the means of information exchange and cultural inventions as the” extension “of man. Political theory is a part of the culture that human beings “breed” or possess. It is an extension of human beings; it is clarified through language, writing, printing, and recent radio and television, and it is also restricted by these extensions”.2 Political thought is a kind of concept system, which includes a series of political cognition, political judgment, and political reasoning. A relatively complete political thought contains three aspects of thinking and opinions on the “what,” “why,” and “how” of various political phenomena in political life.

1

Glenn Tinder. (1988). Political Thinking: The Perennial Questions. Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, p. 4. 2 George Holland Sabine, A History of Political Theory, Vol. 1, The Commercial Press, 1986, p. 3.

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14.1.2 Characteristics of Political Thought As a kind of social doctrine, political thought not only has the nature of general social ideology, but also has the following characteristics: 1.

Political thought is human’s rational cognition of political phenomenon

Political thought is people’s rational thinking of political reality, which belongs to rational cognition. Compared with political psychology, political thought has the characteristics of rational political cognition. The rational thinking of political thought is characterized by the following three aspects: (1)

Political thought is people’s rational understanding of political phenomena

Political thought is “an attempt made by human beings to consciously understand and solve various problems in collective life and organization” and “a rational tradition.”3 In other words, political thought is a rational understanding of political phenomena. Based on people’s perceptual knowledge of political phenomena, it is a sensible knowledge of political phenomena, and their internal relations obtained by sorting out, processing, and abstracting various intuitive, scattered and disordered perceptual understanding. In terms of content, it includes the analysis, explanation, and demonstration of various political phenomena, as well as the general, and related understanding of political relations, political behaviors, political systems, and cultures and their development and changes. That is to say, political thought is not people’s sense of the political phenomenon, but their understanding of the political phenomenon, which is an advanced form of people’s political understanding. (2)

Political thought is a systematic theoretical system

Political thought is not simple concepts and propositions, but a political view closely connected with a specific world outlook and outlook on life. A complete set of political thought always has its systematic and rigorous theoretical structure. As far as its content is concerned, it generally includes the exposition of people, the goals and events pursued by people, and the relationship among the three; as far as its constituent elements are concerned, it generally includes: “A system of interrelated statements about a given part of political reality”; and “the explanation of preconditions and secondary conditions” “Hypothetical possibilities about future events and changes.”4 (3)

Political thought is a logical concept system

Political thought is a thinking process that contains a series of concepts, judgments, and reasoning. It is not as illogical as people’s intuitive feelings and subconscious conditioned reflexes. The general law of thinking is also the law of political and ideological activities. The deductive method and inductive method are two interactive methods. The reason and result, condition, and conclusion are its primary categories of political analysis and discussion. Therefore, for the proposition of political 3

George Holland Sabine, A History of Political Theory, Vol. 1, The Commercial Press, 1988, pp. 2–3. 4 Klaus von Beyme. Political Theories of the Present. The Commercial Press, 1990, p. 6.

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thought, we can consistently achieve “understanding” through a specific logical way of thinking. 2.

Political thought embodies the interest requirements of specific interest subjects

Political thoughts are people’s views and viewpoints on political phenomena, which have apparent interests; that is, different interest subjects have other political thoughts, and other political thoughts represent the interests of varying interest subjects. The interesting characteristic of political thought comes from the interest and interest relationship of real social-political life. As a reflection of political reality, political thought is bound to be of interest because of the interest difference of the subject and the interesting nature of the object. In this sense, political thought reflects the state of interest relationship. In class society, political thought embodies the interests of a specific a class, so it has class nature. The interest in political thought is mainly manifested in the following three aspects: First, people who have other views on the common interests of society will form other political thoughts or seek different political thoughts as their spiritual support. At the same time, because interests have the attribute of specific social relations in the actual social relations, the requirements of interests under different social relations will be reflected in their political thoughts. For example, in the class relations, “Under the condition of class existence, there are as many classes as there are subjectivism, and even there are different doctrines in each group of a class”.5 Second, different political thoughts reflect the political and economic interests of varying interest subjects. For example, Winstanley’s political thought “The Diggers” during the British bourgeois revolution reflects the land requirements of the British peasantry at that time. Filmer’s theory of “the divine right of kings” reflects the needs of the British landlords to safeguard the autocratic monarchy. Locke’s theory reflects the political and economic interests of the British landlords. The British new bourgeoisie’s requirement of sharing political power; Marxist political thought is the concentrated embodiment of the common interests. Third, the interests of political power have a dominant and dominant position in social and political life. Therefore, the political thoughts reflecting such interests usually occupy a dominant and dominant position in social and political life and political views. As Marx said when he analyzed the relationship between class interests and views in class society, “The thoughts of the ruling class are in every moment”.6 3.

Political thought reflects the deep logical relationship of political phenomena

Political thought is not only a cognitive and spiritual phenomenon, but also a specific political phenomenon. Therefore, political thought is about the understanding of political relations and political phenomena, rather than the understanding of general 5 6

Selected Works of Tsetung, Vol. 2, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 687. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 98.

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social phenomena. That is to say, the difference between political thought and other social thoughts is that it is not the ideology of all social phenomena, but only the ideological understanding of social and political phenomena. Due to the cognitive characteristics of political thought, political thought is the social members’ thinking and understanding of the profound political phenomenon. Therefore, it is social members’ logical thinking of the deep political connection in political life. In the social and political life, political thought not only thinks about the political appearance, but also thinks, abstracts, and analyzes the deep-seated decision and influencing factors behind these appearances, and then tries to summarize the internal deep-seated logical connection of political phenomenon. Therefore, political thought not only studies political power, political authority, political rights, political behavior, and political system. This paper analyzes and abstracts the political relations and connections that cannot be directly perceived. Therefore, the content of political thought is not only people’s political knowledge, but also people’s political thinking to a large extent. People form political thoughts through logical thinking of political phenomena and their internal relations. For specific members of society, the formation or acceptance of these political thoughts will include their particular political thinking. On this basis, specific social members will create a specific set of political thinking, thus dominating people’s rational political behavior. What needs to be explained is that political thought reflects the deep logical relationship of a political phenomenon, which does not mean that all political beliefs grasp and understand the essential connection and development law of political spectacle. Because of the differences in people’s positions, direction, and cognitive abilities, different political thoughts have different understandings of the important relations and development laws of objective political phenomena. In the history of human cognitive development, only Marxist dialectical materialism and historical materialism can correctly reveal the essential relationship and development law of political phenomena, thus forming a scientific theory on political phenomena. 4.

Political thought is relatively independent

Engels pointed out: “Historical thinkers (History here is only politics, law, philosophy, theology, in a word, all belong to the society rather than simply belong to the nature of the simple summary of the field) have certain materials in each field of science, these materials are independently formed from the thinking of previous generations. In these generations of people’s minds, we have set up our independent development path.”7 The so-called relative independence of political thought refers. As a kind of social ideology derived from and reflecting the existence of social economy and politics, in reality, political thought has its independent “development path” and development law. The relative independence of political thought is shown in the following three aspects:

7

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 727.

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(1)

The development of political thought is not necessarily synchronized with the level of social and economic development

The level of social and economic development includes the development level of productive social forces and the development level of production relations. Fundamentally speaking, the monetary base determines the superstructure. However, specifically speaking, the level of political and ideological development of a country or region is not always synchronized with the level of economic development of that country or region. “Economically backward countries can still play the first violin in philosophy”.8 For example, at the end of the eighteenth century, the political thought of France surpassed that of the economically advanced Britain; in the middle of the nineteenth century, the economically backward Germany produced Marxism. The reason why the level of political and ideological development is not synchronized with the level of economic development is that economic development and political and ideological development are not the only causal relationship. The formation and development of political thought is a complex and multidimensional process. In addition to economic factors, it is also influenced by various social and political factors, national traditions and cultural forms, specific ideological materials, and the international environment. (2)

The development of political thought is not entirely consistent with the level of political development

The direct source of political opinion is social and political life, but political thought is not entirely consistent with the development of social politics on which it depends. It is common for the development and change of political thought to be ahead of or behind political action. “Leading” is the constant nature of political thought; “lagging” is due to “the remnants of the old thought reflecting the old system always stay in people’s minds for a long time and are not willing to retreat easily”.9 (3)

The development of political thought has a relatively independent historical inheritance

The emergence and development of political thought are not only restricted by real social and political life, but also inherited from the previous achievements of political thinking. As a historical legacy and spiritual wealth, the predecessors’ ideas provided abundant ideological materials for posterity. Descendants take the essence and discard the dregs, so that they stand on the shoulders of the giants of history and pushed political thinking to a new realm. This is the history of human political thought.

8 9

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 704. Selected Works of Tsetung, Vol. 5, People’s Publishing House, 1977, p. 244.

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14.2 The Structure and Types of Political Thought 14.2.1 The Structure of Political Thought The so-called “structure” refers to the various parts of a thing as a whole and their mutual relations. The structure of political thought relates to the elements of political thought and their relationship. The structure of political thought can be analyzed from different positions. It can be divided into a content structure, thinking structure, and level structure from the specific content, the general way and process of thinking, and the level and level of thinking. 1.

The content and structure of political thought

As people’s rational thinking and grasp of political issues, political thought is a more rigorous theoretical system. The content of political thought consists of three interrelated levels formed by a series of discussions on political matters: (1)

Research on people

Marx and Engels pointed out: “The first premise of all human history is undoubtedly the existence of living individuals”.10 Therefore, “knowing oneself” is not only the beginning of the human conscious thinking process, but also the starting point of political thinking and the logical starting point of theory. “To a certain extent, political science is based on people”.11 The research of political thought on humans includes the following contents: First, the study of human nature or essence, including the natural and social attributes of human beings, what human beings are, and what human beings can be. Second, the study of people’s needs and interests, including people’s material requirements and spiritual needs, natural needs and social needs, and the specific embodiment of these needs in social and political relations, that is, people’s interests and other issues. Third, the study of the human social and political process, including how to live a political life, form a political society, what kind of public social life is an excellent general life, and so on. In China, the rational thinking activities in the political field started with the study of human nature, and various “human nature” theories have been formed in history, such as Confucius’ theory “By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they are wide apart.”; Mencius’ theory “Human nature is good”; Xunzi ‘s theory “Men’s nature is bad. Their goodness is a deliberate effort.”; Dong Zhongshu’s theory “Men are benevolent by nature but greedy by disposition. Their natures rank in three grades.”; Han Yu’s theory “There are three grades of natures. Those of the upper grade can be taught while those of the lower grade can be restricted.”; Zhu Xi’s “Men are all good. 10 11

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 67. Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2002, p. 527.

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Evil comes from bad endowment”; Kang Youwei’s “Nature is all temperament”; Tan Sitong’s “Ether is nature, capable for mutual assistance and mutual love.”; Zhang Taiyan’s “Evil also evolves” and so on. In the west, political thought is also based on the theory of “humanism.” From Plato’s view of human nature of “gold, silver, and copper” in ancient Greece, Aristotle’s view of “Man is a political animal.” Then to the theological theory of human nature of “God made man” in the middle ages, to the theory of human nature of Machiavelli, Budin, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Paine, and Jefferson after the modern renaissance, and Kant’s theory of “Man is the purpose.” The theory of human nature is an integral part of the development of Western political thought, including the theory of social organism by Comte and Spencer, and the theory of pursuing good and avoiding evil by Bentham and Mill. Until the modern and contemporary theories of human nature, such as the volitional Schopenhauer and Nietzsche’s “will to life” and “will to power,” the existentialist Sartre’s “being before essence,” etc., the issue of human nature constitutes an essential theme in the development of Western political thought. In all kinds of human theory, Marxism provides a scientific basis for the study of Political Thought on humans. First of all, it uses dialectical materialism to expound the theory that “labor creates man,” and points out that “the whole so-called world history is nothing more than the process of man’s birth through man’s labor”.12 The essence of man is the sociality and historicity produced by each other in labor, thus revealing the historical process of man’s birth. Secondly, from the perspective of historical materialism, it points out that man’s essential attribute is his sociality, and that man’s essence is not an abstract thing inherent in a single person. In reality, it is the sum of all social relations.13 Therefore, to understand human nature and interests, it is necessary to examine the social relations and conditions on which human beings depend. Finally, it establishes the historical materialism and the theory of surplus-value, reveals the general law of the development of human society, reveals the particular rule of the operation of capitalism, points out the way for humanity to leap from the realm of necessity to the kingdom of freedom, and points out the way for the people to realize freedom and liberation. (2)

A study of the realistic political system on which man depends

Man is a political animal. How does man arrange his political life? This is the second primary issue to be discussed in political thought, and also the second aspect of political thinking. The research of political thought on the political system that people depend on can be summarized into three aspects: First, the discussion of the origin of the political system and human political life. It includes: Why do people want to live an organized social and political life? In what 12 13

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 42. People’s Publishing House, 1979, p. 131. Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 4.

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way or how do people lead a political life? What are the sources of political power and political rights? In this discussion, non-Marxist political thoughts have formed such theories as “divine creation” and “divine instruction,” social contract theory, violence coercion theory, and historical evolution theory. Starting from the basic needs of human beings, Marxism analyzes the historical process of people forming social relations and interest relations through social production to meet the requirements of people’s interests, to scientifically uncover the mystery of the emergence of human society and political life. Second, the study of political power and its organizational structure. It includes the study of how to produce, how to construct, and how to allocate political power, including the comparative choice of political power organization and system. Among them, the relationship between individual rights and public control, society and state, the relationship between various parts of government power, and the relationship between the central government and local government are the core issues of this kind of research. Significant progress has been made in the study of political thought on these issues, and various theories have been formed. For example, studying political forms, the theory of structural types such as democracy, monarchy, aristocracy and centralization has been divided; in the study of power relations, the idea of decentralization, and supervision has been put forward. Third, the study of political rights and their realization. It includes studying the nature of political rights, the content of political rights, the development process of political rights, the culmination of political rights, the entire system, institutional mechanisms, and practical ways, etc. Fourth, the study of the political process. The primary purpose of this research is to acquire the knowledge of the general law of political operation, and to answer the questions of how to carry out the political process, how to realize the political rule and management, how to make and implement the political decision. Therefore, the study of various political behaviors and the analysis of policies constitute the main content of political thought in this aspect. (3)

On the political development

Human political life and political relations always develop in contradictory movements. To realize their interests, solve social and political contradictions, and explore new political forms, people research political development and its laws. The research of political thought on political development includes three aspects: First, it discusses the causes of political change. This kind of discussion is generally carried out through the analysis and summary of various political transformations in history. Class struggle, political struggle, war, economic crisis, social conflict, external interference, political corruption, and political stability are the main factors summarized by political thinkers. Second, the discussion of political ideal, that is, the goal of political development. Political thought judges real political life according to unique values, designs the ideal social and political blueprint for people, and formulates the perfect political development goal. This content of political thought makes it a guide to people’s actions.

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Third, the way of political development. After the establishment of the goal of political action, how to achieve this goal has become another core issue of people’s rational thinking. In this regard, political revolution, political reform, and political improvement, “revolution of consciousness,” “the road of democracy and legality,” and “the development and promotion of traditional values” are other answers given by different political thinkers. The content mentioned above, structure of political opinion is also the most general problem studied by political thought. They are interrelated and constitute the internal theoretical logic of political thinking.

14.2.2 Types of Political Thought Section As a kind of conscious and systematic thinking activity of people and the ideological system formed by this activity, the thinking structure of political thought consists of three factors or processes: (1)

Factual judgment and description of political reality

Fact judgment is the judgment of a thing’s nature (such as size, shape, etc.), composition, and its relationship with other things. To judge and describe the facts of political reality is to consider the nature of various phenomena or things in political life and record or express them truthfully and objectively. Fact judgment is the primary content of human rational thinking, so it is also a direct link of political thought. The so-called political cognition and cognition, first of all, is the judgment and cognition of political reality, that is, the judgment and cognition of the time, place, form, nature, and process of a particular political phenomenon. For example, the understanding of a particular political activity first includes the judgment and explanation of a series of facts such as when and where the activity takes place, who organizes it, who participates in it, what the content is, what the purpose is, and what the result is. As a kind of rational thinking, political thought is based on the fact judgment and description of various political phenomena. Whether it is the study of “political man,” the discussion of the political system, or the discussion of political development, all contain factual judgment and description. The fact judgment and description of political reality by political thought reflect the objective external world in people’s minds. It is reflected in a series of problems discussed by political thought (for example, how to constitute the real political relationship and what is its essence; who is in charge of the political power; how to operate the political system, etc.), and the result is a conclusion about what the political reality is like. Fact judgment and description have always been an essential part of political thought. It provides people with all kinds of political knowledge and information. This political knowledge and information become essential materials for people to construct their political thinking.

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Causal analysis of political phenomena

Causal analysis is to reveal the relationship between the cause and being caused. The causal analysis of political phenomena uses the concept of causality to show the relationship between various political phenomena in real political life. That is what we call causal analysis. Any phenomenon of change in the world is caused by specific reasons; simultaneously, any wonder of change is bound to yield particular results. This constitutes a complex causal chain in which various parts and wonders of the world are closely related and interact in time and space. Political life is no exception. It is also an objective world with complex structure, rich content, and various forms, which is composed of complicated causal chains. Political thought is to reveal the causal relationship between various political phenomena and solve the mystery of the causal chain. Causal analysis is an essential prerequisite for all conscious human activities and a necessary logical condition for all conscious cognition. Therefore, it is also an essential part of political thinking activities and an essential aspect of the political analysis. The causal analysis of political thought on political phenomenon is reflected in the following research: what kind of political environment and conditions may produce what kind of political phenomenon; what kind of political phenomenon may lead to what kind of political result; why one type of phenomenon is more likely to appear or more accessible to produce than another; what kind of means are easier to achieve the expected purpose, etc. The causal analysis of political phenomena comes from much political practice and experience, careful observation, and accurate factual judgment. (3)

Value judgment of political reality

A value judgment is a kind of judgment on the relationship between cognitive object and subject. The subject’s evaluation and understanding of things according to his standards of likes and dislikes or his own needs. To judge the value of political reality is to consider the objective external political phenomenon according to one’s value standard. A value judgment is an essential aspect of human thinking. Generally speaking, based on making an essential factual judgment of something, people always consciously or unconsciously produce a particular value judgment. The basis of value judgment is the value concept and value orientation gradually formed in people’s social life. It is a series of images and cognitive tendencies about what is beautiful, good, and ought to be. The value judgment of political reality is an essential process of political thought. From the logic of thinking, it is also the dominant stage of political thinking. As far as its essence is concerned, it is a comprehensive reflection of people’s selfconsciousness of their interest relationship, power status, and proper qualification. Its specific content is embodied in the public good and its specific series of values. The value judgment of political thought to political reality is mainly manifested in political value, political belief, and political ideal.

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The value judgment of political reality may be different or even opposite among other people. Because people have other value standards because of their other social class status, interest requirements, life experience, education level, and so on. This is one of the essential reasons for the diversity and richness of political thought. “For a nation or a country, the most lasting and deepest strength is the core values recognized by the whole society.”14 The value judgment of political thought to political reality points out the direction for people, thus provides the basis for the determination of political thinking and the choice of political behavior. To sum up, fact judgment, causal analysis, and value judgment are three interrelated processes of political thinking. In different methods, political thought has other forms of expression, namely description theory, the causal theory, and value theory. 3.

The theoretical hierarchy of political thought

The scope and degree of people’s study of political problems are different, which makes political thought have a different level structures. (1)

Single political conclusion

The so-called unitary political conclusion refers to the conclusion drawn from observing a particular individual political phenomenon or behavior, or “the consistent discussion observed between two isolated and easily identified variables.”15 The unitary political conclusion has the following characteristics: it is the statement and determination of a particular individual political figure, political organization, political behavior, and political event; it is a conclusion that is easy for ordinary people to make; it is difficult to make further general inference from this conclusion. The single political conclusion is expressed as a single political proposition, the lowest level of political thought and the material of higher-level ideological activities. (2)

Specialized political theory

The second level of political thought is specialized political theory. The so-called paarticular political theory refers to the particular theory formed by the particular study of a certain political phenomenon or political problem, such as the idea of political revolution, the idea of political stability, the idea of political development, the idea of political power, and so on. Specialized political theory is the synthesis of the information contained in a single unorganized political conclusion. Its primary characteristics are: it goes beyond the height of a single political decision and has theoretical generality; it can not only understand a particular political phenomenon or political problem, but also understand the same kind of political phenomenon or political problem, and even understand other puzzling political issues. It is the result of specialized research on a particular issue. Therefore, people who have reached this level of thinking can be called some kind of experts. 14 15

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Foreign Language Press, 2014, p. 168. David Easton. (1985). The Decline of Modern Political Theory. The Commercial Press, p. 399.

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Technical political theory reflects the intermediate level of political thought and provides people with various specialized political knowledge and views. (3)

Comprehensive political theory

The so-called comprehensive political theory is the theory formed by the holistic study of the whole social and political life, so it is also called the general political theory. A comprehensive political theory results from an integrated study of the whole political life, even the entire society, and the world. It not only provides a general analytical method and framework for political life, but also creates new values and creates a new political and world outlook. Therefore, it represents the highest level of political thought, and those who make and interpret this theory are called political thinkers.

14.2.3 Types of Political Thought Section According to different standards, people divide these various political thoughts into different types. In the study of political science, the standard criteria and classifications are as follows: 1.

According to the historical process of the evolution and development of political thought

According to the historical process of the evolution and development of political thought, human political thought can be divided into ancient political thought, modern political thought, and modern political thought. Ancient Chinese political thought refers to the political thought before the Opium War in 1840. It is the political thought of the slave society and feudal society, in which the dominant content is the political thought of the slave owner class and the feudal landlord class; modern Chinese political thought refers to the political idea of the historical period of the May 4th Movement from 1840 to 1919; modern Chinese political thought refers to the political idea of the May 4th Movement from 1840 to 1919 Political thoughts since the May 4th Movement in 1919. Western ancient political thought refers to the political study from ancient Greece to the Italian Renaissance. From the Italian Renaissance to the end of the nineteenth century is the period of western modern political thought. In contrast, modern western political thought in the political thought since the end of the nineteenth century. 2.

According to the thinking structure and research methods of political thought

According to the thinking structure and research methods of political thought, political thought can be divided into political philosophy and political science. Political philosophy refers to the ideological system formed by the judgment, evaluation, and explanation of the value of political reality. Its research focuses on

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clarifying the importance of politics, the essence of politics, and the concept and logic of political analysis. Its method is mainly philosophical speculative. American political scientist Alan C. Isaac once summarized political philosophers’ ideological activities in four aspects: scientific, normative, instrumental, and analytical.16 This kind of generalization also shows the four attributes of political philosophy: (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Political philosophy is not opposed to observation, but also engaged in the factual description and explanation of political life based on statement, which constitutes the “scientific” component of political philosophy. Political philosophy is a normative theory, which seeks to explore the ultimate value of politics, and on this basis, to establish moral norms and norms of human political behavior. Political philosophy is also engaged in the study of “means.” It not only points out the highest purpose or value of politics, but also points out the best way to achieve it. Political philosophy also focuses on analyzing political concepts, which generally starts from determining the meaning of a particular concept, and then deduces and analyzes it through logical reasoning.

Political philosophy pursues the knowledge of truth, goodness, and beauty (justice, peace, freedom, happiness, and equality are regarded as the embodiment of truth, goodness, and beauty) and takes it as the standard of political evaluation to analyze political phenomena and formulate ideal political goals. According to the previous studies of political philosophers, the themes of political philosophy include: (1)

(2)

(3)

The analysis of human nature. At this level, political philosophy mainly discusses the social and political nature of human beings, trying to conclude such fundamental issues as the origin, essence, and ultimate value of politics from the social and political nature of human beings. Political ideal analysis level. At this level, political philosophy mainly studies political justice, rationality, and other issues, trying to answer what kind of society and political system is in line with human nature, justice, and worth pursuing. Equality, freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and other issues are the hot topics of political philosophy at this level. Political means analysis level. At this level, political philosophy mainly studies the unity of purpose and means, trying to find the ideal way to the perfect country. Therefore, the research on system, law, and education has become the focus of political philosophy.

Political science refers to the empirical study of all political phenomena and behaviors using scientific means and methods. It focuses on the accurate description and interpretation of the actual political situation. Political science belongs to the category of empirical research and empirical research. It is mainly engaged in the academic activities of describing a political 16

Alan C. Isaak. (1987), Scope and Methods of Political Science. Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, p. 4.

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system and explaining or narrating a political phenomenon. Therefore, its content includes the factual judgment and description of political life, the causal analysis of a particular political phenomenon, and the analysis of the logical connection between political concepts and propositions and political facts. According to the summary of contemporary political scientists, political science should meet five standards: (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Objectivity. The object of political science research is objective political facts, which are not transferred or abandoned by people’s will; the rules of political science research follow strict logical procedures, which are not changed or adjusted according to people’s preferences; the results of its study are not mixed with people’s subjective value. Accuracy. Political science must accurately determine the object of study and the condition and degree of its movement. At the same time, political science must use accurate and standardized language, concepts and categories to accurately reflect, and reflect the true face of political facts and phenomena. Systematic. Political science consists of political concepts, categories, general principles, rules, laws, and theories. Among and within these elements, there should be a strict logical connection and proper sequence. At the same time, the use of scientific data must also comply with the above principles, rather than a simple description or listing of the data. Universality. The object of political science research should have universal coverage; it should include all similar political things. The results of political science research should also have universal authenticity and applicability. Therefore, the degree of universality reflects the scientific degree of research. Verifiability. Political science must be verifiable. For the same political science research, different researchers can repeat the study. “If the procedures are right, then we expect them to have the same results”.17 Therefore, political research that cannot be verified or cannot stand verification is unscientific.

However, in the current political research, there is a trend of integration between political philosophy and political science, so the boundary is not very clear. “ People engaged in political science (in a broad sense) are both political scientists and political philosophers, or sometimes political scientists and sometimes political philosophers”.18 3.

According to the requirements of the interests of the ruling class reflected in the content of political thought and the interests of the ruling class maintained

According to the interests of the ruling class reflected in the contents of political thought and the interests of the ruling class maintained, political thought can be divided into the political thought of the slave-owner class, the feudal landlord class, the bourgeoisie, and the proletariat. 17

Alan C. Isaak. (1987), Scope and Methods of Political Science. Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, p. 33. 18 Alan C. Isaak. (1987), Scope and Methods of Political Science. Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, p. 33.

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Mao Zedong pointed out: “in class society, everyone lives in a certain class status, and all kinds of thoughts are branded with class.”19 Therefore, the class division of political thought is about the essential division of political thinking. As for the emergence and essential contents of the political views of the slave-owner class, the feudal landlord class, the bourgeoisie, and the proletariat, this book has already introduced the history of the development of political science in the chapter “political science” will not repeat it here.

14.3 Development and Function of Political Thought 14.3.1 The Origin and Development of Political Thought First, the origin and development of political thought Marxism hold that social existence determines social consciousness, which reveals the mystery of the formation and development of political thought. As a kind of spiritual activity and political consciousness, political thought, in essence, comes from real social and political life, and is the product of the interaction between objective political environment and subjective consciousness. Therefore, the development and change of the content, form, and level of political thought depend on the action and evolution of the political life in the actual society and the feeling and understanding of the political subject to this change. Fundamentally speaking, the evolution of social and political life determines the evolution of political thought. From the development history of human society, political thought originated in ancient culture. In China, it originated in the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties about 3000 years ago, and experienced a long process. In ancient culture, Chinese political thought took the study of the monarch’s “way of governing the country” as the core, and dealt with the relationship between the monarch and his subjects and the relationship between the monarch and the people as the content, forming a relatively complete theoretical system. After the Opium War in 1840, China fell into a dark situation of domestic and foreign aggression. The Chinese people experienced the heavy suffering of frequent wars, broken mountains and rivers, and people’s lack. For the sake of national rejuvenation, countless people with lofty ideals persevered and carried out a painful struggle. “Salvation” and “Enlightenment” became variations of Chinese political thought. However, all kinds of political beliefs failed to change the social nature of old China and the tragic fate of the Chinese people. In 1917, the October Revolution of Russia sent Marxism Leninism to China. From the scientific truth of Marxism Leninism, advanced Chinese elements see the way out to solve China’s problems. In the violent movement of Chinese society after modern times, in the violent struggle of the Chinese people against the feudal rule and foreign aggression, and combining Marxism Leninism with the Chinese workers’ movement, 19

Selected Works of Tsetung, Vol. 1, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 283.

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the Communist Party of China came into being in 1921. From that moment on, the Chinese people have had in the Party a backbone for their pursuit of national independence and liberation, of a stronger and more prosperous country, and their happiness; and the mindset of the Chinese people has changed, from passivity to taking the initiative.20 In the course of leading the Chinese people in the new democratic revolutionary struggle against imperialism and feudalism and the process of socialist revolution, construction, and reform, the Communist Party of China took Marxism Leninism as the guidance. It creatively developed Marxism Leninism, forming the socialist political thought based on Marxism Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and socialism with Chinese characteristics. In the new era, further, development has developed Xi Jinping Political Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. In the west, political thought began in ancient Greek society in the fifth century BC. In the long historical development, with the changes of social, political, economic, and cultural structure, western political thought has gone through four stages: classicism, Shintoism, rationalism, and scientism. It has completed the transformation of a political themes from philosophical ethics to theology, then to philosophy, and finally to science, and realized the theoretical perspective from “idea” to God, and then to abstract “category.” The transformation from human beings to concrete individuals. The history of political thought development in China and the West shows that: (1)

There are various reasons for the development and change of political thought. Among them, the fundamental reason is the movement of basic social contradictions. At the same time, the development of the interests of social groups and the contradictory movement of political relations are the main reasons.

The contradictions between productive forces and production relations, economic base, and superstructure are the primary social contradictions. With the development of productive forces, there are contradictions between productive forces and production relations. Then there are contradictions between the social and economic foundation with production relations as its content and the superstructure, including political ideology. These contradictory movements fundamentally promote the development and change of political thought, to adapt to the development of contradictions between productive forces and production relations, economic foundation, and superstructure. At the same time, people from all kinds of political relations in social life. In reality, this kind of political relation embodies people’s interests and interests, power, and rights. With the development of human society and the change of social relations, people’s political concerns are constantly developing. To maintain and realize their interests, maintain or change social and political concerns, people have created various political theories and thoughts, which also reflect and maintain these political relations in the way of theoretical thinking. 20

Xi Jinping: Decisively Win the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects, and Win the Great Victory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era-A Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Daily (October 28, 2017).

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(2)

The development of political thought is a dialectical process of inheritance and innovation.

Engels pointed out: “Modern socialism, as far as its content is concerned, is the result of the examination of the class antagonism between those who have a property and those who have no property, between capitalists and wage workers, and the anarchy in production. However, as far as its theoretical form is concerned, it initially manifested itself as the further and seemingly more thorough development of various principles put forward by the great French Enlightenment scholars in the eighteenth century. Like any new theory, it must first proceed from the existing ideological materials”.21 For later generations, the political thought of predecessors is a valuable historical heritage. The new political idea is a kind of innovation based on inheriting the excellent achievements of predecessors. Generally speaking, the political views of the descendants often start from the endpoint of the study of human political thought. Based on comparison and inheritance, we should clear up the ideological content of the predecessors, take the essence and discard the dregs. And we should extract the starting point, and make creative transformation and innovative development according to the characteristics and requirements of the new era. Therefore, the history of political thought is the history that political thinkers continue to inherit and innovate. (3)

In the development of political thought, those political thinkers with profound and innovative ideas have played a significant role.

Advanced political and ideological activities require the thinker to have the necessary personal conditions: extensive knowledge, rich political experience, diligent study and thinking spirit, keen insight, and strong language expression ability. This determines that not everyone can become a political thinker, and there must be a small number of people who become political thinkers. In the development of human political thought, they played an essential role in the continuation and innovation of political thought, especially those political thinkers who created a new ideological system and reached the level of a comprehensive theory. They not only inherited and inspired political thought, but also developed new values, new thinking, new methods, and angles. In the history of the development of proletarian political thought, Marx, Engels, Lenin, and other classical political thinkers, with their hard work and scientific thinking, revealed the nature and development law of human politics, and made significant contributions to human political thought and the cause of proletarian liberation. (4)

21

Practice is the real way for the development of human political thought. The political practice of the overwhelming majority of the people is the fundamental driving force for the development of human social organizations and the only test standard for the truth of political thought.

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 355.

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All actual knowledge comes from practice. Practice is the inexhaustible source of political thought. The people’s practice of creating history and politics is the fundamental driving force and realistic basis for developing human political thought. In the long history, it is the people’s political practice that provides deep soil for the formation of political thought and opens up a magnificent scene for the development of political thought. Political thought comes from practice, guides practice, innovates practice, and develops in practice, which is the fundamental law of the formation and development of human political thought. At the same time, the people’s practice is also the yardstick to test and update political thought. The truth and effectiveness of political thought must be tested by the people’s political practice. They must be put into the people’s political practice, to be sublimated and refined in the people’s political practice. “Seeking truth from facts is the essential point of view of Marxism, the fundamental requirement for the Chinese Communists to understand and transform the world, and the party’s primary methods of thinking, work, and leadership. Regardless of the past, present and future, we must proceed from reality, integrate theory with practice, and test and develop truth in practice”.22

14.3.2 The Role of Political Thought Political thought plays a vital role in real political life. Lenin once pointed out that “there can be no revolutionary movement without revolutionary theory,”23 which is a high generalization of the role of political thought. In social and political life, the part of political thought is mainly reflected in the following aspects: 1.

Reflect the specific interest requirements and demonstrate their political rationality

The fundamental reason for the emergence and development of political thought lies in the emergence and development of social interest requirements. Political thought is the ideological and theoretical reflection of the emergence and development of such interest requirements. It belongs to a specific interest subject. In class society, it belongs to a specific class. Political thought not only reflects the specific requirements of social interests, but also demonstrates the political rationality and legitimacy of its subordinate interest subject in its exquisite form. Therefore, it serves this interesting subject. 2.

Maintain or destroy the specific political rule

Political thought takes specific political power as its material weapon. The dominant political thought is the political thought of the ruling class. It maintains the rule of the ruling class, demonstrates its legitimacy and rationality, controls the view and soul 22 23

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Foreign Language Press, 2014, p. 25. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 6. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 23.

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of the ruled class, and thus maintains the existing political order. The political idea of the led class is often a hostile demonstration of the current political ruling order. It can effectively unify the idea and will of the led, mobilize the power of the led, provide them with a powerful ideological weapon to overthrow the existing political rule, and clear the ideological barriers. 3.

Political thought plays a vital role in people’s understanding of political reality

Political thought provides people with the necessary knowledge of political cognition. Political thought includes the study of different parts and levels of all aspects of political life, which offers people with various political knowledge. Without this knowledge, it is impossible to understand politics and engage in political activities. Political thought provides people with the method of political analysis. Any systematic and complete political review uses a specific political analysis method, which is generally implied in its interpretation and analysis of various political behaviors and political systems. Therefore, by learning and understanding multiple political thoughts, we can master different political analysis methods, to prepare tools and basic angles for the analysis of actual politics. 4.

Political ideology dominates people’s political consciousness

Political thought is a kind of conscious, rational, and high-level thinking activity. It plays a leading role in people’s various political ideology systems. Generally speaking, when a person is armed with a complete set of political thoughts, his other political consciousness, such as political emotion, political motivation, political attitude, etc., will be under the conscious control of political thoughts.

Chapter 15

Political Socialization

15.1 The Meaning and Characteristics of Political Socialization 15.1.1 The Definition of Political Socialization Political culture is the psychological and spiritual reflection of specific social and political relations. As a psychological and spiritual phenomenon, political culture is formed through people’s understanding and learning, which is political socialization. For people to learn and acquire political knowledge, so as to adapt to the study of social and political life, is an ancient subject of political science. In ancient China, Confucianism emphasized the rule of virtue and mind, especially the role of political education. In the political way of Confucianism, “Cultivating the person, regulating the family, governing the state, and tranquilizing the land under Heaven.”, self-cultivation is the foundation of politics. “From the son of Heaven down to the multitudes of the people, all consider the cultivation of the person to be the root. It cannot be that, when the root is neglected, that what should spring from it will be well ordered.”1 In the west, Plato of ancient Greece noticed the relationship between education, children’s experience, and citizen’s value orientation in his book Utopia. Aristotle, Bodan, Rousseau, and other political thinkers also discussed the relationship between people’s way and process of acquiring political knowledge and social-political system and political structure. However, since the 1950s, people began to carry out unique and systematic research on political socialization. In the early 1950s, the concept of “political socialization” was introduced into political analysis to refer to people learning political values and political positions.2

1 2

The Great Learning. Dawson and Prewitt, Political Socialization, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1969, p. 12.

© Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_15

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In 1958, political scientists David Easton and Robert Hayes published their paper “Some Problems in the Study of Political Socialization,” which carried out a special study on political socialization. The following year, Herbert Hyman published his book Political Socialization: A Psychological Study of Political Behavior, which systematically discussed the process of political socialization for the first time from the perspective of political psychology. By the mid-1960s, political socialization had developed into an essential field of modern political science. Western political scientists have different definitions of the meaning of political socialization: (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Political socialization is a process in which people learn political knowledge and skills. As David Easton and Jack Dennis pointed out, “Political socialization is the development process in which people acquire their political orientation and behavior patterns.“3 Robert E. Dawes and others also believe that “People’s knowledge about political traditions or political roles and related behaviors is not innate, and political socialization is one or more processes of acquiring such knowledge.“4 Political socialization is how society shapes its members’ political psychology and political consciousness. For example, Greenstein believes that “Political socialization instills political consciousness, political values and political habits by institutions officially responsible for education.“5 Political socialization is the way of political culture. For example, Cannes P. Langton believes that “Political socialization is a way of social transmission of political culture from one generation to the next.“6 Political socialization is the process of maintaining and changing political culture. For example, Almond and Powell believe that “political socialization is the process of the formation, maintenance and change of political culture.“7

These definitions describe different aspects of political socialization and emphasize the close relationship between political culture and political socialization. However, there are some defects in these definitions: First, they do not specify the social background of political socialization; second, they do not specify the social and political practice of political socialization; third, they regard people’s political cognition and political learning as a process of negative acceptance, while ignoring people’s subjective initiative in the process of political cognition. Marxist epistemology holds that people’s understanding of objective external things and phenomena is a subjective reflection of accurate activity under specific 3

David Easton and J. Dennis, Children in the Political System, New York: McCraw Hill, 1969, p. 7. 4 David Miller, Vernon Bogdanor. (1992). The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Science. China University of Political Science and Law Press, p. 563. 5 David L. Sills, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, New York: Macmillan Inc., 1968, p. 551. 6 Kenneth P.Langton, Political Socialzation, London: Oxford University Press, 1969, p. 4. 7 Gabriel A. Almond, Jr. Powell. (1987). Comparative Politics Today: A World View. Shanghai Translation Publishing House, p. 62.

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historical conditions and based on practice. According to the fundamental viewpoint of Marxist epistemology, referring to the definition mentioned above of political socialization by modern political scientists, we can define political socialization as the dynamic process in which people gradually acquire political knowledge and ability, form and change their political psychology and political thoughts through social and political life and political practice in specific political relations.

15.1.2 Characteristics of Political Socialization As a process of understanding political phenomena and learning political knowledge, political socialization has the following main characteristics: 1.

Political socialization is a process in which people engage in political practice

The process of political cognition is, first of all, the process of political practice. The practicality of political socialization is mainly manifested in: First, people always understand and grasp political phenomena under specific social and political conditions, which exist in specific social forms and social development stages, so it stipulates that people’s political socialization process has exact social and political contents. Second, people acquire political knowledge based on political life and political practice. In the process of political socialization, people may directly acquire first-hand political understanding through their political practice, or obtain indirect political experience and expertise summarized by predecessors and others through education and learning. Obviously, these two approaches are based on people’s political practices. At the same time, people’s political understanding develops with the development of political practice and deepens with the deepening of political practice. Third, people’s political experience is tested through political practice. People’s political practice and its consequences are the only standards to try, adhere to, adjust and even change their political understanding. 2.

Political socialization is a process in which people grow up to be political people

Political socialization is one of the processes of human socialization. It differs from other types of socialization in that it is political. The political nature of political socialization is reflected in its causes, contexts, and consequences. From the perspective of the motivation of political socialization, people are engaged in political learning to realize their interests and adapt to, participate in or change political life and political reality. As the role of social politics affects the whole society and involves the immediate or long-term interests of every member of community, every member of community is consciously or unconsciously learning politics. From the perspective of the content of political socialization, what people acquire and form in political socialization is their understanding, orientation, and skills of engaging in social and political life. Although other aspects of social life also affect or even dominate the process of political socialization, people’s understanding and orientation of political life is always the primary content of political socialization. From the perspective

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of the consequences of political socialization, through this process, social members can understand the existing political culture, be familiar with political norms, form independent political consciousness, and clarify their social and political roles, to change from “natural person” to “political person,” and become the undertaker of social and political relations and practitioners of political activities. 3.

Political socialization is the unity of understanding of politics and the transmission of political culture

Political socialization itself is a long-term process of the occurrence and development of people’s political cognition, which is the unity of various methods. From the perspective of epistemology, it is a process of deepening people’s political understanding. On the one hand, it is a process in which people’s knowledge of politics rises from sensibility to rationality, and then rationality guides sensibility. On the other hand, it is a process that people acquire political knowledge through political practice, and then put this knowledge into practice, to further test the actual knowledge or obtain new political understanding, that is, practice cognition to practice to awareness. From the perspective of the formation and development of individual political psychology and political consciousness, political socialization begins with people entering social and political life and participating in political practice. Finally, people lose their political activities and practical ability. It is a long-term process for individuals to continuously carry out political learning, to form and adjust their political psychology and political thoughts. From the perspective of social-political system and political community, political socialization is a process in which the existing political system and political community impart their political beliefs, norms, knowledge, values, and emotions to each member of the political community through various channels, so that they can enter into a specific mode of social psychology, thinking and behavior related to political life. From the perspective of the history of the development of human political culture, political socialization is also a process of transmission and change of political culture. It is through the interaction between people and society, knowledge, and practice that human political culture can be formed, developed, transmitted and changed, which constitutes the overall process of the development of human political culture. 4.

Political socialization is the process of people’s subjective and objective interaction and different stages of political socialization

As far as the specific stage of political socialization is concerned, in the process of political socialization, two aspects are both contradictory and unified, that is, personal subjective political understanding and social objective political culture and political reality. Political socialization is a complex process in which these two aspects interact and influence each other. This kind of interaction and influence is mainly reflected in: First, the interaction between personal political psychology and political thought and social political culture. In the process of political socialization, individual members of society receive social-political culture through social-political training and education, and thus internalize into their own political psychology and political thoughts. On the one hand, in the process of accepting social political culture, he can choose

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according to his interests, to purposefully take specific political values, political beliefs, political theories, and even political behavior patterns. On the other hand, through political learning, he can choose based on their interests and the interests of their groups. They form independent political beliefs and political values, thus influencing or changing the political culture of the society. Second, the interaction between individual political psychology and political thought and social-political reality. Personal political psychology and political thought reflect social and political reality. Still, they also react to social and political reality, and even form massive spiritual and material forces to transform social and political reality. From the perspective of the convergence of several development stages of political socialization, a particular set of political socialization will interact with other locations. For example, people’s political knowledge, political beliefs, and political values in one set of political socialization will affect the political values, beliefs, orientations, and political learning conditions in another location of political socialization. The process of political socialization in one step will also strengthen or change the effect and consequence of political socialization in the previous step. In addition, political socialization has the characteristics of means. As a way for people to acquire political knowledge, political socialization itself does not have the meaning of purpose, but only means. It is only the bridge and intermediate link for people to acquire political knowledge and enter political life.

15.2 Political Socialization Media and Influencing Factors 15.2.1 Political Socialization Media First. The media-political culture of political socialization is transmitted through specific media, so political socialization is also completed through these media. In social and political life, specific social organizations, institutions, and groups are likely to provide citizens with political information, transmit political culture, and become the media influencing the political consciousness of social members. To sum up, these media mainly include: 1.

Family

From birth to becoming a member of society, the first way of individual socialization is family. The experience and influence of childhood are significant to a person’s political attitude in his whole life, and family is the initial and most direct political socialization medium. “Family is the first classroom in life, and parents are the first teachers of children.“.8 In the long-term family environment, while raising their offspring, the elders often transmit their views on the world and society, their attitudes 8

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2014, E-Edition P344.

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towards political authority, their evaluations of political events, and their usual political values, attitudes, and feelings to their offspring directly or indirectly, to guide them to learn and understand the external political life. Many studies have shown that family environment, especially parents’ attitudes and beliefs towards things, affect children’s attitudes and opinions; young people who actively participate in family decision-making are likely to be very active in politics when they grow up; authoritarian, paternalistic family education helps to produce two kinds of people: political arbitrary and political obedient; children’s family life is incomplete, and lack of justice family education may become a kind of abnormal social person in adulthood; the “intergenerational inheritance” of a family environment may shape a conservative character. 2.

School

School is a unique structure for spreading culture and a systematic and powerful way for socialization. School is a specialized learning and training place for people to go to the society. In school life, on the one hand, through receiving special cultural knowledge and systematic political education, students from an incomplete standard understanding of political life; on the other hand, in the mutual relationship with many students and teachers, they initially experience the social-political life. Therefore, the school plays a crucial role in establishing a person’s political values, cultivating his political attitude and political emotion. It is precise because schools can strengthen people’s affection for the political system, develop people’s political loyalty and common political creed, guide people to believe in “unwritten rules of political competition,” and provide all kinds of social functions such as knowledge and technology. Therefore, they are often used by ruling groups to instill the political values and attitudes they need into students. The primary reason why school education has been valued by the society of past dynasties is that it has the above-mentioned essential functions. 3.

Specific political symbols

Specific political symbols, such as the national flag, national emblem, national anthem, portraits of political leaders, have essential political symbolic significance and representative significance in social life. Therefore, they play an important role in the transmission of political culture in political socialization. Especially for people’s political psychology, they have more intuitive repeated stimulation, thus producing specific political psychological effects and set. 4.

Mass communication tools

The propaganda of mass media such as TV, radio, newspaper, and magazine is an essential way of political socialization in modern society. It not only plays a vital role in spreading political culture and forming ordinary political consciousness, but also in transforming political culture and guiding social political direction. There are

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two ways for mass communication tools to realize the function of political socialization: one is to “make political events eye-catching,”9 to attract the attention of the public to problems through news reports, public opinion rendering, and other ways, to increase their degree of concern and understanding, to guide the development direction of social and political psychology. Second, in all kinds of propaganda reports, besides providing all types of political information, they directly publicize specific political ideas, attitudes, and feelings. In this way, a member of society is always influenced by these ideas, perspectives, and feelings from reading comic books, reading newspapers, watching TV, listening to the radio, watching movies, and reading novels. Mass communication tools can have a vast and unified impact. It is not only a tool to provide information, but also a tool to change the primary political and cultural model. As a tool to change the basic mode of political culture, mass communication tools are in the following two senses: (1) extensive communication and exchange, so that the political culture can be updated and developed; (2) a new political culture to rise into the main political culture of a society, must be through extensive mass communication. In this sense, those who master the mass communication tools have the dominant power of political and cultural communication. 5.

Social and political organizations

All kinds of social, economic and, political organizations, such as trade unions, professional associations, associations, political parties, and state organs, are also essential ways of political socialization. These organizations are not only the elements of society, but also the means of socialization. They are formed by the combination of people in social life for particular social, political, and economic purposes, and then by publicizing the ideas and beliefs of their organizations, absorbing and accepting new members, so that they can live an organized social life, and learn and acquire unique political culture in it. In all organizations of social and a political life, political party is the most crucial way of political socialization in modern society. In everyday political life, a political party influences the political attitude of the public by publicizing the party’s program and policy propositions; by developing new members, they are socialized and trained in the party organization; through various activities of the party, its members, party supporters and followers participate in politics. At the same time, political and social groups also have a vital function of political socialization. Political and social groups play an essential role in cultivating, training and changing the political concepts, and psychology of social members. 6.

Political practice

Political practice is the most important bridge between the objective political world and people’s personal political psychology and political consciousness. Compared with other media of political socialization, it has more fundamental significance. 9

Gabriel A. Almond, Jr. Powell. (1987). Comparative Politics Today: A World View. Shanghai Translation Publishing House, p. 111.

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“The viewpoint of life and practice should be the first and basic viewpoint of epistemology.“ Therefore, it is through political practice that social members, especially social-political members, understand politics. On the other hand, political practice is the only standard to test and revise political psychology and political thought. “Marxists believe that only people’s social practice is the standard of truth for people’s understanding of the outside world.“. Through the process of political practice, cognition, to practice. To awareness, people constantly adjust their political psychology, correct their political awareness, improve their political ability and perfect their political personality, to gradually achieve the unity of subjective and objective, and make people’s political cognition leap from perceptual to rational. In addition to the leading political socialization media listed above, churches, workplaces and entertainment, professional and cultural groups, “communities, inhabitations, and peer groups” also have the function of political socialization, playing the role of maintaining and changing political culture.

15.2.2 Influencing Factors of Political Socialization Political socialization is a complex and long-term process. In this process, the acquisition of people’s political knowledge, political values, political beliefs, and political behavior patterns are affected by many factors. On the whole, these factors mainly include: 1.

Interest factors

Interest is the motive force for people to form social and political relations, acquire social and political knowledge and participate in political life. (P264)It is driven by different interests that people enter the process of political socialization. Therefore, without the role of interest factor, political socialization will become a tree without roots and water without a source. Interest is also the criterion for people to accept or reject, maintain or transform a specific political culture. The fundamental purpose of rulers to pass on and instill a particular political culture and shape a particular mode of political behavior is to safeguard rulers’ interests. While the ruled to learn and change political culture is also to realize their interests. Therefore, all social members choose and accept different political psychology and political thoughts according to other requirements of interests. Interest is the actual content of political socialization. People’s knowledge of political phenomena and the formation of specific political psychology and political thoughts often begin with the understanding of their interests and the relationship between interests and politics. In addition, interests determine the ways and means of political socialization. Different requirements of interests affect people’s choice of different approaches, media, and means of political socialization. In class society, class interests occupy a dominant position in the structure of social goods. Therefore, it is the primary interest factor influencing political socialization.

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B.

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The factor of political power

Political power affects the process of political socialization from two aspects. First, the role of political power in social life involves the occurrence and development of political socialization. The effectiveness of political power in promoting or hindering social members’ interests, the coverage of political power in social life, and the practical possibility that political power provides for social members to enter social and political life, all affect the development of political socialization. Second, the process of political socialization carried out by political power itself has a direct impact on people’s access to political knowledge and value and their access to political life. To maintain its dominant political position, specific political power constantly needs to create specific political education institutions and media, equip specific political education personnel, advocate and instill specific political values and political convictions. The political socialization carried out by political power will inevitably have a significant impact on the process of political socialization of the whole society. C.

The factor of the political right

The political right is the legal qualification of social members in social and political life. In social and political life, the lawful content, the way, and the degree of realization of this political qualification will affect the scope, the means, and the degree of political socialization. On the other hand, political right gives social members the possible space for political activities and practice. Also, it has an essential impact on the path and approach of political socialization of social members. D.

The level of socio-economic development

First of all, the level of social-economic development has a significant impact on political socialization. The improvement of social and economic development levels will provide a more favorable objective environment, and material conditions for political socialization. The development of social economy, the acceleration of social mobility, and the improvement of urbanization, transportation and communication capabilities will significantly facilitate political socialization, thus significantly improving the breadth and depth of political socialization. On the contrary, the backwardness of the social economy will bring objective difficulties and obstacles to political socialization. At the same time, with the improvement of the level of social and economic development, people’s interest requirements will continue to develop. The role and efficiency of public social power, as well as the needs of the realization of social and political rights, will continue to improve, to further promote political socialization at a higher social and political level. Secondly, the model of social and economic activities also has a profound impact on political socialization. Different social and economic activities mean different ways for social members to realize their interests, and other ways for social members to form interest relations. Due to interests and their significant effect and role in social and political life, realizing interests and developing interest relations have significant effect on the political power and political rights of social members. It also has a profound impact on the way social members engage in and participate in political activities.

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The factor of social culture

Political socialization is the formation, development, transfer, and transformation of political culture. The political culture is part of social culture. As a result, social culture also has an essential impact political socialization, which can be mainly displayed as following. First, any social culture is a national culture. The way of thinking, as well as mental set formed by a specific nation in the long-term development process, will undoubtedly affect the occurrence and development of the process of political socialization under the background of different national cultures. Secondly, any social culture has its current content of product. Therefore, the content and degree of political socialization will be significantly affected by the social value orientation, social belief, and social behavior pattern at a specific stage of social, cultural development. Third, among the members of the political community, the distribution of social and cultural levels is unbalanced. The research shows that in the regions and groups with higher social and cultural levels, the breadth, depth, and speed of political socialization are greater than those with lower social and cultural levels. F.

Political events

Political events are the catalyst of political socialization, which will change the content and value orientation of political socialization. “With every great historical change of social system, people’s views and ideas will also change.”10 For example, in the modern history of China, the successive political events of foreign powers invading China and forcing the Chinese government to sign unequal treaties put the issue of the survival of the Chinese nation at the priority of social and political life. Nationalism and patriotism became important in the value orientation of social politics and political socialization. Political events will also accelerate the process of political socialization. The occurrence and development of political events will clearly and closely link the fate of the country and political life with everyone, thus playing a role of political mobilization that no other political socialization media can match, and becoming an accelerator for people to learn politics and participate in political life. Political events will also deepen the process of political socialization. In the process of occurrence and development of political events, all kinds of interests, wills, forces, and contradictions in political life will be more fully displayed than usual, so that people will have a more precise, profound, comprehensive, and developing understanding of political life, acquire political knowledge, and form their political psychology and political thoughts, The period of significant social and political changes is often the period of significant development of different political theories and the emergence of various significant political figures. G.

The function mode of political socialization media

Political socialization is carried out through a variety of media, and the function mode of these media also has an essential impact on the process of political socialization. Generally speaking, the influential role of political socialization media will 10

Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Vol. 7. People’s Publishing House, 1959, p. 240.

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increase the intensity of political socialization. Otherwise, it will weaken the effect of political socialization. The continuous role of political socialization media will keep the process of political socialization constant, while the intermittent role of these media will interrupt the operation of political socialization. The consistency of political value orientation, political attitude shaping and political conviction formation among various media of political socialization can effectively promote political socialization of the same content and goal in social, and political life. On the contrary, if the political culture transmitted by various media is different from each other, or even diametrically opposite, there will be different or opposite political socialization processes in the political community. These processes will affect or even offset each other.

15.3 Types and Functions of Political Socialization 15.3.1 Types of Political Socialization A.

According to various social and political patterns

According to the different social and political forms of human beings up to now, political socialization can be divided into political socialization of primitive society, political socialization of slave society, feudal society, capitalist society, and socialist society. Primitive politics came into being in the late period of primitive society, and the process of people obtaining political psychology and political ideas was also carried out. However, in primitive societies, political socialization is very simple. Its function is to maintain the everyday life of clans, tribes, and other groups based on kinship. Its media are mainly families, clans, and tribal organizations. Its approach is to participate in social and political life with all members directly. Its means is mainly to imitate and learn other people’s behavior and norms. Slave society is not only the first step of class society in human history, but also the beginning of human civilization. Therefore, the political socialization of slave society is distinctive from that of primitive society. First, political socialization is carried out based on class politics, so it has an explicit nature and content of slave owner class rule. Second, political socialization is the first time that the ruling class has consciously and purposefully carried out. It aims at cultivating the social ruling foundation of the slave owner class and shape the political talents to maintain the slave owner rule. Third, the slave class regarded slaves as tools of labor. Therefore, they only gave political training to the members of the slave class and the free men. The understanding of the social politics of the slave class was mainly obtained in the open and direct struggle and confrontation with the slave class. Fourth, the political socialization of slave society began to wear theological color, and the ruling class carried out their political values and norms through religious preaching and religious

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activities. Fifthly, specialized political socialization media, such as Aristotle’s school in the West and Confucius’ school in China, have come into being and played a role. The political socialization of feudal society is the primary means for the feudal landlord class to carry out political and ideological rule. It takes the legitimacy of the feudal autocratic rule as its main content and value orientation, aims at shaping the political personality of slaves suitable for the feudal hierarchy. It takes the political education of all members of society as its primary form. It takes the feudal, patriarchal clan relationship as its primary blood media. It takes the theocratic rule as its essential philosophical basis and feudal political ethics and morality as its primary content. The political socialization of capitalist society is bringing all citizens into the track of the capitalist political order. Compared with the previous method of political socialization, the political socialization of capitalist society has its characteristics. First, it conceals the most fundamental political value of bourgeois political rule with various political values. On the surface, capitalist society allows various political matters, but these values are limited to the maximum political value of the capitalist rule. Beyond this range, no deal can be allowed to become the content of political socialization. Second, it conceals the monopoly rule of the capital group with the superficial free political socialization. On the surface, capitalist political socialization allows people to choose different social media of political socialization freely. Still, in fact, most of the social media of political socialization are controlled by monopoly capital. Third, it has complex and diverse paths and approaches of political socialization. Fourth, it has developed and advanced technical means of political socialization. The purpose of political socialization in a socialist society is to make all citizens form conscious political consciousness and improve their political ability, to truly realize their political status and rights as masters of the country, and at the same time, cultivate socialist political talents. The political socialization of socialist society takes the interests and freedoms of the proletariat and the broad masses of working people as the most significant political value orientation and primary content. It takes the political practice of all the people as its primary way, and emphasizes the consistency of political approach and understanding. At the same time, it also provides a practical and reliable material guarantees, political places, political opportunities, and legal guarantees for all citizens to study politics. B.

According to the age of political socialization

For individuals, political socialization is learning political knowledge and skills, understanding political phenomena, and the process of occurrence, development, and maturity of their political psychology and political thoughts. This process runs through one’s whole life. The social practice ability, cognition ability, and knowledge accumulation degree are different at different ages in one’s life. Thus, political socialization has other characteristics at different ages. a.

Political socialization in childhood

Childhood refers to the experience of an individual before he obtains legal citizenship. Political socialization in childhood has the following characteristics. First,

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children’s political learning mostly belongs to the level of political psychology, in which political identity, political attachment, political loyalty, political obedience, and other emotional, political psychology are the main contents. Therefore, children’s understanding of politics is primarily perceptual. Second, children’s political socialization mostly takes intuitive and vivid political things, and behaviors as learning objects, and their learning methods are mainly direct imitation and psychological experience. However, studies have shown that when people enter their adolescence, they will have a certain understanding of some abstract political symbols. Third, children’s political socialization is mainly carried out through the media of family and school. Therefore, family members and teachers are often the first teachers of individual political socialization. Fourth, the political psychology formed in children’s political socialization will have an important impact on political psychology and value choice in the later stage of socialization. b.

Political socialization in youth

Youth is the experience from people obtaining legal citizenship to adulthood. Political socialization in youth is the crucial stage of forming political outlook and political personality in one’s life. Generally speaking, its main characteristics are as follows. First, political learning in youth is mainly about political thoughts, ideas, and behavior norms. Therefore, the process of political socialization focuses on the formation of individual political views. Second, the intensity and speed of political learning in youth have been greatly improved. Young people’s interest in political life, their ability to accept political knowledge, and so on all provide suitable conditions for the development of the political socialization process in their youth. Third, the process of political socialization in youth is mainly carried out by schools and society, in which systematic political education and social-political events play an essential role. Fourth, the political psychology and political thought formed in youth wear a lot of ideal colors, in which the component of political value orientation is more significant than other components. c.

Political socialization in adulthood

Political socialization in adulthood is not only the continuation of the former two stages of political socialization, but also the completion or perfection of them. Generally speaking, the main characteristics of political socialization in adulthood are as follows. First, the process of political socialization is connected with people’s interests. That is to say; people understand political phenomena, accept or reject political values, political convictions, and behavior patterns mainly from the perspective of their interests rather than from political emotions or political concepts. Second, political socialization is primarily carried out through social and political phenomena, mass media, social and political processes and people’s political practices. For individuals, political practice and political environment are the main approaches to understand politics further. Third, the main content of political socialization is to provide further political knowledge and skills for individuals and improve their political personality. When people enter adulthood, they have formed independent and definite political character, understood and mastered the basic rules, norms, and necessary

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skills of social and political life. Political socialization in adulthood is only the further perfection, improvement, and development of their political knowledge, skills, and political personality. Fourth, individuals play an essential role in the process of political socialization in adulthood. In adulthood, an individual has formed independent political psychology and thought. Therefore, he is not simply a passive socialized object, but influences others and social politics with his political psychology, thought, and behavior pattern. It should be noted that in the actual process of political socialization, the characteristics of different age groups overlap. At the same time, due to the diverse experiences of social members and the gap between people’s psychological age and actual age, the determination of socialization age stage and the determination of its characteristics will be different for different individuals. C.

According to the way of political socialization

According to political socialization, socialization can be divided into natural political socialization and indirect political socialization. Direct political socialization means that people receive political knowledge and training in a natural, open, and transparent way to form political personality. The primary forms of direct political socialization include the following. a.

Political imitation

Political imitation means that social members accept others’ political values and convictions, and imitate others’ political behavior and attitude. Political fraud is widely seen between children and adults, students and teachers. However, in social life, it also often occurs between the masses and leaders (especially political leaders), non-professional political personnel and professional political personnel, junior political personnel and senior political personnel, primary education, and higher education. b.

Political education

Political education is an significant way for people to acquire political knowledge and skills directly. It has a wide range of effectiveness. The primary political knowledge and value norms of most social members are generally obtained through political education. It can effectively instill specific political values and convictions through repeated functions. In addition, it is controllable, and the political system can adjust the content and direction of political socialization according to its interests. c.

Political training

To undertake a political post or political task with special political requirements, people must master the value standards, rules, and skills required by the center. Therefore, people must undergo special political professional training. Political professional training is specialized, systematic, and in-depth political education. The goal of political activity is to shape unique political personality. Its central task is to cultivate specific political qualities and abilities. Its sphere of influence is only political professionals.

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Political practice

People’s direct participation in political life and political practice is the most effective way of natural political socialization. People can not only acquire political knowledge and skills directly in this way, but also realize the mastery degree of their knowledge and skills through repeated examinations, to deepen their understanding. Indirect political socialization refers to how people transfer their specific social psychology, social thoughts, and behavior to political life through non-political experience and learning. The primary forms of indirect political socialization include the following. a.

Interpersonal transfer

Interpersonal transfer refers to people’s views, feelings, and attitudes towards certain people formed in social life to political figures. For example, children will transfer their attitudes towards their parents and their authority to political figures, thus affecting the formation and development of their political personality. Interpersonal transfer especially plays an significant role in the formation and development of people’s political psychology in political socialization. At the same time, the political socialization of interpersonal transfer not only makes individuals form their views on political figures, but also makes them form their views on the political system, political convictions, and policies associated with political figures. b.

Value transfer

Value transfer is a process in which people transfer social values and expectations learned in social life to political life. In social life, everyone is the material undertaker of specific social values. When people enter political life, they consciously or unconsciously bring social value into the political field and turn it into political value. For example, people’s social, moral value will profoundly affect their political morality. Therefore, value transfer has become one of the essential ways of political socialization. c.

Rule transfer

People transfer the experience, lessons, rules, and norms from social life to political life, which forms the rule transfer in indirect political socialization. Generally speaking, the rules of people’s economic life often have a significant and profound impact on the rules of political life, and rules are also the most essential basis and source for people to realize the rule transfer.

15.3.2 The Roles of Political Socialization Political socialization is a vital link in political life, which plays an essential role in the progress and development of social and political life. This role is mainly reflected in the three levels of individual, political system, and political culture.

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To endow individuals with specific political personality and political ability to adapt to, participate in and even transform social and political life

For individual members of society, political socialization is the continuous process of their political growth and development, composed of two aspects. One is the formation and maturity of political personality. In political socialization, people acquire specific political knowledge through specific approaches and media, thus gradually forming specific political psychology and political thoughts. The sum of political psychology and political beliefs possessed by a single member of society includes a distinct political personality. This political psychology and political thought acquisition process is also the formation and growth process of distinct political nature. The other is the construction and progress of political ability. The formation and improvement of people’s political ability depend not only on people’s understanding and mastery of the rules and norms of political life, but also on people’s mastery and possession of the skills and qualities of political life, which are promoted, implemented, and carried out through the process of political socialization. Thus, political socialization is a bridge to help social members enter, adapt, and participate in social and political life. B.

To maintain, change and create social and political culture

The process of political socialization is based on the existing social and political culture. Therefore, under normal circumstances, the inculcation and transmission of political socialization are, first of all, the current political values, political convictions, political rules and norms, and political behavior patterns. It is through this kind of inculcation and transmission that the current political culture can be maintained and continued by political socialization. Political socialization maintains and continues the existing political culture mainly through the intergenerational transmission of political culture; that is, the previous generation passes on the current political culture to the next generation through specific ways and media of political socialization. In the long-term historical process, the current political culture has become a specific cultural tradition and has a lasting effect on social members. In some cases, the interpersonal transmission between the same generation is also a way to maintain the existing political culture, which is often achieved through the role of politicians or political scientists. The process of political socialization is completed through specific political practices. In the social and political practice, social members will change the social and political culture partially or wholly and create a new political culture in connection with their interests. There are two situations in this change. One is to produce new elements in the existing political culture, so that the political culture can be updated. The other is to replace the old culture with the political culture utterly different from the current political culture and become the social-political culture. C.

To maintain or change the political system

Political socialization has an essential influence on the maintenance or change of the political system, which is mainly realized through the political psychology and

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political thoughts that cause people to identify or disagree with the existing political system. When political socialization results in the political psychology and political thought that the social-political members strongly identify with the current political system, it plays a significant role in maintaining the current political system. On the contrary, when the process of political socialization makes the members of the society disagree with the current political system, and even ask to overthrow the current political system and replace it with a new one, it has a significant destructive effect on the current political system. When political socialization weakens or fails to strengthen the social members’ identification with the current political system, it objectively weakens the stability and political function of the current political system.

Part VI

Political Developments

Political development is essentially the transformation and adjustment of political relations. With the development and transition of productivity and economic and social ties, social interest relations and interest contradictions will continue to develop and change, resulting in the transformation and adjustment of the concerns of political power and political rights, forming social and political development in essence. In this regard, based on the change and development of interests and interest relations, the importance of political development is the transformation and development of political power and the concerns of power, political rights, and the relations of ownership as well as the relationship between political power and political rights. In the social and political reality, political development is also manifested in the development and transformation of various derivative forms of political relations, including the change and adjustment of the nature, direction and mode of political behavior, the change and improvement of the basic nature, organizational system and operation mechanism of the political system, the change and evolution of political and cultural value orientation, cognitive emotion, attitude motivation, and ideological theory. In this regard, political development is the transformation and adjustment of social politics. The fundamental driving force of political development is the development of productivity, which reflects the movement of interest relations and interest contradictions based on specific economic and social ties. The leader of political action is the social force representing the requirements of productivity and social development. The path of political development plays a directional and decisive role in political action. “The direction determines the path, and the path determines the destiny”.1 Therefore, the path of political development reflects the direction of political action, determines the country’s political destiny and behaviors, and is related to the fundamental and overall situation of social and political action.2 Political development is influenced and controlled by the primary national conditions, cultural traditions, development guiding ideology, and practical logic of the 1 2

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 36. XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 285.

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ruling class of a particular country and a specific period. The political form, system, and development of each country are the products of its economic, social, and political development, which are closely related to the specific national conditions. “It’s all decided by the people of this country. It’s the result of long-term development, gradual improvement, and endogenous evolution baesd on the country’s historical heritage, cultural tradition, and economic and social development.”3 The practice has shown that, “There is no universal development model in the world, and there is no unchangeable development path. The diversity of historical conditions determines the diversity of development paths that countries choose”.4 Political development is the historical process of human society from low-level politics to high-level politics, from the realm of political necessity to the realm of political freedom, the continuous development of human political civilization, and the common problems and tasks faced by various social and political forms. Political development is a long-term process. In this process, political development takes two primary forms and approaches, which are political revolution and political reform. Political revolution is a qualitative change of political relations, marked by the change and transfer of political power. Political reform is the quantitative change of political ties, which is characterized by the evolution and improvement of social politics. Political democracy is the goal of political development. A high degree of democracy is the symbol of human society to achieve a high degree of political civilization and an essential condition for human beings to attain complete liberation and all-around development.

3 4

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 286. XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA, Foreign Language Press, 2014, p. 29.

Chapter 16

Political Revolution

16.1 Meaning and Characteristics of the Political Revolution 16.1.1 Revolution and Political Revolution Revolution is an essential phenomenon in the historical development of human society. It is also a concept that people often use in social life, such as technological revolution, the industrial revolution, agricultural revolution, cultural revolution, ideological revolution, and so on. Political revolution is a particular type of revolution in the social sense. Therefore, to define political revolution, the first thing is to clarify the implication of revolution in the social mind. In ancient Chinese classics, there is a saying that, “Revolution is the expression of change”1 and “The Tang Wu Revolution is by heaven and man”. The word “revolution” here means change, and “mandate” means the mandate of heaven. The two words together mean to implement social change in response to the mandate of heaven. Therefore, it is an interpretation of revolution from the perspective of theocracy. In the west, the term “revolution” came from the concept of astrologers predicting sudden changes in fate. It was first used by Italians at the end of the fifteenth century to describe political phenomena, which means to overthrow the ruler suddenly with violence. In the course of the British revolution, Edward Hyde, the Earl of Clarendon, used wheel to describe the restoration and abdication of the king in 1662, giving wheel the implication of the approach to obtain the ideal political order. Since Plato and Aristotle in ancient Greece, the revolution has become the main problem of social and political theory. All kinds of social and political thinkers have defined course in a social sense, among which the followings are representative.

1

Book of Changes.

© Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_16

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B.

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Revolution is a moral act aimed at establishing a just and proper social order. In his History of Rome, Livy, the western historian, regards the establishment of the Roman Republic as a moral process in which moral Romans triumphed over the tyrannical rule of King Tarquinius. The ancient Greek historian Polybius believes that revolution is the restoration of justice and proper order of society. This revolutionary view had a significant influence on later generations. Modern English conservative thinker Burke used moral standards to oppose the French Revolution. The modern western political thinker Chalmers Johnson further believed that revolution was a competition between ideology and value system. This interpretation of the revolution in the sense of morality and values is colored by historical idealism. Revolution is an activity of striving for power and profit, and revolution within the scope of society is essentially a social and political activity of fighting for the highest authority of the central government. For example, Jack A. Goldstone, an American political scientist, believes that revolution is “different groups, including the former government, striving to become the central power. This kind of power struggle may take various forms, such as a large-scale civil war, a rapid coup, or a long guerrilla war”.2 This definition only sees the appearance of revolution, especially political revolution, but does not point out the social significance and essential content of revolution. Revolution is a conflict between individual psychology and social status. Durkheim, a contemporary sociologist, believes that as modern society becomes more and more complex, individuals become more and more lonely, and gradually lose their psychological balance, resulting in revolution and violence. Another sociologist Lebon also believes that revolution is a social behavior caused by the public’s disorientation and psychological irrationality. Sociologist Davis holds the same view, which involves the social psychology of revolution, but does not scientifically indicate how the social psychology of revolution came into being. At the same time, it attributes the revolution to irrational behavior, which reflects the conservative position in politics. Revolution is the manifestation of the defects of social structure and the state’s ability to cope with pressure. The representative of this view is the American sociologist Skocpol. She believes that there must be some backward or imperfect social structure in a revolutionary society. Therefore, when faced with the economic and military pressure of economically developed countries, the imbalance of internal power structure, or mass uprising, it is often unable to cope, resulting in a revolution. Huntington, a contemporary American political scientist, also holds this view. This point of view only reveals a condition for the emergence of revolution. Still, it does not explain the real essential meaning of revolution and the real reason for the outbreak of revolution.

David Miller, Vernon Bogdanor. (1992). The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Science. China University of Political Science and Law Press, p. 657.

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Marxist classical writers use the methods of economic analysis and class analysis to make a profound exposition of the meaning of revolution. Their essential viewpoints are as follows. A.

B.

C.

The fundamental reason for the revolution is that the specific social and economic relations are fundamentally incompatible with productivity development. Marx pointed out, “When the social material productive forces develop to a certain stage, they conflict with the existing production relations or property relations (which are just the legal terms of production relations) in which they have been active. Therefore, these relations have changed from the development form of productivity to the shackles of it. Then the era of social revolution will come.”3 The social embodiment of revolution is the contradiction and confrontation between classes. In social development, different social and economic relations cause contradictions and conflicts between other types, thus becoming the reality of revolution. In this regard, Mao Zedong once made the following statement, “In the history of humanity, there exists class confrontation, which is a special manifestation of contradictory struggle. The contradictions between the exploiting class and the exploited class, whether in a slave society, feudal society, or capitalist society, coexist in the same society for a long time, and they struggle with each other. However, when the contradictions between the two classes develop to a certain stage, they will take the form of external confrontation and develop into a revolution. In class society, the same is true of the transformation from peace to war.”4 Revolution is a qualitative change in the process of social development. As a result, the new social system replaces the old one, thus immensely liberating the productive social forces and promoting the development and progress of the whole society. Revolution is “the locomotive of history.”5

It can be seen that the revolution expounded by Marxism is a revolution in the sense of social significance and social change. According to Marxism on the meaning of revolution, the use of interest analysis method to analyze the importance of political revolution, the following points can be seen. A.

3

Political revolution originated from the contradiction and antagonism of social interest relations. As mentioned above, in the social interest relations, there are vertical and horizontal interest contradictions, which may be antagonistic or nonantagonistic. In the process of social life and development, these contradictions are caused by many complex factors. In terms of interest relations, from a static point of view, the deprivation of goods, the competition for interests, and the limited distribution of goods are the essential reasons for the intensification and confrontation of interest contradictions. From a dynamic point of view, the development of productive social forces and the corresponding changes in

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 32–33. Selected Works of Tsetung, Vol.1, People’s Publishing House, 1991, 334. 5 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 11. 4

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social relations make the state of interest contradiction in social interest relations change accordingly. Among them, the development of productive social forces first requires the evolution of social and economic ties. Therefore, the interest contradiction between the interest subjects representing the old economic relations and the interest subjects representing the new requirements of productive forces and the new economic relations has the nature of the actual confrontation. On this basis, the development of productive forces will also promote the changes of other social ties, which will lead to antagonistic contradictions between the vested interest subjects and the new interest subjects. When the conflict of interests between different social interest subjects forms a state of confrontation, it provides a social basis for the political revolution. The political revolution took place in the significant changes in the balance of social and political forces. Based on the intensification and confrontation of social interest conflicts, the relationship between social and political parties transformed from different interest subjects presents an antagonistic state. When the contrast between these forces changes significantly, a political revolution will take place. Lenin said in his analysis of the balance of power in the political process that the state of this balance of power is that, “The ruling class can no longer maintain its rule as usual. This or that kind of crisis of the ‘upper class’, the political crisis of the ruling class, creates a breakthrough for the outburst of discontent and anger of the oppressed class. For a revolution to come, it is usually not enough just for the ‘lower class’ unwilling to continue to live as usual, but also for the ‘upper class’ unable to continue to live as usual. The poverty and sufferings of the oppressed class have been unusually intensified. As a result of the above reasons, the enthusiasm of the masses has been greatly enhanced. During the ‘peaceful’ period, these masses were humbly plundered. During the storm period, the whole crisis environment and the ‘upper class themselves’ urged them to participate in independent historical actions. Without these objective changes, which are not only based on the will of various groups and political parties, but also based on the will of various classes, revolution is usually impossible. The sum of these objective changes is called the revolutionary situation. This kind of situation existed in Russia in 1905 and in various revolutionary times in Western Europe. However, this kind of situation also existed in Germany in the 1960s, Russia in 1859–1861, and 1879–1880, but there was no revolution. Why? It is because not all revolutionary situations will produce a revolution. Only under the above-mentioned objective changes and emotional changes will there be a revolution.6 That is to say; the revolutionary class must be able to launch strong revolutionary mass actions that are enough to destroy (or defeat) the old government, because if this old government is not ‘pushed,’ it will never be ‘toppled’ even in times of crisis.” The core issue and political feature of political revolution is the variation of political power. Under the situation of interest confrontation and changes in the

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 26. People’s Publishing House, 1988, p. 230.

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balance of political power, political crisis, and social crisis are coming in an all-round way. Among them, identity crisis, legitimacy crisis, implementation crisis, participation crisis, integration crisis, and distribution crisis constitute the “syndrome” of the political system. In the face of “crisis syndrome,” the existing political power and authority are seriously weakened. They can neither maintain the old political order nor cope with the crisis in an original way. The ruling machine has lost its actual efficiency and function. The scope, scale, nature, and form of social interest contradictions and conflicts have gone beyond the control of the main body of political power, which makes the change of political power an objective necessity. Meanwhile, the political forces developed based on the conflict of interests, and the contrast of political parties inevitably require new political abilities to realize their interests, thus making the change of political authority the subjective requirement of these political forces. Under the influence of these objective and subjective factors, the variation of political power has become the core issue and political feature of political revolution. As Mao Zedong said, all revolutionary struggles are aimed at seizing and consolidating political power. Corresponding to the variation of political power, social and political relations, political system, legal policies, and political values will also undergo rapid and comprehensive changes. Thus, it can be seen that the so-called political revolution is a violent activity of social and political forces to resist the existing political power and political rule to change the political management and social interest relations based on the confrontation of social interest contradictions. In the sense of social and political development, political revolution is a specific means and approach of political action in social history. The fighting edge of political revolution “is aimed at the ruling class before.”7 The role of its historical development is to break the old political relations and political order, overthrow the old political system and replace it with a new system, to promote the development and progress of the whole society.

16.1.2 Characteristics of the Political goat’s Life Political revolution is an activity in which the revolutionary forces realize the change of the subject of political power and the evolution of political power in the relationship of interest opposition and power confrontation to discover their interests. The essential characteristics of this activity are as follows. A.

Conflict and opposition of different interests

The social cause of political revolution is the conflict and opposition of interests. Political process shows that the battle of social interests has developed to an uncoordinated degree. At the same time, it shows that the social interest subject and political 7

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 90.

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power subject of revolution can not co-exist in the social community and political community in the existing interest relationship. The interests of the ruled can not be realized and satisfied in the current interest relationship. Therefore, the existing interest relationship is not harmonious. It is possible to maintain that the interests of the social interest subject of revolution. The interests of the political power subject are in a state of fierce opposition, which promotes political course. The purpose of the political revolution is to change the political power, change the relationship between social interests and rights, to realize the interests of the revolutionary parties. Therefore, the ultimate result of the political revolution is the realization of the interests of the revolutionary forces. Thus it can be seen that interest has the fundamental and objective function in the process of revolution, which has become the essential feature of political revolution. In this sense, political revolution is, in the final analysis, a fight for interests between different interest subjects. “Their material interests and needs make them fight to the death.”8 In class society, political revolution is the opposition and struggle of interests between different classes. B.

Confrontation and competition of political forces

Political revolution is the confrontation of political parties. Political revolution takes place based on interest opposition. At the same time, political revolution is related to the ownership of political power. Therefore, political revolution presents a state of confrontation in the relationship between political forces. As a confrontation of political forces, this characteristic of political revolution shows that the authority obedience relationship of political power has no longer existed or can not work. The close relationship between political power and other social political forces has broken through the existing political order and social order, and has become a comparative relationship characterized by fierce conflict and confrontation. Political power has become a specific political force in this new relationship of political power contrast, and lost the characteristics and stipulation of political power. At the same time, this characteristic of the political course also shows that the political revolution requires a change in the ownership of political power. Therefore, the revolutionary force and the existing political power are incompatible with each other and show irreconcilability. From the perspective of political revolution, the antagonism of political forces in political revolution is reflected in the competitive behavior of various political parties. In the process of interaction, various social and political parties, centering on their respective political strategies, use multiple political approaches to form a series of contests, which constitute a rich and colorful historical drama of political forces in the political revolution. C.

Alteration and seizure of political power

Unlike social revolution and economic revolution, the fundamental symbol of political revolution is the change of political power. This symbol of political revolution 8

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 6. People’s Publishing House, 1961, p. 302.

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is determined by the power and characteristics of political revolution. Political revolution is caused by the impossibility that the interest subjects of revolution realize and satisfy their interests through the existing political power. Political revolution is also carried out by the use of subjects of revolution based on their goods using gathering social and political forces. Therefore, it is the actual content of political revolution to realize the transformation of revolutionary forces to political power through the balance of political parties. So political power has become the symbol of political revolution. As Lenin pointed out, “Whether in the strict scientific sense of the concept of revolution or the practical political sense, the transfer of state power from one class to another is the primary and basic symbol of revolution.”9 Political revolution is marked by the alteration of political power, which means that the alteration of political power is a sign to measure the success of the political process. At the same time, it also means that political revolution is usually limited by altering political power. The alteration of social and economic relations brought by political power becomes the content of social revolution and economic revolution. As the ownership of political power is of decisive political significance to both the subject of political power and the revolutionary forces, the core activity of political revolution is the struggle for political power. The seizure of political power by the revolutionary forces, both the main body of political power and the maintenance of their political power by the ruler, has the characteristics of life and death. Marked by the alteration of political power, political revolution means not only the change of the subject of political power, but also the profound change of related political phenomena. Lenin pointed out, “From the Marxist point of view, what does revolution mean? That is to smash the old political superstructure with violence, that is to smash the superstructure that will collapse at a certain time due to the contradiction with the new relations of production,10 that is to destroy the whole superstructure of the state based on the old society.”11 Therefore, a political revolution not only means the change of the subject of political power, but also means the renewal of all political organizations, political institutions, political systems, and cultural concepts associated with the old political power. The content of political revolution determines its difference from social revolution. Social revolution aims to transform the whole society and is the renewal of social form, social system, and the social structure. As an aspect of social revolution, political revolution is not only the inevitable result of the emergence and development of social revolution, but also the necessary condition to promote the further development of social revolution. D.

Participation of the masses

Political revolution is a large-scale mass movement. In the old political and social order, the interests of the masses were not satisfied for a long time, the decay of the old political system, the strict and high-pressure policies of the ruling class and other factors brewed and accumulated the resistance of the masses, which often broke out 9

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 29. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 137. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 11. People’s Publishing House, 1987, p. 111. 11 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 12. People’s Publishing House, 1962, p. 628. 10

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in one way or another. Dissatisfaction with and hatred of the old political relations, and political order, and yearning for the new political ties and political order, often significantly stimulate the political enthusiasm of the broad groups of the people. Political revolution has great appeal because it closely links the interests of the masses with the goals of the revolutionary movement. “The revolutionary class, as far as it confronts another class, has not emerged from the very beginning as a class, but as a representative of the whole society. It seems to oppose the only ruling class as the whole society. The reason why it can do so is that at the beginning, its interests are indeed more connected with the common interests of all the other non-ruling classes. Under the pressure of the existing relations at that time, it can not develop into the special interests of special class. Therefore, the victory of this class is also beneficial to many individuals of other classes who have failed to win the ruling class status.”12 Therefore, under the agitation, call, and organization of the revolutionary forces, the political enthusiasm of the masses quickly turned into mass extreme action, making the political revolution a grand festival for the people. The active participation of the groups is a powerful social driving force of the political process. This characteristic of political revolution determines that it is fundamentally different from the political conspiracy and political terrorist activities participated by a few people. E.

The brevity and rapidity of the revolutionary process

Political revolution is a qualitative leap in social development and a violent shock of social development. Therefore, it is an abrupt and rapid change. In history, some revolutions lasted for several years or even decades due to the comparison and contest between revolutionary forces and counter-revolutionary forces. For example, the Chinese revolution lasted 22 years from 1927 to 1949. However, from the perspective of the history of human society and political development, it is only a “strong blow”13 and a temporary phenomenon. In this short process, the breadth, depth, and speed of political action are extraordinary. This characteristic of political revolution also determines its difference from the social revolution in a general sense. Comparatively speaking, social revolution in the broad feeling is a relatively long and slow process.

16.2 Types and Strategies of Political Revolution 16.2.1 Types of Political Revolution In the development of human history, there have been many political revolutions. How to scientifically understand and analyze the political process since ancient times, grasp its commonness and particularity, and divide its basic types from a 12 13

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 100. Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1958, p. 411.

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macro perspective, has always been an essential task in the study of political revolution. For a long time, people have classified the political process according to their different perspectives of understanding and macro methods, and ranked various types of political process according to different classification standards. As far as the contemporary western scholars’ research on political process is concerned, the following four representative criteria have been formed. a.

b.

c.

The division of American sociologist G.S.Pettee: According to the main body and scale of “revolution,” he divided “revolution” into five kinds, which are national revolution, coup, palace revolution, rebellion, and systematic rebellion. This division is not so much classification of political process as a classification of political change, because “palace infighting”, “coup” and “rebellion” can not be regarded as a revolution at all. The classification of American sociologist Noel. K. O’Sullivan: According to the different ideological theories and political thoughts guiding the political revolution, he divided the political revolution into three types, which are the liberal democratic revolution, the totalitarian revolution, and the third world revolution. This kind of classification does not reflect the essence of political revolution and has a severe tendency to classify by ideology, so it is unscientific. S. Huntington, an American political scientist, divides the revolution into three parts according to the sequence of the three revolutionary procedures, which are the destruction of the existing political system, the mobilization of the new group, and the establishment of the new system. There are two types of “Western European Revolution” (French Revolution, Russian Revolution, Mexican Revolution, and early Chinese revolution) and “Oriental Revolution” (Chinese revolution, Vietnamese Revolution, and third world anti-imperialist and anti-colonial revolution). Huntington’s classification based on the revolutionary process only reflects the external manifestation of political course, but does not reflect the substantive content of political course.

The classification of American sociologist M. Rejey: Based on the goal of revolution, he divided “Civil Revolution” (French Revolution, Mexican Revolution, Russian Revolution, etc.), and “National Revolution” (Algerian revolution, American Revolution, Russian Revolution, etc.) There are three types, which are the Chinese Revolution, the Cuban Revolution, the Vietnamese Revolution, and the “immature revolution” (the French May Revolution in 1968). This division contains two criteria, namely, the object of revolution and the success or failure of the revolution. Marxism has always believed that the fundamental social contradictions and their development are the general basis for determining the inevitable trend of social and political revolution. The fundamental social contradictions and their class manifestations, in reality, are historical and concrete, so they all have their particularity. It is this unique basis that determines the different nature and types of revolution. Therefore, the so-called political revolution is the concentrated expression of other revolutionary objects, tasks, and motives prescribed by notable social contradictions and social nature. According to Marxism, slave revolution, peasant revolution, bourgeois revolution

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and the proletarian revolution should be the most basic and essential types in the classification of political revolution. A.

Slave revolution

Slave revolution is the highest form of class struggle in slave society and the earliest manifestation of political revolution. In human history, there are two most significant slave uprisings. The first is the slave uprising in Sicily at the end of the second century BC, lasting five years. The second is the slave uprising in Spartak, which accelerated the demise of the Roman Empire. The slave uprising is a violent action of the slave class against the rule of the slave owners, which shakes the rule foundation of the slave owners. However, because the slave class itself is not representative of the advanced relations of production and cannot create a new mode of production, the slave revolution is either suppressed by the slave owner class or perished with the slave owner class. As Lenin said, “As we know, slaves have held uprisings, carried out riots and started civil wars, but they have never formed a conscious majority, failed to establish a political party leading the struggle, failed to understand what they want to achieve clearly, and even at the most revolutionary time in history, they often become pawns under the ruling class.”14 B.

Peasant revolution

Peasant revolution, also known as peasant uprising or peasant war, is a violent act of the peasant class against the rule of the landlord class in feudal society. In the later period of the slave society, the new landlord class overthrew the control of the slave owner class through struggle and, with the help of the slave uprising, and realized the transformation from slavery to feudalism. In feudal society, because of the cruel economic exploitation and autocratic political rule of the feudal landlord class, the great hatred of the peasant class was aroused, which led to a large-scale peasant uprising. The peasant revolution surpassed the slave revolution in quantity, scale, and organization. In Chinese and foreign history, there have been many peasant revolutions. The peasant uprising in Chinese feudal society is the most typical, the most frequent, and the most enormous scale. Some of them put forward clear slogans, such as “equate the noble and the humble, level the rich and the poor” in the uprising of Zhong Xiang and Yang Mo in the early Southern Song Dynasty, “average farmland and exempt taxes” in the late Ming Dynasty proposed by Li Zicheng, “land system of the heavenly kingdom” in the revolutionary movement of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Qing Dynasty. Some of them even established relatively complete and sound regimes, such as the “Great Qi regime” in the uprising of Huang Chao in the late Tang Dynasty, and the “Great Shu regime” established by the rebellion of Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun in the early Northern Song Dynasty, the “Great Shun regime” established by the rebellion of Li Zicheng in the late Ming Dynasty, and the “Tianjin regime” established by the revolutionary movement of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Qing Dynasty. However, the peasant revolution has great spontaneity, which is mainly manifested in the following aspects. 14

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 37. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 74.

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The peasant revolution spontaneously demanded and seized land and opposed feudal exploitation. Still, it could not consciously make the ownership of land owned by feudal landlords the goal of the circle. The peasant revolution opposed a particular emperor, but it did not oppose the feudal autocratic rule. The armed uprising against the feudal emperor, it could not get rid of the influence of the imperial ideology. The peasant revolution opposed the oppression of the landlords. Still, it attributed the pressure to the inanity and cruelty of the specific emperor and the betrayal and greed of the particular power officials. It did not recognize the class characteristics of the dominant landlord class in the feudal political and economic system, so it did not oppose the landlords as a class.

b.

c.

The above characteristics of the peasant revolution are determined by the class characteristics of the peasant class. When discussing the class characteristics of the peasant class, Marx pointed out, “the economic living conditions of millions of families make their way of life, interests, and education different from those of other classes, and they are hostile to each other. In this regard, they are a class. Because there are only regional relations among the small-scale peasants, the identity of their interests does not make them form any common relationship, any national connection, or any organization. In this regard, they are not a class. They ‘can not protect their class interests in their name’ and ‘they can not represent themselves as one class.’ They must be represented by others. Their representatives must at the same time be their masters, the authorities standing high above them, and the unlimited government power”.15 This class characteristic of the peasantry determines that, on the one hand, when the peasantry revolted under the pressure of heavy exploitation, they became the main force of anti-feudal oppression. On the other hand, when the uprising army won the victory, and it was possible to realize their political ideal, they could only replace the cruel and decadent old feudal rule with the relatively mild exploitation of the new feudal rule. It can touch the feudal system fundamentally. Therefore, although the peasant revolution became the driving force of the historical development of the feudal society because it attacked the feudal rule and promoted the development of the productive social forces, because of the above class limitations of the peasant class, it could not get rid of such an outcome after all - it was either in failure, or it was used by the landlords and nobles in the revolution or after the process. It became a tool for them to change their dynasties. C.

Bourgeois revolution

The bourgeois revolution results from the contradiction between the new capitalist productive forces and the old feudal relations of production and the old feudal superstructure in the field of political life. The capitalist economy grew and developed in feudal society. In the late feudal society, with the further development of capitalism, the old feudal autocratic political power and proper relations, political system, and political culture, etc., have increasingly become severe obstacles to the development 15

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 677–678.

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of capitalism. Under such circumstances, the vast number of peasants and handicraft workers strongly demanded the overthrow of the feudal system because of the cruel exploitation and oppression of the feudal landlords; the emerging bourgeoisie had economic power, but because of the pressure and discrimination of the feudal landlords, they were in a position of no right in politics, and also demanded the implementation of social, political and economic changes, changing the status quo and seizing power. Therefore, the bourgeois revolution is the overthrow of the bourgeoisie and the broad masses of the working people as the representative of the new productive forces under the background of the feudal relationship constraining the development of capitalism. The purpose and task of the revolution under the rule of the feudal landlord class are to overthrow the autocratic regime, eliminate the feudal economic and political relations, cancel the privileges of the nobility, solve the land problem of the peasants, and open up the way for the development of capitalism. The bourgeois revolution has the following characteristics. a.

b.

c.

The bourgeois revolution generally took place under the condition that the capitalist economic form had grown and matured in the feudal society. The bourgeoisie’s purpose of seizing power through revolution was to ensure and promote the development of this economic form. In the process of revolution, on the one hand, the bourgeoisie can mobilize the masses by meeting the masses’demands to a certain extent, and use their strength to win the revolution. But on the other hand, it always suppresses the revolutionary actions of the groups. When the power of the groups is so muscular that it threatens their interests, it even does not hesitate to compromise with the feudal landlord class in exchange for the joint suppression of the masses. For example, so the British bourgeois revolution is. Because bourgeois revolution replaces another relationship of exploitation and oppression with one of exploitation and oppression, it generally does not need to break the old state machine. Still, it but only needs to transform the feudal state machine. The establishment of constitutional monarchy in some countries after the bourgeois revolution is a typical manifestation of this feature. From the beginning of the religious reform movement in Germany in the early sixteenth century, there have been many bourgeois revolutions in history, including the Netherland bourgeois revolution in the 1670 s, the British Revolution in 1640, the French Revolution in 1789, and the 1776 revolution, the American War of independence in 1905, the Russian Revolution in 1905, the Chinese revolution of 1911, the Mexican Revolution in 1910, and the national democratic revolution against imperialism and feudalism in the colonies and semi-colonies after the twentieth century. These revolutions have incredibly liberated the productive forces and promoted the development of society, but they also have apparent class limitations. The most fundamental is that after eliminating the feudal exploitation relations, they are replaced by capitalist exploitation relations. After overthrowing the tyrannical regime of feudal countries, they are replaced by the oppressive rule of capitalist countries. At the end of the nineteenth century, the proletariat stepped on the stage of history, thus injecting new content into the

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bourgeois revolution. In many countries, the proletariat has become the main force of the bourgeois-democratic process, and even the leading force of the bourgeois democratic revolution. For example, in the Russian Revolution of 1905, the task of the bourgeois revolution was led by the proletariat. Especially after the twentieth century, the proletariat became the leading force of the national democratic process of the colonial and semi-colonial people against imperialism and feudalism, thus forming the new characteristics of the bourgeois revolution. The leadership of the proletariat makes it possible for the national democratic process with the nature of bourgeois democracy to transit directly to the proletarian socialist revolution. The transformation of China’s new democratic process to the socialist revolution is a good example. D.

Proletarian revolution

The proletarian revolution is the most significant, most profound, most extensive, and most thorough revolution in human history. Its task and goal are to eliminate private ownership and class, build socialism with high material and spiritual civilization, and finally realize communism. The proletarian revolution is different from any previous revolution. This difference is mainly manifested in the following aspects. a.

b.

c.

d.

It is not to replace another relationship of exploitation and oppression with one relationship of exploitation and oppression, but to eliminate all relations of exploitation and oppression and establish a socialist and Communist society without exploitation and oppression. It began to occur when the ready-made socialist economic relations did not or almost did not exist. Therefore, seizing power is only the beginning of a revolution. It also needs to deprive the dispossessed, complete the socialist transformation of ownership, significantly develop the productive social forces, and complete the revolutionary tasks of technology and culture. It is not a revolution for the interests of a few exploiters, but a revolution for the interests of the vast majority of people. It is a revolution for the complete liberation of the proletariat and human beings and the all-around development of human beings. Therefore, it is a revolution participated by the vast majority of people. It is not to take the ready-made state machine as its own to strengthen the rule over the working people, but to establish a new proletarian state power by smashing the old state machine.

The proletarian revolution began with the European Revolution in 1848 and went through the superb attempt of the Paris Commune in 1871. In 1917, it found a breakthrough in the weakest link of capitalist rule and won the victory. Under the influence of the October Socialist Revolution in Russia, the situation of the proletarian socialist revolution is magnificent. Especially in the 1940s-1950s, China, Vietnam, Korea, Romania, Yugoslavia, and other Eastern European countries successively won the victory of the proletarian revolution, which made the socialist revolution a world-famous phenomenon at that time.

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16.2.2 Strategies and Tactics of Political Revolution The strategy of political revolution refers to the goal, task, policy, and way of a political process determined by the revolutionary forces according to the situation of social interests and the contrast of political parties. It studies is the law of political process, mainly involving the objects of alliance, isolation, attack, and the purpose to be achieved. In strategic issues, the most important is to organize forces to accomplish the prescribed goal of political revolution. Political tactics are the extreme form and organizational form determined by the revolutionary political forces according to the changes of the political situation to complete the strategic task. It is a specific method to realize the strategic job of the political revolution. According to Stalin, tactics is defined as “the course of action in the short period of the tide or ebb of the movement and the rise or fall of the revolution, that is, to fight for the realization of this line by replacing the old forms of struggle and organization with new forms of struggle and organization, replacing the old slogans with new slogans, and combining these forms.”16 It can be seen that the problem of tactics is the problem of means. It involves when to attack, when to retreat, when to engage in a violent struggle, when to engage in a non-violent battle, when to engage in open struggle, when to engage in secret effort, when to adopt legal, organizational form, when to adopt illegal corporate structure, and when to put forward struggle slogans, etc. The strategy and tactics of political revolution are both different and consistent. The main differences are as follows. Regarding content, strategy is to study the overall revolutionary guiding law, and tactics are to check the local extreme guiding law. In terms of periods, the strategy of political revolution is applied in a relatively long extreme stage, while the time of tactics application is relatively short; in terms of mode of action, the strategy of political revolution is relatively stable, fewer changes in a particular target stage. In terms of purpose, the strategy of political process generally reflect long-term interests, while the tactics mainly reflects immediate interests. Of course, the distinction between strategy and tactics is also relative. The strategic task of political revolution in a specific scope may become a tactic task in another area, and vice versa. This is one aspect of the interrelationship between the strategies and tactics of the political revolution. On the other hand, tactic are a part of the strategy of political process. It is subordinate to the strategy of political process and serves to achieve the strategic goal of political process. The strategic task of political process must be realized step by step through tactics. From the actual struggle process, to achieve the strategic task of political course, the tactics of political revolution are often expressed as a kind of political compromise. Political compromise is the political revolution in the opposition and confrontation of the two sides of the political power disparity or even situation, to avoid causing more significant losses or both sides, with no damage to the fundamental interests of both sides as the premise, through political negotiation, consultation or tacit understanding, mutual concessions, to temporarily ease the contradiction, to facilitate the 16

Collected Works of Stalin, Vol. 1, People’s Publishing House, 1979, p. 248.

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development of revolutionary forces. The former is the necessary concession of the weak to the strong in order to accumulate strength, while the latter is the compromise of both sides to achieve joint development. In the process of compromise, to make a comeback, the opposing parties, incredibly the weak, in the political revolution often form a political alliance with forces close to their interests to deal with the common enemy. In the history of human political revolution, the opposite parties played a vital role in it. As early as the Warring States period in ancient China, there was a famous historical example of “opposite theories of a vertical and horizontal alliance of states with the state of Qin as pivot.” The history of the Chinese and foreign political revolutionary struggle has left many stories about the excellent use of strategies and strategies. In the international communist movement, strategy and tactics have always been essential weapons for the working class and its political parties to win, such as combining the current battle with the long-term goal, striving for the victory of the battle by uniting the majority of the allied forces, adhering to the firmness in principle and flexibility in strategy, etc. In the struggle for national independence and people’s liberation, the Communist Party of China has also accumulated rich strategic thoughts. To despise the enemy strategically and attach importance to the enemy tactically is a fundamental law for the Chinese people to overcome the enemy. The United Front has been listed as one of the three magic weapons of the Chinese revolution. Tit for tat, reasonableness, advantageousness, and disciplinedness are the main strategic principles guiding the revolutionary struggle. It was under the guidance of these basic principles of revolutionary strategies and tactics that the Chinese people won the great victory of the new democratic revolution. The requirements for formulating a correct political revolutionary strategy and tactics are as follows. a.

b.

c.

d.

We should analyze the objective reality of the revolutionary political struggle, study the parts of the times and the historical development trend, grasp the characteristics of the times, and clarify the various domestic and international political strength and the close relationship of different political forces, to ensure the correctness of the revolutionary political strategy. Specific problems should be analyzed in detail. For a country, we should consider its political, economic, cultural, historical, and other aspects of national conditions, and view its national traditions and customs. That is to say, we should seek truth from facts, to ensure the feasibility of the political revolution strategy. According to the changes in the situation of revolutionary political struggle, we should take corresponding forms of revolutionary struggle, deploy revolutionary forces on time, grasp the critical links of revolutionary political work, correctly grasp the opportunity, and flexibly adapt various methods and means of revolutionary struggle, to ensure the adaptability of strategic strategies. We should scientifically sum up the experience and lessons of the major political struggles in history and reality at home and abroad, especially pay attention to timely sum up the success and failure of our political works, test the truth with

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practice, correct mistakes, and constantly enrich our views and methods, to ensure the perfection of the political revolution strategy. In a word, the strategy and tactics of political revolution are both science and art. Only by mastering this science and this art in practice can we make ourselves invincible in the political process and struggle.

16.3 Modalities and Roles of Political Revolutions 16.3.1 Modalities of Political Revolutions There are two ways of political revolution, which are violent revolution and nonviolent peaceful transition. It does not depend on the subjective will of revolutionaries to decide which way a particular political course should take. It depends on many factors, such as the tradition of social-political culture, the maturity of subjective and objective conditions of course, and the balance of forces between revolution and counter-revolution. The balance of political parties is the decisive factor. A.

Violent revolution

Violent revolution uses war or bloody struggle to smash the old state machinery (i.e., armed forces and organs such as the army and police), overthrow the political rule of the ruling class, and establish a new political system and order. Engels once pointed out, “violence plays another role in history, the role of revolution; violence, in Marx’s words, is the midwife of every old society that breeds a new society; it is a tool for social movements to open up their way and destroy the rigid and dying form of government.”17 Violent revolution is the primary form of political revolution. In the history of human society, the vast majority of political revolutions have adopted the way of violent revolution. In class society, the reason why violent revolution is so widely used is inseparable from the nature of political revolution, the characteristics of violence itself, and the heart of the ruling class. From the essence of the political revolution, it is the total outbreak of the confrontation of the interests of the opposite class, and it is the great struggle of the life and death of the opposite type. In the revolutionary effort, both sides of the revolution and counter-revolution must mobilize and deploy all political resources, including the armed forces to compete repeatedly. Therefore, the political course must have unprecedented cruelty and intensity. Among them, violence must be the principle basis of strength and the primary means of choice. From the perspective of the characteristics of violence itself, violence is the most organized, direct, mobile, deterrent, and easy-to-use power among the components of political potent. Therefore, violence is the most powerful, convenient, and effective means for the replacement of political power. 17

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 527.

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In terms of the nature of the ruling class and group, no class or group will quickly and actively give up its interests and political and economic rights. The political revolution wants to end the political rule of the ruling class and deprive them of their political and economic privileges. However, all the ruling classes will not readily and automatically withdraw from the stage of history because of their vital interests. They always have to use the armed forces in their hands to suppress the social forces that threaten their interests, to first “put the bayonet on the agenda”. Therefore, to overthrow the armed rulers, it is not enough for the revolutionaries to rely only on moral power. They must also organize and use revolutionary violence until the ruling class completely fails. The primary forms of violent revolution are a riot, armed uprising, and war. Riot, as a violent act of resistance, is caused by the public’s dissatisfaction with the main body of political power or government policies. Generally, the public resort to force to exert political pressure. It includes many forms, such as unorganized riot, organized riot, conspiracy terror, and conspiracy rebellion. Riot is of extensive mass character and quite destructive. Armed struggle is the further escalation of riots. It is no longer simply to exert pressure on the subject of political power, but to overthrow the subject’s status of political power. It is an organized behavior. It is usually a form of the armed revolution against armed counter-revolution, which is the main form of struggle for the oppressed class to overthrow the regime of the reactionary class and the oppressed nation to overthrow the colonial rule. The Chinese people have taken this approach in their struggle against imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism. War is the highest form of violent struggle. War is a kind of violent struggle, but not all violent efforts are wars. When the armed uprising further escalates, both sides have military and political command organs, and they confront each other for a long time, becoming war. Generally speaking, war is the continuation of politics and the extreme form of political revolution. The war in the political course can be divided into just war and unjust war. War justice depends on whether the political course conforms to the historical trend and people’s interests. B.

Non-violent revolution

Violent revolution is not the only approach to realize political revolution. As Engels said, “The war between classes does not depend on whether to take real military action. It does not always depend on barricades and bayonets.”18 When the revolutionary forces have absolute advantages, the international and domestic environment is significantly conducive to the revolutionary class, and the power of the ruling class is significantly weakened, which is not enough to confront the revolutionary forces, the non-violent revolution will also become possible. The so-called non-violent revolution means that under the pressure of the revolutionary situation, the ruling class has to give up power, to realize the non-violent alternation of political power.

18

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 527.

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The precondition of non-violent revolution is that the objective situation and the balance of power are not conducive to the ruling class, desperate to maintain its own rule. From the history of the development of human society, this situation is relatively rare. Non-violent revolution contains a series of non-violent means for revolutionary political forces to carry out political revolutionary work, mainly including parliamentary struggle, political demonstration, political non-cooperation, and political disobedience. Parliamentary struggle refers to all social strata, political parties, groups, factions, and their representatives in parliament. This kind of political struggle has a direct impact on national policies. All parties in the battle carry out theoretical propaganda, exert political pressure, and even trade money to realize their group interests. The proletariat also regards parliamentary struggle as an indispensable means of revolutionary political battle. Lenin pointed out when talking about this issue, “The proletariat should also make use of the tools used by the bourgeoisie in the struggle. Of course, the purpose of using them is completely different.”19 The purpose of the proletariat’s parliamentary struggle is to coordinate the legal battle with the illegal battle, to achieve the goal of political revolution of controlling the political power. The political demonstration is a way of expressing the will formed based on the pause of work or study. “It refers to the activities of expressing the common will of demand, protest, support and solidarity in public places or public roads using assembly, procession and sits in.”20 In the revolutionary period, the combination of political demonstration and the political strike will gradually approach the armed uprising, which is also the way of revolutionary political struggle often used in the process of the proletarian revolution. In peacetime, a political demonstration is a legal approach, and most countries in the world have explicit legal provisions on its nature and mode of activities. Political non-cooperation and political disobedience are the non-violent negative resistance approaches in the revolutionary political struggle. Non-cooperation means resistance to state activities, such as refusing to work in state and military organs, not joining the ruling party, giving up honorary titles and honorary posts, not buying government bonds, etc. Political disobedience is not wholly consistent with noncooperation. It is a collective purposeful act out of the track of political power, such as openly and deliberately refusing to carry out the orders of official agencies, refusing to work or study, evading the law, etc. Political non-cooperation and political disobedience are the practical embodiment of non-violent political philosophy. The Indian national independence movement led by Mohandas Gandhi is a successful example of this political revolution. When discussing the proletarian political revolution, the classic Marxist writers, on the one hand, think that violence “is the midwife of every old society pregnant 19

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 39. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 242. Law of the People’s Republic of China on Assemblies, Processions and Demonstrations, Chapter I, Article II.

20

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with a new society,” and emphasize that “the central task and the highest form of revolution are to seize power by armed force, which is the solution of war.”21 On the other hand, it does not rule out the possibility of non-violent revolution in the specific revolutionary situation and the situation of power balance. Nevertheless, Marxism holds that the proletariat must be backed up by violence to realize the revolutionary non-violent revolution. Any idea that abandons extreme violence and thinks that the counter-revolutionary ruling class will be bound is a political childish disease and right-leaning fantasy. These discussions also guide for us to understand the laws and methods of the general political revolution correctly. To sum up, violent revolution is the fundamental way of political revolution, the most powerful and thorough means, and also the basis for the use of non-violent revolution. The approach of non-violent revolution is based on the premise that the objective situation and the balance of forces are incredibly beneficial to the revolutionary class and backed by violent revolution. The violent revolution and the non-violent revolution are always complementary to each other. Violent revolution creates conditions for non-violent revolution, while non-violent revolution reduces “cost” for violent revolution.

16.3.2 The Role of the Political Revolution Revolution is the locomotive of history, the powerful driving force of social and political progress, and the powerful means to realize the qualitative change of social and political forms. Lenin once pointed out, “Proceeding from all the historical viewpoints of Marx, we will certainly give high praise to the revolutionary period of human development, because it is in such a period that many contradictions gradually accumulated in the so-called period of peaceful development can be solved. It was during this period that the direct role of different classes in determining the form of social life was most effectively demonstrated, and then the basic aspects of the political ‘superstructure’ based on the updated basis of relations of production were established. Moreover, unlike the liberal bourgeois theorists, Marx did not think that such a period departed from the ‘normal’ road, a manifestation of ‘social pathology’ and a sad result of excesses and fallacies. He believed that this was the most vital, important, essential and decisive moment in the history of human society.”22 Thus, political revolution is the driving force and decisive way of social and political development. Whenever the development of social politics and economy encounters excellent resistance, whenever the development of social politics and economy needs to abandon the old economic and political relations, political superstructure, and social system, and establish a new social-political and economic order, the political revolution will come and play a massive role in promoting it.

21 22

Selected Works of Tsetung, Vol.2, People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 541. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 16. People’s Publishing House, 1988, p. 20.

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The role of political revolution in social, political, and economic development is mainly reflected in the following aspects. A.

Political revolution realizing the social interests of revolutionary forces

Interest relationship and interest contradiction are the motivation of political struggle, and interest realization is the purpose of revolutionary political forces. In the absolute sense, the result of political revolution must be the realization of one party’s interests and the transfer of the other party’s interests. However, in social and historical development and actual political revolution, the victory of political revolution may appear with different results. Therefore, the distribution of interests after the political course can be divided into three possible situations. First, the political course carried out by the revolutionary forces has wholly won, and the original subject of political power has wholly collapsed and failed. Therefore, the revolutionary forces can realize their interests and claims, while the actual issue of political power has wholly lost their goods. Second, the political revolution carried out by the revolutionary forces has won part of the victory. Therefore, the revolutionary forces will succeed to a certain time, and the actual political violence will fail to a certain extent and in a certain sense. The original political power, which has won part of the victory and suffered part of the failure, realizes and loses part of the interests, respectively. Third, the political revolutionary struggle ended neither in victory nor defeat. It is difficult for the interests of both sides to be fully realized. As a result, political compromise has to be formed. According to the effect of settlement, the opposing sides give up part of their interests and get part of their goods. In fact, in the process of political revolution, the realization of interests can not be entirely by the wishes of one party,; compromise is often inevitable; the only difference is the degree of political center. Therefore, in the process of political revolution, the balance of power of all parties and the art of using strategic strategies largely determine the realization of their interests. B.

Political revolution changing political relations

The political revolution causes the qualitative change of interest relations, among which the first is the change of the social content of interest. The political process makes the fundamental change of economic and social ties, making the qualitative change of the content of interest, including the qualitative transformation of the content and meaning of common interest, and the qualitative change of the content and state of interest contradiction. Secondly, the political revolution caused the shift of interest subjects, and each interest subject divided and combined in the process of political revolt, forming a new interest subject. At the same time, the dominant interest subject before the course was reduced to the inferior issue after the political process. In contrast, the revolutionary interest subject rose to the vital interest subject. The symbol and core problem of political revolution is the change of political power. After the shift of political process and political power, the relationship of political power changes. On the one hand, the main body of political power has changed, the revolutionary power has transformed into political power, and the original main body of political power has changed into specific political power. On

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the other hand, the restriction of political power changes with it. The new political power forms a further limitation of social control and produces a new relationship of political rule and political management. The political revolution has also brought about fundamental changes in the relationship between political rights. The political qualification of the social members who had been confirmed by the original political power has been completely lost in the political revolution. In contrast, the political rights of the members of the revolutionary forces and the social-political parties who participated in the revolution have been confirmed and guaranteed by the new political power. C.

Political revolution renewing political system

Political revolution not only changes political relations but also changes the whole political system. Political process often occurs when the political system needs to be renewed. At this time, the old political system was fundamentally unable to meet the needs of social development due to corruption, decline, rigidity, and simplicity. At the same time, the old political system can not bring the dead back to life because of its unfathomable abuse, irreversible indigestion. In this case, only by thoroughly renewing the political system can we open up the way for social and political development. The political revolution, through the transfer of political power, the change of political leaders, the evolution of political organizations, the fundamental shift in government activities and government policies, and the renewal of laws and regulations, undertakes the function of establishing a new political system. D.

Political revolution reforming the political culture

The specific social and political environment and political system shape the particular political culture. When the whole society is facing change and political development is facing a qualitative leap, not only the political system has been updated, but also the psychological and ideological basis for the existence of the political system political culture has been changed. In the process of political revolution, the original political values, political thoughts, political moral customs, and norms have become out of date and have been transformed and innovated. The new political culture has been advocated and established. Therefore, the political revolution has the function of changing the political culture. On the one hand, it directly negates and destroys the old cultural system in some fierce ways; on the other hand, it educates the masses through propaganda and dissemination of revolutionary ideas and ideas and cultivates a new political culture through direct extreme actions. E.

Political revolution promoting social improvement and development

Political revolution is the rapid change of political behavior, political system, and political culture related to the strengthening of political relations. Due to the critical role of political power and political rights in social life, political revolution plays a decisive position as a locomotive for social change and development. After the political revolution, it is often accompanied by social change. People use political

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revolution to destroy and hinder society. The story of the political rule, and then with the power of political power to transform the original production relations and social relations, destroy the actual social system, establish and develop a new social plan, and clear the way for the development of science and technology, culture and education and art, thus promoting reform and development of the whole society.

Chapter 17

Political Reform

17.1 Meaning and Characteristics of Political Reform 17.1.1 The Definition of Political Reform The so-called “reform” is the transformation and innovation of things. From the philosophical point of view, reform is the dialectical negation of things and the “sublation” of things. Therefore, it is the dialectical unity of continuity and discontinuity of the development of things. Reform, improvement, and revolution are often used and easily confused concepts. From the perspective of social development, reform, improvement, and revolution are three images representing the same series but different degrees of social evolution and change. Improvement is the partial and slight improvement of some parts or links of social life under the condition that the ruling class maintains its rule, making some small quantitative changes in the existing social system. Revolution, on the other hand, is the most profound and thorough social change. It is a sharp social change in which one class overthrows the rule of another type. It is the replacement of the old and new social forms and the qualitative change in social development. Reform is a kind of change between reform and revolution. It is more profound and extensive than reform and has the nature of change. However, it is also based on the maintenance of the entire system of the society, and it is a self-adjustment and selfimprovement relying on the strength of the existing social system itself. Compared with the reform, it is not only a quantitative change, but also contains some qualitative changes; however, compared with the revolution, it is not as fierce and thorough as the revolution, and it does not constitute the fundamental qualitative change of the whole society. For a long time, the word “reform” has been widely used. People apply it to various fields to summarize and explain the changes similar to but different from the revolution in these fields, thus forming such concepts as social reform, economic reform, land reform, military reform, educational reform, etc. The word “political reform” is also the result of applying the word “reform” to the field of political life. © Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_17

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The so-called political reform refers to the adjustment and improvement of political relations. In other words, the politically leading group of the ruling class, according to the requirements of common interests and the contradiction of goods in the social interest relations, and according to the needs of social members for political power and political rights, carries out the reforming step by step in a planned way, aiming at improving the political system and adjusting the political relations, to consolidate and strengthen its political system The political process of political rule. Political reform has its profound social roots. It comes from the public and strong demand for social change, which comes from the internal and external contradictory movements. Internally, political reform is mainly rooted in the requirements of common interests and the contradiction between different interests. With the development and progress of society and the change of social interest relationship, the content, form, and realization mode of common social interest will change accordingly, which requires that the political power to realize the common good and the political right to advocate the common interest have corresponding changes and changes. From the perspective of political development, the contradiction of claims in the social interest relationship includes not only the original interest relationship and interest contradiction but also the contradiction between the new interest requirements and the original interest relationship with the development of productive forces and society. Based on these contradictions, the balance of power between political parties and social forces with different interests has changed, which requires the adjustment of the relationship between political power and political rights; the political parties and social forces representing new interests need the adjustment and reform of the original political relations. Externally, under specific historical conditions, changes in foreign relations, the impact of foreign culture, the development of national interest contradictions, and changes in political order will also have an effect on a country’s political relations and make political reform take place. As far as its characteristics are concerned, the change of common social interests and the movement of interest contradictions have not reached the degree of intensification and confrontation. They are still within the control of political rulers. In essence, political reform is the adjustment of political relations by the ruling group. In the aspect of interest relations, on the one hand, it adjusts the interest relations of different interest classes, groups, and political parties within the ruling class to redefine the contents, forms, realization methods, and requirements of common interests and solve the interest contradictions between them. On the other hand, it also adjusts the interesting relationship between the ruling class and the ruled class. By making certain concessions to the led class, it can meet their interest requirements to a certain extent to ease class contradictions and conflicts. In the aspect of political power relations, the political ruling group formulates corresponding reform measures and policies to adapt to the changes of political power based on interest changes to adjust to the new structure of power balance. At the same time, through the adjustment of the political power structure, the new political forces in the society

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will be brought into their political power system to consolidate their power status. Regarding the relationship of political rights, the political ruling group redefines the relationship of political rights according to the comparison of political forces and the objective requirements of social, political, economic, and cultural development. By recognizing the political rights of other classes, strata, groups, and the broad masses of the working people to varying degrees, it expands the basis of its political rule and strengthens its status of political power. Political reform is often implemented as a change in the political system. Therefore, it is also manifested as a more comprehensive and systematic change in the political system. It is neither a temporary change in personnel and policies nor simply a change in the policy, government plan, personnel arrangement, and leadership style of the new political leaders, but a planned, targeted, and step-by-step change in society. The political system of the association should be reformed to discard the old and establish the new. Therefore, political reform contains an extensive range of contents, which involves all aspects of the political system. From the perspective of modern political science, these contents mainly include the following points. a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

g.

Amendment of laws and decrees. In other words, the existing constitution and regulations should be removed from the provisions that are incompatible with the actual social and political life and social development. The contents that are suitable for the development of social, political, economic, and cultural undertakings should be added. Reform of political organization and system. It includes changing the status and role of political groups, organizations, and political parties in the political system; dividing the relationship between political groups, organizations, and political parties and their relationship with the government system, etc. Reform of the parliamentary system. It includes changing the legislature and legislative power, changing the status and role, authority, and composition of the parliament according to the needs of social and political development. Reform of the judicial system. It includes the promulgation and enforcement of laws, the establishment of judicial organs and the division of jurisdiction, and the improvement of judicial procedures. Reform of the administrative system. It includes the establishment and merger of administrative organs, the adjustment of executive authority, the simplification of administrative personnel, the transformation of executive functions, the improvement of organizational efficiency, and the overcoming of bureaucratic corruption. Reform of the relationship between the central government and local government. According to the needs of social development, the authority of the two should be divided, and the relationship between the two should be adjusted. Reform of the electoral system. It includes the expansion of the right to vote and the right to be elected and the improvement of the electoral system and procedures.

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Reform of personnel system. It includes the change of the source of officials, the establishment and improvement of the system of officials’ generation, promotion, In addition, political reform also involves people’s political behavior patterns and political culture, which is often accompanied by the reform of political relations and political systems. Political reform is also a means, approach, and manifestation of political development. From the perspective of human historical development, political development is the development process of human political system management ability and management level from low level to a high level. This development process shows not only the continuity of development but also the stages of development. In each historical background, political development is reflected in the emergence, development, and extinction of a particular form of the political system. Political revolution is the means to realize the replacement of the old and the new political system, to realize the change and leap of the nature of political development. In contrast, political reform is the way to make a particular form of the political system fully developed so that political development can be fully displayed in a particular historical stage.

17.1.2 Characteristics of Political Reform Since the Solon reform in ancient Greece, there have been many successful and unsuccessful social and political reforms in the history of human society, such as the reform of Shang Yang, the reform of Wang Anshi and the reform of 1898 in Chinese history, the reform of Peter I in Russia, the Meiji Reform in Japan and the reform of Turkey in the twentieth century. It can be seen that the essential characteristics of political reform are as follows. A.

Interest contradiction of political reform based on social interest relations

The reason for political reform is the contradiction of interests in social interest relations. The vertical and horizontal contradictions in the interest relations will be reflected in the level of political power and political rights, which requires the adjustment of the relationship between political power and political rights, and then develop into the adjustment of other aspects of political life. On the other hand, political reform usually occurs only when the contradictions of social interest relations are within the scope of coordination and adjustment. It is the self-improvement and development of adjustment of existing political relations, behaviors, systems, and cultures. Beyond this scope, the contradiction of social interests becomes the opposition of goods, which is reflected in the confrontation of social and political forces. In this case, political reform becomes impossible, and political revolution is put on the agenda. The starting point and ending result of political reform is the adjustment of interest contradictions in interest relations. In this sense, political reform is a specific means and approach for political power to coordinate social interest contradictions, and

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the adjustment of interest contradictions has also become the social goal of political reform. B.

Political reform, the adjustment of the relationship between political power and political rights

Through political power and political rights, to realize the common interests of the society and coordinate the different contradictions of goods is the political approach to learn and coordinate the relations of social goods. Therefore, in political life, it is necessary to adjust the relationship between political power and political rights to solve the conflict of interests in social interest relations, which constitutes the primary content of social, political reform. In social and political life, the adjustment of the relationship between political power and political rights will be embodied in the adjustment and change of all aspects of political life. Therefore, in the actual social and political process, political reform will involve political behavior, political organization and system, political culture, and other aspects, to gradually realize the change of social and political life. It should be pointed out that political reform has a limit to the adjustment of the relationship between political power and political rights, and its limit lies in not destroying the fundamental basis and principles of the existing political rule. The so-called fundamental basis of political authority is the real interest of the subject of political power, and the basic principle of political authority is the rule of political control based on this real interest. After reviewing the previous reforms, the main body of political power can, to a certain extent, eliminate the contradictions of social goods, meet the requirements of society and conform to the development of history through the adjustment of interest relations, political power relations, and political rights relations, and the reform and innovation of political systems, institutional mechanisms and policies. However, it has never done anything concerning the fundamental basis and principles of its political rule. C.

Political reform, initiated and led by the main body of political power

Political reform is a political innovation movement carried out by the main body of political power. Whether it is out of initiative or passivity, the subject of existing political power is always political reform. The political leadership in the main body of political power is usually the leading force of political reform. They have a deep understanding of the fundamental interests and historical status of the main body of political power, have a clear account of the development and changes of the social, political, and economic situation, and have a correct analysis of the existing political system and its disadvantages. They draw up reform plans, change and organize leading members, carry out reform policies and formulate reform measures. In the whole reform process, they play the role of initiating, planning, organizing, and leading. In this sense, reform is the self-transformation of the subject of political power. Generally speaking, the contents and methods, depth and breadth, process and steps of the reform, to a large extent, depend on the political leadership’s understanding of the requirements and contradictions of social interests, the intention to carry out the reform, and the ability to promote the reform.

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Political reform, a systematic political transformation

Political reform is different from political revolution and any other form of mass movement. It is a planned and step-by-step transformation activity. Political process and other forms of mass movements often occur and develop from the bottom up. For the rulers, it is very sudden, unpredictable, and uncontrollable. Political reform is an activity of political change consciously promoted by the political leadership from top to bottom. The whole process of change is generally placed under a relatively strict plan and organization. In the process of reform, the reformers choose the time of reform in a planned way, determine the goal of reform, formulate reform strategies, push forward the reform process step by step, and control the scale and speed of reform at any time, to avoid any unexpected and uncontrollable events and behaviors. E.

Political reform, a gradual and slow process

Different from the rapid development of the political revolution, political reform is a process of quantitative change in the process of political action. Therefore, the realization of its goal can not be achieved overnight. It needs a long and slow process. This process is not measured by day and month but by year. In addition, political reform is a planned attempt by the politically leading group, which needs to be carried out in constant experiment and adjustment. In this process, the reformers always complete the task of reform step by step without endangering their political rule. F.

Political reform carried out in a peaceful way

Political reform is the planned adjustment of the relationship between political power and political rights by the subject of political power, which is carried out in a nonviolent and peaceful way. This characteristic of political reform also determines its difference from political revolution. Political revolution often adopts a bottom-up, fierce, and even violent way to overthrow the original political power and political rule. Revolutionary forces often maximize political mobilization, gather the masses, launch revolutionary movements, fundamentally change political power, change the relationship between political rights, destroy the old political order and the political system, and take this as the basis for the establishment of political system. It is the forerunner of a new order and new system. The political design is carried out step-by-step according to the rulers’ plan, with specific and partial reforms as the ladder of their development. Therefore, it fundamentally excludes large-scale political violence. Historically, although there have been some violent acts and incidents in political reform in some countries, these violent acts and incidents are always partial, which reformers try to avoid.

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17.2 Objectives and Modalities of Political Reform 17.2.1 Objective of Political Reform The objective of political reform is the task to be accomplished and the goal to be achieved. Political reform is a complex process of adjusting and innovating the existing political relations and political system. In this process, the objective of political reform not only determines the fundamental direction of political reform but also affects the actual steps and specific programs of political reform. Therefore, it is of great significance to the success of political reform. In different social and class backgrounds and historical development stages, the objectives and contents of political reform are different. While, generally speaking, there are three basic principles for determining and implementing the goals of political reform. A.

Principle of reasonableness

The so-called principle of reasonableness is whether the tasks and goals of political reform can effectively solve the contradictions in social and political life, promote the development of social, political, economic, and cultural undertakings, improve the efficiency and role of the political power system, and safeguard the interests of political rule. The determination of a reasonable objective of political reform must be based on the objective reality of social and political development. It needs an objective analysis of the structure and contradiction of social interests, an accurate diagnosis of the drawbacks and roots of the existing political system and political operation, a correct understanding of the interests and political requirements of various political forces, and a primary assumption and estimation of the structure of the political system and the functional role of the new political system. Deng Xiaoping once defined the standard of the rationality of reform as three aspects, that is, “We should mainly see whether it is conducive to the development of the productive forces of socialist society, whether it is conducive to the enhancement of the comprehensive national strength of socialist countries, and whether it is conducive to the improvement of people’s living standards.”1 In 2014, Xi Jinping further expounded that the standard of measuring reform is based on Deng Xiaoping’s standard. “We must firmly change the reform of the party’s, and people’s cause is beneficial to the overwhelming majority of the people and the prosperity and long period of stability and stability of the party and the country.”2 1

Deng Xiaoping. (1993). Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping Volume 3. People’s Publishing House. P372. 2 Improve and develop the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, People’s Daily (February 18, 2014), I.

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Principle of feasibility

The principle of feasibility has three implications. First, the goal of political reform should be consistent with the objective reality. This requires reformers to fully and soberly grasp the social, political, psychological, and international background of the reform. Specifically speaking, they involve the actual stage of social development, the real situation, and the development level of various aspects of social composition, such as population, culture, economy, military, etc. The general trend of social and political development, the actual situation of various political forces, in reality, the political resources available for reform, the traditional political culture, the political, psychological orientation of the groups, and the social stability of the masses The psychological endurance of political reform and the influence of international environment on political reform. Second, political reform is in line with the interests of the majority. “The people are the creators of history. It is necessary to take the realization, maintenance, and development of the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people as the starting point and foothold of the reform to make the achievements of development more equitable and benefit all the people. Only in this way can the reform achieve great success.”3 Third, the aim of political reform should be practical, which requires reformers to turn the objective of political reform into specific policies and measures and implement the purpose of political reform in implementing these reform measures. C.

Principles of process

The principle of the process means that the goal of political reform must be consistent with the political reform as a process. To be specific, first of all, the purpose of political reform must be considered from a long-term strategy, and its long-term, mediumterm, and short-term objectives must be determined and corresponding plans, policies and measures must be formulated accordingly. Secondly, in the actual development process of reform, we must constantly modify and adjust its objectives and related policies and actions according to the real situation.

17.2.2 Modalities of Political Reform The reform is developing towards more social, economic, or political equality and expanding political participation. Political reform is a relatively gentle and constructive form of political development. It often has to fight against both conservatives and radicals. The nature and characteristics of political reform determine that the approach of political reform is fundamentally different from that of political revolution.

3

Xi Jinping: Speech at the 11th Collective Study of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee (December 3, 2013).

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First of all, fundamentally speaking, political reform adopts a top-down gradual and peaceful way. The purpose of political reform is to achieve partial rather than fundamental, incremental rather than rapid changes. Therefore, unlike revolutionaries, reformers are not committed to political mobilization and engage in large-scale violence that destroys all the status quo, but to take a peaceful way and use the political force. The government’s “legal” resources, through political channels, administrative channels, legal channels and so on, gradually achieve its goal of adjusting political relations and reforming the political system. Secondly, political reform generally adopts the approach of easing contradictions, while political revolution often adopts the way of promoting the development of contradictions. Generally speaking, based on grasping the opportunity of course, the political process should take measures to encourage the development of contradictions to make the revolutionary situation mature as soon as possible. Political reform generally adopts the way of reducing inconsistencies. Reformers always try to maintain political flexibility and adaptability. By easing the contradictions between multiple social points and bridging social cracks, they can control various social forces to minimize the resistance to reform. Finally, political reform generally starts with the change of social and economic structure and then gradually transforms to the evolution of political system. Political revolution is usually committed to political lobbying, expanding political involvement, and then using the political forces formed by political mobilization and political participation to promote the change of social, political, and economic structure. Different from political revolution, political reform usually starts with the evolution of social and economic network to promote the evolution of political system and make the two achieve balance, cooperation, and mutual promotion. Any political reform in history has gone through a unique road, and political reformers often have their unique reform methods. To sum up, there are two ways to implement the reform plan and achieve the reform goal. A.

Comprehensive reform approach

Comprehensive reform means that political reformers make a comprehensive reform plan and push it out in the initial stage of reform. When using the comprehensive reform mode, the reformers put forward all their reform objectives and ideas from the very beginning. From personnel to the organization, from structure to system, they implemented the reform plan in a complete set and in an all-around way. They replaced the old relationship with the new political relationship designed. The comprehensive reform model is conducive to arousing and organizing the forces of groups and classes that support and approve the reform and to shortening the “labor pains” and “chaos” caused by the transition of the new and old political systems. However, because it makes all social groups and political forces who have a stake in the existing political relations feel threatened from the beginning, it may lead to too much opposition. In addition, because it places the goal and process of reform strictly under the predetermined plan and does not leave enough debugging time for

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the reform, it may be caused by a sudden event that disrupts the predetermined plan and cause a total confusion, or it may cause an irreparable major mistake. B.

Multiple progressive reform approaches

Multiple progressive reforms means that after the political reformers determine their final and overall goals, they divide the reform content into relatively independent items and implement them in stages and batches. Multiple progressive reforms requires reformers to choose the sequence of the reform, decompose the content of reform, and achieve the overall goal according to the characteristics of different periods and different stages of social development and the way of implementing one reform in one period. Multiple progressive reforms takes a long time to reform. Still, it is conducive to adjust and grasp the balance of power in the process of reform, resolve the adverse factors, reduce the social shock brought by the reform, and adjust the reform plan at any time to correct the mistakes of reform. The comprehensive reform mode and the multiple progressive reform mode are also known as the “blitzkrieg approach” and “Fabian incrementalist approach,” respectively. Successful reformers often combine the two approaches. To achieve their goals, they often decompose the contents of reform one by one, divide the reform process into different stages and periods, and solve problems as quickly as possible when the time is ripe.

17.3 Conditions and Role of Political Reform 17.3.1 Conditions for Political Reform Political reform is an arduous and complex social system engineering. To make it go smoothly and finally succeed, we need to have both subjective and objective conditions. A.

Objective conditions for political reform

From a macro perspective, the objective conditions of political reform are composed of economic conditions, political and cultural conditions, and social conditions. a.

Economic condition

Economic development is the primary condition for political reform. First, economic development provides material resources for political reform. Material resources are the fundamental elements of political resources, and economic prosperity and development are the material guarantee for the smooth progress of political reform. Therefore, if reformers want to promote political reform successfully, they must grasp and constantly expand social and economic resources. Secondly, economic reform is not only the forerunner and foundation of political reform but also the guarantee to

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consolidate the achievements of political reform. Political reform is a contest between new and old political forces. In the process of reform, the struggle between reform and restoration is often very fierce. Therefore, if the reformers want to deepen the political reform, on the one hand, they must draw strength from the economic reform; on the other hand, they must consolidate their achievements through the economic reform, incorporate the contents of the political reform into the economic life and economical mode, and fix it in the form of the economy. Only the political reform that has been confirmed and reflected in economy is a kind of stable reform and has irreversible momentum. Finally, economic development lays the foundation for the social stability needed by political reform. Political reform needs a stable social environment, and economic prosperity and development is the prerequisite for social peace. The above relationship between economic development and political reform shows that as the leader and organizer of political reform, the politically leading group must always take social and economic development as the primary task, design the goals and steps of political reform based on economic development and economic reform, and choose the favorable opportunity of political reform on the premise of economic development. b.

Political and cultural condition

Political reform must have certain political and cultural conditions; that is, it must form a culture of “innovation.” In this cultural system, social members can create a consensus on the cognition, emotion and evaluation of political reform. The political culture of “innovation” is the social-psychological basis for the promotion and success of political reform. However, traditional political culture often becomes an obstacle to the forming of “innovation” culture, which is mainly manifested in two aspects, namely, political, psychological obstacle and political ideological barrier. Political, psychological obstacles are mainly manifested in the people’s long-term satisfaction with the status quo, seeking stability and fear of chaos, lack of confidence in new things, and lack of cognition of reform goals and contents. It takes a long time to overcome the political, psychological obstacles. Political and ideological obstacles mainly come from the resistance of traditional political thought, political theory, and other political ideologies to reform. In real life, when people are used to a particular political way of life and accept the original political ideology of the ruling class, they often regard the thoughts and concepts that reflect this political way of life and political consciousness as political norms. All the words and actions that are inconsistent with this kind of thought are regarded as “heresy” and high treason. Therefore, it is difficult to carry out political reform without breaking the superstition of tradition. The cultural conditions of political reform are often formed based on overcoming the obstacles of traditional political culture and transforming conventional political culture. It requires political reformers to use powerful political propaganda tools to make the necessary, actual goals, tasks, requirements, policies, and measures of the reform deeply rooted in the hearts of the people to change the social and

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political mentality and ideas, and create an excellent psychological environment for the reform. In addition, it also requires political reformers to advocate ideological emancipation vigorously, encourage people to explore and innovate boldly to get rid of the shackles of traditional political thought, break away from the conventional superstition, and establish a new type of political reform thought. c.

Social condition

The social conditions of political reform refer to the stable social environment that the reform must-have. Political reform is a planned, step-by-step activity, which needs a peaceful and stable social environment. It is difficult to imagine that a government can smoothly and successfully carry out the administrative reform in a social climate of turbulent social situations, frequent military coups, changeable policies, chaotic social life, repeated violent incidents, mass complaints, one after another protest and uneasy people. The stability of social order is not only the condition of political reform but also the result of political reform. From the perspective of social and political development, the promotion and smooth progress of political reform needs a stable social environment. Still, some social instability can only be eliminated through political reform. In addition, political reform itself is the adjustment and reform of the old political system, which is bound to touch the political and economic interests of some social forces, change the previous structure of social goods, break the balance of the existing social order, and objectively create a new kind of social instability. This fact shows that if political reformers want to promote political reform and political development in the process of social stability instability re stability, they must correctly deal with the relationship between peace and development, stability and Reform: strive for a relatively stable social environment through the regulation of the government; strive to fundamentally eliminate some social instability factors through political reform In the process of political reform, we should try our best to minimize the social shock when it comes to the interests of some social forces and the problems that may cause social instability. B.

Subjective conditions for political reform

Compared with political reform and political revolution, political reform is a more complex political change. Its success depends not only on the satisfaction of various objective conditions but also on whether it has the following subjective conditions. a.

Political reform needs a group of doers with reform orientation and reform consciousness

First of all, there must be leaders and advocates of reform. Political reform needs not only farsighted politicians but also a large number of reform theorists and practitioners. As far as their quality is concerned, they need to have a high degree of political wisdom and courage, the judgment of right and wrong, and the ability to formulate and implement correct political reform goals. Secondly, they need to have indomitable and indomitable perseverance and the belief that they are keen on the

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cause of reform and can devote themselves to the interests of their class. Thirdly, they need to have the spirit of unity and cooperation and considering the overall situation. b.

Political reform needs reasonable goals and careful plans

Political reform involves all aspects of political life, and its affairs are complicated, which requires the cooperation of various departments and measures. Therefore, before the implementing of political reform, reformers must have a careful design and plan, including determining reasonable long-term, short-term, and phased goals, selecting appropriate reform strategies, formulating coordinated reform plans and programs and selecting feasible reform sequences. c.

Political reform should choose and grasp favorable opportunities

A great deal of preparatory work should be done for political reform, including the reserve and training of personnel, the development of reform public opinion and propaganda, and the formulation of necessary laws and regulations. After these tasks are completed, we need to choose and grasp the right time to push forward the reform. The so-called choice and grasp of the appropriate time mean that when the subjective and objective conditions are available, we should seize the opportunity to carry out the reform; when the subjective and objective conditions are not yet mature, we should actively create conditions and look for favorable opportunities for reform. Choose and grasp the right timing The reformers comprehensively analyze and compare the international and domestic environment faced by the reform, the contrast between the reform forces and conservative forces, the intensity of the people’s desire for reform and the degree of support for political reform, the size of economic, political and military resources and forces that the reformers can use, and so on. Through analysis and comparison, they choose the most favorable time to carry out the reform. d.

Political reform should fully mobilize the enthusiasm of members of the class and social forces

Political reform needs a profound social foundation and extensive social support. Therefore, reformers must connect political reform with the interests of the broad members of their own class and the broad masses of the people so that they can genuinely support and support reform from their vital interests and become the political force to promote reform.

17.3.2 The Role of Political Reform Political reform, like political revolution, is the inevitable result of the development of social politics, economy, and culture, especially of the contradiction of social interests. Therefore, it is an effective way to alleviate or eliminate the rejection of social goods and a meaningful way to promote the development of social politics, economy, and culture. In a society ruled by the exploiting class, political reform is adopted by the political ruling class under the pressure of the situation. Although it

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is essentially a means for the ruling class to maintain their rule and oppression, it has specific positive significance because it adapts to the needs of social development and promotes social progress to varying degrees. After the proletariat seized power, political reform had new content and significance. It has become an essential means for the proletariat to consciously adjust some aspects and links in the political superstructure that do not meet the requirements of social interests to give play to the superiority of socialism. Political reform is also an effective way to adapt to the development of social interests, maintain political rule and improve the efficiency of political management. The result of social goods and contradictions of interests will put forward new requirements for political power, political leadership, and ruling system. In the face of these requirements, the political system often exposes many weakness, such as the imperfection and irrationality of political structure, the imperfection of political function, the imperfection of the legal system, and the low level of political institutionalization. These defects and deficiencies will seriously hinder the development of society and culture and even threaten the stability of political rule, which requires the reform or improvement of social politics. Therefore, one of the functions of political reform is to adapt to social requirements, improve or improve social politics to maintain the existing political order and ensure the regular operation of the political system. Political reform is also a good remedy for political malpractice. In social and political life, due to the role of economy, culture, society, and even political power, the disorders of political life, such as political corruption, bureaucracy, violence for personal gain, arbitrary and so on, often occur, and political reform is the excellent medicine to eliminate these political maladies. Through political reform, it manifests of the continuous progress and development of human political civilization to establish interconnected systems to prevent and overcome these political disadvantages.

Chapter 18

Political Democracy

18.1 Meaning of Political Democracy 18.1.1 Definition of Political Democracy The concept of “democracy” has appeared in Chinese and Western cultures for a long time and is directly related to social politics. However, the meaning of “democracy” in ancient Chinese and Western cultures is quite different. Chinese old books such as Thirty One Years of Xiang Gong in Zuo Zhuan record that “Zhao the inheritor is dying. His words are yielding. He is not like a lord to the people”. Another example is that the history book, Shang Shu Duo Fang, states that “Heaven timely sought a lord for the people.” It also says that “Therefore, Tang the successful, exactly as the choice of your numerous regions, superseded Xia to become the lord of the people.” Thus, the basic meaning of the concept of “democracy” in ancient China is “the lord of the people.” In the west, the concept of “democracy” in English comes from the Greek “demokratia,” which is composed of “demos” and “kratia.” Demos refers to the people, and kratia refers to the rule or authority. Therefore, the word “democracy” is translated into Greek, which means the people’s political power. Aristotle, an ancient Greek political scientist, used the word democracy in the form of government. He believed that democracy is the government of the majority, which is different from the monarchy of one person and the aristocracy of the minority. In the history of human political theory, many political thinkers have discussed the meaning of democracy, among which the representative ones are as follows. A.

Democracy is the political rule according to the will of the people. Locke, a British political thinker in the seventeenth century, followed the meaning of democracy in ancient Greece and believed that democracy was the people’s rule. At the same time, using the theory of social contract, he believes that the people’s control is achieved through the people’s consent to the formation of the government and the exercise of government power, and the people’s approval is based on the majority rule. Rousseau, a French thinker in the eighteenth

© Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_18

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century, further developed Locke’s theory, believing that the permission of the people was formed based on the standard will of the people. Accordingly, he put forward the principle of people’s sovereignty and believed that the essence of democracy was the realization of people’s power. Locke and Rousseau’s explanation of democracy is known as classical democratic theory, inherited by Mill, Penn, Madison. Locke’s view of democracy is based on the fictional social contract, so it is idealistic. At the same time, what it says about the people lacks social and historical context, so it is also ambiguous. Democracy means that the people vote to determine the ownership of power. Johann A. Schumpeter, an Austrian economist in the twentieth century, is the represents of this people’s subjectivity. Schumpeter believes that it is unrealistic to attribute democracy to the rule of the people. In real political life, any political community is ruled and led by a few political elites. Therefore, the practical meaning of democracy should be that the people have the right to vote to decide who will be the political elites. Democracy is “the right of some people to make decisions by obtaining the people’s votes”.1 Schumpeter’s theory limits democracy to the people’s election of political elites, so it is also called elite democracy theory. As far as its reality is concerned, the elite democracy reflects the current situation that big monopoly groups control social politics. However, theoretically speaking, the theory of elite democracy is a deterioration of the western democratic theory. On the one hand, it limits democracy to political choice, significantly weakening and reducing the political meaning of democracy. On the other hand, it calls the social politics controlled by a few political oligarchs democratic politics, a rebellion against democracy. Democracy is the interaction of various interest groups. Modern American political scientist R. Dahl and others believe that in a democratic society, people live in different interest groups. This situation makes it impossible for social citizens to form a majority on political issues, and there is no force can control everything. Instead, there is only a complex interaction between a small group and specific political decision-making. “Democratic decision-making” is not a solemn process of uniting the majority on certain essential policy matters. It is a comfort to a relatively small group. Dahl called this kind of democracy “pluralism”,2 so Dahl’s view of democracy is also called “plural democracy.” It conceals the class content and class nature of democracy by replacing class with interest groups. At the same time, it regards democratic decision-making as the interaction of various interest groups, ignoring not only the energy and role of powerful interest groups in influencing politics but also the special decision-making status and role of political power. Democracy means people’s participation in political decision-making. George Douglas Howard Cole, a British socialist and political scientist in the twentieth century, represents the theory of participatory democracy. In his kilter’s socialist

Joseph Alois Schumpeter, Socialism, Capitalism and Democracy, Commercial Press, 1979, p. 337. Robert A. Dahl, A Preface to Democratic Theory, SDX Joint Publishing Company, 1999 edition.

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approach, he believes that democracy is a political system in which the people participate. The social-political form to realize this participation is autonomy based on associations. Kohl’s view of democracy has a significant influence on contemporary democratic theory. For example, Cohen, an American political scientist, clearly pointed out that “Democracy is a social management system in which society members can directly or indirectly participate in or influence the decision-making of all members”.3 The concept of participatory democracy takes participation or participation in influencing decision-making as a sign of democracy, and ignores the dominant position of the people in democratic politics. Therefore, the democracy it defines is not democracy in the complete sense. In the practice and theoretical research of the proletarian revolutionary struggle, the classic Marxist writers have made in-depth discussion and a lot of elaboration on the connotation of democracy, thus guiding for us to understand and grasp the meaning of democracy. A.

Democracy is the superstructure of a particular socio-economic base

According to Marxism, democracy is a specific superstructure, which is based on a particular social economy. At the same time, it serves a clear social and economic relationship. It is in this sense that Lenin pointed out, “Any democracy, like any political superstructure, serves for production in the final analysis and is determined by the production relations in the society”.4 The production relations and economic relations here include not only the means of subsistence ownership and distribution but also the means of social exchange and the realization of interests. Democracy is not only connected with the specific mode of ownership but also with the mode of commodity exchange. Because of this, in a society with the same ownership and distribution relations, democracy is specifically connected with the community that adopts the mode of commodity production and market economic activities. B.

In class society, democracy has a class character

In the specific stage of the development of productive forces, social relations of production concentrate on class and class interests. Therefore, democracy formed based on particular relations of production also has a class nature. First of all, it means a class political rule as Lenin said, “Democracy and the principle of the minority subordinate to the majority are not the same things. Democracy is the recognition of a country in which the minority is subordinate to the majority, that is, an organization in which one class uses systematic violence against another class and one part of its residents against another part of its residents”.5 “As long as there are different classes, we can not say ‘pure democracy’, but only class democracy”.6 3

Carl Cohen. On Rule by the People. The Commercial Press, 1979, p. 10. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 40. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 276. 5 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 78. 6 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 35. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 243. 4

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Democracy is a form of state

In real social life, democracy is often embodied as a principle, a value, or a mode of work. However, Marxism holds that in the political sense, democracy is first and foremost a state system and state form. Marx pointed out, “Democracy is a kind of state system”.7 Lenin further clearly pointed out, “Democracy is a form of state”.8 D.

Democracy is a form of state that guarantees the realization of citizens’ rights

Democracy is a specific form of state. It is different from other forms of state in that it recognizes that citizens have equal rights in politics and stipulates that such equal rights can be realized in the system. Therefore, while pointing out that democracy is a form of state, Lenin also pointed out, “Democracy means formally recognizing that all citizens are equal and that everyone has equal rights to decide the state system and manage the state”.9 According to these principles of Marxism on the connotation of democracy, democracy can be defined as a political form to guarantee the equal realization of citizens’ political rights based on specific economic relations and interest relations. In class society, it is a form of state that realizes the political rights of social members equally based on specific class interests.

18.1.2 Characteristics of Political Democracy As a particular form of politics, democracy has the following essential characteristics. A.

Political democracy is premised on the establishment of specific political rule

Political democracy is a form of social politics. To be more precise, it is a form of political management. Because political leadership should take colonial-political rule as the premise, democracy must also take the determination and existence of specific political rule as its basic premise. In a class society, democracy takes the political rule of class as the premise of its determination and existence. Therefore, when talking about democracy in class society, Marxist classical writers always associate it with the class rule.10 The prerequisite significance of political rule for political democracy determines the social nature, elemental composition, and political function of political democracy. As far as its social character is concerned, political democracy has different character under the different political rules. In the primitive society, democracy took the equal public power of social members as the premise and formed the primitive Communist democracy. In the exploiting class society, democracy has the nature 7

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2002, p. 39. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 96. 9 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 96. 10 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 239, 293. 8

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of the dominant exploiting class. In a socialist society, the proletariat rises to the ruling class, so democracy has the heart of the proletariat. As far as its basic constitution is concerned, democracy is the unity of heart and form of political power. It contains not only the domination of political power but also the social management of political power. Therefore, Lenin pointed out, “From the vulgar bourgeois point of view, dictatorship and democracy are mutually exclusive. The bourgeois does not understand the theory of class struggle and are used to the meaningless quarrels among various bourgeois groups on the political stage. They think that dictatorship is to abolish all freedom and all democratic guarantees, to run wild, to abuse power for the interests of the dictators”.11 “There can be no doubt that the dictatorship of the proletariat must closely combine the dictatorship over the counter-revolutionary forces with the broadest people’s democracy, that is, socialist democracy”.12 As far as its political function is concerned, democracy, as a political form, serves the interests and requirements of the subject of political power. It is in this sense that Marxism believes that democracy is a means, “For the proletariat, this form, like all political forms, is only a means”.13 B.

Political democracy and market economy are closely related

Since humanity entered the class society and the state came into being, the political power of the exact nature can take different political forms and operation rules. This phenomenon is mainly caused by different ways of production and exchange adopted by societies, in addition to specific social history and cultural traditions. According to Marxism, the specific political superstructure depends on the typical social and economic relations, which determine the political superstructure from two levels. First, the dominant economic ownership, distribution relations, and the resulting interest relations determine the fundamental nature of the political superstructure. For example, based on the right of the slaveowner class, the interests of the slave owner class and the political power of the slave owner to safeguard the goods are formed. In contrast, based on the private ownership of capital, the bourgeois state stands. Second, the way to realize the value of products and discover the interests of social members determine the composition, operation mode, and rules of socialpolitical power. For example, the natural economy is the basis of autocracy, while the market economy establishes the principles of democratic politics. As Marx pointed out, “If economic form and exchange establish equality among subjects in all aspects, then content, that is, the personal and material materials that urge people to exchange, establishes freedom. It can be seen that equality and freedom are not only respected in the exchange based on exchange value but also the exchange of exchange value is the real basis of all equal and free production. As a pure concept, equality and freedom are only an idealized expression of the exchange of exchange value; as something

11

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 39. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 371. The Historical Experience of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, People’s Publishing House, 1957 edition, p. 31. 13 Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 662. 12

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developed in legal, political and social relations, equality and freedom are just the foundation on another side”.14 Therefore, the slave states with the natural economy as the main body will form the autocratic regime of slave owners. In contrast, the slave states with the market economy will create the republican democracy of slave owners. As a form of state, political democracy is closely related to the market economy. The fundamental reason is that the basic principles and rules of democratic politics are just the applying of the regulations, rules, and norms of market economy in the organization and operation of political power and the realization of political rights. For example, the focus of interest in the market economy is manifested as the principle of right matter of political members in democratic politics. The focus of freedom and equality in the market economy is displayed in the direction of equality and freedom of civil rights in democratic politics. The focus of contract in the market economy is displayed in the direction of the rule of law and periodic election in democratic politics, etc. Therefore, democratic politics is just the reflection and projection of the process of market economy in the political field. C.

The core principle of political democracy is freedom and equality of civil rights

Political democracy first embodies that every citizen has an independent political personality and unrestricted rights in social and political life. That is to say, he does not take the will of others as his will, but has his own independent political personality as a citizen. At the same time, he can freely exercise and realize his civil rights, freely control his spirit and behavior, and freely decide his affairs. Of course, citizens’ political freedom must be limited to prevent the realization of public interests and other people’s independence and rights. In political life, this limit is often prescribed by law. Therefore, political freedom in democratic politics refers to the realizing of one’s political rights within the scope defined by law. Political democracy also focuses on the equality of rights among citizens. Democracy does not recognize any political and social privileges but stipulates that all citizens, regardless of their differences, should enjoy equal political rights in political life. The equality of citizens’ political rights is embodied in the equality of opportunities and qualifications of citizens in political life, the equality of everyone before the law, and the equality of one person, one vote in decision-making or election. D.

Political democracy is the basic rule of the majority decision

Political democracy is a form of social and political management in which political members grasp their interests, wills, and requirements, self-determination and implement social and political control. Therefore, it is based on the consistent intentions of political members in social and public matters. However, in actual political affairs, it is impossible for every political member cannot reach a consensus on all kinds of public affairs. Therefore, democratic politics generally regards the majority agreement as to the common interest of all political members, and the majority decision becomes the basic rule of political democracy. As Lenin said, “Democracy is the 14

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 30. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 199.

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recognition of the majority of the minority countries”.15 He also said that democracy is the rule of the majority, which is “the general, basic and basic principle of democracy”.16 In terms of specific procedures, the rule of the majority decision is embodied as follows. First, any public affairs must be discussed freely and fully by political members before a decision is made to form a just intention on this basis. Second, according to specific procedures and rules, the majority decision should be made by one person, one vote. Third, the amendment of the scheme determined by the majority still needs to be decided by the majority. The rule of majority decision also means protecting the rights of minorities, which needs to allow a minority to adhere to their views and opinions while following the majority resolution and safeguard and implement their political rights within the legal scope around their thoughts and opinions. E.

Indirect democracy and direct democracy are the primary ways of political democracy

Indirect democracy, also known as “representative democracy,” is an approach of social and political management in which specific public officials are elected by the people. The basic principle of representative democracy is to ensure that the people’s interests can be realized through representative government and prevent public officials from exercising power against the interests of the people. In a representative democracy, this principle is implemented by guaranteeing the people’s political rights such as election, creation, referendum, and supervision. Therefore, in the specific system, it adopts the approach of universal suffrage, tenure, decentralization, management, and so on. In the history of human politics, indirect democracy is a widely used form of democratic politics; as Lenin said, “Without representative institutions, we can not imagine any democracy, even proletarian democracy”.17 Direct democracy means that all political members of the society directly manage or decide public social affairs. It can be seen that the most significant difference between direct democracy and indirect democracy lies in the political members themselves, rather than through their representatives to implement political management or determine public affairs. The concrete implementation of direct democracy mainly includes referendum, discussion by the whole people, mass autonomy, and so on. F.

Political democracy is based on the rule of law

The rule of law is an approach to realize political power and political management. Its core content is to impose specific norms and norms on the behavior and behavior of social members. The rule of law is a vital guarantee condition for democratic politics. This kind of guarantee is mainly reflected in several aspects. First, the rule of law recognizes the principles and norms of democratic politics, makes them legal and institutionalized 15

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 78. Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 22. People’s Publishing House, 1980, p. 53. 17 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 45. 16

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so that democracy has the highest authority. Second, the rule of law stipulates the specific content and scope of democratic politics so that citizens can clarify the rights they enjoy. Third, the rule of law defines the particular procedures and methods for realizing democracy, thereby providing social and political members with the basic norms of democratic political behavior. The law not only confirms the principles and content of the political rights of citizens in democratic politics in principle but also stipulates the implementation methods of these rights in specific regulations so that democratic politics has explicit norms and operational, political activities. Fourth, the rule of law provides safeguards for democratic politics. The law is backed by the state apparatus. In democratic politics, firmly guarantees the standard implementation of democratic politics and punishes behaviors that violate the principles of democratic politics. On the other hand, the rule of law in democratic politics must take democratic politics as the basis and content, embodied in the following points. First, the direction must be oriented to safeguard the interests of citizens rather than those of individual power. Second, legal principles and specific regulations must be formulated and confirmed by all the people through specific procedures and not shifted by the will of a few people. Third, everyone is equal before the law, and no one is above the law. Fourth, legal rulings can only be made by judicial organs created by democratic procedures.

18.2 Types of Political Democracy Marx believes that in the course of social history, democracy is historical, concrete, and relative. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in the Report of the Nineteenth National Congress of the Party, “There is no identical political system in the world, and the political system can not be removed. We cannot make abstract criticism without considering the specific social and political conditions and historical traditions, and we cannot copy the foreign political system model mechanically”.18 Therefore, there is no abstract, absolute, and universally applicable democracy. The historicity and development of political democracy make it form different types of democracy in continuous development of human society and politics.

18.2.1 Pre-capitalist Political Democracy As a form of social management and political management, democracy was formed as early as prehistoric times. In the pre-capitalist society, democracy experienced 18 Xi Jinping: Decisively Win the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects, and Win the Great Victory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era-A Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Daily (October 28, 2017).

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primitive culture, slave society, and feudal society. According to the three social forms and the different characteristics of democracy, democracy can be divided into the democracy of primitive society, slave society, and feudal society. A.

Democracy of primitive society

Democracy first came into being with the formation of the clan commune in primitive society. At the stage of matriarchal clan commune in primitive society, to manage and solve the public affairs, the clan democratic system was formed. Its characteristics are as follows. All the clan adults started a clan council to discuss and decide the clan’s public affairs; in the clan council, all the members enjoyed equal rights. The clan leader was held by an older woman, who could be replaced by the clan members when she was incompetent. After entering the patriarchal society, the clan democracy has developed and formed characteristics different from that of the matriarchal society. The clan council is composed of the heads of all the clans. In addition to the clan council, a clan assembly consisting of all adult men of the family was formed, and became the highest authority of the clan. The clan leader is held by a man with prestige and can be replaced. At the end of primitive society, after the formation of tribes, clan democracy developed into tribal democracy. Because the most important public affair of the tribe are the tribal war, tribal democracy has the characteristics of military democracy. The tribal council is composed of the chiefs and military leaders of each clan, and the people’s congress is organized of all armed men. The primary function of these two institutions is to discuss and decide on important matters concerning the tribe. The military leaders have the executive power of military affairs and the power of tribal sacrifice and adjudication. The democracy of primitive society is a political form based on primitive public ownership, and the equal rights of members of primitive culture in public affairs are based on it. However, after entering the patriarchal society, due to the different roles of different members of the community, the original social democracy has restricted the rights of its members. At the same time, democracy in primitive society only formed simple rules and institutions of democracy, so Lenin called it the “ancient sprout” of democracy.19 B.

Democracy of slave society

The democracy of slave society is the first democracy in human history to develop into a state form, and its typical representative is the Republic of Athens in ancient Greece. The essential characteristics of democracy in slave society are as follows. First, democracy has the class nature of slave owners. According to the law of Athens, slaves, gentiles, and women do not have civil rights. Only slave owners and free people have democratic rights. In ancient Rome, the restrictions on the property qualification of citizens and the establishment of the Senate made the social politics 19

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 35. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 492.

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controlled in the hands of the slave owners. Therefore, Engels pointed out, “In the Greeks and Romans, the role of people’s inequality is much greater than any equality. If we think that Greeks and barbarians, freemen and slaves, citizens and protected people, citizens of Rome and subjects of Rome (the word is used in a broad sense), can claim equal political status, then it must be crazy for the ancient people”.20 Second, the implementation of democracy is closely related to the market economy. Athens city-state in ancient Greece was located on the Mediterranean coast. Its handicraft industry and overseas trade were very prosperous, and the market economy occupied a large proportion of the slave economy. The development of the market economy has a profound impact on Athenian politics. The principle of freedom and equality in the market economy has become the political principle within Athenian slave owners. The industrial and commercial class, which is related to the market economy, has become a significant political force for the slave owners to advocate democracy. The market economy has also cultivated the spirit of political participation of industrial and commercial slave owners and free people. Third, democracy has formed a relatively complete political system. The highest organ of power in the ancient Greek Republic of Athens was the citizens’ assembly, composed of adult men over 18 years old and had the right to decide major affairs inside and outside the Republic. The Republic set up a council of 500 people, which was composed of 50 people from each of the ten constituencies. The council elected a committee of members, 50 people in total and five people in a group, which was divided into ten groups. Each group presided over daily government matters for 35 or 36 days in turn. The council convenes a general assembly to exercise executive power. Military affairs are handled by the “ten generals committee,” composed of one general elected by each constituency. In addition, the jury court is the highest judicial organ, and its members are also elected by each constituency. Fourth, democracy has the characteristics of the legal system. The political activities of the Athens city-state are governed by national laws, and all newly enacted laws are not allowed to conflict with the existing laws. C.

Democracy of feudal society

The main body of the political system in feudal society was autocratic politics based on private ownership of land. However, in some urban republics of Western Europe, such as Venice, Genoa, and Florence, a democratic system was also implemented. This kind of democratic system has the following three essential characteristics. First, it was caused by the market economy in some developed cities in feudal society. Most of these cities are located in ferry, port, pass, and thoroughfare, where handicraft workers gather, and merchants come and go frequently. Therefore, “citizens are first and only commodity producers and merchants”.21 The mode of economic activities of citizens constitutes the mode of democratic politics in these cities. Second, it is a democratic system controlled and dominated by the particular classes of the feudal ruling class, such as the aristocracy, guild owners, and bankers. For example, the 20 21

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 1995, pp. 444–445. Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 21. People’s Publishing House, 1965, p. 545.

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highest organ of power in the City Republic of Venice is the Presbyterian Council, whose members are elected by the guild. The guild owners and the rich are often selected. The head of state is selected from the rich and noble families, while the Senate, elected by the Presbyterian Council, holds the executive power. It can be seen that the general public can not control political affairs. Third, it existed in some parts and particular areas of feudal society, so it did not represent the political essence of feudal society. At the same time, its democracy was controlled by feudal kings and lords on the whole. Nevertheless, the urban Republic in feudal society contained the sprout of capitalist democracy, and urban citizens “embodied the class of further developing production, trade, education, social system, and political system”.22

18.2.2 Capitalist Political Democracy The primary contents of democracy in capitalist society include democratic principles, a democratic system, and democratic rights. The core content of capitalist democratic principle is abstract human nature theory, freedom, equality, fraternity, and natural human rights. Capitalist democracy and democratic rights are the concrete embodiment of its democratic principle. Capitalist democracy mainly includes a universal suffrage system, parliamentary system, separation of powers and checks and balances system, interest group politics, party politics, and legal system. Its democratic rights mainly include citizens’ freedom of belief, speech, assembly, and association. Capitalist democracy has its specific role of historical status, economic base, class content, and social politics. In terms of its historical status, capitalist democracy is historical progress for feudal autocracy. Lenin pointed out, “The bourgeois system of republic, parliament and universal suffrage, all these constitute great progress in the development of world society”.23 Capitalist democracy with a parliamentary system to replace the feudal monarchy, from form to realize the principle of people’s sovereignty, with elections to replace the feudal hereditary, choose political agents for the ruling class, to civil political equality instead of the hierarchy, thus in politics “to eliminate the difference between all the old domestic existing level, canceled all rely on domineering, the privileges and immunities”.24 The free rights of citizens replaced the feudal personal attachment and broke the feudal political yoke. The decentralization system replaced the centralization system, which restricted the abuse of power. The rule of man was replaced by the rule of law, which ensured the normalization of the political order.

22

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 21. People’s Publishing House, 1965, p. 449. Lenin Monograph Collection: On Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism. People’s Publishing House, 2009, p. 295. 24 Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1957, p. 647. 23

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Therefore, this kind of “bourgeois democracy is a great progress in history compared with the medieval system”.25 As far as its economic foundation is concerned, capitalist democracy is based on the market economy with private ownership as its core. Bourgeois democracy is based on the remote system of capital and property. The amount of private capital and property plays a decisive role in capitalist politics. Therefore, capitalist democracy is essential “money” politics. At the same time, the bourgeoisie applied the law of market exchange to political life, forming the superficial equality of political rights and political process, thus covering up the social inequality created by capitalist private ownership. As Marx pointed out, people’s “political equality” is “equal in their political world, but unfair in their social life”.26 In terms of its class nature, capitalist democracy is essentially bourgeois democracy. The bourgeoisie, by its property, various political organizations, and communication tools, plays a decisive role in social politics. “In essence, political power is always in the hands of capital”.27 Although the proletariat and the working people enjoy certain political rights, the bourgeois form of democracy cannot guarantee their realization. It is difficult for the proletariat and the active people to enter the capitalist political institutions, and they can not control the political process and decisionmaking of capitalist countries. In bourgeois democracy, officials are the spokesmen of the bourgeoisie. In capitalist countries, parliamentary system, universal suffrage is just “once every few years to decide who is in the ruling class to suppress and oppress the people in parliament. This is the real essence of the bourgeois parliamentary system, not only in the constitutional monarchy of the parliamentary system but also in the most democratic countries”.28 The decision-making and operation of bourgeois democracy serve the interests of capital, and the bourgeois legal system also maintains the order of capital exploitation. Therefore, capitalist democracy can only guarantee the realization of bourgeois political rights and even social rights. It “cannot be a narrow, incomplete, hypocritical and deceitful democracy. It is a paradise for the rich, a trap and a trick for the exploited and the poor”.29 In terms of its governance efficiency, while capitalist democracy grants citizens political freedom and legal rights formally equal, there are contradictions between politics and economy, form and content, procedure and substance. Capitalist democracy endows citizens with political freedom, but it does not give them un-freedom in the production process. Granting citizens equal political rights but not granting them equal economic and social rights has caused a massive antinomy in the political, economic, and social life of capitalist society. The political freedom and equality of citizens and the inequality of privilege and inequality in economic and social life constitute an odd phenomenon in capitalist society.

25

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 35. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 244. Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House, 2002, p. 100. 27 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 37. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 73. 28 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 43. 29 Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 35. People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 244. 26

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In terms of its political operation, in the process of capitalist democracy, money becomes the lubricating oil of political elections and political processes, which leads to private capital and powerful groups controlling public power. Engels once said, “The power of the bourgeoisie depends entirely on money, so they can only obtain power by making money the only criterion for people’s legislative capacity”.30 Internal contradictory principles and bourgeois political competition, non-intrusive checks and balances and endless wrangling makes the public interests seriously distorted and damage, make general planning short-sighted, public decision-making hysteresis is challenging to implement, and also makes the social members have to pay a high cost for inefficient or ineffective political operation.

18.2.3 Socialist Political Democracy Socialist democracy is a political form established by the proletariat and the active people through the socialist revolution. It is a political form to ensure that the political rights of the proletariat and the working people are widely, truly, and equally realized. It is the essential feature of socialist politics. “People’s democracy is the life of socialism. Without democracy, there would be no socialism and no socialist modernization”.31 A.

The essence of socialist democracy is determined and guaranteed by socialist political relations

First of all, the socialist society is established based on basic social and economic system with the ownership as the main body and the joint development of various financial components. The basic financial system of socialist society makes the citizens of socialist countries form essentially consistent common interests. On the other hand, it also creates the premise for coordinating various interest relations and solving the contradictions between different interests. This enables socialist democracy to ensure the formation and Realization of the joint will of all the people and the coordination of other choices and the common will of the society in the process of realizing citizens’ political rights. Secondly, the socialist society is characterized by the establishing of proletarian political rule and the implementation of common political management. The common regime not only enables the proletariat and the broad masses of working people to obtain the status of the political ruler and political manager but also provides a solid political guarantee for the realization of this position. At the same time, it also creates political conditions for the establishment, perfection, and full completion of this political form.

30

Complete Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 1957, p. 647. Anthology of important documents since the 18th National Congress of CPC, Central Literature Publishing House, 2016 edition, p. 68.

31

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Thirdly, socialist economic relations, interest relations, and political power enable the proletariat and the broad masses of working people to enjoy wide, equal, and fundamental political rights. The wide, similar, and fundamental political rights of the proletariat and the broad groups of working people determine the broad, similar and fundamental political rights of socialist democracy. The political rights of the proletariat and the working people occupy the majority of the population. Therefore, socialist democracy means that “The majority of the people enjoy democracy and strongly suppress the exploiters and oppressors of the people, that is, exclude them from democracy”.32 The proletariat and the working people participate in political life with equal economic and political status and realize equal political rights, which determines that the holders of socialist democracy are entirely identical. The proletariat and the working people use various political system conditions and material conditions of the proletarian state to realize their diverse social interests through political rights, making socialist democracy the most accurate, most equal, and most influential democracy of the proletariat and the working people. B.

Socialist democracy is the organic unity of the leadership of the Communist Party, the people being the masters of the country, and the rule of law

Socialist democracy is the organic unity of the party’s leadership, the people being the masters of the country and the rule of law. Among them, the leadership of the Communist Party is the fundamental guarantee for the realization of socialist democracy. In a socialist country, the Communist Party is the ruling party, the leading force in all government’s undertakings, and the guarantee force of socialist democracy. Deng Xiaoping pointed out on China’s socialist democracy, “China is led by the Communist Party, and China’s socialist modernization drive is led by the Communist Party. This principle can not be shaken. If China is shaken, it will regress to division and chaos, and it will be destroyed. Modernization is impossible”.33 Xi Jinping pointed out that, “The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the essential feature of China’s socialism with Chinese characteristics. Without the Communist Party, there would be no new China, and there would be no prosperity and strength of the new China. Adhering to the strong core of leadership of the Communist Party of China is the destiny of the Chinese nation”.34 People being the masters of the country is the essential feature and purpose of socialist democracy. In socialist society and political life, people’s rights are genuinely and equally realized and guaranteed. This is the essence of socialist democracy, which is different from other democratic politics and the political embodiment of the superiority of the socialist system. The socialist social and political system is the system of people’s democratic authenticity, equality, and effectiveness. It is also the political guarantee for realizing the essence of socialism and the vitality of socialism. 32

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 31. p. 85. Deng Xiaoping. (1994). Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping Volume 2. People’s Publishing House. pp. 267–268. 34 XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA vol.2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 18. 33

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The rule of law is an approach to realize socialist democracy. To achieve economic development, political clarity, cultural prosperity, social justice, and sound ecology, we must give full play to the leading and normative role of the rule of law.35 The rule of law requires that the political life of a socialist country should be built based on the rule of law, and the political operation of the government should be carried out according to the rules and regulations of the law to institutionalize, standardize and program the social and political life. A complete legal norm system, an efficient implementation system of the rule of law, a strict supervision system of the rule of law, and a robust guarantee system of the rule of law should be formed. We must pursue coordinated progress in law-based governance, law-based exercise of state power, and law-based government administration, and promote the integrated development of the rule of law for the country, the government, and society to realize sound lawmaking, strict law enforcement, impartial administration of justice, and the observance of law by everyone. In practice, the rule of law means that under the leadership of the party and by the Constitution and regulations, the broad masses of the people manage state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings, and social affairs in various ways and forms, to ensure that all state work is carried out by the law, and gradually realize the institutionalization, standardization, and proceduralization of socialist democratic politics. The Constitution and the law embody the unity of the party’s proposition and the people’s will. No organization or individual is allowed to have the privilege to go beyond the Constitution and the law. Adhere to the rule of law, promote scientific legislation, strict law enforcement, fair justice, and law-abiding by the whole people. We should strengthen the popularization of law by all the people, build a socialist culture of the rule of law, and establish the concept of the rule of law that the Constitution and law are supreme and everyone is equal before the law. Adhere to the combination of the rule of law and rule of virtue, and organically unify the rule of law and rule of the party. The organic unity of the party’s leadership, the people being the masters of the country, and the rule of law is “an inevitable requirement for the development of socialist politics”.36 The fundamental basis for the organic unity of the three lies in their essential consistency. In socialist democracy, the party spirit, people’s nature, and the rule of law of the Chinese Communist Party are, in the final analysis, the fundamental interests and common interests of the people. The party’s cause is essentially the people’s cause. People’s democracy is the real purpose of the party’s leadership, and the rule of law is the embodiment of the party’s leadership and people’s democratic legal regulations and their implementation. The three essential stipulations are the people’s interests and rights requirements, all centered on the people. 35

Central Document Research Office, Excerpts from Xi Jinping’s Expositions on Socialist Political Construction, Central Document Research Office, 2017, p. 80. 36 Xi Jinping: Decisively Win the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects, and Win the Great Victory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era- A Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Daily (October 28, 2017).

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The organic unity of the party’s leadership, the people being the masters of the country, and the rule of law has the operational mechanism of the party leading the people to govern the country effectively. The fundamental interests, shared interests, and public will of all the people embodied in the party’s leadership, and the various attractions and public opinions represented in the people’s democracy should reach a consensus by the institutionalized, standardized, and procedural way of the socialist rule of law, to realize the rights and interests of the people widely, honestly, and effectively. The organic unity of the party’s leadership, the people being the masters of the country and the rule of law lies in the tremendous political practice of the party leading the people. In practice, the optimization and improvement of the party’s ruling style are organically combined with the enrichment and development of the people’s democratic realization form and the perfection and development of the socialist legal system, to realize the people, practicality, and development of the socialist political development mode. C.

Socialist democracy is the organic unity of multiple meanings and multiple forms of democracy

Socialist democracy is the organic unity of substantive democracy and procedural democracy. The realization of socialist substantive democracy is embodied in the proper, equal, and practical completion of the goal, content, subject, and value of people’s democracy. The completion of socialist procedural democracy is embodied in the complete system, truth, and effectiveness of the democratic mechanism, rules, and procedures. Socialist democracy is the organic unity and cooperation of political rights and political power. As Xi Jinping put it, “We will ensure that all state power belongs to the people. We will ensure that the people exercise democratic elections by the law and democratic decision-making, management, and supervision by the law. We will effectively prevent the phenomenon that promises are made all over the place during the election, and no one makes any inquiries after the election. We must uphold and improve the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, strengthen cooperation and coordination among various forces in society, and effectively prevent disputes and conflicts between the parties. We should uphold and improve the system of regional ethnic autonomy, consolidate socialist ethnic relations based on equality, unity, mutual assistance and harmony, encourage all ethnic groups to live in harmony, work together for a common cause, and develop in harmony, and effectively prevent ethnic estrangement and conflict. We will uphold and improve the system of community-level self-governance, develop community-level democracy, ensure that the people directly exercise their democratic rights by the law, and effectively prevent the phenomenon that the people have power in the form but no power in practice. We should adhere to and improve the system and principle of democratic centralism, encourage all kinds of state organs to enhance their capacity and efficiency, enhance coordination, and cooperation, form strong

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synergy in governing the country, and effectively prevent the emergence of constraints on each other and serious internal friction”.37 Socialist democracy is the organic unity of voting democracy and deliberative democracy. “Whether the people enjoy democratic rights depends on whether they have the right to vote in elections and whether they have the right to continue to participate in daily political life. It depends on whether the people have the right to the democratic election and whether they have the right to democratic decisionmaking, management and oversight. Socialist democracy requires not only complete institutional procedures but also complete participatory practice”.38 Socialist democracy realizes citizens’ right to vote in a genuine, equal, and effective way. At the same time actively promotes consultative democracy at multiple levels, in various fields, and multiple aspects in decision-making and management. Deliberative democracy is “the special form of socialist democracy and the unique advantage”,39 promote the development of deliberative democracy, multi-layer, institutionalization, formed a complete system of programs and participated in practice, voting for the organic combination of democracy and deliberative democracy, effective combination of the democratic politics and national governance, is the direction of the development of socialist democratic politics and characteristics. D.

Socialist democracy has scientific and reasonable evaluation criteria

Socialist democratic politics run according to the will and requirements of the people and accepts the test of people’s political practice. In the long history of development, a scientific and reasonable evaluation standard has been formed. As Xi Jinping pointed out, “It is not democratic and effective to evaluate a country’s political system. It mainly depends on whether the national leadership can be changed according to law and whether all the people can manage the law according to law. In managing state affairs and social affairs, managing economic and cultural undertakings, whether the people can express their interests freely, whether all aspects of society can effectively participate in the country’s political life, whether national decision-making can be scientific and democratic, whether talents from all aspects can enter the national leadership and management system through fair competition, and whether the ruling party can realize the control of state affairs by the Constitution and laws whether the use of leadership and power can be effectively restricted and supervised”.40 E.

Socialist democracy develops with socialist politics and improves with the development of socialist political construction

The establishment of socialist economic foundation, political relations, and democratic principles has laid the fundamental foundation and principles for socialist democracy. The socialist entire, basic political system has laid the institutional foundation for socialist democracy. However, in the process of development, due to the 37

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 290. XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 292. 39 XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 291. 40 XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 287. 38

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influence of the remnants of feudal political culture and the role of the situation at home and abroad, mainly due to the limitation of the traditional planned economic system with excessive concentration of power, the socialist market economy has not been fully developed, the inherent advantages of the socialist fundamental, basic political system have not been given full play, and the socialist democratic system has not been fully developed. The mechanism has not been improved, and the political rights consciousness of socialist citizens has not been set. The critical way to overcome these disadvantages and improve socialist democracy lies in further developing and perfecting socialist market economy, perfecting and developing socialist economic, political, and social systems, strengthening the construction of socialist democracy and the rule of law, and cultivating socialist democratic political culture. With the development of socialist market economy and socialist political system, socialist democracy and the rule of law will be further improved, the governance system and governance capacity of socialist countries will be continuously improved, and the people’s political rights and democratic politics will be more fully guaranteed and promoted.

18.3 Ways of Development and Socio-Political Role of Political Democracy 18.3.1 Ways of Development of Political Democracy Different social and economic bases, interest relationships, and political rule are the economic and political basis of political democracy, which determines the nature of political democracy. However, the establishing of social and economic foundation, interest relations, and the political rule does not mean that the political rights of the ruling class members can be realized naturally and equally. To equally learn the political rights of the members of the ruling class and coordinate their internal interests, we must also improve the political form required, which is the development process of political democracy. The development process of political democracy has different contents in different social forms, historical conditions, and development stages. However, from the development history of human political democracy, political democracy has three basic approaches of basic construction, institutional construction, and civic education. A.

The basic construction of political democracy

The basic construction of political democracy includes the structure of economy, society, and culture. The economic foundation construction of democratic politics includes the development of social and economic development levels and the improvement of the market financial system. On the one hand, democratic politics needs the development of social and economic development levels. Without the progress and development

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of social and economic status, citizens can not have the time and interest to care about and participate in social and political activities. Therefore, the result of the social economy and the increase of national income can provide the necessary material basis and social opportunities for citizens to realize political rights and develop political democracy. On the other hand, the rules of political democracy apply market economy rules in the public social sphere. Therefore, the development and perfection of the market economy and its laws are the primary way to develop and perfect political democracy. The social foundation construction of democratic politics requires the society to maintain stability and relative balance. The operation and development of political democracy can only be realized under the political normal. Political conflicts, social contradictions, and external threats often endanger or even interrupt the development of political democracy. Therefore, the development of political democracy must coordinate and solve the contradictions and conflicts in the relationship of social interests, ensure the harmonious and stable development of social-political order, and ensure the security of social politics and the country’s conditions. The cultural foundation construction of democratic politics requires the cultivation of citizen culture with democratic value connotation. Democratic politics has the political and cultural characteristics of equality, participation, autonomy, tolerance, and rationality. Therefore, the development of political democracy needs to eliminate the feudal political psychology and political thought characterized by the political privilege of autocratic centralization and the dependence on political power. It also needs to eliminate the irrational, passionate, extreme, or indifferent political psychology and political thought and cultivate a civil culture of equality, autonomy, participation, tolerance and rationality among the members of society. A.

Institutional construction of political democracy

Institutional construction is not only an essential content of political democracy construction but also a basic approach of political democracy construction. Institutional construction includes the establishment, construction, and improvement of the political democracy system, the regularization and standardization of the operation of political democracy, and the procedural process of political democracy. The establishment of a political democracy system is the primary task of democratic institutional construction. The development process of democratic politics is establishing democratic rules in social and political life and gradually institutionalizing them. Without the establishment of the democratic system, democratic politics is unimaginable. Therefore, we must set the fundamental principles and techniques of democratic politics and implement them in the essential spirit of democratic politics. The institutional construction and improvement of political democracy include the construction and improvement of the political system and legal system. In terms of the building and improvement of the political system, after establishing the entire design of political democracy, political power needs to improve the political system and operation mechanism. The principle of its improvement is to help citizens participate in politics orderly, reflect their interests, realize their political rights, improve the work efficiency of state organs, and strengthen social and political supervision. According

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to the requirements of these principles, the subject of political power should set up and improve political institutions and facilities, determine the functions of political organizations and institutions and their power relations, and develop and improve the approaches and systems for citizens to participate in political life orderly. As far as the construction and improvement of the legal system are concerned, it should be made clear that the constitution is the fundamental law of the country’s political life. “Any organization or individual must respect the authority of the Constitution and law, must act within the scope of the Constitution and law, must exercise power or rights, perform duties or obligations by the Constitution and law, and must not have privileges beyond the Constitution and law. Anyone who violates the Constitution and the law will be investigated. No one is allowed to substitute words for the law, use power to suppress the law, or bend the law for personal gain under any pretext or in any form”.41 At the same time, we need to constantly formulate and improve various specific laws and regulations according to the state of social and economic development to form a unified and complete legal system so that there are laws to comply with in social and political life. On this premise, we need to abide by the law and carry out political and social activities strictly according to the law. The regularization and standardization of the operation of political democracy require the construction and standardization of the operation rules of democratic politics, the openness and transparency of political life, and the process of political life by legal regulations. The procedural process of political democracy requires the establishment of proper procedures for the operation of power. The realization of public social interests and the coordination of different interests by political power should be carried out by legal procedures. The process of political decision-making and implementation is carried out by legal procedures. B.

Democratic political education of citizens

The subject of democratic politics is citizens. Therefore, citizens’ ability to realize democratic rights and democratic consciousness plays an essential role in democratic politics. In this regard, improving citizens’ political ability and strengthening citizens’ democratic consciousness are essential ways to develop political democracy. There are four ways to enhance citizen’s political ability and strengthen citizen’s political consciousness. First, we should improve the level of social education. Through the improvement of social education level, improve citizen’s cultural literacy, and then improve citizen’s rational and political cognitive ability, to prepare the necessary cultural literacy for citizens to participate in political life and realize political rights. Second, we should educate citizens on the awareness of democracy and the rule of law and cultivate their civic awareness and spirit of equality, fairness, participation, autonomy, tolerance, and rationality in public social life and political life. Third, we should teach and train citizens specific political knowledge and skills so that they can understand democratic political life, be familiar with democratic political rules and procedures, and master democratic life skills to effectively and 41

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 115.

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smoothly participate in the democratic political process. Fourth, make the realization of citizens’ political rights have the effect of realizing their interests, so that the public life of democratic politics is closely related to the common interests and personal interests of citizens so that citizens can feel the significance of the operation of democratic politics for the realization of their interests, and realize the critical value of participating in political life and learning political rights. Fourth, we should make the realization of citizen’s political rights effective in discovering their interests so that the public life of democratic politics is closely related to the common interests and personal interests of citizens so that citizens feel that the operation of democratic politics is essential for their interests. The importance of political rights, and then realize the critical value of participating in political life and learning political rights.

18.3.2 The Socio-Political Role of Political Democracy Different kinds of democracy have different meanings for other societies. For primitive society, primitive democracy is the inevitable form of its social management. The democracy of slave society is the necessary form for industrial and commercial slave owners to realize their interests. Democracy in feudal society served the interests of a few feudal industrial and commercial nobles and bank owners. In today’s world, democracy in capitalist society and democracy in socialist society have the most significant influence and effect. Here is just an overview of the social and political functions of these two kinds of democracy. A.

The social and political functions of capitalist democracy

For the bourgeoisie, capitalist democracy essentially serves the interests of the bourgeoisie. Therefore, it only means the bourgeoisie’s political rule over the proletariat. However, for maintaining this kind of political rule and adjusting the contradictions of interests within the bourgeoisie, capitalist democracy is the best political form, which is much better than capitalist military oligarchy. Capitalist private ownership divides the bourgeoisie into several different interest classes and groups. To realize their interests, each capital group must continuously redistribute its political power and choose its political agents. The capitalist party politics and universal suffrage system are regular, peaceful, and legal effective ways for different groups of the bourgeoisie to realize this kind of distribution and partition through their political rights. To prevent its political representatives from violating its overall interests and fundamental interests and to prevent one group within the class from infringing the interests of other groups too much, the bourgeoisie must regulate the behaviors and activities of specific political agents and political institutions. The separation of powers and checks and balances is the concentrated embodiment of this kind of regulation. To maintain its own rule, the bourgeoisie must try its best to ease and cover-up class contradictions. The superficial freedom and equal rights of citizens in capitalist politics are the safety valve to achieve this goal.

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For the proletariat and the broad masses of working people, capitalist democracy is essentially a right in its formal sense and a political approach that can not realize its fundamental interests. However, compared with the bourgeois military dictatorship, capitalist democracy objectively provides conditions for the political struggle between the proletariat and the working people. The freedom and equality of capitalism in democratic politics provides the possibility and favorable conditions for the proletariat to participate in political life, organize and educate the people, and engage in legal struggle. Therefore, Lenin pointed out, “Without the parliamentary system and the electoral system, the working class would not have such development”.42 At the same time, in the democratic political life of capitalist society, the proletariat and the working people have gradually improved their political activity ability, made clear the necessary ways to realize their political rights, and learned the methods of political management, which has created conditions for the establishment of socialist democracy and the people’s absolute ownership. B.

The social and political functions of socialist democracy

The political role of socialist democracy is mainly reflected in the following aspects. First, socialist democracy can maintain and consolidate the political rule of the proletariat. Through the realization of the political rights of the proletariat and the working people, socialist democracy ensures the people’s master position in the country’s political life, which can significantly strengthen and consolidate the social class foundation of the proletariat’s political rule, to maintain the political ruling quality and power of the proletariat. With the further development and continuous improvement of socialist democracy, the political control of the proletariat will be consolidated and developed accordingly. Second, socialist democracy can realize and coordinate the common interests and contradictions of the people to the greatest extent to not only reflect the essence of people’s politics but also realize the unity among the people and the stable development of social politics. As Xi Jinping pointed out, the socialist democratic system “can effectively guarantee the people to enjoy more extensive and fuller rights and freedoms, and to ensure that the people participate extensively in national governance and social governance. It can effectively regulate the state’s political relations, develop dynamic party relations, ethnic relations, religious relations, class relations, and compatriots at home and abroad, enhance national cohesion, and form a stable and united political situation. It can concentrate on major affairs, effectively promote the liberation and development of productive social forces, promote various undertakings of modernization construction, and promote the quality and level of people’s life. It can effectively safeguard national independence, national sovereignty, security and development interests, and the well-being of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation”.43 Third, socialist democracy is an effective way to promote socialist economic construction. Socialist democracy enables the broad masses of the people to participate in political decision-making, which can significantly concentrate the people’s 42 43

Complete Works of Lenin Vol. 37. People’s Publishing House, 1986, p. 74. XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 288.

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intelligence, thus maximally preventing the blindness of decision-making and is conducive to the scientific development of the social economy. Socialism deals with interpersonal relations, especially the relationship between cadres and the masses, with democratic principles and methods to ensure the people’s rights and interests, thus immensely stimulating and mobilizing the people to engage in political decisionmaking. The enthusiasm and initiative of socialist construction make the socialist economic construction gain a strong impetus. Socialist democracy can effectively eliminate the hidden dangers of major social contradictions and conflicts to create a favorable social environment for economic construction. Fourth, socialist democracy is an essential approach for the people to improve their political ability and quality and then improve the level of socialist political civilization. Socialist democracy is also a process in which people participate in politics and constantly acquire democratic political knowledge and skills in political life, improve their quality and follow democratic political rules and norms. With the improvement of the political quality of the people, the main body of socialist democracy, the level of socialist political civilization will continue to improve. Fifth, socialist democracy is an effective tool to prevent political autocracy and corruption. Socialist democracy implements the principle of people’s sovereignty and excludes all political absolutism and arbitrariness so that socialist politics can develop according to the will of the most immense majority of the people; socialist democracy establishes the people’s supervision system for government officials, which can ensure that officials act according to the will of the people and prevent their political corruption. Thus, it can be seen that socialist democracy is of great significance to the development of socialist society, politics, and economy. “People’s democracy is the banner that the Communist Party of China has always held high”.44 Therefore, vigorously promoting socialist democracy and improving the socialist democratic system is an essential historical task of China’s politics.

44

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 285.

Part VII

International Politics

International politics is a political phenomenon in the international community and the concrete and specific representation of social policy in international societies and arenas. As a social and political phenomenon, international politics has the essential stipulation of the political relationship of the political spectacle. According to the above understanding of the nature of political phenomena, in the international community, international political subjects are the bearers of international political relations, mainly composed of sovereign states, and multinational organizations. At the same time, political parties, political groups, specific individuals, and transnational corporations can also become international political subjects. The political relationship between the international political subjects includes the interesting relationship between the international political issues, the close relationship between political forces, and the political rights relationship, which constitutes the core content and introductory provisions of global politics. Under the impetus of the development of human social productive forces, the global economic relations formed by the international political subjects based on the development of productive forces adapting to the changes of international economic and political development in different historical periods, so that the stipulation of international political relations are embodied in the global political behavior, global political organization and system, and the cultural phenomenon of international politics in the international social life and political operation. Following the basic laws of the development of political phenomena, new colorful and splendid global political phenomena have been continuously formed. On the other hand, international politics is a specific political phenomenon formed, operated, and developed in the international arena. Since the international community is different from domestic politics in the aspects of interests, subject composition, power relationship, right relationship and so on, international politics has its uniqueness based on the general development law of political phenomena. In real international political life, international political relations are usually reflected in the behavior form of the global political subject. Global political behavior originates from the interests of international political issues, operates and develops in

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international political relations, and resorts to and sees the interaction between international political issues. According to the elemental composition of international political relations, international political acts are mainly global political conflict and international political cooperation. Based on the interaction of international political acts, international political norms and International Law have been formed. The international political system is the systematic embodiment of the power of the global political subject and the rules of the interrelated system. It is the overall system of the global political pattern and rules formed by the international political issue according to the specific structure and style. It is also the primary form of the global political relations under economic globalization. The main contradictions contained in the global political system constitute the theme of international politics. With the progress of science and technology and the continuous development of economic globalization, international politics is showing a trend of multi-polarization gradually. The interaction and influence between economic globalization and international politics make international relations and politics show a high degree of multipolarity, complexity, and variability. Nevertheless, peace and development are still the themes of today’s global politics. Adhering to peace, seeking development, and win-win cooperation is the mainstream of global politics and the strategic principle of our country in global political life.

Chapter 19

International Politics

19.1 Definition of International Politics 19.1.1 The Subject of International Politics International politics is the concrete and specific representation of social policy in international societies and arenas. According to the definition of the political phenomena in this book, global policy is the political relationship between the members of global organizations. Generally speaking, the politics of the specific countries is derived from the interrelated social relations of the individual social members. In comparison with the former circumstance, in international societies and fields, the main subject of the political ties is the country and other international political issues. Therefore, recognizing and acknowledgment the global political issue should be highly prioritized in the procedure of analyzing the global political phenomena. International political subjects are stable entities in structure with the fixed interests in international societies and the competence of engaging in activities in global organizations. In general, international political subjects have the following essential characteristics. (1)

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International political subjects have the fixed self-interests, which are the fundamental motivation and primary objectives for the participating of those subjects in international politics. Different political issues, in international politics, maintain other wills, claims, and interests, which dominate the targetformulation and value-orientation of international political issues and determine their way of behavior. Therefore, interests are not only the fundamental motivations but also the vital objectives for international political issues. International political subjects possess their acting capacity, which enables them to take part in international societies to interact mutually, express, and realizes the interests of individual requirements as well as the power of affecting other international political subjects. The same power is the prerequisite for

© Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_19

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being the international political subject and formulating the international political relations. International political subjects have a physical form. Generally speaking, international political issues include sovereign states, international organizations, political parties, political groups, and hold the stable structures. Therefore international political issues are structure-based, and the forms, interactions, behaviors, and ways they behave within the system contribute to international politics. Meanwhile, some global political subjects are in personal formation, which, however, are usually presenting, existing, motivating as isolated individuals and are not recognized as the global political subjects.

In today’s international political societies, international political subjects are mainly sovereign states, international organizations, and other political subjects. 1.

Sovereign states

Sovereign states, the most critical subjects in international politics are the fundamental entities in today’s international societies. The status of sovereign states in international politics is determined by their characteristics and roles. First, sovereign states can constitute the most influential subjects and entities in global politics by mobilizing and maneuvering all the resources to the maximum extent. The state “is the power that originates from the society, and then rise above it, and increasingly alienate from it.”,1 and this power exerts the most extensive and most effective mobilization and control over the resources within the scope of the state. In international political life, to safeguard and realize their own interests, the states can make maximum use of the power of economic, military, cultural and political resources within their scope to form a substantial international political capacity, which is unparalleled in any other global political subject. Secondly, sovereign states are the only legitimate general representatives of the communities in which human beings live. In modern society, the community of human social life is especially composed of the state as the unit. Therefore, in international politics, the human living communities mainly appear in the form of the state, making the state the legitimate general representative in the exchanges and communications of human societies. Thus, it becomes the main body of international politics. Thirdly, the political relations between countries determine the realistic situation and development trend of international politics. The incredible power and specific identity of the state stipulate that the state plays a vital role in international politics. Therefore, the political relations between countries are not only the most essential content of international politics but also directly determine the realistic appearance, process, and overall trend of the international community. By International Law, states as the subject of international politics must simultaneously possess the following four fundamental constitutional elements. (1)

1

The fixed territory. The territory of the state includes territorial lands, territorial waters, territorial seas, and airspace. The territory is the natural carrier, reliable support for the survival and development of a country’s people, a material basis

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 170.

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for social production and life, a primary source of national natural resources, an essential foundation for national security, and an element of national strength. Therefore, the territory is of great significance to any sovereign state. Settled residents. Residents are the essential constituent elements of the state, and they are cells within the scope of the country. Therefore, a fixed number of residents is a necessary condition for the existence and composition of the state. For a country, residents must be within the scope of the state to become the constituent elements of a sovereign State. Therefore, people who often migrate between states cannot form a sovereign state. A unified political organization. Political power is the organization and institutional embodiment of state power in political life, and it is the actual bearer and operator of state power, the organizer and defender of social order and system within the state, and also the specific representatives and embodiment of the state. Therefore, the unified political organizations are the essential prerequisites for the orderly working and existence of a state. National sovereignty. National sovereignty refers to the highest authority of the state to handle its own internal and external affairs independently. This shows that national sovereignty is the highest inner power and external independence power of the state, the highest inner control refers to the political ruling control of the state over the internal affairs within its jurisdiction, and the foreign independence power refers to the right of the state to decide and deal with internal and external affairs on its own, and this kind of independence power is determined by the highest inner management of the state. In the life of the international community, the state’s sovereignty is mainly embodied in the right to national independence, equality rights, right to self-defense, and jurisdiction of the state.2

Among these four elements, national sovereignty is the most important constituent element of sovereign states, which is of particularly significant to countries in international political life. First, national sovereignty is the foundation for the capability of states to participate in international political life. Only when a state has sovereignty can it mobilize and rally domestic resources and forces in all fields and form a unified state force, organize foreign exchanges, and engage in international political activities. A state of vacancy or insufficiency in sovereignty can only be regarded as a mass of loose sands, incapable of effective participation in international organizations. Secondly, national sovereignty is an essential prerequisite for a state to act as an independent subject of international politics. National sovereignty means that the state has independent powers in international politics, which enables it to determine the scope of entitlement and exercise of power by its own will and interests, and to determine whether to what extent, and in what manner action is taken within that scope. Therefore, only a country with complete sovereignty with a full national 2

Fang Xiangqing. (1996). Some Questions on State Sovereignty in International Relations. Cass Journal of Political Science, Vol. 4.

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character can be qualified to participate independently in international political life and act as the global political subject in an absolute sense. Thirdly, national sovereignty is an essential guarantees that countries have equal level with other countries in international politics. In international political relations, national sovereignty is the basis for a country to obtain and ensure similar status with other countries, and international political relations are equal in the sense of sovereignty. In terms of this, only if a country has complete sovereignty can it acquire and ensure its equal status with other countries. In contrast, all colonial and semicolonial countries that lose or are incomplete do not have equal status with other countries. Finally, national sovereignty is the essential prerequisite for the participation of states in the formulation and compliance with the models of international relations. All norms of international relations are valid only based on the recognition of sovereign states, which shows that only states that have sovereignty, can they be qualified to take part in the political rules making. And all the political rules should be obeyed as the prerequisites of respect for sovereignty. In national sovereignty, some western scholars vigorously advocate the restrictions and negations of national freedom. For example, Nicolas Socrate Politis, the Greek scholar of International Law, held that the country’s power is contrary to International Law and should be restricted or denied in The New Aspects of International Law. Hersch Lauterpacht, a reviser of the prestigious Oppenheim’s International Law, believed that international sovereignty hinders international peace. Therefore, countries must relinquish part of their sovereignty. Other political and international political scientists such as Harold Laski, Hans Morgenthau, Edward H Carr, Kenneth Thompson, and others have also advocated restricting national freedom. These views are untenable for the following reasons. First of all, the maintenance of world peace must be based on respect for the sovereignty of all countries. Only if the freedom of all countries in the world is safeguarded and respected can these countries coordinate their relations and world public affairs in an equal and peaceful manner. If peace is maintained at the expense of the hegemony of some countries or the sovereignty of others, it will not be maintained but will lead to instability and war. Secondly, the formulation and implementation of International Law must also be based on recognizing the relevant sovereign states. Any International Law, if it is only the embodiment of the will of a small number of states, must be adjusted and amended. A forced claim to maintain such International Law at the expense of limiting the sovereignty of some states would stand opposed to the basic principle of International Law, and in reality, it is unfeasible. Finally, in the history of the world, it is the global movement of capital and the hegemonic expansion of imperialism that has caused inequality, contradictions, and conflicts between nations and countries, and led to wars and the unreasonable world political and economic order and International Laws. This situation is precisely the result of the lack of respect and protection of the sovereignty of developing countries. From the point of realistic politics, these views of western scholars seem to maintain international peace and International Law. Still, in nature, they are aimed at restricting

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the sovereignty of developing countries, safeguarding and realizing the interests of imperialist countries and the requirements of capital expansion. Therefore, to truly protect world peace, establish and effectively implement a just and reasonable international political and economic order and International Law, what is essential is not to limit the sovereignty of developing countries, but to oppose all hegemony so that developing countries can achieve complete political independence and safeguard the integrity and independence of their national power after economic autonomy, and only by this way can they play their due part in international politics as sovereign states. 2.

International Organizations

International organizations are essential subjects in international politics, including intergovernmental and non-governmental international organizations. Intergovernmental international organizations are permanent organizations established by several countries through signing treaties jointly for specific purposes and interests. Modern International Law confirms that international organizations are qualified as the subjects of International Law. Non-governmental international organizations are established by individuals, social groups, or political parties. Although such international organizations are not allowed as subjects of International Law, this status does not prevent them from becoming subjects of international politics because they exert broad and indispensable influence on global politics. International organizations are the production of the development of international relations to a certain level. Before the emergence of international organizations, many thinkers had put forward the idea of establishing a world organization or a world government to solve the everyday affairs of humanity and to maintain world peace and stability. However, since global international relations in the modern sense had not been formed and the handling of relations between states did not yet require permanent international organizations to play an important role, these ideas had not been turned into reality. It is only after the formation of the political and economic system of the capitalist world that the exchanges between countries become more frequent and complex, and the requirement of coordinating the relationship with permanent international institutions is becoming more and more urgent, which promotes international organizations to emerge. As far as the development of international organizations is concerned, it originated at international conferences. The Westphalia Conference, held in 1648 to conclude the Thirty Years War in Europe, opened international conferences to coordinate national relations and solve global problems. By the middle of the nineteenth century, with the development of science and technology and increased international exchanges, international affairs were increasing day by day. To deal with these affairs, based on international conferences, permanent international institutions in specialized fields have been formed, such as the International Telecommunications Union established in 1865 and the Universal Postal Union established in 1874, which led to the emergence of international organizations in the modern sense. At the end of the nineteenth century, with the development of capitalism to monopoly, the world was more closely related to the state, and contradictions and

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conflicts among states and groups of countries were more frequent and acute. To coordinate international relations in an all-around way, universal international organizations have been formed and developed and have become an essential subject of international politics. Although there are many international organizations today, and their influence and roles differ, in general, international organizations still have their essential characteristics, which are mainly manifested in the following three aspects. (1)

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All international organizations can participate in global actions. In global organizations, international intergovernmental organizations have the ability to undertake the rights and obligations under International Law, mainly represented in the following ways: They have the ability to establish and maintain international relations within a specific range, including the capability to develop ties with appropriate states, or with other international organizations, to accredit and accept diplomatic envoys and ambassadors who may be allowed with diplomatic privileges, to coordinate relevant international relations, and to handle relevant international affairs; they are entitled with the capability to negotiate and sign international treaties, and to execute the treaties with other international subjects within a specific scope; they have the ability and means to initiate and respond to proceedings, claims, and payment of global compensation for the defense of their rights and interests. These capacities of international intergovernmental organizations are different from those of sovereign states. The ability of international intergovernmental organizations depends on the recognition of member states. Therefore, it originates from sovereign States and is endowed by sovereign states. The capabilities of sovereign states are inherent in themselves; the capacity of international intergovernmental organizations is conditional and therefore relative, while the power of sovereign States is absolute. Although international non-governmental organizations are not subject to International Law and cannot undertake rights and obligations under International Law, such organizations also can respond to intergovernmental organizations in international political activities. The existence and activities of international organizations are based on treaties signed by the participants. If they exceed or violate the provisions of the treaty, it will be illegal or futile. The existence and activities of the international organizations are based on the recognition and consent of the participants, and the essential form of this kind of recognition and consent is a treaty. These treaties generally consist of the following elements: The subject of the conclusion of the treaty must be at least two or more, and these subjects do have real needs and precise meanings; as for the relevant rights and responsibilities which have stipulated by the objects of the treaty, these subjects have reached an agreement on the content of rights and obligations as the basis of the legitimacy of the international organizations. Therefore, it is an essential prerequisite for the activities of the international organizations, setting out the boundaries where the international organizations and participants can or cannot take actions or whether their actions are legal or illegal.

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The principle of an international organization is the equal status of the participants, non-interference in internal or personal affairs, and the non-infringement of the rights of the participants themselves. As far as international intergovernmental organizations are concerned, global organization is a community characterized by a group of countries. The premise of the composition of such a community is the equality of the participating countries, that is, the equal status of the country, no matter big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, in the international organization, and its rights and obligations are symmetrical. Therefore, the discrimination and unequal treatment of any country by the international organization either leads to the bankruptcy of the international organization or its invalidation. As far as international non-governmental organizations are concerned, it is also essential to take the equality of members as the organizational principle, not to interfere in the affairs of members of groups or individuals, and not to infringe on their rights.

In the international community, for various forms among different international organizations, they are often divided into different types according to different standards. According to the essential nature, objectives, and scope of activities, international organizations can be divided into general political and specialized organizations. Available political organizations are mainly engaged in handling political affairs. At the same time, they involve in a wide range of economic, military affairs, and have a wide range of powers and functions, and typical representatives such as the League of Nations and the United Nations. A specialized organization has special competence based on transaction processing in a specific level of international affairs. Such organizations can be political, like Amnesty International, or non-political, like the World Meteorological Organization, the International Maritime Organization. According to the membership and geographical affairs, international organizations can be divided into global and regional international organizations. A global international organization is an international organization composed of all countries or other members of international organizations. It deals with relevant matters worldwide and has the corresponding capacity and competence, such as the United Nations, which is composed of sovereign States. Regional international organizations, their members, affairs, objectives, competencies have regional characteristics, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Organization of American States, and so on. International organizations can be divided into international organizations in different fields according to the content and area of their activities. People often divide international organizations into international political organizations, such as the Organization of African Unity, the United Nations, etc.; international economic organizations, such as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries, World Trade Organization, etc.; international military organizations, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, etc.; international organizations of cultural and health science and technology, such as the World Health Organization, the United Nations

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Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the International Communications Organization, and other international organizations. It should be pointed out that due to the complexity of international relations, and the rapid development and change, the nature, role, function, and development of global organizations are also quite complex, and the classification of international organizations is quite difficult. The types of global organizations classified according to different classification criteria intersect with each other. In addition, in actual global political life, any international organization has various factors, so the different types of international organizations can only identify the main characteristics of other international organizations. 3.

Other international political subjects

In addition to sovereign states and international organizations, there are other international political subjects in the international community, mainly political parties, political groups, and individuals active in the global political arena. These subjects are generally not subjects of International Law and do not bear rights and obligations in the sense of International Law. However, the power, influence, and role in international politics determine that they are the central bodies of international politics. A political party is the vanguard organization of class or social group, and it is the primary force and main body of domestic politics. In today’s world, political parties are not only the main force and factor of domestic politics but also a significant force in international political activities. Political parties or party coalitions can be the specific subject of international politics. The relationship between political parties constitutes an integral part of international political relations. They carry out particular forms of activities on the global political stage to seek, safeguard and realize the interests of the class or group they represent. As the main body of international politics, they can be divided into two types. One is the party in power in domestic politics, which often links the foreign policy objectives of the country with those of the party, and carries out its international political activities around the overall internal and external strategies and policies of the government. At the same time, because of its ruling position, its ability to engage in international political activities is often powerful, which has a considerable practical impact and plays a role in global political life. Another one is the party in a non-ruling position. These political parties often regard international political activities as a way to realize their political goals in the international area, seek the interests of specific political parties, and improve their position and influence in domestic politics. In today’s international politics, the main political parties with extensive influence and crucial rules are the Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party, the nationalist party, the Green Party. As the vanguard organization of the working class, the Chinese Communist Party regards the realization of communism in the world and the liberation of humanity as its ultimate goal. It takes Proletarian Internationalism as an essential principle. Since its inception, the Communist Party has had a significant influence on international politics, and today it is still a significant force in international politics. Since its emergence, the Social Democratic Party, which

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improves capitalist politics and society as its platform, has also brought a significant impact on international political life. Today, the Social Democratic Party of all countries, especially its global organization, the Social Democratic Party International, has a wide range of influence in international politics. Nationalist political parties are generally political parties in developing countries aiming at the independence and development of nations and states. In the process of nation-state independence after the Second World War, these political parties still played an important role; now, peace and development have become the theme of the times. These political parties still have a significant impact on international politics. The Green Party is a political party with environmental protection as the political platform and political goal. With the ecological issue becoming an important issue in international politics, the status and role of this kind of political party are also becoming more robust. As the main body of international politics, the political groups mainly include some political movements and organizations. These movements and organizations, generally composed of non-governmental political forces, have explicit political objectives, political opinions, or political nature, can engage in international political activities, and have considerable influence on global political affairs, regional political affairs, or significant international political issues. In addition to political movements and organizations, some political and economic organizations, such as transnational corporations, also have extensive political influence in international politics. They often handle global political affairs with great financial strength, restrict the rights and capabilities of sovereign countries, influence other international organizations, and even serve as specific political tools. The affect and even control the internal affairs and political processes of some countries, which augment their distinct political color and nature, so they can also be regarded as international political subjects. In international politics, individuals can also be their main body, and these individuals are mainly some of the people who can impact international politics. Generally speaking, these individuals are mainly politicians with extensive influence, and they often have specific insight and analytical power in international political relations, the particular ability and political wisdom to control and handle international political affairs, the typical international political ideas, and considerable influence on the handling of international affairs and the global political process. It should be noted that these politicians have reasons for their personal qualities when they influence global politics and, more importantly because they often appear in the global political arena as representatives of sovereign countries. In addition to politicians, other individuals, such as financiers, scholars, international activists, cultural figures, and so on, can also become the main body of international politics. In international political activities, political parties, groups, and individuals can play a role that sovereign states and international organizations cannot play. They can provide and create dialogue and information channels between non-governmental and non-international organizations, which make international exchanges and communication more extensive and universal, and they can cooperate with national and international organizations. They can carry out various activities in the interests of the countries and international organizations. They can address, on a broad scale,

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international affairs that governments and international organizations cannot are not willing to, or should not be involved in or solve, and thus meet the needs of the domestic and global community. In addition, they can express the will and demands of all parts of the international community and influence the decision-making of countries and international organizations, thereby indirectly affecting international politics. Public diplomacy, which has been formed and developed rapidly in the modern global community and politics, is precisely the typical phenomenon in global political life in which the public outside countries and international organizations actively participate in and influence international political and diplomatic activities. Nevertheless, compared with countries and international organizations, political parties, political groups, individuals, and other subjects of international politics have a limited position and role in international politics.

19.1.2 The Meaning of International Politics As mentioned before, international politics is the total political relations between countries, international organizations, and other international political actors. According to this definition, the basic meaning of international politics is: Firstly, international politics takes place between many issues of the international community, mainly among the subjects of the countries. Therefore, the interactions between countries are the main form of international politics. The relationships between international organizations are the secondary form of international politics. And the connections between all kinds of political parties, groups, figures, and economy, societies and even cultural organizations and institutions that influence global politics they constitute a unique form of international politics. Thus, it can be seen that most of the international political subjects appear and operate in the form of groups. Global politics is the specific connection between the issues of these group forms in global community. In the international social life, the relationship between the existence of groups and the issues of activities is crisscrossed, which attribute to the interactive and intersecting features of global political relations. The connectivity of the subjects of international politics, and the intersecting relationship between them, provide a feasible basis for the analysis of international politics as the logical starting point and the analytical perspective. Secondly, the primary content of international politics is the relationship between several political subjects in the international community. Among these relations, the political relations between states are their fundamental political relations. The political ties between other issues of international politics are either derived from or around the political relations between states. Therefore, the political relations between states play a fundamental role in international politics, which affects and restricts the political relations between other subjects.

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International politics is the political relationship between different political subjects in the international community. As far as its content is concerned, this political relationship is composed of three levels of relations. The first tier refers to interests. The relationship among the international political subjects is the battle of interests in essence. The internal contradiction of the interests of these subjects determines the formation of the conflict of interests among them. This internal contradiction is the contradiction between the subjectivity that the interests of the international political issues demand and the sociality of realizing those demands. Under the driving of this contradiction, the bilateral interaction between the international political issues constitutes an essential relationship in international politics, that is, the conflict of interest. The essential features of the conflict of interest between international politics subjects are as follows: first of all, in the international politics, the entire unit of the conflict of interest is the global political subject. There are various types of goods in the international community, and in the life of international politics, these interests mostly attach to specific international political issues. Therefore, the claims in global society refer to the conflict of interests between different international political issues. Secondly, in the life of international politics, the conflicts of interest are intricate and complex, including not only that of international political issues at the same international political level, such as the conflicts of interest of different countries, but also that of international political subjects at different levels, such as the relationship among the common interests of human society, regional interests and national interests; not only the interest articulation among the international political subjects of the same attribute, such as the conflicts of interest among states but also the interest articulation among the subjects of different attributes, such as the conflict of the interests among states and the tans-national companies; and so on. Thirdly, the conflicts of interest between the international political subjects have a dual attribute, namely, contradiction and identity. Different international political issues have both the paradox caused by differences of the interests and the identity based on the same interests. In today’s economic globalization, people face many everyday needs and problems, which contributed to the development of common goods of the international community. The dual attribute of the interests among the global political subjects is reflected in the common good and the contradiction among the global political issues. Among the different interests of different international political issues, the common interests and the denial of claims have separate statuses and functions, which determines that in global political life, other conflict of interest displays other states in actuality. Since the state is the most crucial subject in international politics, national interests serve as the most essential interests in international politics. The so-called national interests are the needs of the nation, which is the acting subject of international politics. In international politics, national interests are multifaceted and evolving, the most basic of which can be summarized as the interests of national survival and development. The interests of national survival mainly include security, sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, non-interference in its internal affairs, and the fulfillment of its people’s needs for survival. The interests of national development

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mainly include realizing the country’s economic and social development, scientific and technological progress, and the improvement of people’s living standards. The conflict of interest among countries is mainly the linkage of these interests. Thus, international political relations are characterized by the two essential elements: the common interests and conflicting interests among nations. The conflict of interest among nations plays a dominant role in those many acting subjects in international politics. On the one hand, it determines the essential interest content and distribution of interest in international politics and, consequently, determines the primary content of global politics and the fundamental direction. On the other hand, it influences the formation of another conflict of interest in international politics, permeates and is reflected in the nature and content of other conflicts of interest to varying degrees, and constrains the development of other conflict of interest. Of course, the conflict of interest and interest connections among other international political subjects also play a vital role in international politics. The second tier refers to the balance of power. In international politics, the interests of many subjects constitute the basis and starting point for their international political activities. The global political issues accumulate all kinds of strength, with these interests in mind, to realize their interests in global political life. The power of the global political subjects is the totality of the multifaceted and polymorphic factors that these subjects possess, master, and control. International political issues constitute the power relationship among their respective power relations. From the perspective of the foundation of its constitution, the foundation of many forces in international political life may be the interests of the global political subjects themselves, the common interests in the interesting relationship formed between the international political issues, and the common interests of humanity promoted by the everyday needs of humanity. Therefore, the balance of power in international politics can be the balance of energy formed by different international political subjects based on their interests or the balance of energy created by international political issues with common interests. From the point of view of its constituent elements, the power constitution of international political subjects and the power constitution of political power have similarities, which involve many subjective and objective elements that constitute political power, or, in other words, the cohesion and fusion of these elements in the main force of international political acting subjects. As for its composition, the power of the global political issues includes their economic, military, cultural, scientific, and technological, ideological and political power, that is, the so-called sum of the brutal power and soft power of the international political subjects. Among them, economic power is the basis of the global political subject power and the premise and backing of the existence and development of other power factors. It has decisive influence and function on the constitution, the strength or weakness, the actual utility, etc., of the international political subject power. As Engels pointed out in describing the relationship between violence and economic power, “the victory of violence is based on the production of weapons, which in turn is based on the whole production, and therefore is based on “economic power,” on the “economic situation” and on

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the material means at the disposal of violence.”3 In today’s society, science and technology are the primary productive forces and are of great significance to the constitution of the power of international political subjects. In the actual situation, the power of international political issues includes both the real power that they have, master and control, and the potential power that they can mobilize, use and transform. The forces of the international political acting subjects, based on the formation of the conflict of interest, constitute the power relationship among them, and international political activities are the activities that revolve around the power relationship. In international politics, national power is the most important in the power of international political subjects. National power, that is, the comprehensive national power, is the organic sum of a nation’s material power, institutional power, and spiritual power. The material power mainly consists of the natural environment, natural resources, demographic conditions, economic strength, scientific and technological power, military power, and other factors. The institutional power mainly includes the guaranteed power, mobilization power, motivation power, government organization power, decision-making and implementation power, government efficiency, etc. The spiritual power of a nation mainly refers to national cohesion, political leadership, national will, education level, national quality, theory, strategy and policy level, etc. The power relationship among nations plays a vital role in the international political power relationship, which determines the actual state of international political relations and the formulation and implementation of the diplomatic strategies and tactics of each country and thus constitutes the primary axis of the global political power balance. The third tier refers to the proper relations among the international political subjects. The rights of the global political issues are the qualifications of in international political life. The connection of the rights of different international political issues in global political life constitutes the third tier of international political relations. In international political relations, the political rights of the global political subjects have the essential characteristics of ordinary political rights, which are mainly as follows: (1)

3

International political rights have a relatively individual character. As far as the international political subjects are concerned, many of them exist in a collective form. Among them, especially the nation, the leading transnational political issue, exists in the form of nationals groups of a particular country. However, relations, compared with other international political issues, such as nations, international organizations, these of international political subjects in the form of groups are still individuals. At the same time, in global political life, the realization and protection of international political rights is the realization of the individuals’ rights about other international political subjects in the final analysis. For example, the completion of the global political rights of particular nations ultimately must translate into the realization and the protection of the political rights compared with other international political subjects.

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 3. p. 509.

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(2)

International political rights have a legal normative feeling. The rights of the international political subjects have a legal normative character in international public law in general. Since the formation and implementation of International Law assumes more flexibility than domestic law and depends on the consent and consciousness of the parties to a considerable extent, thus the normative character of international political rights refers to the soft-law normative character. International political rights have autonomy. This autonomy is reflected in (a) the autonomy to recognize, defend and realize one’s core interests and other interests in international political relations and political activities. This aspect refers to the one with fundamental meaning and propriety of the international political subjects in international political relations. It is precisely based on this autonomy that the fundamental rights of the most important subject of international politics–-the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference in the internal affairs of a country can be recognized and protected; it is precisely based on this autonomy that the basic norms of international relations, International Law and the new international economic and political order in the modern sense have become possible and that the international political subjects, such as the nations, realizing their political rights and interests by the rules of international politics and achieving the balance and equivalence between political rights and political obligations have become possible. (b) It is reflected in the autonomy of common interests. International political subjects have the autonomy to advocate the content, implementation, and degree of realization of the common interests in the relations of interests among themselves and other subjects, such as the common bilateral interests among nations, the common interests of regional nations, and the common interests in the development of human society, as well as the autonomy to decide whether and how to participate in advocating, carrying out, implementing and realizing these common interests. (c) It is also reflected in the autonomy to deal with the contradictions and differences of interests among the international political subjects. In the process of international political operation and development, the international political subjects have the autonomy to choose and decide how, when and to what extent to resolve the contradictions, and differences of the interests among different subjects. International political right is the unity of political rights and political obligations. It is for this reason that any international political subject should and must assume corresponding international political duties while seeking, possessing, and enjoying international political rights.

(3)

(4)

Thirdly, international politics is the totality of the political relations in the international community. International politics is the sum of the political relations in the international community, which means that international politics is the general integration of

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global political relations. This integration is concentrated in the fact that international politics is the widespread integration of the different tiers, elements, forms, and fields of international political relations. (1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

International politics is the integration of different tiers of interrelations among international political subjects. In global political life, there are multiple tiers of political relations among the global political issues, which can be divided into macro-tier, meso-tier, and micro-tier. And international politics is the combination of these different tiers of international political relations. Secondly, the levels of political international ties are also the organic integration of the links on local and global levels, regional and global tiers. International politics is the general integration of different elements of international political relations. The fundamental concerns of three international political relations that constitute political international ties are composed of various features. The interests and the conflicts of interest of the global political subjects include or involve economics and politics, society, culture, ideology, value orientation, and psychological tendencies, science and technology, military and defense, human resources, and other factors. The power of the international political subjects, the fusion of subjective and objective elements and usually the so-called hard power and soft power, involves production capacity, material wealth, natural resources, leadership, human resources, science and technology, institutional mechanisms, education, and culture, ideology, notional accomplishment, and ecological environment, etc. The rights of the international political subjects also involve various elements. Thus, global politics is the organic integration of the multifaceted components of international political associations. International politics is the general integration of different forms of international political relations. National political relations take on other forms in other senses and dimensions, for example, in the understanding of global political behaviors, it takes the form of competition, conflict, and cooperation among the global political subjects; in the sense of global political culture, it highlights the relationship among different ideologies and civilizations; in the meaning of the relativity and absoluteness of development, it takes the form of relative stillness and the movement of action; in the dimension of temporal evolution, it presents itself as the historical, current and future forms of international political action. International politics is the general integration of these diverse and concrete forms. International politics is the general integration of the operating mechanism of international political relations. National political activities are essentially the activities of realizing, maintaining, and developing respective and joint rights and interests using power relationships among the international political subjects. In the actual operation, the mechanism of international political relations contains several contact mechanisms among the issues, such as the

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mechanisms of international political communication, coordination mechanisms, negotiation mechanism, decision-making mechanism, arbitration mechanisms, cooperation mechanisms, peacekeeping mechanisms, war mechanism and so on. International politics, as the relationship among the global political subjects, is a composite and integration of these various linkage mechanisms in its actual operation. Today, the day-to-day functioning of international politics depends on the synthesis and combination of these mechanisms and their effects.

19.2 The Associations and Differences Between International and Domestic Politics 19.2.1 The Associations Between International and Domestic Politics International politics is primarily the political relationship among nations, and it is also closely associated with the internal politics of countries. The essence of this close association lies in the fact that domestic politics is the basis and starting point of international politics. In contrast, international politics is the extension and interaction of the domestic politics of nations in the global sphere and field. This essence is embodied in the following three aspects. (1)

4

The interest claims of nations in international political relations are an external extension of the interests of the ruling class, which dominates their domestic politics. The state is the machine of the class ruling. Therefore, the domestic politics of a country is essentially a manifestation of the interests and will of the ruling class. To maintain its dominant position and realize its claims and demands, the ruling class not only needs to maintain a stable domestic political order and perform corresponding social functions but also has to create a favorable environment and conditions in the international climate and pursue global interests. Therefore, the dominant interests of each country in global politics are merely a manifestation of the goods and will of its ruling class in the specific sphere of external relations. The goods and wills of the dominant classes in domestic politics inevitably constitute their dominant interests and wills in international politics. There is a high degree of unity between these two interests in essence. As Comrade Deng Xiaoping pointed out when discussing the consistency of China’s domestic politics and foreign policy, “China needs a peaceful international environment, and we are working hard to create and maintain such a peaceful international environment to concentrate our efforts on economic construction and build our country into a modern and powerful country”.4

Deng Xiaoping. (1987). Build Socialism with Chinese Characteristics (An Enlarged Vision). People’s Publishing House, p. 112.

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(2)

(3)

481

The power of nations in international politics reflects the application of comprehensive national control in international politics. The status, policies, activities, and behavior of governments in international political relations are based on their national influence in international politics. The national power of a country in international politics is constituted by its comprehensive national power, which reflects and embodies the domestic political situation. On the one hand, a country’s domestic politics is an organic component of its comprehensive national strength. The institutional power of domestic politics, the efficiency of its governmental capacity, the state of political decision-making and implementation, etc., are all critical factors that constitute its total national power, and the state of these factors directly determines and affects its total national power. On the other hand, the domestic political situation of a country often determines whether and to what time the other constituent factors of its total national power can be developed, whether and to what extent these factors can be organically combined into its comprehensive national strength, and whether and to what extent the ruling class and a ruling group of a country can effectively utilize the total national power. It can be seen that the domestic political situation of a country is of decisive importance for the formation, development, actual situation, and use of it and, consequently, for the position, influence, policy, and practical activities of that State in international politics. In this regard, when a country uses its national power in global political life to pursue its national interests, it is, using its domestic political violence in the international community. In the final analysis, the foreign policies and activities of nations are in the service of domestic politics. In a class society, all the policies and actions of the ruling class serve the purpose of preserving and realizing its dominant position and interests. The foreign policy of the state, based on the interests of the ruling class and the power of the state and the foreign activities carried out by the ruling class, also serve the position and interests of the ruling class. At the same time, since the status and interests of the ruling class are not only embodied in domestic politics but also will eventually be implemented in domestic politics, the domestic politics of a country is more fundamental to the status and interests of the ruling class, which determines that all other policies and activities, including the foreign policies and actions of the country, must ultimately be subordinated to and serve domestic politics. The obedience and service of a country’s external activities to domestic politics is, first of all, manifested in the compliance of its external policies and actions to domestic politics, which is to say that external policies and actions must take domestic politics as the basis and starting point, comply with the requirements of domestic politics and be diverted by the transfer of domestic politics; at the same time, it is also manifested in the service of external policies and actions to domestic politics, which is to say that external policies and actions should create external conditions and opportunities for domestic politics and the results of foreign policies and activities should be used for domestic politics; moreover, it is also manifested in the testing of the impact and effectiveness of foreign policies and

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activities, which ultimately needs to be measured with the standard of domestic politics. Domestic politics and international politics are mutually influenced and interacted. The interests, strengths, policies, and activities of a country in international politics depend fundamentally on the goods and will of the ruling class of that country and its domestic political situation. And in this sense, domestic politics is the basis of international politics. It is a decisive factor in the establishment, development, weakening, or even abolition of political relations with other countries and in the choice of how a government conducts its external links. However, international politics also has an essential influence on domestic politics. The success or failure of a country in international political activities will affect whether and to what extent the interests and will of its ruling class be realized, will strengthen or weaken the legitimacy base and ruling power of the ruling class’ dominant position, and will affect whether and to what extent its domestic policies and politics can be implemented, enforced and developed. In a given situation, the success or failure of a country in international political activities can change the direction and course of domestic political development. It can even lead to fundamental changes in domestic politics.

19.2.2 The Differences Between International and Domestic Politics International politics differs from domestic politics in terms of scope, field, and context, which leads to the different content and characteristics of domestics politics compared with international politics. Thus, the differences between the two come into being. (1)

The composition and content of interests in domestic politics are different from those in international politics. As far as domestic politics is concerned, the main piece is the interest of class, strata, and other social groups. The interests of the ruling class are the dominant interests and the main content of domestic politics; at the same time, the conflicts and struggles between the interests of the ruling class and the ruled class, and the competition and cooperation between the interests of other non-ruling types and the ruling class also constitute the critical content of domestic politics. In addition to the interests of categories, the interests of strata within categories and the interests of social groups formed by various social relations also have an essential influence and play a significant role in domestic political life. Domestic politics is mainly built based on these intertwined networks of interests. However, in international politics, in addition to the interests of the ruling classes of each country, the interests of nationalities, the common interests of countries, and the common interests of all humanity are also included. In international politics, the state has dual characters. First of all, it assumes the character of classes, which embody and realize the interests of the ruling class of the country, and at the same time, it has the national character.

19.2 The Associations and Differences Between International and Domestic Politics

(2)

(3)

483

The national interests of each country include the interests of the nation as a whole, that is, the interests of survival and development of that country. The main content of national interest includes safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity, the national dignity, the fundamental national way of life and mode of production, and the nation’s culture and customs. All of these constitute the specific interests of international politics. In addition, the mutual common interests formed in international political relations among different countries and peoples, the common problems faced by all human beings in the process of survival, development, and interaction, and the common interests of humanity as reflected in international politics, also constitute the essential interests of international politics. These interests are not the native interests of the countries and other acting subjects in international politics but the claims that arise and are formed in international political relations. Therefore, they are also the specific interests of international politics. There are significant differences between domestic politics and international politics in terms of political subjects. Domestic politics is the arena in which classes, strata, governments, political parties, and political groups act, and therefore its issues mainly consist of these forces. Among them, style is associated with a specific ownership system of production. It is the most stable and decisive political subject, while the government and political parties are the most active political issues in domestic politics. In international politics, despite the existence and activity of other subjects, the most critical and decisive acting subject is the sovereign state. In this sense, global politics is the main field of national activities. Therefore, the power relationship and claims in domestic politics mainly exist among different classes, strata, political parties, and political groups. The political structure is the result of the interaction of these forces. In international politics, on the other hand, the power relationship and claims exist mainly among sovereign states. The basic pattern of international politics is the result of the interactions among the forces of sovereign states, groups of states, and international organizations and international political subjects in sovereign states. There are significant differences between domestic and international politics in the composition of political power relations. Under normal circumstances, there is a public authority in domestic politics, which is essentially the authority of the ruling class but is shared in form. In domestic politics, this authority has the essential characteristics of universality, supremacy, and coercion. The socalled universality of public administration refers to the legitimacy, unity, and validity of its power and influence on any member of the country and any public affairs. The so-called supremacy of public authority indicates that it is the only supreme authority within the country, and excludes the existence of other equivalent power; at the same time, it also shows that it is the supreme will of the country, requiring other choices must be subordinated to it. The so-called coercion means that in the political power relationship of all domestic political forces, the power of the ruling class is the most powerful one, and the public authority, backed by this, forcefully implements the will of the ruling class. It

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is precise because of this general authority in domestic politics than domestic politics can function effectively according to the will of the ruling class. In contrast, in international political life, there is no such public authority. That is to say, in international politics, no country, national group, or other power can make its power and authority universal, uniform and practical, to make it’s own will the supreme will, to demand that other actors in international politics obey that will, or to enforce and implement its demands.5 Therefore, international politics cannot be like domestic politics, which operates by a unified intention to power, but can only be formed and developed based on various contrasting forces. For this reason, the power relationship among the international political subjects is not the same as the relations of political power in domestic politics. From the history and reality of the development of human society and international relations, it can be seen that in the international community, the power relationship among the global political subjects has not resulted in the formation of absolute power and political authority as in domestic political life. In the history of the development of human society and international relations, several countries have actively striven for their absolute control over other international political subjects so that their power can form a decisive superiority in the power relationship international political issues and become authoritative hegemony over other international political subjects. Still, such attempts have not succeeded so far. In the history and reality of the development of international politics, global international organizations have been created and existed, such as the League of Nations after the First World War and the United Nations after the Second World War. However, these international organizations themselves and their resolutions are the result of consultations and votes among countries. Their power and effectiveness in implementing them depend on the contributions of their member countries, so that they are far from having the efficacy of public authority in domestic politics. Moreover, hegemony may be exercised and implemented by certain countries or national groups at certain times in the development of international politics, within certain spheres of international politics or on some issues. Still, such hegemony cannot be effectively exercised in all spheres of global politics and all cases. (4)

There are significant differences between domestic and international politics in the relationship among political rights. There are also significant differences in the relationship between political rights between the transnational political subjects and domestic political subjects, owing to essential differences in the composition of political power.

a.

The political rights of the international political subjects originate from the interests and conflicts of interests. Still, they are not recognized and guaranteed by the unified public power and authority. The political rights of the international political subjects originate from the interests’ requirement of the country

5

F.l. Glinston. etc., International Politics, p. 416.

19.2 The Associations and Differences Between International and Domestic Politics

b.

c.

485

and other issues in the global political life. The recognition and realization are accomplished in the interaction with other international political issues in global political actions. The rules and regulations concerning the political rights of international political issues are generally of the nature of bilateral cooperation, recognition, and agreement through multilateral consultations. Even if the existing international political norms and rules are not rigid and authoritative enough to be binding on the global political subjects, the political rights relationship between the current international political standards and regulations and sure international political issues still need to be confirmed and maintained consultation and consensus. In international political relations, the subjects of international political rights and the subjects of global political power are the same. This characteristic of the power relations of the global political issues also differs from that in domestic politics. In the structure of domestic political ties and actual political life, the issues of political power are formed based on common interests. In contrast, the issues of political rights are the members of society and social forces that are not subjects of political power and have the qualification to claims and demands about the common interest. Obviously, in domestic politics, the issues of political violence are separated from the issues of political rights. However, in international political life, the power of all the issues is only the powers of international politics instead of political authority. The power relations between all the issues of international politics are the only balance of power ties, not political power relations. For this reason, specific political rights in international political relations are also claimed by the same subjects of political power, and this makes specific international political rights and international political power belong to the same common issue, thus forming the identity of the issues of global political violence and international political rights in global political life. In international political activities, international political subjects advocate common interests at varying levels and types, so the political rights relations among international political issues also have the political rights content of supporting common interests. In domestic political life, political rights, as the claims and demands of the members and forces of society for the common goods of community, focus not only on the common interests in the sense of content and substance but also on the common interests in the sense of procedures and rules. However, since international politics is an aggregate of several international political subjects, and international political life is a social life with joint interests but lacking unified shared authority, the international political subjects are both the subjects of political power and political rights, and their claims on common interests and their interests need to be realized and defended through their interactions with other issues. Political rights, while being concerned with the content of different levels and types of common interests, are more concerned with the standard rules and procedures for the realization of other goods of other subjects of international politics.

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These peculiarities of international political rights relations are reflected in pursuing and realizing the national rights and interests of the country. The so-called “national rights and interests, also known as national interests, are the homogeneity of the rights, power and interests”.6 The difference is that some countries attempt to use hegemony to pursue special rights and interests, while others pursue equal rights and interests through peaceful development. At present, based on the autonomy of political rights of international political issues, the pursuit of equality in political rights relations among international political subjects, the realization of cooperation based on autonomous and equal political rights relations, and the realization of asymmetrical and balanced political rights relationship between political rights and political obligations are the development goals of international political rights relations.

6

Liang Shoude & Hong Yinxian. Theory of International Politics. Peking University Press, 2012, p. 7.

Chapter 20

International Political Behavior

20.1 Definition and Types of International Political Behavior 20.1.1 Definition of International Political Behavior The relations of interests, the balance of power, and political rights among international politics are the deeper relations of international politics. In real-life of international politics, to realize their interests and demands, the international politics subjects often make this deep relationship manifest itself in the political behaviors of the issues of global politics and their interactions. These activities and interactions of the issues of international politics are International political behavior. According to this definition, international political behavior can be understood as follows: (1)

The outset of international political behavior is the interests and demands of the subjects of international politics. And the direction of global political behaviors is the interests and needs of international political issues. Because of the complexity and pluralism of international political relations, the diversity of interest objectives of specific international political subjects, and the multifaceted effect of specific international political behavior, the interest motive of international political behavior often presents diversity and complexity. They maybe the medium- and long-term strategic interest consideration, may also be short-term interest consideration; may be bilateral, multilateral, or even the common interests of all humanity, may also be a single subject’s single interest; they can be economical and political interests, can also be military, cultural and geographical interests; can be national interests, regional interests, can also be global interests; can be the order, security, stability of the goods of the requirements. It is the interest of efficiency, autonomy, freedom, justice, and equality; they can be an explicit interest or an implicit interest, and so on.

© Peking University Press 2022 P. Wang, Principle of Interest Politics, Interests Politics Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3963-1_20

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The fundamental driving force and reason for the occurrence and development of international political behaviors lie in the contradictory interests of international political subjects. Such contradictions include bilateral or multilateral contradictions between different issues of international politics, as well as contradictions between the common interests of issues of global politics and their particular interests. (2)

(3)

International political behaviors are produced and realized in international political relations. Fundamentally, the occurrence and development of global political behaviors in international political relations are caused by the internal contradiction of the interest requirements of international political subjects, that is, the contradictory movement between the subjectivity interest requirements and the social nature of the realization of interest requirements. Under the function and drive of this internal contradiction, to realize their interests, specific international political subjects will certainly actively carry out global political behavior to establish and develop ties with other international political issues, thus not only forming interest relations between international political issues but also using their power and rights to achieve their own goals. It can be seen that international political actions are nothing more than the transformation of the contradictions, contrasts of power, and claims of rights and qualifications inherent in international interest relations. Global political behaviors are based on international political relations and serve particular international political relations. Global political behaviors are carried out in the context of specific political international relations. International political behavior is essentially an interest-seeking behavior, power-strengthening behavior, and the rightsrealizing behavior among international political subjects, which are precisely carried out through the interests related to international political issues, the contrast of power and political power relations, or rather, the behavior of international political issues is a dynamic expression of the relationship between international political issues, and is the activity choice of different international political issues based on their relationship. It follows that the state of global political relations defines and regulates the direction, manner, and extent of global political behavior. The fundamental destination and goal of global political behaviors are to construct, maintain, adjust or change international political relations to realize the interests and claims of international political subjects. If the demands for goods and rights of international political issues are realized or even developed in the existing international political relations, then the typical feature of international political behaviors is to defend the current international political relations; otherwise, the central theme and part of global political behaviors is to actively promote the establishment, adjustment or change of the current international political relations. International political behaviors are interactions of international political subjects. In a particular international political relationship, international political behaviors are not the isolated behaviors of a single global political issue but the contact and interactive behaviors between two or more political issues.

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In fact, in the natural form, global political behavior is reflected in the interactive behavior between international political issues. In international politics, the interrelations and roles of various topics are multi-level, multi-faceted, multi-channel, and multi-modal. Therefore, global political behaviors are also manifested in many levels, types of elements, and ways of interaction between international political subjects. The diversity of interaction among the issues of international politics makes global political behaviors diverse, multilayered, complex, multi-effective, and multivalent. In international political life, the actions of international politics have an important place and role. (1)

International political behaviors constitute the content of the daily practice of international politics. International political behaviors usually manifest themselves in many practices of external behaviors and exchanges of international political subjects. These methods are diverse, and they are mainly displayed in the formulation, implementation, and adjustment of foreign policies of international political subjects. In addition, in international political life, international political affairs activities such as talks, visits, notes, declarations, protests, consultations between international political subjects, all belong to the diplomatic activities engaged in by international political issues. In global political life, there are also forms of behavior of international political issues such as conflict, struggle, competition, confrontation, war, negotiation, and cooperation. All these together constitute the rich and varied forms of activity of international politics.

It is these practical activities of the subjects of international politics that form a drama on the stage of global politics and constitute the vivid and rich history of the development of international politics. (2)

(3)

Global political behaviors are the basis of international political rules. International political behaviors are the link between international relations and international political laws. The fundamental factors that trigger and drive global political behaviors are the interests, force, and rights in international political relations. It is based on global political behavior, through the conflict, cooperation, compromise, and coordination between different international political subjects. After many repeated games between multiple international political issues, the basic rules and standards of national politics can be formed and developed, and be commonly recognized and followed. These rules and norms, in turn, create a binding system and regulatory conditions for the completion of interests, the realization of power, and the protection of rights of the applicable international political subjects, thus reducing the cost of realizing their interests and obtaining relevant benefits. The international political actions are the means and criterion for realizing a country’s foreign policy approach. The foreign strategy of a country is the diplomatic goal, program, and plan formulated from the overall situation to realize and safeguard national interests. Diplomatic approach refers

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to the guidelines, systems, techniques, and methods followed by international political subjects in their foreign activities. They are generally the concrete measures for the completion of a specific state’s foreign strategy. They are usually concrete measures for the realization of a particular state’s external system. External systems are often subordinated to the state’s external system and are the methods and ways of action for realizing the state’s external system. International political behaviors are mainly the activities of implementing diplomatic strategies and tactics. The general principles, aggressive goals, and implementation methods followed by global political behaviors are all determined and operated around the diplomatic process and tactics; the ways and methods of global political behaviors are all selected and adopted by the requirements of the national diplomatic system and strategy. On the other hand, the correctness, appropriateness, and feasibility of a particular state’s diplomatic strategy and tactics are tested and verified precisely through the political behaviors of states. (4)

International political behaviors are the practical basis of the political ideology and political culture of the international community. As spiritual phenomena, the political ideology and political culture of global society often originate from global political behaviors, which are the reflection and projection of global political behaviors in people’s understanding and thinking. The evolution and development of national political behaviors will promote the change and development of global social and political ideology and culture. In turn, international socio-political thought and culture are also tested and verified by global political behaviors.

20.1.2 Basic Types of International Political Behaviors According to different criteria, international political behaviors can be categorized into different types. For example, according to the field of global political behaviors, it can be divided into political behaviors, economic behaviors, military behaviors, cultural behaviors, etc.; according to the differences in the subjects of international political behaviors, it can be divided into political behaviors of states, political behaviors of international organizations, political behaviors of individuals who are specific subjects of international politics, or political behaviors of transnational corporations, and so forth etc. according to the mode of global political behaviors, it can be divided into global political behaviors, etc. Political behaviors are classified as behaviors of diplomacy, behaviors of war, behaviors of negotiation, behaviors of sanctions, behaviors of arbitration, etc. These different classifications of international political behaviors have their criteria, perspectives, and points of departure. Nevertheless, they do not touch upon the essence and characteristics of international political relations. From the analysis of the characteristics of international political relations in the previous chapter, we can see that there is no unified compulsory authority in global

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society, no suitable public power; therefore, there is no structural division of political power and political rights in global political life, and the subject of international politics is not only the subject of global political interests but also the subject of global political power and the issue of global political rights. The subject of international politics is the subject of global political interests, the issue of global political power, and the issue of global political rights. For this reason, it is not possible to distinguish clearly and strictly between the type of political behaviors of the issues of global politics and political rights, as is the case in the analysis of domestic political behaviors. This being the case, what criteria should be used to distinguish between types of international political behaviors? This requires further essential analysis and determination of the requirements for classifying global political behaviors. As mentioned earlier, international political relations are fundamentally interest relations that, in their essence and origin, constitute the dominant basis of global political behaviors. For this reason, the essential criteria for classifying the types of global political behaviors should be sought and established in this essential sense. According to the theory of interest relations, which is the basis of political life, according to the second part of this book, interest relations usually present two fundamental aspects, namely, shared interests and conflicting interests, so that international political behaviors can be classified according to the common interests and contradictory interests between different international political subjects in international political relations. According to this classification criterion, global political behaviors can be divided into two major types: global political conflict behavior and international political cooperation behavior. 1.

Behaviors of international political conflict

International political conflict is a mutually antagonistic, exclusionary, or even aggressive behavior formed by different international political subjects based on differences and contradictory interests to pursue, compete for, realize, maintain or develop specific interests and political goals. Similar to other political disputes, the root cause of political conflicts between international political entities is the differences and contradictions in their claims. According to the theory of interest contradiction analysis, there are two types of contradictory interests: the conflicting interests caused by the difference of interests between subjects of the same level and the contradictory interests caused by the difference of interests between subjects of different levels. In international political life, there are also two types of conflicts of interest. The former is the conflict of interests between states and international organizations. At the same time, the latter is the conflict between the interests of certain conditions and regions or the common interests of human society. The contradiction of interests between interests subjects of the same level, that is, the flat contradiction of claims arises from the objective differences in nature and society between different topics in the relations of goods, which lays the foundation for the formation and development of the contradiction of claims. At the same time, the vertical conflicts of interest between the subjects at the same level also arise

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because different issues demand, advocate and compete for the same object of goods at the same time. In international political life, the reasons for the occurrence and development of horizontal conflicts of interests follow the exact mechanism. That is to say, in global political life, conflicts of interests between states and states, international organizations and international organizations, individuals and individuals, or other subjects of international politics originate from the objective differences between different issues of international politics at the same level and the subjective competition for, protection or realization of the same object of interest. Conflicts of interests between subjects at different levels and vertical rows of interests firstly originate from the other attributes of goods at different levels, and such other details lay down objective premises for conflicts of interests between subjects at different levels. At the same time, vertical conflicts of interests also occur because of the unreasonable division of goods between two or more interest subjects at different levels. The contradiction of claims among the subjects of international politics at different levels in global political life also originates from the unreasonable division between the other attributes of goods at different levels and the subjects of goods at different levels. Since interests are essentially based on the need to acquire social content and characteristic based on a particular production of human society, social and political phenomena, while having the fundamental authoritarian character of interests, have specific social properties that are determined by the social relations by which they are created and lived. In other words, the social content and social character of interests determine the social nature of links of interest. The social nature of conflicts of interest and the political conflicts they generate depends on the elements of social relations that give them to. The same base determines the social attribute of conflicts of interests between international political entities and the resulting international political conflicts, which provides an objective social base for the qualitative analysis of international political conflicts. It can be seen that the essence of international political conflicts lies in conflicting interests, but the specific social attributes lie in the social factors that trigger such conflicts. For example, international political conflicts caused by economic factors are economic international political conflicts; international political conflicts caused by military factors are military international political conflicts; international political conflicts originating from cultural and civilizational factors are the so-called clash of civilizations in international politics; and so on. In addition to the attributes of fundamental interests and specific social details, different international political conflicts also have degrees of differences, which is reflected in the various dimensions of the occurrence and development of international political conflicts, such as the intensity of the completion, the scope and breadth, and the duration, thus providing a basis for quantitative analysis of the behavior of international political competitions. In terms of the amplitude of conflict, international political subjects at the same level simultaneous bidding for the same object of interest at the same time, which usually manifests itself as interest competition among international political issues,

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and interest competition is the initial state of interest conflict. The unreasonable division of interests between different levels of global political issues will firstly lead to interest disputes and controversies. This kind of interest competition and dispute among issues of international politics can be regarded as the lowest intensity conflict of interests and the initial starting point of the spectrum of intensity of international political conflicts. From this point of view, the power of global political conflict is represented by an increasing step-ladder of differences, which can be detailed in the form of a spectrum and assigned values. However, international political conflicts can be classified according to their amplitude of conflict as low, moderate, and high. Lowintensity conflicts are usually expressed as intentional and expressive conflicts, i.e., intentional conflicts between international political subjects over the maintenance or change of specific interests and interests relations, which are often expressed and asserted in words or language in global political behaviors; medium-intensity conflicts are often described as conflicting behaviors between international political subjects of specific scope, manner, and content, but medium-intensity conflicts are often described as conflicts between international political issues of detailed area, form, and content. International political conflicts do not mobilize all the forces of the issues concerned, nor are they in confrontation with the fundamental interests of the issues discussed, nor do they take the form of full-scale violent conflicts. Therefore, international political conflicts are still within the scope and limits of coordinated and controllable; high-intensity conflicts are the highest form of international political conflicts, which usually refer to uncoordinated and uncontrollable international political contradictions and conflicts. High-intensity international political conflicts often manifest themselves directly in wars between states, and world wars are arguably the highest-intensity international political conflicts. Indeed, in addition to war, high levels of political conflict may also take the form of political crises, public sanctions, and mobilization for war, among other things. In terms of the breadth of conflicts, international political competitions are usually bilateral, multilateral, regional, and global. Of course, depending on the field, international political conflicts are manifested in the political sphere, as well as in the legal, economic, cultural, social, and values spheres. As far as the duration of their conflicts is concerned, international political conflicts of different nature, intensity, and breadth have different durations of time. Generally speaking, the duration of international political disputes is positively correlated with the power and extent of these conflicts. However, the factors affecting the practice of international political disputes are complex, and the different nature of international political disputes as well as other influencing factors also have a significant impact on the duration of international political competitions and the intensity and breadth of these conflicts, thus making the relationship between them a dialectical state. International political conflicts have a wide variety of practical presentations. In the practice of international politics, their main manifestations include psychological disputes, verbal conflicts, diplomatic protests, economic sanctions, military threats, the breaking up of diplomacy, mobilization for war, military occupation, occasional regional armed conflicts, and all-out wars.

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In the practice of international politics, people’s responses to international political conflicts are also diverse. Nonetheless, according to the analysis of the variance of interest resolution measures, the differences among international political subjects in the causes of horizontal conflicts of interest at the same level exist objectively. Therefore, the main focus of resolving conflicts of interest among international political issues and the resulting political disputes should be to create conditions for coordinating the simultaneous bidding of international political issues for the same object of interest at the same level. In international politics, if coordination fails, conflicts can be resolved by escrow. In the vertical conflicts of interests at different levels, different attributes of goods are unchangeable. Therefore, the main focus of resolving the disputes of interests among the subjects of international politics and the resulting political disputes should be the fair and reasonable distribution of goods at different levels. Based on international political disputes, the fundamental solution to resolve international political disputes lies in the proper resolution of these two conflicting interests. In global political life, peaceful negotiation and diplomatic settlement of these conflicts should be the fundamental way of modern global political life, including mutual communication, mediation, bilateral or multilateral negotiation, legal arbitration, consultation and settlement, and so on. 2.

Cooperation behaviors in international politics

The cooperation behaviors in international politics represent another primary type of multinational political action. It is a political act in which different subjects of international politics, based on their common interests, coordinate and synergize with each other to achieve, maintain or develop their shared goals and reach a specific consensus and agreement. The root cause of international political cooperation is the pursuit of common interests by the relevant international political subjects to achieve, maintain or develop their interests. All behaviors of international political cooperation are essentially formed and designed around the common interests of the relevant actors. In the relations of interests of international political subjects, common interests have different levels, contents, definitions, and values, which determine the corresponding purposes, characteristics, and types of global political cooperation behaviors. As far as its level is concerned, generally speaking, the common interest at the most basic level in the relations of interests of the subjects of international politics is the ordinary interest between two States; therefore, the act of consultation, coordination, and synergy between two States based on specific common interests is the most fundamental act of international political cooperation in global political life. In international politics, such behaviors are often referred to as behaviors of bilateral cooperation. In the realities of international political activities, political relations between countries often form and develop common interests among several countries, and the actions taken by several countries around the pursuit, realization, maintenance, and development of such common interests is a typical international political act of multilateral cooperation.

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Correspondingly, the common interests between specific regional and global international political subjects constitute different levels of international political cooperation behaviors, the so-called restricted behaviors of international political cooperation, global behaviors of international political affiliation, etc. The same level of international political subjects is not only in the form of States but also includes other international political issues, so that common interests among international organizations, specific individuals, and transnational corporations also constitute the basis and goal of the act of international political cooperation. In addition to the cooperative behaviors of subjects with the same level of interest in their mutual common good, there also exist in international political life common interests between subjects at different levels, such as the common interest between a particular international organization and a particular State. However, according to the logic of standard interest formation in interest relations, for that state, the common interest between it and a specific international organization is the common interest between that state and the member states of that international organization, so that this form of common interest, which manifests itself at different levels, is in fact a form of transformation of common interest between subjects of the same level of interest. In international political life, the behaviors of international political cooperation based on such common interests between subjects at different levels are typically such as the behaviors of political collaboration between a global organization and a specific country, or the behaviors of political collaboration between an organization embodying the common interests of humanity and a clear international organization or a specific country. In terms of content, the common interests of the subjects of international politics have different ranges. In terms of the scope and authoritarian nature of international politics, such common interests have strategic and tactical ranges, thus forming strategic behaviors of international political cooperation and tactical behaviors of international political cooperation. Strategic international political cooperation is the cooperation between international political subjects based on their shared interests and common understanding of the political and strategic goals and ways to achieve them. Strategic international political cooperation is global, macro and dominant, and usually plays a dominant role in developing international political relations. In international politics, due to the differences in the degree, breadth, and ways of realizing strategic interests, strategic international political cooperation is divided into strategic alliances, strategic partnerships, and strategic collaborations. Tactical international political cooperation is an act of political cooperation formed and developed under the domination of international political-strategic cooperation relationships in response to particular international political relations and events. Generally speaking, tactical international political cooperation has a specific direction, policy, specificity, and flexibility. As far as its definition is concerned, shared interests in international political relations, like shared interests in the general sense, also have different practical: they can be the sameness of the content of the interests constituting the relations of interests between the subjects of international politics, such as the common interests of the members of a particular socio-political community and State for their external

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security; they can be the sameness of the rules of international political life and the sense of recognition of the rules, for instance, a compromise reached by global political subjects in international political life around specific interests and rights. In this sense, common interests are the consensus of different international political issues on their respective rights and interests, obligations, responsibilities, and behavioral boundaries. In terms of value, the common interests of international political subjects have specific value objectives. However, the common interests among the issues of international politics often have multiple value complexities, including numerous value requirements of the relevant issues in a particular interest relationship, which include at least such fundamental values as survival, security, order, efficiency, equality, freedom, etc. At the same time, in a specific relationship of interest and the process of its operation, these values are of great importance to the relevant issues. At the same time, in a particular interest relationship and its operation process, these values have equal weight to the relevant subjects of international politics. Still, they are mutually exclusive to a certain extent. The rich and diverse values of shared interests among international political issues make global political life and international political cooperation face various value directions and demands, thus forming considerable possibilities of political behavior, multiple value selectivity of political collaboration, and multiple value standards of evaluation of cooperation goals. These various values are equally weighted and mutually exclusive in international political life, making the act and process of global political cooperation often face the dilemma of conflicting values and the task of reconciling the goals of different weights. The nature of international political cooperation is likewise determined by the elements of social relations in which it is formed and developed. The so-called social analysis is actually to analyze the constituent parts and attributes of the social relations in which international political cooperative behaviors are created and developed and to use this as the basis for determining the nature of global political collective behaviors. From the practice of global political life, the act of international political cooperation may take place between capitalist countries, that is, the international cooperation or even alliance between the bourgeois class in these states. The act of political cooperation undoubtedly has the class character of the bourgeoisie; the act of international political cooperation may also take place between developing countries as a way for them to pursue economic and social development, which is usually of an economic and social development nature; in international political life, to achieve cooperation and pursue their national interests, different countries may engage in military cooperation or even form partnerships with related countries that share common goals. Political-military alliances, this kind of international political cooperation, undoubtedly has the nature of military cooperation or even military-political alliances; in international politics, cultural cooperation between States and international organizations is also a frequent feature, and cultural cooperation is the essential attribute of such cooperation. In addition, religious beliefs and ethnicity also play a regular role in international political cooperation, thus giving them corresponding social attributes.

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Similar to the front of international political conflict, the act of international political cooperation, in addition to the fundamental interests and specific social attributes, also has the degree of difference in the cooperative relationship between the subjects of international politics. This degree of difference is concentrated in the occurrence and development of international political cooperation in different dimensions such as the depth of collaboration, scope, and breadth, time and length, thus providing a basis for quantitative analysis of the act of international political cooperation. The depth of cooperation among the issues of international politics usually depends on the depth and comprehensiveness of the common interests of the subjects of international politics. Generally speaking, the depth of international political cooperation is positively related to the depth and comprehensiveness of such common interests. At the same time, the depth of political collaboration between international political entities also depends on the cooperation methods and mechanisms adopted by the relevant parties, which will undoubtedly help deepen and strengthen the collaboration, and vice versa. Since the profoundness and comprehensiveness of shared interests among international political subjects are composed of various elements, and at the same time, international political issues have multifaceted and multi-optional political cooperation modes, and mechanisms, quantitative analysis of the behavior of international political cooperation according to the profoundness and comprehensiveness of shared interests among international political subjects and the appropriateness of global political cooperation modes and mechanisms has become an essential way of quantitative analysis. Nonetheless, the depth of international political cooperation is often broadly divided into preliminary cooperation, secondary cooperation, in-depth cooperation, depending on the content and manner in which the global political actors cooperate. Initial cooperation is usually a type of specific cooperation with a single element of common interest; secondary cooperation is often multi-factor common interest and multimodal cooperation, and in-depth cooperation may be on the level of deep cooperation or comprehensive cooperation. The breadth of cooperation among the subjects of international politics is usually expressed in terms of the issues involved and the areas affected. Generally speaking, the more comprehensive the range of participants in cooperation and the broader the regions covered by cooperation, the more extensive international cooperation becomes. The length of cooperation between the subjects of international politics is positively correlated with the degree of stability and development of cooperation. International political cooperation of different nature, depth, and breadth often have additional strength and development, which directly affects and influences the duration of international political cooperation. Although the stable development of international political cooperation is affected by many complex factors, adherence to the five principles of peaceful coexistence, compliance with the basic norms of global politics and International Law, and implementation of the principles of justice and equality, win–win cooperation, mutual understanding and accommodation, and mutual assistance and consultation in international political cooperation are essential

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prerequisites for maintaining and realizing the stability and development of international political cooperation, and the basic principle for the sustainable development of international political cooperation. In the practice of international politics, international political cooperation takes a variety of forms. By its very nature, the conditions of global political cooperation are how the parties involved in collaboration recognize, realize and develop their common interests. Usually, its primary forms include: exploring or developing psychological and cognitive commonalities and reaching consensus cooperation; dialogic cooperation and communication; intentional, framework or substantive economic, political, cultural, scientific, and technological cooperation; military coordination and collaboration; military alliances; comprehensive political, economic and military alliances; and so on.

20.2 Basic Norms of International Political Behavior 20.2.1 Definition and Characteristics of Norms of International Political Behavior Basic norms of international political conduct are the norms of behavior that international political actors should follow in their international political activities. They are embodied in all the written and unwritten principles, rules, and regulations of international political activities, including the basic norms of international political relations, International Laws, and some international treaties, which define the scope and limits of international political acts. The basic norms of international politics are as follows. A.

B.

C.

Universality of application. This kind of universality is mainly reflected in the fact that the basic norms of international politics are widely applicable to all international political actors. That is to say, the basic examples of international politics include the standards of conduct that countries, international organizations, and all other international political actors should follow when engaging in international political activities. Consensus of the subject. The basic norms of international politics are based on the consensus of most international political issues. On the one hand, the basic standards of international politics are formed based on the agreement formed by the majority of international political issues, and the knowledge and opinions of a few countries or international political issues cannot become the basic standards of international politics; on the other hand, the basic norms of international politics can take effect only if they are recognized and agreed by the majority of international political subjects. Value naturalness. The basic norms of international politics are the norms that the subjects of international politics should follow. Therefore, they are the value

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proposition of global political life. This value proposition embodies the value orientation of global political life in a specific period, dominates the particular norms of international politics and is the fundamental right and wrong standard of international politics. Specific constraints. The basic norms of international politics have a considerable binding force on the subject of international standards, which is embodied in moral rules, that is, the limitations formed by the moral propositions and moral evaluation mechanism of international politics and practical constraints, that is, the actual restrictions on the excesses of international political subjects through international organizations or other international political adjustment mechanisms control and punishment. It should be pointed out that because of the lack of unified mandatory authority in international politics, the basic norms of international politics have the characteristics of soft law because they have different degrees of binding force rather than coercive force.

The basic norms of international politics are the product of the historical development of international politics and develop with the development of international politics. Since modern times, the exchanges between the state and other global political subjects have become increasingly frequent and complex. In the process of such interactions, contradictions and conflicts constantly occur between the state and other issues. To limit and solve these contradictions and conflicts and make the international political life develop from disorder to order, a set of boundaries and principles have been gradually developed and formed between the state and other subjects. The limitations and regulations recognized and agreed upon by most issues of international politics are the basic models of international politics. With the continuous development of international politics, these basic norms have changed in terms of content, scope, and effectiveness, thus forming different basic norms in different historical periods of international politics. After the Second World War, with the continuous development of the fundamental forces of global politics and their mutual relations, significant changes have taken place in the primary content of international politics. It is against this background that a new and systematic basic principle of international politics has been formed and established. According to the Charter of the United Nations, the Declaration of Principles of International Law adopted by the general assembly of the United Nations, Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States and other international documents, as well as the consensus of all countries in foreign exchanges, the basic norms of contemporary international politics are sovereign equality of all nations, settlement of international disputes by peaceful means, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, non-aggression against each other, peaceful coexistence. All countries have equal sovereignty. It is the stipulation of the foundation and premise of international politics. This principle first confirms the complete independence of the power of all countries. That is to say, to affirm the full and independent power of all nations, that is to say, to verify the political independence, economic autonomy, and territorial integrity of all nations. The so-called political autonomy means that each country can independently choose its own social and political system,

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political system, and government form, formulate and implement laws and policies, and conduct foreign activities. Economic autonomy means to decide economic policies independently, develop financial resources and develop the economy without the financial control of others and exclude the economic privileges of other countries or others. The so-called territorial integrity means that a country’s territory can not be divided, and the government has complete jurisdiction over its territory, including the affairs and people within the region. The principle of sovereign equality also confirms the equality of sovereignty among countries. That is to say, all countries, regardless of race, size, strength, wealth or wealth, have equal sovereignty in international political life. Specifically speaking, it is the equality of international personality of sovereign states as international political members. The equality of international rights and obligations undertaken by all countries. At the same time, the principle of sovereign equality also confirms that all countries should respect each other’s sovereignty. That is to say, in international political life and exchanges among nations, we must respect each other’s power, and we must not adopt an attitude, or behavior that belittles, discriminates against or repels the power of other countries. The peaceful settlement of international disputes is a proposition for international political contradictions, conflicts, and dispute settlement. In global political life, due to the differences in the interests, cultural background, understanding, and level of different subjects, it is inevitable for other subjects to have contradictions and disputes in dealing with their mutual relations and world affairs. This provision is made given the contradictions and conflicts between international political subjects. Its core point is that it requires that all the subjects of contradictions, disputes, and controversies in international politics can only choose the peaceful way to solve problems and oppose resorting to war, the use of force, or the threat of force. At the same time, it requires that all contradictions, disputes, and controversies between international political subjects, no matter their causes are, what their nature, extent, scale, and scope are, should be resolved by peaceful means. Therefore, all means of resolving by force or threat of force are unjustifiable. Non-interference in each other’s internal affairs limits the scope of the relationship between international political subjects. This principle first shows a clear boundary between the internal and external relations of international political issues. The socalled internal affairs refer to the matters under the internal jurisdiction of the state in essence. Specifically, it includes the determination of social and political systems, the formulation and implementation of various laws and policies, the formulation of economic and social development strategies, and the handling of domestic affairs. As for these matters, the state has the highest decision-making power and disposal power. Therefore, they are the exclusive domain of a state’s power, not the scope of international politics and relations between states. This principle also indicates that no country, group of countries, or international organization can interfere in a country’s internal affairs in any way under any pretext or reason. “The most important

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principle of the new order of international relations should be non-interference in the internal affairs and social systems of other countries”.1 Mutual non-aggression is the limitation of the international political subjects, which corresponds to the principle of peaceful settlement of international disputes. This principle stipulates that in international exchanges, a country shall not launch an aggressive war with any excuse or reason. That is to say; no land shall invade other nations by force, the threat of force, or other means. Concerning aggression in international politics, the Convention on Definition of Aggression, adopted by the 29th UN General Assembly on December 14, 1974, states in clear terms. According to this document, aggression refers to “the use of force by one country or any other means in violation of the UN Charter to oppose the national sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another country.” These include not only direct military invasion and threat but also subversion, infiltration, and war propaganda against other countries. Peaceful coexistence is the advocacy of relations between countries under normal conditions, and it is the primary criterion to guide modern international relations. This criterion stipulates that no matter whether different countries have the same social and political systems, ideology, historical and cultural traditions, nationalities and races, and national interests, they should respect each other, develop friendly relations, live in harmony, and carry out extensive international cooperation based on respecting International Law and different global political norms in international exchanges. Therefore, it opposes all non-peaceful and non-cooperative ways and does not advocate that social and political system, ideology, culture, history, nationality, and other factors should be taken as the basis for choosing how to deal with the relations between countries.

20.2.2 International Law International Law, also known as public International Law, is the sum of binding principles, norms, and systems formed by states in the process of interaction with each other to regulate the international activities of International Law subjects, to adjust the relationship between International Law subjects. In modern international relations and international politics, the international activities of states and other subjects of International Law involve a wide range of fields. The content of activities is quite rich. On this basis, the composition of International Law is increasingly rich, and its specific laws and regulations are increasingly diverse. Nevertheless, the essential contents of International Law can be summarized as Law of Peacetime, Law of War, and Chinese legislation. Law of Peacetime regulates sovereignty, jurisdiction, diplomatic rules, and practices, negotiation and treaty rules of states and other subjects of International Law under normal conditions. 1 Deng Xiaoping. (1993). Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping Volume 3. People’s Publishing House, p. 359.

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Generally speaking, the Law of Peacetime applies to the relations between the issues of International Law, such as states in a state of peace. In a state of war, it only applies to neutral conditions. As Law of Peacetime is a general regulation of the relationship between states and other subjects of International Law, it has a fundamental position in International Law. Law of War is the basic regulation of the relations between belligerents in a state of war. Its primary content includes the rules of adjusting the relations between belligerents, non-belligerents, and neutral conditions in a form of war. These regulations mainly stipulate the boundary between the state’s action and inaction in the state of war, as well as the principles and rules for the state to choose its action mode. The Law of Neutrality stipulates the formation rules of a neutral state in a state of war, the obligations that a neutral state should undertake and the rights it enjoys, etc., it applies to a neutral state in a particular form of war, and also to a permanently neutral state. International Law is an integral part of international relations and international political norms. It has the general characteristics of international relations and international political standards. At the same time, International Law is a legal component of international relations and international political standards. It is different from general international relations and international political standards as well as domestic laws. These differences constitute the essential characteristics of International Law. A.

The main body of International Law is the state. In international relations and international politics, the state is the leading participant in international legal associations and can undertake the rights and obligations stipulated in International Law independently. Therefore, the main body of International Law is the state, and the relationship between states is generally regulated by International Law. However, in modern international relations and international politics, the status, role, and capacity of international organizations composed of sovereign states have been constantly enhanced. Therefore, they have become the legal subjects of modern International Law, and the international relations they have formed have also become the content of the adjustment of International Law.

International Law is formed by sovereign states in the process of dealing with their mutual relations. Its primary legal sources are international treaties and international practices. An international treaty is a formal agreement reached by more than two countries in the process of mutual communication. It contains the provisions of the obligations and rights of countries in the political, economic, legal, cultural, social, military, and other aspects. These documents generally include treaties, charters, treat of the alliance, statutes, issue-specific treaties, conventions, agreements, and so on. As a source of International Law, international treaties generally must be recognized by most countries. International treaties that are not recognized by the majority of countries do not constitute the source of International Law. International practice is the habit of adjusting and regulating the relations between countries, which is formed in long-term exchanges and accepted by most countries. These habits are generally unwritten principles and practices. As a practice of International Law, it must be a habit that has been formed for a long time and repeatedly invoked and consistently

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followed by most countries in international relations. At the same time, it must have a practical binding effect on all countries. The binding force of International Law is based on the relevant international obligations undertaken by the relevant countries, whose implementation mainly depends on the automatic, voluntary, and consciousness of the relevant countries. In the international community, the state is not only the undertaker of the rights and obligations stipulated by International Law but also the founder of International Law. However, there is no unified mandatory authority over the state to restrict the international behavior of the state, safeguard the principles and provisions of International Law, and punish the behavior beyond International Law. The International Court also takes the voluntary acceptance of its jurisdiction by the parties as to its basic principle for accepting cases and realizing the effect of judgments but does not have compulsory jurisdiction. Therefore, the binding force of International Law must and can only be based on the obligations undertaken by the countries concerned. The implementation and realization of International Law depend on the willingness and consciousness of the relevant countries to fulfill and undertake their duties. In international political life, International Law has its specific positive roles, which can be summarized as follows. A.

B.

C.

International Law is the legal condition to ensure orderly international political relations. Under normal circumstances, the order of international political relations is a necessary condition for the smooth progress and development of international political activities and exchanges. International Law provides basic norms and norms for this order and creates particular guarantee conditions for this order with its specific binding force. International Law is the legal basis for determining the political rights and obligations of states and other subjects of International Law. In terms of its content, International Law stipulates the rights and responsibilities that a state should undertake in international politics and other international activities. This content characteristic of international law provides a stable, definite and transparent basis for the obligations and rights that countries should undertake in international political relations and activities to facilitate the division of global political responsibilities and mutual supervision of reality. At the same time, International Law can make the state clear the boundary between legal and illegal acts in international political activities, which provides the legal basis for judging its actual politics. International Law provides the legal standard and principle basis for ruling and political settlement of international conflicts and disputes. In international politics, contradictions, conflicts, and debates between countries often occur. International Law provides a basic frame of reference for judging the right and wrong and responsibility of such inconsistencies, disagreements, and disputes. At the same time, there are various ways to solve these contradictions, conflicts, and debates between countries, and the political course is a critical approach to solve the contradictions. In resolving contradictions, disagreements, and

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disputes by political means, International Law is the moral basis for negotiation and consultation between countries, and even for arbitration by a third party. The practice of international politics has proved that only based on these principles can contradictions, conflicts, and disputes between countries be resolved appropriately. International Law provides basic norms for international political relations under abnormal conditions. International Law stipulates the basic rules and principles when countries are in a state of war, which determines the legal scope, methods, and practices of international politics that governments should follow under the conditions of confrontation and conflict, to restrain the vicious development of conflict and fight to a certain extent. International Law stipulates the principle of the relationship between belligerents, non-belligerents, and neutral states, which not only determines the basic rules of communication between different countries under the abnormal condition but also limits the abnormal state between countries and the spread of war in the scope to a certain extent.

Chapter 21

The International Political System

21.1 Definition and Characteristics of the International Political System 21.1.1 Definition of the International Political System International politics is essentially composed of international political relations. The global political system is the systematic embodiment of the power and institutional rules of international politics. It is the overall system of the global political pattern and rules of the global political subjects according to the specific structure and style. Generally speaking, the international political system mainly includes two aspects: one is the collection of global political forces, which is the collection of international political subjects by certain principles and rules through or trying to realize their interests and rights through their respective forces. It generally has specific interests, powers, and privileges. It has a particular way of entity existence, so it is a kind of material objective reality. It has particular constituent members, states, international organizations, individuals, and other international political subjects. It has a clear constituent structure and mode of activities. The second is the general rules and mechanism of the operation of international politics, which is the international regulations made by the main body of international politics according to different rights and interests, to realize the specific order arrangement and effective operation of international politics, on the relationship, mode of activity and procedure between various subjects and political forces in the global political society. In terms of its content, these rules and mechanisms include not only the fundamental principles of the global political system in a specific period but also the principles of the international political system in the same period. The specific operation norms and mechanism rules of the political subject in the overall or multilateral international political relations. It has legality and conventionality in the sense of international political relations to be relatively determined and stable. At the same time, it has

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operation openness and relative flexibility based on the common understanding of the rules of the non-unified authority of the international political society. The international political system is formed and developed based on the formation and development of the world economic system. In the history of the development of human society, since the emergence of the state, there has been a political relationship between countries. However, in the slave society and feudal society, due to the backward level of productive forces and underdeveloped social division of labor, the natural economy constituted the dominant component of the social economy and the economic foundation of the country. This kind of economy was essentially selfsufficient and self-closed. The national political life based on this kind of economy and economic activity mode must be closed and confined. It is characterized by internal affairs. Therefore, although there were some exchanges between countries in the long slave society and feudal society, these exchanges were generally limited to the adjacent areas. The scale of deals was minimal, and this kind of exchanges normally did not have the certainty and organic nature of extensive interest relations. In this period, there was neither modern international politics nor a modern international political system. Since modern times, with the development of productive forces, capitalist relations of production have been established and developed rapidly. Capitalist relations of production, based on private ownership of capital, obtain and realize surplus value through production and exchange. In the rising period of capitalism, the establishment and development of this production relationship has effectively promoted the progress of production technology and productivity and promoted the rapid growth of the social division of production. At the same time, it also greatly expanded and deepened the formation and development of market and exchange relations. Therefore, in the process of the building and establishment of capitalist relations of production, the movement of capital accumulation and expansion not only goes beyond the scope of villages and communities of traditional natural economy, breaks and gradually eliminates the obstacles of closed natural economy, but also goes beyond the boundaries of countries, and gradually forms an international division of labor and a unified market system in the world, so that all countries in the world are involved In the increasingly frequent and rich mutual exchanges, the political economy of various countries has gradually become an integral part of the world’s political economy. “In the past, the state of self-sufficiency and isolation of local and ethnic groups was replaced by the mutual exchanges and interdependence of various ethnic groups”.1 It is in the context of the formation and development of the world economic system that large-scale, wide-ranging, regular, and oriented exchanges among countries are not only necessary. As a result, the design of international political relations based on political ties between nations has taken shape. At the end of the ninth century, capitalism developed from unrestrained capitalism to monopoly capitalism. In terms of foreign relations, capitalist countries pursued imperialist policies, madly divided and redistributed the world, delineated their respective spheres of influence, established the imperialist ruling position in the 1

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 276.

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world, and formed an international political rule system of imperialist domination and plunder of the world. With the development of monopoly capitalism, the imbalance of imperialist political and economic development intensifies the contradiction between imperialist countries, which makes the international political pattern and the opposition between imperialist countries and colonial and semi-colonial countries. It adds new content of imperialist country group confrontation. This confrontation led to the first World War, which weakened the power of imperialist countries and intensified the contradiction between imperialist countries and colonial and semi-colonial countries. At the same time, the Russian proletariat broke through the weak link of the imperialist world ruling system, successfully launched the October Revolution, established the world’s first socialist country, and formed an essential international political force. Therefore, after the first World War, significant changes have taken place in the global political situation. The power of socialist countries, the ability of colonial and semi-colonial countries to strive for national liberation, and the power of imperialist countries constitute the fundamental strength of the international political system, which calls for the revision of the rules of the global political system. The world economic crisis in the 1930s brought Germany, Italy, Japan, and other imperialist countries on the road of fascism, which led to the Second World War. After World War II, the changes and development of the international political system presented different stages of development and new characteristics. The Second World War seriously weakened the power of the capitalist world, especially that of the European capitalist countries. At the same time, their colonies demanded independence one after another, which made the old capitalist countries lose their leading position in the world capitalist system before the war. As the defeated nations, Germany, Italy, Japan, and other countries, lost their national independence. The economy is on the verge of collapse, and it has lost its qualification as a political power in international politics. After the war, based on the victory of the anti-fascist war, several socialist countries emerged in Eastern Europe. China and other countries in Asia have also won the victory of the democratic revolution and successively embarked on the socialist road. These countries, together with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, have formed a solid socialist camp and become a powerful force in the international political system. The war made the United States and the Soviet Union the superpowers in international politics. The war brought about the rapid development of American military industry and national economy, which led to the rapid expansion of American national strength and made the United States the overlord of the capitalist world. Its influence spread to the world and became a superpower. Although the Soviet Union suffered significant losses in the war, its military strength developed rapidly. After the war, the national economy of the Soviet Union quickly recovered, and its industry and science, and technology were in the leading position in the world. Therefore, the fundamental strength of the post-war international political system is the strength of socialist countries and capitalist countries, and the “cold war” with non-war confrontation and opposition as the core content is the primary connection

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between the two forces. It is on this basis that the international political system and its rules of confrontation between the two camps have been formed. Since the mid-1950s, the wave of national independence and national liberation has risen in the former colonial and semi-colonial countries. Many Asian, African, and Latin American colonial and semi-colonial countries have successively got rid of the shackles of colonialism, gained national independence and national liberation, and formed a large number of developing countries. These developing countries and developing socialist countries have extensive common interests in safeguarding national sovereignty and independence, developing the national economy, opposing colonialism, imperialism, hegemonism, and the unreasonable old international political and economic order. On this basis, these countries have formed a united and cooperative force in international politics, which, compared with the first world composed of the United States and the Soviet Union and the second world composed of other developed countries, forms the third world. The Bandung Conference in April 1955 marked the formation of the third world. Since then, the power of the third world, as an essential force in international politics, has been developing continuously, and its demand for economic development and peace has gradually become the main content of international politics. At the same time, the internal contradictions between the two camps of capitalism and socialism formed after the war are constantly developing. Within the capitalist camp, as Western Europe and Japan recovered after the war, their economy grew rapidly, their economic strength was significantly enhanced, and their will in international politics was also enhanced to varying degrees. The Soviet Union’s implementation of chauvinism, prominent party doctrine, and hegemonism led to the formation and intensification of internal contradictions, and the centrifugal force of Eastern European countries against the Soviet Union increased. The Sino-Soviet debate broke out in the early 1960s, which led to the rupture of Sino-Soviet relations and marked the actual disintegration of the socialist camp. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, under the influence of various complex internal and external factors, the Soviet Union disintegrated, and the Eastern European countries underwent drastic changes. This change brought the end of the “cold war”. It brought profound, long-term, and difficult influence to the international political system, resulting in a complex and changeable situation in global case. The contemporary world is in a period of significant changes, which is characterized by the end of the global political system dominated by superpowers and hegemonism, the deepening development of the world towards multi-polarization, the re differentiation and combination of various forces, and the significant and profound adjustment of the relations between big powers. All kinds of regional and intercontinental cooperation organizations are unprecedentedly active. The overall strength of the vast number of developing countries has been enhanced, and the international political system is changing.

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21.1.2 Basic Characteristics of the International Political System On the whole, international political system has the following features. A.

Global integrit

The integrity of the international political system is embodied in that the international political relations are global political relations. Integrity first refers to the universality of the scope of the subject, that is to say, in the whole world, as long as the issue conforms to the characteristics of the international political issue, it is the subject of the global political system. All topics that do to the characteristics of international political issues can participate in international politics. At the same time, it also refers to the universality of subject levels and fields. Any issue of international politics, no matter how strong or small it is, how influential and capable it is, is an organic part of international political relations. International politics is mainly in the political field but also involves economic, military, cultural, and other areas. In addition, it also shows the broad nature of international political linkages, which include the interlinkages among all international political entities in the world. Therefore, global politics is neither the foreign policy and activities of an isolated country or another subject nor the simple bilateral or multilateral relations of two or more topics, but the global and integral political connection of all topics. Finally, the influence of international politics with global relevance, as the political-economic, and cultural contact between countries closely, national and regional political event, can cause global attention, or become global political relations and political pattern system of international political events, thus making the transnational political subjects to the political relations between the global and international in scope and scale. The global integrity of the international political system is also reflected in that international political relations are organic political links between different subjects. In the international political system, international politics is the summation of the political concerns of the global society, which is not the simple summation of the political concerns of the actors of international politics, but the organic composition of their political ties. The so-called organic design indicates various interesting links between different subjects, and this interest link is the organic link of international politics. At the same time, it shows that international politics results from the interaction of different main forces. As Engels pointed out, “History is made here. The ultimate result always springs from the conflict of many individual wills. There are so many forces, so many parallelograms of forces, that there is a net force, the result of history”.2 Therefore, the main body of international politics has a close organic connection. B.

Multipolar tropism

“Pole” in international politics usually refers to a specific country or association of countries. This kind of country or national alliance has comprehensive solid strength, 2

Selected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House, 1995, p. 697.

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far more than other countries or national groups, has a significance influence on national political affairs, has the right to speak or even decide on major international political issues, and can influence or profoundly affect the development of international politics. After the Second World War, the world formed two camps headed by the Soviet Union and the United States, thus forming a bipolar pattern in international political life. After the end of the cold war, the confrontation between the two camps of the Soviet Union and the United States ended, and the developing countries developed their economies and strengthened their strength, becoming important international political forces. In addition to the critical influence of the United States as the only superpower on global politics, Russia, the European Union, Japan, China, India, Brazil, and other countries are also significant international political forces with broad development prospects China’s influence in international politics is also increasing, which makes the global political system tend to be multipolar. C.

Multiple complexities

The international political system contains multiple levels and forms of global political subjects. Interest relations, interest contradictions, power balance, and rights relations interact with each other, thus showing a high degree of complexity. After the Second World War, national interests, political system, and ideology have become the dominant factors of international politics. The contest between countries or national alliances in seizing, safeguarding, and realizing their respective interests and the confrontation and struggle between different political systems and ideologies have become the main contents of international politics. After the end of the cold war, in addition to the contradictions between national interests and creed, race, nationality, religion, territory, and other issues have become essential issues in international politics. The historical and practical contradictions formed around these factors have become important contradictions in international politics. The global political contest thus launched has become an essential part of international politics. The inconsistencies of national interests, political system, and ideology interweave with the contradictions formed by these factors, creating a complex global political situation. At the same time, economic globalization is giving us many opportunities. While developing countries bring positive effects, they also bring adverse consequences. Hegemonism and power politics still exist, local wars and conflicts continue to occur, the gap between the north and the south is further widening, and international terrorist forces, ethnic separatist forces, and extreme religious forces are pretty active. “The instability and uncertainty facing the world are prominent, the momentum of world economic growth is insufficient, and the gap between the rich and the poor is wide. As regional hot issues continue to emerge, non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, cyber security, major infectious diseases, and climate change continue to spread, and mankind is facing many common challenges”.3 This makes the current international political system more complicated than ever before. 3

Xi Jinping: Decisively Win the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects, and Win the Great Victory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era- A Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Daily (October 28, 2017).

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Orderly property of the structure

In the international political system, international political relations are orderly political relations. The political connection between the subjects of global political behavior is based on their interests and mutual interests, their strength, and the contrast of power, which is arranged and combined according to specific principles and rules. This arrangement and combination constitute a particular order of international politics. Therefore, global politics is an orderly political relationship among many international political issues. The order of international politics is manifested in the established state of the connection between the subjects of international politics, in the existing state of their status in the global political order, and the current state of the rules of the global political order. The order in the international political system has a specific structure. The structure of the global political order first depends on the relationship between the international political subjects. On the other hand, this structure also depends on the contact way between international political issues. Under the influence of these two factors, the order in the global political system presents a specific actual structural situation. The order structure of the international political system is reflected in the order arrangement structure of different levels, different aspects, and different elements, which, on the whole, is reflected in the internal composition of the non-equilibrium and relative equilibrium of the international political system. The order structure of the international political system is changing and developing. With the changes in the status of international political subjects, their mutual relations, and ways of contact, the structure of global political order will also change. Since the nineteenth century, the design of global political order has been embodied in the order structure of monopoly capitalism, the order structure of domination and being ruled between imperialism and colonial and semi-colonial countries, and the order structure of mutual confrontation between capitalism and socialism. After the cold war, with the development and changes of international political subjects and their mutual relations, it has become an inevitable trend for the structural adjustment of the global political system to establish a just and reasonable new world political and economic order based on peaceful development and cooperation. Nevertheless, this change is only the replacement of order structure, not the disappearance of order structure. International political relations and interest relations of relevant subjects are in constant development and change. Under the general law of unbalanced political and economic development of international political issues, the power and balance of power of international political issues are also in constant growth and decline. Therefore, the sound order structure of the global political system is bound to be in continuous change and development.

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21.2 Themes of the Times and Developments in the International Political Landscape 21.2.1 Peace and Development in the Contemporary World A.

Formulation and development of the theme of the era of peace and development

The theme of the times refers to the problems with strategic and overall dominant influence based on the main contradictions in the world in a particular historical stage. Judging the theme of the times is the fundamental basis for formulating domestic development strategy and diplomatic strategy. Lenin pointed out that, “Only on this basis, that is, taking into account the different basic characteristics of each era (rather than the individual historical events of individual countries), can we correctly formulate our strategies”.4 At the beginning of the twentieth century, Lenin profoundly pointed out that monopoly capitalism was imperialism according to the objective reality that capitalism developed from the stage of free competition to the location of monopoly. In the period of imperialism, there were three fundamental contradictions in the world, namely, the paradox between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat in the imperialist countries, the contradiction between the imperialist suzerain and the colonial dependent countries, and the contradiction between the imperialist countries. The development and intensification of these contradictions will lead to imperialist war, which will lead to proletarian revolution. Based on these analyses, Lenin proposed that the world is in the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution, and the theme of the period is war and revolution. According to this judgment, Lenin led the October Revolution of Russia and won. After the Second World War, profound changes have taken place in international relations and the world situation. The balance of forces and the global pattern have constantly been developing, resulting in a severe confrontation between the capitalist camp headed by the United States and the socialist camp run by the Soviet Union. The issue of war and peace has become a major problem facing the international community. Mao Zedong deeply analyzed the global and strategic situation, and pointed out that war and revolution are still the main characteristics of the times. However, the democratic forces of the people of the world surpass the reactionary forces of the world, and are moving forward, and will be able to overcome the danger of war; all peace-loving countries should unite to oppose imperialist interference and hegemonism, strive for peace and prevent war; and China should be resolute We will support all the oppressed nations and people in the world in their revolutionary struggle for national independence and national liberation. Since the 1970s, various forces in the international community have been redivided and combined, which has led to new changes in the global situation. These changes are mainly reflected in the following three aspects. 4

Lenin Monograph Collection: On Capitalism. People’s Publishing House, 2009, pp. 91–2.

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b.

c.

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The profound lessons of the two world wars made the people of all countries realize the importance of maintaining world peace. The two world wars in the first half of the twentieth century took tens of millions of lives and destroyed colossal wealth. Therefore, the people of all countries yearn for peace and oppose the war. Peace and development have become the common aspiration of people worldwide and the primary goal pursued by people all over the world. The power of world peace is growing. With the progress of science and technology, especially the emergence of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, it is more and more difficult for the means of war to achieve the purpose of war. There will be no winner in the nuclear war. It will cause a devastating disaster for all humanity. In the 1960s and 1970s, the large-scale nuclear expansion of the United States and the Soviet Union posed a severe threat to humanity and aroused the strong voice of the people of all countries against atomic war and striving for world peace. On September 10, 1996, the 50th UN General Assembly adopted the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty, which shows that the international community has a clear understanding of the nuclear threat. The growing strength of developing countries and the development of several emerging countries, including China, have become a significant force to curb war. With the development of the national liberation movement, the third world countries stepped onto the world political stage as independent political forces, which is the most prominent phenomenon in postwar international political development. The status of the vast number of developing countries has increased significantly, and they have become an essential force in maintaining world peace. Under the anti-war pressure of the people of all nations, the governments of all countries have made varying degrees of effort to maintain world peace. Many organizations established by governments, political parties, and social organizations to maintain world peace have also contributed to stopping wars.

It is based on these changes and developments that Deng Xiaoping made a judgment on the fundamental contradictions and patterns of the world from a strategic perspective. He pointed out that there have been significant changes in the balance of world political forces, that the growth of peace factors has exceeded that of war factors, and that it is possible to strive for a peaceful environment for a more extended period since World War can not be fought in the short term. He stressed that “There are serious problems in the world now, including global strategic problems, one is the problem of peace, the other is the economy or development. The issue of peace is the East–West issue, and the issue of development is the North–South issue. To sum up, it is four words. The North–South issue is the core issue”.5 In 1987, the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of China summarized Deng Xiaoping’s thought on peace and development as “Peace and development are the themes of 5

Deng Xiaoping. (1993). Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping Volume 3. People’s Publishing House. p. 105.

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the contemporary world”.6 In 1992, the report of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China formally put forward that peace and development are the themes of the times. After the end of the cold war, given the new changes in the world situation, Jiang Zemin pointed out that “Peace and development are still the themes of the present era. Maintaining peace and promoting development are related to the well-being of the people of all countries, the common aspiration of the people of all countries, and an irresistible historical trend”.7 However, the factors affecting peace and development are increasing, the world is still very restless, and humanity faces many serious challenges. Seeking development in peace and stability is a top priority in today’s world. The purpose of China’s foreign policy is to maintain world peace and promote joint development. After entering the new century, “From the perspective of history, human society is in an era of great development, great change, and great adjustment. World multipolarization, economic globalization, social informatization, and cultural diversity are developing in-depth. The trend of peaceful development is increasingly strong, and the pace of reform and innovation continues to move forward. The ties between countries have never been as close as they are today, the aspiration of the people of the world for a better life has never been as strong as it is today, and the means for humanity to overcome difficulties have never been as rich; as it is today”.8 For this reason, general secretary Xi Jinping, based on adhering to the strategic judgment of China’s characteristic socialism on the theme of the times, deepened the understanding of the current world trend and the trend of the times, and pointed out, “The world, peace, development, cooperation and win–win situation become the trend of the times”.9 Thus, while emphasizing peace and development, it further puts forward the concept of cooperation and win–win. He elaborated that “Today’s mankind is more qualified than ever to move towards the goal of peace and development, and win–win cooperation is the realistic way to achieve this goal”.10 Therefore, it highly summarizes the primary trend and characteristics of world development in today’s era, and further enriches the connotation of the theme of today’s generation. B.

Interrelationship between peace and development

Peace is relative to war, which refers to the non-war state between international subjects. It includes the coexistence of countries using consultation, cooperation, and competition. Development refers to improving civilization level and a degree in economy, politics, science and technology, culture, society, ecology, and other fields. Peace and development, as the two major themes of the world today, are complementary and mutually reinforcing. 6

Selected important documents since the 15th National Congress of CPC, People’s Publishing House, 2000 edition. p. 339. 7 Selected Works of Jiang Zemin Vol. 3, People’s Publishing House, 2006, p. 566. 8 XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 508. 9 XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2014, p. 272. 10 XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2014, p. 274.

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b.

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Maintaining peace is the fundamental premise of promoting development. Only by maintaining world peace can we create an excellent international environment for growth. The central issue of development is economic development. In today’s era, economic development based on science and technology makes the relationship between international political subjects increasingly close. The whole world forms an organic whole, and the interest relevance of each political issue is constantly improving. Once there is a world war, it will cut off this organic connection and destroy the development of the world economy. On the other hand, only by maintaining world peace can we form a stable domestic environment and guarantee the country to concentrate on construction and development. War not only consumes a lot of human, material, and financial resources, resulting in a colossal waste of existing resources but also forces the focus of national strategy to shift from developing economy, society, and culture to coping with war, which often disrupts the economic and social development strategy and hinders the coordinated development of economy and society. Promoting development is a strong guarantee for maintaining peace. Development is an essential factor restricting war and safeguarding world peace. With the development of economic globalization, the relationship between international political subjects has become increasingly close. Each issue is faced with several everyday needs and joint problems, thus forming the requirements of common interests for peaceful development, which in includes an essential factor restricting war. On the one hand, economic globalization promotes world multi-polarization, and the growth of the power of various international political subjects, especially developing countries, will effectively restrict hegemonic superpowers from launching world wars; development will help to eliminate poverty, reduce unstable factors, and reduce the incentives for political conflicts. In the international community, there are many reasons for the war. Among them, the exploitation and plunder of the developed capitalist countries to the developing countries, resulting in the imbalance of international political and economic development and social unrest, are the main reasons for the war. Therefore, peace cannot be built based on unbalanced international political and economic development. Without development, especially the development of developing countries, real-world peace cannot be established. On the other hand, the development of developing countries is also conducive to strengthening world peace forces. The developing countries are deeply harmed by hegemonism and power politics, and they are the main forces to maintain world peace. However, the underdeveloped economy and weak comprehensive national strength of developing countries restrict them from playing a more significant role in the international arena. Therefore, only by narrowing the gap between developing countries and developed countries, improving their comprehensive national strength, giving full play to their role in international relations, changing the balance of power among nations, and establishing a fair and reasonable new international political and economic order, can we oppose, restrain and gradually eliminate the influence of hegemonism and power politics, and promote world development To maintain world peace.

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21.2.2 Economic Globalization and Multipolarity in the International Political Landscape A.

Implication of Economic Globalization

Economic globalization refers to the process in which capital, technology, information, and other factors of production flow and allocated on a global scale based on the international division of labor and promote the closer interaction of national economies. Economic globalization is the objective trend of the continuous development of socialized mass production and the inevitable result of developing productive forces, especially science and technology, to a higher level. Economic globalization has the following essential implications. a.

b.

c.

11

Economic globalization is an objective historical process. Economic globalization is a new stage of the internationalization of economic activities, and the internationalization of economic activities is gradually formed with the formation of the world market. Just as Marx said, “The bourgeoisie, as a result of opening up the world market, has made the production and consumption of all countries worldwide. In the past, the state of self-sufficiency and isolation of the local and ethnic groups was replaced by the interaction and interdependence of all ethnic groups”.11 Market economy breaks the restrictions of family, village, and region of natural economy, develops to the whole country, and then further breaks through the limits of the country and extends to the entire world. Since the second half of the twentieth century, the socialist countries have transformed from planned economy to market economy, the market economy mechanism of developing countries has been established, and the market economy of developed countries has been developing and expanding towards the world, which makes the market economy become a vital activity mode of the global economy. Therefore, economic globalization is the objective result of the worldwide movement of the market economy. The fundamental driving force of economic globalization is the growth of productive forces. Since the twentieth century, with the rapid development of productive forces, it has been necessary to expand the scale of production, deepen the division of labor, and strengthen international cooperation among countries in the capital, technology, and work. At the same time, the sales market of production products is no longer limited to one country but expanded to the whole world. The third scientific and technological revolution, marked by the application of computers and atomic energy, has provided a powerful impetus for developing productive forces, made the relations among countries closer, deepened the socialization and internationalization of production, and deepened economic globalization. The content of economic globalization includes the globalization of production, investment, trade, and finance. Marx pointed out that “the need to constantly Collected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 2009, p. 35.

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expand the market of products drives the bourgeoisie to travel all over the world. It has to be settled everywhere, developed everywhere, connected everywhere”.12 Globalization of production provides the material basis for economic globalization. Globalization of investment has become the primary means of globalization of production. Globalization of trade is the way to realize the globalization of production. Globalization of finance is the inevitable product of globalization of investment and trade. At the same time, it further promotes the development of economic globalization in depth. The function of economic globalization has duality. Economic globalization has duality. On the one hand, economic globalization promotes the global expansion of the market economy, encourages the exchange of investment, trade, and finance among countries, and promotes the optimization and adjustment of domestic industrial structure. On the other hand, economic globalization has brought significant challenges and pressure to all countries in the world, especially to developing countries. The developed countries, by their dominant position in the world economy, hold the supreme power of economic globalization; the developed countries lead the formulation and implementation of international financial rules and are often the biggest beneficiaries of global economic activities; the developed countries show the formulation and maintenance of international finance, international trade, environmental protection, information standards, etc., which are limited in specific significance and function. The development of the developing countries have been affected. Even new means and ways have been derived from plundering and exploiting the developing countries. The developed countries use the current international political and economic order and advanced scientific and technological means, which makes the global political and economic exchanges lack fairness and rationality and is not conducive to the political and economic development of the developing countries. In contrast, the financial strength, scientific, and technological level and comprehensive national strength of developing countries are far less than those of developed countries. They are often in a disadvantageous position in economic globalization. It can be seen that the economic globalization led by the developed capitalist countries has widened the gap between the north and the south, strengthened the unfair and unreasonable international political and economic order, deepened the global political and economic contradictions, and triggered a new political and economic imbalance. In addition, this kind of economic globalization also increases the enormous risks of economic production, trade, and finance of various countries, especially poses significant challenges to developing countries.

d.

B.

Impact of Economic Globalization on International Politics

General secretary Xi Jinping pointed out profoundly that, “Historically, economic globalization is the objective requirement of the development of productive social forces and the inevitable result of scientific and technological progress, not the people 12

Collected Works of Marx and Engels Vol. 2. People’s Publishing House, 2009, p. 35.

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or countries that have been created by man. Economic globalization has provided a strong driving force for world economic growth, promoted the flow of goods and capital, the progress of science and technology and civilization, and people-to-people exchanges. Of course, we have to admit that economic globalization is a ‘doubleedged sword.’ When the world economy is in a downturn, it is not easy for the global economic ‘cake’ to become more prominent or even smaller. The contradictions between growth and distribution, capital and labor, efficiency and equity will become more prominent, and both developed and developing countries will feel the pressure and impact”.13 Economic globalization not only has a series of extensive impacts on the world economy but also has a significant and far-reaching impact on international politics, mainly in the following aspects. a.

The impact of economic globalization on national sovereignty. Economic globalization not only strengthens the connection between sovereign countries but also poses severe challenges to national authority, which is mainly reflected in the following aspects. Firstly, transnational corporations have an impact on national sovereignty. To some extent, multinational corporations weaken the role of a country’s independence by bypassing the relevant laws and regulations of a specific country’s government through their subsidiaries or agents. Multinational corporations influence the economic policies of the investing country through their economic solid power, thus inhibiting the economic function of the relevant national sovereignty.

Secondly, economic globalization strengthens the function of organization and coordination of international organizations and weakens national sovereignty. Nowadays, international organizations have some parts of national sovereignty in the form of legal provisions. Global international organizations, such as the United Nations and the world bank, are endowed with the functions of some supranational entities; regional economic cooperation organizations, such as the North American Free Trade Area, are also endowed with the functions of national sovereignty in the process of promoting economic globalization. This strengthens the role of international organizations and weakens the power of specific countries. Thirdly, the adverse effects of economic globalization, such as the widening gap between the north and the south, the dependence of developing countries on the economic and technological information of rich countries, restrict the sovereignty of a nation. It can be seen that in the process of economic globalization, the scope, function, and jurisdiction of national liberation have been significantly impacted and pressured. Although economic globalization poses excellent challenges to national sovereignty, and the power and operation of sovereign countries are affected or even restricted, freedom is still the basic principle in dealing with international political relations in today’s world. Fundamentally speaking, the sovereign state is still the most essential and fundamental political subject in international political 13

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 477.

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connections. The impact of economic globalization has not and cannot abolish state sovereignty. First of all, although transnational corporations have an economic impact on the sovereignty and policies of a specific country, the power of a particular country still maintains effective control over multinational corporations and their enterprises. Secondly, under the background of economic globalization, international organizations undertake part of the functions of sovereign states. Their relevant laws and provisions limit the operation of state sovereignty in a certain sense. However, according to the common practice of international organizations and international law, any replacement of the functions of sovereign states by international organizations is the result of the transfer of part of their sovereignty and functions by sovereign states. In contrast, the replacement of sovereign states by international organizations. These functions of international organizations can only be carried out on the premise of the transfer and recognition of sovereign states. At the same time, sovereign states have autonomy and freedom to join and withdraw from these international organizations, which shows that the sovereignty of sovereign states is the basis and premise of international organizations and their operation. Thirdly, globalization has resulted in the development differences between countries and regions in the world. These differences can only be solved by the coordination, interaction, cooperation, and coexistence of international organizations among sovereign countries. Finally, although economic globalization has created and contributed to all kinds of new subjects of international politics, national sovereignty still maintains control over political, economic, and social issues at home and overseas, restricts various forces, maintains and maintains the social and political order at home and abroad, and guarantees the traditional and non-traditional security of the country. It can be seen that although the development of economic globalization has had different effects on national sovereignty, its supremacy, independence and equality must still be respected and protected in the process of globalization because of the fundamental and prerequisite significance of national power to international politics. b.

Impact of economic globalization on international organizations

Economic globalization promotes the development of international organizations. Many new international organizations are constantly emerging, and the scope of activities of international organizations is gradually expanding from the economic field to the political, cultural, social, and ecological areas. The development of international organizations is the inevitable result of the increasingly close political and economic ties between countries and the inevitable trend of economic globalization. Economic globalization will make international organizations have dual political functions and then have dual effects on global politics. On the one hand, economic globalization has led to the rapid development of international organizations, effectively promoting the ties among countries, nationalities, and regions, and promoting the development of international organizations. The cooperation between races and regions has formed and strengthened the advantages of the organizational system and contact network in solving regional and even global problems, which has a positive

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effect on the communication, consultation, and cooperation between international political subjects and the joint implementation of global governance. At the same time, the development of international organizations also provides organizational conditions for developing countries to establish and strengthen mutual ties, play a more significant role in global political life, promote international political multipolarization, and strive to confirm a new international political and economic order. On the other hand, economic globalization also makes international organizations hurt the development of international politics. In the process of economic globalization, with the increasingly close ties between countries, the functions of international organizations have expanded and even assumed part of the functions of sovereign nations, thus forming different degrees and forms of restrictions on the sovereignty of sovereign nations, especially developing countries, and thus affecting the role of these countries in international political life. At the same time, with the development of economic globalization, developed capitalist countries can control international organizations by their muscular financial strength. Then specific international organizations may become tools for power politics and hegemonism to manipulate international politics. Therefore, in economic globalization, it is necessary to promote international organizations to play a positive role, restrain, prevent and eliminate their adverse effects. In particular, it is essential to enable the positive development of international organizations by creating a new international political and economic order. c.

Economic globalization and multi-polarization of international political patterns

In the international community, the development of multi-polarization of global political patterns coexists with the trend of economic globalization. The international political pattern is the international political pattern, which refers to the fundamental political power contrast and overall situation formed in the world under the world’s main contradictions reflected in the internal contradictions of international political relations in a certain period. The global political pattern is the structural state and overall pattern of the international political system. According to this, the international political pattern has the following essential implications. (1)

The main contradictions in the world in a certain period are the basis for the formation and development of the international political pattern

In the different historical periods of the development of international politics, among the complicated contradictions of interests formed by various subjects, there must be a contradiction that dominates, restricts, and influences the development of other inconsistencies, which includes the central paradoxes of the world in a specific period. Around this contradiction, it includes the contradictory relationship between the aggregation of international political subjects. This kind of central contradiction and contradictory relationship constitutes the foundation of the formation of the global political pattern, and the global political content formed around this contradiction and contradictory relationship includes the theme of international politics in different historical periods. With the development and evolution of the subjects of international

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politics, their interest requirements and actual strength will also develop and change, which will lead to the development and change of interest relations and interest contradictions among the subjects. In this process, the world’s main contradictions will inevitably develop and change, making the international political pattern change and update. (2)

The international political pattern is formed mainly by the fundamental political forces in the world

In international politics, each subject is the main body of power formed to seek, realize and safeguard their interests. Therefore, the contradiction of goods in international politics, in its reality, is manifested as the contradiction between the central bodies of power in international politics. In a specific period, the world’s significant contradictions that dominate, restrict and affect the development of other inconsistencies in international relations are embodied in the contradictions between the elemental political forces of international politics, which constitute the backbone of the global political pattern. Generally speaking, the fundamental political forces that constitute the international political pattern have the following characteristics. First, they are the fundamental forces of international politics in the sense of the world. That is to say, in international political activities on a global scale, they have a leading solid force and extensive effect, rather than only provincial leading force and influence. Therefore, the influential force in regional politics can not be regarded as the primary force of international politics. Second, they are the undertakers of the main contradictions in the world in a specific period. In the particular stage of international political development, the principal contradiction is the interest contradiction between these elemental political forces. Therefore, the global political forces that bear the main non-world contradictions can not be regarded as the fundamental political forces in the world. Third, they can be made up of international political subjects or the aggregate of them. Therefore, the essential power of international politics is different from the national power. However, in the essential power of international politics, the country or group of countries is the main body. In contrast, other international political subjects are the essential power of international politics with the government or group of countries as the axis. Fourth, the primary international political power is based on economic power. However, similar to national power, this political power is a total power composed of various factors, and economic power is only the primary factor. Therefore, the elemental international political power is not equal to its economic power. (3)

The pattern of international politics is the combination and composition of the fundamental forces of international politics. The basic meaning of this combination and composition is: firstly, it is the overall combination and composition of the fundamental details of international politics. On the one hand, this combination and composition include all the fundamental details of international politics. On the other hand, it is an organic whole of the primary international

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political parties. That is to say, it is the sum of the primary international political parties and their organic relations. Secondly, it is composed of the fundamental details of global politics in a certain way. This kind of specific way refers to the form of connection between the fundamental details of international politics, such as confrontation and non-confrontation, domination, and obedience and equal consultation, plunder and exploitation and plunder and exploitation, cooperative alliance and non-cooperative alliance, etc. Thirdly, it refers to the overall form and reality of the interrelationship of the primary international political forces. Therefore, it does not refer to the specific state or a single elemental global political power. Although this is also the content of the global political pattern, it is not the main content. The combination and constitution of the primary power of international politics are closely related to the interesting relationship between the central bodies of global politics and the power status of each subject. The content, condition, and degree of the interesting relationship between the issues of international politics are the fundamental reasons for the combination and composition of the elemental forces of international politics. The strength of the central bodies of global politics and their aggregate, and the growth and decline and contrast of these forces are important factors for how the global political pattern is constituted and what kind of actual situation it presents. Under the background of economic globalization, international politics is increasingly showing a trend of multi-polarization. From the perspective of historical development, under economic globalization, the multi-polarization development of international politics is a long, tortuous, and complex evolution process. In this process, there is a complex interaction between economic globalization and multi-polarization of global political pattern. Economic globalization promotes the multi-polarization of the international political structure. Economic globalization has brought great benefits to the economic development of countries and regions. This will enable all countries, especially the developing countries, to learn from the experience and lessons of other countries, especially the developed countries, in the world economic development, seize the opportunities brought by economic globalization, attract international investment, develop import and export trade, obtain the capital and technology needed by their economic development, and adjust and optimize the domestic industrial structure In a short period. The improvement of financial strength is the basis for the advancement of comprehensive national power. The vast number of developing countries with economic development will gradually develop into a vital force on the international political stage, laying the foundation for world multi-polarization. Economic globalization makes production and products flow in the global scope and makes resources be allocated in the global area. As a result, the degree of economic interrelation and interdependence of different countries and regions is deepened, and the interdependence is formed. On the one hand, developed countries have advantages in production, investment, finance, and trade. Developing countries can promote domestic economic development by introducing foreign capital,

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technology, and equipment. Economic globalization has created conditions for developing countries to make use of the resources of developed countries. Although there is asymmetric interdependence between developing countries and developed countries, with economic globalization, developing countries have made use of “late developing advantages” to achieve rapid growth and become a force that can not be underestimated on the world economic stage. On the other hand, in world economic globalization, the development of developed countries is inseparable from the market, resources, and labor force of developing countries. This kind of economic interdependence makes it necessary for sovereign states to avoid vicious confrontation and competition, seek mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation in different degrees, and achieve “win–win” economic and social development. The formation of such a relationship is conducive to weakening the unipolarity of the international political pattern and promoting multi-polarization in the world. At the same time, in the process of economic globalization, the process of regional economic integration will be accelerated, and regional economic ties will be closer. On this basis, developing countries and groups of nations will form multiple forces in the international political pattern, thus promoting the further development of the global political design towards multi-polarization. What needs to be pointed out is that economic globalization, while actively promoting the multi-polarization of the international political pattern, also has a specific negative effect. It will make the western countries strive to build a harmonious society by the west of political system, development model, and values by their strong power in international political life, their dominant force in economic globalization, and their dominant force in international organizations and rules. The unipolar and unified world of Western capitalist model intensifies the contradiction between developed and developing countries. Therefore, the role of economic globalization in promoting the multi-polarization of the international political pattern can only be conducive to the construction of a harmonious world and promote the joint development of different countries in the process of correctly grasping and guiding the trend of economic globalization, establishing a fair and reasonable new international political and economic order, and safeguarding the sovereign equality, development right and joint development right of developing countries. On the other hand, the multi-polarization of international political patterns also promotes economic globalization. Multi-polarization of the global political design means the joint development of all countries in the world, the improvement of the comprehensive national strength of many nations and groups of countries in the world, the maintenance of the right of all countries and groups of countries to participate in international affairs on an equal footing, and especially the maintenance of the political and economic sovereignty, the right to development and the freedom to the joint development of developing countries. On this basis, the diversity of the international community will be respected and safeguarded, the basic norms of international political relations will become the fundamental norms of international political subjects, international political ties will tend to democratize, and countries and groups of countries will deal with their mutual relations using equal consultation and mutually beneficial cooperation, dealing with their related political, economic,

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cultural and social affairs, and dealing with people Class. This will further promote economic globalization in the direction conducive to world peace and development, promote the democratization of international relations, and promote the construction and development of a harmonious world. It can be seen from this that economic globalization and multi-polarization of the global political patterns are mutually reinforcing and integrated in terms of their fundamental internal relations and historical trends. However, the mutual promotion and combination between them must be based on the correct grasp and guidance of the development of economic globalization and the establishment of a fair and reasonable new international political and economic order. C.

Economic globalization and global governance

Under the influence of economic globalization, there are more and more global problems. The so-called global problem refers to the problem beyond the jurisdiction of the traditional sovereign state. Global problems are not the problems faced by a single country, but the common problems faced by many countries and even humanity. For example, terrorism, financial crisis, environmental pollution, ecological deterioration, natural disasters, the gap between the rich and the poor, transnational crime, severe infectious diseases, and the expansion of the digital divide. Global problems put forward the global governance requirements for humanity, which requires all countries, regional organizations, and international organizations to participate in governance and actively solve the common problems faced by humanity. According to the 1995 report of the Committee on global governance, global governance is a combination of various ways in which individuals and institutions, public and private sectors, manage their everyday affairs. It is a continuous process in which conflicts or multiple interests can adjust and take cooperative actions. It includes both formal and informal institutional arrangements.14 Economic globalization has two implications for the governance and resolution of global problems. On the one hand, while creating global problems, economic globalization has also created favorable conditions for solving global issues, embodied as follows. Economic globalization significantly deepens the dependence on international economic and political subjects and dramatically expands and deepens the global common interests of humanity. Countries and regions have increasingly extensive and close economic ties, the unprecedented international division of labor and cooperation, deepening interdependence, expanding the scope and deepening the content of the common interests of humanity, and the realization of different goods of countries and regions also depends on the completion of common interests. Therefore, interdependence, cooperation, mutual competition, and expected development have become the dominant factors in developing the world economy. It’s about posture. This makes

14

Ingvar Carlsson, Shridat Ranfar. (1995). Our Global Neighborhood: The Report of Commission on Global Governance. China Translation & Publishing Corporation.

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the formation of a common destiny of humanity, makes “peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, freedom” become the shared values of all humanity,15 and makes the construction of a community of common destiny not only necessary but also possible. Economic globalization promotes the development of the main body and organization network of governance and solving global problems. These subjects include sovereign states and other international political issues. Although economic globalization poses excellent challenges to sovereign states, they are still the most important subjects to solve global issues. International organizations are very active in solving global problems. Economic globalization promotes the emergence of new international organizations, expands the functions of international organizations, and is conducive to the participation of international organizations in solving global problems. Among other international political subjects, economic globalization promotes the development of transnational corporations and makes them a significant force to solve global issues. At the same time, economic globalization encourages and strengthens the relationship between these issues, thus gradually forming a common governance situation and mechanism of multiple subjects. Economic globalization promotes the development of international law and provides a legal basis or opportunity to form relevant laws for solving global problems. Governing and solving global problems is an activity for international political subjects to solve various global issues. International law is not only the criterion for getting relevant answers but also the yardstick for implementing them. The development of economic globalization promotes the renewal of international law. In addition, international law concerning global problems is endowed with more jurisdiction and specific binding force. In short, under the background of economic globalization, the expansion of international law has created conditions for solving global problems. On the other hand, human society faces complex challenges in addressing global problems and implementing global governance. There is no authoritarian government or institution in the international community to establish the primary principles for solving global issues, which leads to many disputes and conflicts of rights and obligations in the establishment and construction of the basic system and mechanism for solving global problems and realizing global governance. The existence of unjust and unreasonable old international political and economic order, old system and old mechanism, and the development of hegemonism, power politics, and unilateralism also pose challenges to global governance in the process of economic globalization. Under the principle of equal rights, it is a long-term and arduous task to ensure that the subjects of solving global problems, while expressing their will and interests, respect and consider the differences in ideology, cultural tradition, political system, and national religion of developing countries and regions, and form a cooperative mode of equal consultation, dialogue and problem-solving. 15

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Therefore, as general secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, “Mankind is in the period of great development, great change, and great adjustment. With the further development of world multi-polarization and economic globalization, social informatization and cultural diversity continue to advance, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial revolution is growing, countries are interconnected and interdependent, and the global destiny is closely related to each other. The rise of peace forces far exceeds the growth of war factors, and the trend of peace, development, cooperation, and win–win situation is stronger. At the same time, human beings are also in an era of endless challenges and increasing risks. The world economy is growing sluggishly, the financial crisis is lingering, the development gap is becoming increasingly prominent, wars happen from time to time, the Cold War mentality and power politics are lingering, and non-traditional security threats such as terrorism, refugee crisis, major infectious diseases, and climate change continue to spread”.16 For this reason, human beings should establish the sense of community of human destiny and construct the community of human destiny. To build a community with a shared future for humanity, the international community should make efforts from the partnership, security pattern, economic development, civilization exchange, ecological construction, and other aspects. Its primary goals are to build a world of lasting peace, universal security, shared prosperity, openness, inclusiveness, cleanness, and beauty, to build a world of lasting peace through dialogue and consultation, to build a world of universal security through co-construction and sharing, and to build a world of shared prosperity through win–win cooperation. We should persist in exchanges and mutual learning to create an open and inclusive world. Adhere to green and lowcarbon, create a clean and beautiful world. The way to implement it is to “respect each other, consult on an equal basis, resolutely abandon the Cold War mentality and power politics, and take a new path of the country to country exchanges of dialogue without confrontation and partnership without alliance. We should persist in resolving disputes through dialogue and resolving differences through consultation, deal with traditional and non-traditional security threats as a whole, and oppose all forms of terrorism. We should work together in the same boat to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation and promote economic globalization to a more open, inclusive, inclusive, balanced, and win–win direction. We should respect the diversity of world civilizations and transcend the gap, mutual learning, and coexistence of civilizations. We should adhere to environmental friendliness, cooperate in dealing with climate change, and protect the earth home on which human beings rely for survival”.17

16

XI JINPING THE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA vol. 2, Foreign Language Press, 2017, p. 538. Xi Jinping: Decisively Win the Building of a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects, and Win the Great Victory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era- A Report at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, People’s Daily (October 28, 2017). 17

Post Script

The book A Study of Interests Politics is a preliminary result of our exploration and research on the system and content of the principles of political science. On the one hand, this book attempts to use the Marxist method of social relations and interest analysis, from the duality of human social interests, that is, the analysis of the self-nature of interest realization requirements and the sociality of realization ways, to lead to the study of human social interest relations. From the study of interest relations to the study of social-political power and political rights. And then, from the study of interest relations and political rights. The relationship between power and political rights is the analysis of the three-level progressive relationship of political ties. It analyzes the external derivatives of political ties, that is, social and political behavior, organization and system, and culture. On this basis, it discusses the primary way and historical goal of the development of the political relationships. Therefore, the logical result of interests, political power, and political rights and the logical connection between political relations and social and political life constitute the whole analytical framework. On the other hand, on the premise of adhering to the basic stand, viewpoint, and method of Marxist political science, this book tries to analyze and absorb the scientific achievements of current political science research as far as possible to enrich and enrich the content of political science theory. In preparing and writing this book, I was invited to compose and discuss the Syllabus of Principles of Politics organized by the State Education Commission who is very enlightening. The Social Sciences Department and the Academic Affairs Office of Peking University have given generous support and encouragement to the writing of this book. Textbook Construction Committee of Peking University has given sponsorship to the publication of this book. Professor Zhao Baoxu, vice president of China political society, doctoral supervisor of political science of Peking University, director of China national conditions research center of Peking University, and Professor Li Baoxu, doctoral supervisor of political science of Peking University Professor Jing Peng gave a lot of guidance to the writing of this book. Professor Zhao Baoxu has written a preface to this book in his busy schedule. Leaders of the

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Post Script

Department of political science and administration of Peking University have given great support and concern to the writing of this book. Peking University Press has provided convenience for the publication of this book. I want to express my sincere thanks. The division of labor in this book is as follows. Part I Introduction, Chaps. 1 and 2, Wang Puqu Part II Introduction, Chaps. 3, 4 and 5, Wang Puqu Part III Introduction, Chaps. 6, 7, 8 and 9, Shi Hexing Part IV Introduction, Wang Puqu Chapters 10, 11, Fang Xiangqin Chapter 12, Mao Shoulong Part V Introduction, Chaps. 13 and 14, Yan Jirong Chapter 15, Wang Puqu and Yan Jirong Part VI Introduction, Chaps. 16 and 17, Yan Jirong Chapter 18, Wang Puqu and Yan Jirong The book was drafted and revised by Wang Puqu. As a preliminary exploration to improve the system and content of the principles of political science, the book’s shortcomings and fallacies are inevitable. I hope that the relevant experts, scholars and readers will not hesitate to give me advice! The book was published in Peking University in February 1993.

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