Cao Jinlong and Liu Jianjun: An Analysis of the Ideological Value of the Party's Style Construction
The Communist Party of China (CPC) has historically attached great importance to the construction of Party conduct. Whether during the years of revolutionary war or the period of peaceful construction, the Party has always regarded a fine style of work as a crucial "magic weapon" for winning the support of the masses and advancing various undertakings, forming fine traditions such as integrating theory with practice, maintaining close ties with the masses, practicing criticism and self-criticism, as well as arduous struggle and seeking truth from facts. Since the 18th National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has unswervingly promoted comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, advancing the great new project of Party building in the New Era with a spirit of thorough self-revolution. Beginning with the strengthening of the Party's conduct and utilizing the formulation and implementation of the Eight-Point Regulations as a key focal point, a new atmosphere in the Party’s conduct has taken shape. The construction of the CPC's conduct is not only an important measure for deepening Party governance and advancing the development of Party building in the New Era; it also generates a profound and vital ideological value due to its benefits for the Party’s image, nature, and concrete work. Both conduct construction and ideology are essential components of the Party's work. Deeply exploring, organizing, and explaining the ideological value of the Party's conduct construction is conducive not only to strengthening the theoretical connotation and practical significance of conduct construction but also to broadening the path for the connotative development of ideological work. By continuously forging an advanced, pure, and strong ruling party, this process enhances the cohesion and leadership of socialist ideology, providing powerful political leadership and ideological guidance for building a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation.
I. The Construction of Party Conduct Consolidates and Upgrades Ideological Cohesion
When individuals or entities exist in the world, they often project a specific image; the image presented by an individual or organization exerts a significant influence on the degree of acceptance and identification by others. Consequently, both individuals and organizations seek to shape their own images. For the Party organization, whether it can produce a good image and leave a lasting impression in the hearts of the people determines whether the people will identify with the Party’s ideology and accept the Party’s leadership. The most direct ideological value of the CPC's conduct construction lies in the continuous shaping of the Party's advanced image by purifying the attitudes and behaviors of the entire Party in thought, work, and life. This promotes public acceptance and identification, ensuring that our Party’s ideology possesses powerful cohesion.
(1) The Party's Conduct Is the Party's Image
The issue of image is a major topic that no political party can afford to ignore. Reviewing the century-long history of our Party growing from small to large and from weak to strong, we see it is closely related to the Party's fine conduct and its good image. Our Party is deeply aware of the significant impact of conduct issues on its image, explicitly stating that "the Party's conduct relates to the Party's image." After the 18th National Congress, the formulation "the Party's conduct is the Party's image" was further employed. The judgment shifting from "relates to" to "is" indicates that our Party’s understanding of the tight connection between the two has continued to deepen. Generally speaking, an image is a mental representation formed in the mind of "the other" regarding a specific person or thing. Because of its inherent characteristics, a person or thing presents a certain outward manifestation; observing and thinking people, under certain conditions, perceive and recognize these outward manifestations, thereby forming an overall evaluation and impression. Accordingly, the image of the CPC is "the behavioral state and overall appearance presented by the CPC in the course of conducting political activities based on its nature, purpose, tasks, and guiding ideology, which, after external display and media transmission, forms the sensory cognition and value judgment in people's minds."
The reason our Party maintains that the Party's conduct is the Party's image is that conduct determines image. The Party organization is not a specific individual or physical object; although it has some explicit logos, it lacks a clearly perceptible external form. Thus, the Party's external manifestation is primarily embodied in the actions of the Party, which are collectively constituted by its members. In the long-term practice of revolution, construction, and reform, the relatively stable attitudes and behavioral patterns displayed by members constitute the Party's conduct. People observe this conduct and perceive it based on realistic conditions and their own cognitive abilities, thereby forming a general evaluation and basic impression of the Party. In this sense, the construction of the Party's conduct is actually the shaping of the Party's image; the process of conduct construction is the process of the Party's image construction. Similarly, the Party's image also influences its conduct to a certain extent; the advanced image in the hearts of the people demands even more that our Party constantly strengthen its own conduct construction to inherit and develop the tradition of fine conduct.
(2) The Image of Conduct Determines the Masses' Ideological Identification
Our Party attaches great importance to conduct construction, believing not only that the Party's conduct relates to its image but elevating it to the height of "relating to the support or opposition of the people, and relating to the life or death of the Party." One of the important reasons for this judgment is that the Party's conduct profoundly affects the masses' ideological identification with the Party; unhealthy winds [1] place us in danger of losing the people’s hearts and losing political power. For an ideology to fulfill its function of providing ideological guidance and ultimately maintaining class interests, it must first win broad identification; the same is true for socialist ideology. If the Party's thought and theory cannot be identified with by the masses it represents, it cannot truly unite or lead people, nor can it achieve the goals of liberation, development, and the creation of a beautiful future. For an ideology representing class interests to gain identification, the theory itself must first be persuasive. Marx pointed out: "To be radical is to grasp the root of the matter. But, for man, the root is man himself." For the Party's theory to "grasp" people, it must certainly rely on the scientific nature of the theory itself—its ability to explain phenomena, clarify truths, and point the way—but it must rely even more on the mutual verification of theory and practice and on truly safeguarding the vital interests of the people.
In reality, people prefer to let facts speak for themselves, observing whether the Party can take the lead in implementing the theories it advocates to guide practice. The Party’s series of political behaviors constitute the Party's conduct; this conduct, through the observation of the masses, constructs value judgments and a basic impression of the Party—namely, the Party's image. If this image is consistent with ideological propaganda, it can better win identification; otherwise, it will lose trust. The fine conduct and advanced image formed by the CPC in long-term practice have verified its thought and theory, using facts to enhance the persuasiveness and identification of that theory. Precisely because of this, during the revolutionary period, our Party used "Yan'an conduct" to defeat "Xi'an conduct" [2], leading democratic figures [3] such as Tan Kah Kee to exclaim that "the hope of China lies in Yan'an." A fine image of conduct builds a solid practical foundation for the people’s ideological identification with our Party.
(3) Party Conduct Construction Enhances Ideological Cohesion through Practical Action
A mature political party often builds a certain ideology to unite its members and lead the masses, forming party cohesion. If a party wants to exert ideological cohesion, it must rely both on the persuasiveness of thought and theory and on the powerful inspiration of practical action. The construction of the Party's conduct is intended to further consolidate and improve the Party's image of conduct through practical action, thereby forming influence in the process of increasing identification and ultimately enhancing ideological cohesion. The construction of the Party's conduct maintains and consolidates the Party's credibility. A very important reason why the CPC has achieved a series of major successes and created a large number of development miracles that have attracted worldwide attention over the past century is that it has won the trust of the people in its theoretical and practical explorations, enabling it to unite the people of all ethnic groups across the country to overcome difficulties and move toward the future together. Our Party has shaped many advanced images—such as being for the people, pragmatic, clean, and hardworking—through fine conduct. Since the 18th National Congress, it has further deepened its self-disciplined image of "grasping [issues] with real earnestness" [4] through comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, having the courage for self-revolution, and strictly focusing on conduct construction, thus maintaining the people's trust in the Party.
The construction of the Party's conduct enhances the Party's ideological cohesion by further adapting to the new requirements of the New Era. As socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a New Era, the process of advancing the building of a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization has put forward many new requirements for our Party's governance of itself and the country. Facing these new situations and requirements, our Party has successively carried out Party-building activities such as the educational practice of the mass line, the "Three Stricts and Three Steadies" [5] special education, the "Two Studies, One Action" [6] study and education, the "Staying True to Our Original Aspiration and Founding Mission" [7] theme education, and Party history study and education. These activities have strengthened and improved the Party's conduct and effectively safeguarded the interests of the masses. The improvement in Party and government conduct has not only made it so that when the masses come into contact with Party and government departments, "the door is easy to enter, the face is pleasant to see, and the business is easy to handle," but it also serves the function of building up ideological positions. The masses often understand and evaluate the Party through the conduct of the Party members and officials around them; good conduct deepens the positive image of the Party in the hearts of the people, causing the Party's ideological value position to be manifested concretely in the daily lives of the masses. Without a doubt, only an ideology that can penetrate daily life can truly persuade people, possess influence and cohesion, and truly lead people to struggle and advance together. Precisely because of this, our Party places the image of its conduct in an extremely prominent position, believing that "the Party's conduct and image relate to the Party's creativity, cohesion, and combat effectiveness, and determine the success or failure of the cause of the Party and the country."
II. The Construction of Party Conduct Clarifies and Strengthens the Fundamental Ideological Position
The Party’s conduct embodies the Party's nature and purpose. The more core ideological value of conduct construction is the further manifestation of the Party’s nature and purpose, clarifying the fundamental position of socialist ideology, maintaining the Party's close ties with the masses, and strengthening the ideological foundation of the Party's governing legitimacy.
(1) Conduct Issues Are Fundamentally Issues of Party Spirit
The Party’s conduct is the external manifestation of the Party’s behavioral state, and what determines behavior are the Party’s values, nature, and purpose. In essence, the Party’s conduct is the concentrated embodiment of the Party’s nature and purpose. As Xi Jinping said: "Conduct issues are fundamentally issues of Party spirit [8]. Conduct reflects image and quality, embodies Party spirit, and it is Party spirit that plays the decisive role." Reflecting on why some Party members and officials have problems in their thinking style, work style, and lifestyle, one might find the "foci of infection" in many aspects such as their upbringing, social environment, or political ecosystem. However, the focus of infection is not the same as the cause of the disease. What truly causes them to fall ill is a lack of cultivation of Party spirit, leading to low personal immunity, which allows "pathogenic bacteria" to erode the "body." Our Party has made a clear judgment on this, pointing out that if communists "waver in their belief, depart from their Party spirit, and lose their purpose, they may be captured by others during 'hunting expeditions' [9]." Regarding the conduct issues of members and officials, we must of course prevent the emergence of infected foci or excise those already produced through measures such as reviewing past experiences, strengthening supervision, and optimizing the environment. But we ultimately cannot make people live in a "sterile" environment; fundamentally, we must temper Party spirit, clarify the Party's purpose, and effectively improve personal immunity.
By grasping the Party spirit and purpose, one grasps the root of conduct issues. Party spirit is the essential attribute of a political party; the thoughts and behaviors of our members and officials must embody the Party’s political position, ideals and beliefs, organizational principles, and disciplinary requirements. Some members and officials have conduct issues because, in the final analysis, they have not resolved issues regarding their worldview, outlook on life, and values; they have not truly understood what kind of party our Party is, or completely understood what kind of person a Party member should become. If there are gray areas in the understanding of these fundamental issues, it becomes difficult to remain true to the original aspiration and resist temptation in thought, work, and life. "Our Party takes Marxism as its foundation for building the Party, takes the realization of communism as its highest ideal, and takes serving the people whole-heartedly as its fundamental purpose. This is the 'root' of communists." As the saying goes, when the root is upright, the form is consolidated [10]. To grasp conduct issues, one must first grasp the issues of theoretical ambiguity and ideological backsliding, consolidating the foundation and nurturing the spirit through firm ideals and beliefs, a clear Party spirit and purpose, and noble moral cultivation.
(2) The Core of Conduct Issues Is the Relationship Between the Party and the Masses
The CPC is a political party that represents the interests of the people. When we emphasize that members and officials should emphasize Party spirit, we are also emphasizing "people-centeredness" (renminxing). In our Party's theory and practice, Party spirit and people-centeredness have always been consistent and unified. All the Party's work, in the final analysis, is for the service of the people. Therefore, the Party's conduct issues ultimately affect the interests of the people and undermine the relationship between the Party and the masses. Xi Jinping emphasized: "The core of conduct issues is the relationship between the Party and the masses." This means that once a Party member or official has a conduct issue, the various relationships involved may be complex, but in the end, they all affect the relationship between the Party and the masses. Although only a small number of members and officials violate the Party's purpose and discipline to produce conduct issues, they can seriously damage the masses' view of the Party. Conduct issues among members destroy the Party's purpose, corrode the Party's body, tarnish the Party's image, and distance the Party from the masses.
Solving problems requires identifying their crux; strengthening the construction of Party conduct must center on the crucial task of maintaining the "flesh-and-blood ties" between the Party and the masses. Maintaining close ties with the masses not only embodies the nature and mission of our Party but also serves as a distinctive hallmark that differentiates us from other political parties. Our Party has expended great effort to strengthen conduct construction and has launched a series of education and practice activities. One of the most significant objectives is to educate and guide the entire Party to keep in mind the fundamental question of what the Communist Party of China (CPC) is and what it aims to do, and to consistently maintain the Party's flesh-and-blood ties with the people. History and reality have proven—and will continue to prove—that as long as the Party maintains these ties, it can overcome all difficulties and defeat all challenges through the great power of unity, creating brilliant achievements. Whether the Party’s cause flourishes or fails depends on our ability to mobilize, unify, and lead the masses. Therefore, every Party member should resolve the questions of "who am I, for whom am I working, and upon whom do I rely" in both theory and practice. Our Party represents the interests of the people; members are part of the masses and possess no special privileges; and the masses are the source of the Party's strength. For the Party to overcome any difficulty or achieve any success, it must rely on the masses. Our Party can never detach itself from the masses at any time and must always maintain an excellent conduct. This is because the Party's conduct "is the barometer for observing the relationship between the Party and the masses [and between] cadres and the masses, and for gauging the direction of public support. When the Party’s conduct is upright, the people’s morale is smooth, and the Party and the people can share weal and woe."
(3) Conduct construction reinforces the ideological foundation of the Party's governing legitimacy
Consolidating the Party's governing foundation and status is a major issue and a task of the times facing Party building, as well as the direction in which every Party member should strive. While every member displays a diverse personality, they also share a relatively unified commonality as members of the same Party organization. One of the most vital commonalities of Communists is upholding the Party's basic position. Ours is a Marxist party; speaking for the poor and struggling against unreasonable status quos has always been the CPC's most fundamental value position. Mao Zedong explicitly pointed out: "Our contingent is wholly dedicated to the liberation of the people and works entirely in the people's interests." Entering the New Era, Xi Jinping clearly proposed that we must always take "whether the people support it, whether they approve of it, whether they are happy with it, and whether they consent to it as the starting point and ultimate goal of formulating policies and making decisions." He has repeatedly emphasized that "the country is the people, and the people are the country; as the Party fights to win and maintain its leadership over the country, it is actually fighting for the support of the people." The legitimacy of a political party's governance must have a basis in rules and laws, but more importantly, it must have a basis in public will. The people-centered position is our Party's most fundamental political position; the support and backing of the people were the fundamental reasons our Party gained power and remain the firmest foundation for our Party's governing legitimacy.
The CPC was established to seek a way forward for the people at a time when the country and nation were in peril. Everything for which all Party members have struggled, overcoming countless dangers and difficulties, is to "seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation." The Party’s conduct construction serves as both a consolidation of and a correction for the original aspiration and founding mission of Chinese Communists. On one hand, further inheriting and promoting the Party's fine traditions not only promotes internal unity and boosts the drive for entrepreneurship within the Party, but also—through a distinct image of hard work, seeking truth from facts, and integrity—serves as a clear hallmark distinguishing it from other parties, especially bourgeois ones. This manifests the superiority of socialist ideology, thereby binding the people closely together. On the other hand, it allows for the timely correction of conduct problems that emerge during the Party's governance. In reality, people do not expect a governing party to be free of all problems; rather, they focus on the party's attitude toward those problems. History has proven that many parties lose power because they are unable or even unwilling to correct their issues. Strengthening conduct construction enables our Party to continuously practice its original aspiration and mission, demonstrating to society the value concept of "for whom we govern and whom we serve," thereby stabilizing the Party's ideological position and shoring up the foundation of its governing legitimacy.
III. The Party's Conduct Construction Prevents and Mitigates Ideological Risks and Challenges
While the overall situation of China's development in the New Era is positive, we must soberly recognize that as "changes unseen in a century" accelerate, the complex and volatile international and domestic environments will impact China's forward path, particularly as the field of thought and culture faces ideological risks. Whether preventing internal or external ideological risks, a strong and powerful political party is required. Strengthening the Party's conduct construction is of great value in forestalling the potential ideological risks facing the Party.
(1) Problems in Party conduct are a significant aspect of ideological risks
Ideological risks concern the Party's governing security. "The collapse of a regime often begins in the realm of ideas. Political turmoil and regime change can happen overnight, but ideological evolution is a long-term process. Once the ideological line of defense is breached, it becomes very difficult to hold other lines." Profound changes in international and domestic situations have presented our country’s ideological field with unprecedentedly complex conditions. Endogenous and exogenous risks are overlapping and surging: there are external risks of "Westernization," fragmentation, and "color revolutions" [11], as well as internal risks of erroneous ideas and social trends triggered by contradictions in economic and social development. Additionally, the rapid development of information technology in the digital age—including AI, algorithmic recommendations, and "traffic culture" [12]—provides platforms for the gestation, evolution, dissemination, and even amplification of ideological risks.
Among the risks facing our Party, the problem of conduct is a particularly lethal internal risk. The Party's conduct and image carry profound ideological significance. The Party's excellent conduct translates Marxist ideological theory into tangible practice, becoming the hallmark that distinguishes it from other parties. This does not mean our Party will have no problems during its development. As early as the Revolutionary War period, Mao Zedong clearly pointed out conduct problems like subjectivism, sectarianism, and "Party stereotypes" [13], and improved the Party's conduct through the Rectification Movement [14]. In the New Era, as world, national, and Party conditions undergo profound changes, the tests and risks facing the Party have become more complex. Xi Jinping once cautioned the entire Party: "The phenomenon of detaching from the masses exists extensively within the Party, and some problems are quite serious." The masses' recognition of and identification with a party's ideology, as well as their support, depend on their evaluation and judgment of the party, and conduct is the most intuitive sign by which people recognize a party. "Conduct issues that people view as commonplace are often the very issues that bring fatal damage to the Party's credibility and image." The Four Winds (formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism, and extravagance) existing within the Party not only damage the image of the Party’s fine conduct but also act like a knife cutting the connection between the Party and the masses, continuously deconstructing the realistic basis for identifying with the mainstream ideology. This is a major reason why our Party, in the New Era, does not hesitate to "turn the blade inward" to promote self-revolution.
(2) Conduct construction is a vital method for preventing and mitigating ideological risks
The prevention and mitigation of ideological risk is a complex, systemic task. Procedurally, one must be able to identify and warn of risks beforehand, exercise reasonable control during an event, and conduct scientific evaluation afterward. Different stages require different methods based on actual conditions, but the constant factor is the subjective role of the Party. Truly achieving the prevention and mitigation of risk is inseparable from the Party’s fine conduct.
Starting with conduct to strengthen Party building is key to preventing internal ideological risks. During his Southern Tour talks [15], Deng Xiaoping emphasized: "If problems arise in China, they will come from within the Communist Party." This reflects both a deep understanding of the close link between the Party and the state and a high degree of alertness toward internal risks. The CPC is an advanced proletarian party, but this "advanced nature" is neither innate nor something that grows naturally with time in power. Conversely, as the Party's time in power increases and the environment changes, we face many new tasks in governing the Party—some even being "challenges unique to a large party." Conduct construction aims to help the vast majority of members improve their conduct in thought, work, and life, thereby building a solid foundation for preventing ideological risks through an excellent style of study, writing, Party conduct, and government conduct.
Conduct construction can enhance our Party’s comprehensive ability to prevent external ideological risks. While there is a distinction between internal and external ideological risks, they are by no means isolated; external risks can be mitigated to an extent by strengthening internal forces. As the saying goes, "it takes a good blacksmith to forge good steel" [16]; to deal with any challenge, one must first be strong oneself. "If a governing party does not pay attention to conduct construction and allows unhealthy tendencies to erode the Party's body, it risks losing the people's hearts and its power." Conversely, conduct construction helps the Party organization continuously remove "malignant tumors," maintain a healthy body, and increase its "immunity" to prevent viral invasion. Especially when facing complex struggles launched by various hostile forces in the ideological field, we must break down ill-intentioned plots through theoretical critique and establish the foundation of our governance through conduct construction. Only in this way can we "uphold the fundamental while breaking new ground, and continuously enhance the cohesion and leadership of socialist ideology" under the new situation. The Party's conduct construction not only makes the Party a closely united and powerful organization but also fosters a good political ecosystem, leading social and public conduct through good Party and government conduct. As the saying goes, "If one's own conduct is upright, others will follow without orders" [17]. Conduct construction allows our Party to boost spirits, stimulate the will to fight, establish its image, and win the hearts of the people, thereby fully mobilizing the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the masses. In this way, erroneous trends from the outside and various other ideological risks will face a veritable "Great Wall of Iron."
In conclusion, conduct construction is both the key point for our Party to solve realistic problems and a "preemptive move" for dealing with future challenges. The Party's conduct is the practical manifestation of ideological concepts. Conduct construction possesses extremely important ideological value: whether it is the direct value of continuously shaping an advanced image, the core value of manifesting the Party's nature and mission, or the potential value of preventing risks and challenges. All these indicate that conduct construction is not only a vital component of the Great Project of Party Building but also an essential part of ideological work. What the Party looks like and what image it holds in the hearts of the masses depends dynamically on the Party's conduct. On the new journey of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, the greater the risks, the more the challenges, and the heavier the tasks, the more we must strengthen the Party's conduct construction. A CPC that constantly maintains excellent conduct, acts for the people, stays pragmatic, and remains incorruptible will continue to possess powerful political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social mobilization. This will enhance the cohesion and leadership of socialist ideology, providing a powerful ideological guide for uniting and leading the people in their pursuit of a better life.