Qian Yingchao and Zhong Lianfa: Major Challenges, Lessons, and Inspirations Facing Foreign Centenary Political Parties
On the occasion of the centenary of the Communist Party of China, a look across the world reveals that there are at least 70 other well-known political parties whose history reaches or exceeds a century and which remain in existence today. These include parties with diverse ideologies, such as the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, and the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom; the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States; the Social Democratic Party of Germany (hereafter "German SPD"); the Socialist Party in France; the Swedish Social Democratic Party (hereafter "Swedish SAP"); the Liberal and Conservative parties in Canada; the African National Congress (hereafter "South African ANC") and the South African Communist Party; the Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India; the Colorado and National (White) parties in Uruguay; and the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (hereafter "MPRP"). Today, as the world undergoes great changes unseen in a century [1], examining the developmental trajectories, lessons, and challenges of foreign centenarian parties holds a certain value as a mirror for our correct understanding of the CPC's brilliant hundred-year history.
I. Recent Predicaments and Challenges Faced by Foreign Centenarian Parties
Since the end of the Cold War, and particularly since the dawn of the 21st century, changes in the era and the environment have meant that most existing foreign centenarian parties face increasingly complex difficulties and challenges, exposing a series of long-accumulated contradictions and problems. Taken together, their commonalities primarily include the following aspects.
(1) Universal impact from the waves of globalization, informatization, democratization, and the diversification of lifestyles.
On one hand, the deepening development of globalization and informatization, the impact of democratization and diversification trends, and the rapid advancement of new media have broken the relatively closed governing environments in which many countries previously operated. This has increased the challenges faced by traditional large and old parties. Currently, the monopoly or dominant position of many foreign centenarian parties in national political and economic life is being continuously disrupted and weakened, making it difficult for them to maintain authority over policy orientation and the strength of governance. For example, during Gerhard Schröder's administration, the German SPD suffered a serious imbalance between reform and maintaining traditional characteristics; the sequelae caused by excessive innovation continue to exert influence today. On the other hand, these new trends and waves pose major challenges to the organizational systems, mobilization models, and mindsets of many old parties. This has led to a noticeable lack of adaptation and a lag in response among some parties, with some experiencing varying degrees of disconnect from society—even speaking only to themselves—resulting in weakened combat effectiveness. For instance, parties with relatively vertical management systems and traditional propaganda and mobilization methods, such as the Portuguese Communist Party and the Communist Party of Greece, have been heavily impacted, seeing their influence among the lower and middle classes decline. Meanwhile, Western social democratic parties like the German SPD, the French Socialist Party, the British Labour Party, and the Swedish SAP can no longer rely on "one great banner to rally half the sky" [2]; their social mobilization capacity has significantly decreased, which is particularly evident in elections. In France, more than half of the traditional supporters, especially young people, have become increasingly estranged from the Socialist Party and no longer heed its call. Currently, the all-encompassing and multi-layered challenges encountered by most foreign centenarian parties are unprecedented, and many parties have yet to find viable countermeasures.
(2) Widespread impact from the trend of "depoliticization" in social thought, leading to increased public distrust of traditional parties.
Since the Cold War, the role of ideological factors in the political and social life of most countries has significantly declined, leading to the emergence of political apathy and a decrease in the attraction, cohesion, appeal, and influence of traditional parties. The channels for citizens to participate in politics and social governance have expanded significantly; in particular, most young people tend to participate in various loose, flexible, and convenient non-governmental organizations and social movements, while their interest in joining traditional parties has dropped markedly. Given the long-standing shortcomings of many centenarian parties—especially the frequent exposure of corruption—public trust in them has continued to decline, while criticism and condemnation have increased. According to relevant polls, at the beginning of the 21st century, public distrust of political parties, especially traditional mainstream parties, reached 61% in Germany and 63% in France. In the United States, by 2012, public approval ratings for the Democratic and Republican parties had fallen to 30% and 20% respectively. Trust in political parties among the public in Latin American countries is less than 20%, while for some traditional old parties, it is even lower, falling to around 10%. Driven by this public coldness toward parties in recent decades, foreign centenarian parties on one hand face a universal reduction in membership. For example, in the 1980s, the German SPD and the Social Democratic Party of Austria (hereafter "Austrian SPÖ") had 954,000 and 720,000 members respectively; by 2019, German SPD membership had dropped to 419,340, and by 2020, Austrian SPÖ membership had decreased to 157,855. On the other hand, they face an intensified centrifugal tendency among members toward traditional parties, reflected especially in a decline in party loyalty. Data shows that in traditional parties in some Western countries, the proportion of members resigning accounts for 1/3 to 1/2 of total membership, while the proportion of supporters "rebelling" against traditional old parties in elections is even higher. In the 2017 French election, many within the Socialist Party, including key figures such as Christophe Castaner (who later became Minister of the Interior), turned to support Emmanuel Macron and La République En Marche!.
(3) Squeezing and challenges from the continuous rise of emerging parties, especially populist parties.
During the Cold War, the party landscapes in many countries, especially Western nations, were generally stable, and centenarian parties possessed a certain ability to control the situation. In most Western countries such as Germany, France, the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, traditional mainstream parties of the center-left and center-right generally served as the "ballast stone" [3] of the political arena; their combined vote share in each general election usually reached about 80%. However, since the 1990s and particularly since the 21st century, the party landscapes in most countries have undergone varying degrees of change or even restructuring, stemming from the strong rise of domestic emerging parties, especially populist ones. For example, La République En Marche! in France, the Five Star Movement in Italy, the Coalition of the Radical Left (hereafter "SYRIZA") in Greece, the Freedom Party of Austria, the Sweden Democrats, the Broad Front in Uruguay, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and the Economic Freedom Fighters in South Africa have risen strongly to become important or mainstream parties; the Broad Front in Uruguay and SYRIZA in Greece even ascended to become the largest parties for a time. Under these circumstances, the survival space for old parties in many Western European and Latin American countries, as well as in India and Pakistan, has been squeezed to varying degrees, with some relegated to second-tier or even marginal status. The French Socialist Party has recently suffered unprecedented pressure from three emerging parties: La France Insoumise, La République En Marche!, and the National Front. The Colombian Conservative and Liberal parties took turns in power for a long time from the mid-19th century to the end of the 20th century, but since the reform of party laws in the 1990s, both have lost their governing status due to severe challenges from emerging parties established in succession, such as Radical Change, the Green Alliance, the Social Party of National Unity, and the Democratic Center.
(4) Accelerated decline of some large and old parties, facing severe survival crises.
Following the drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, not only did some traditional communist parties—especially centenarian communist parties in Western countries—continue on a downward path and fall into marginal status (with some even changing their names or disappearing), but in recent years, some large centenarian parties have also shown signs of exhaustion or sustained decline. This is particularly prominent among center-left socialist parties, such as the French Socialist Party, the British Labour Party, the German SPD, the Swedish SAP, the Indian National Congress, and the South African ANC, whose vote shares in general elections have plummeted to historic lows. The Indian National Congress was the largest party in the 2009 election, winning 191 seats—73 more than the second-largest Bharatiya Janata Party—but in the 2014 election, it won only 44 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha. Because it failed to meet the 10% legal requirement, the party's president, Sonia Gandhi, could not serve as the official Leader of the Opposition. For a traditional giant that has existed for over 130 years, this is an unprecedented situation. The British Labour Party had vote shares of 48.8%, 46.4%, and 43.8% in the three elections of the 1950s, but in the 2015 and 2019 elections, these fell to 30.4% and 32.2% respectively, marking its "most painful defeat" since 1935. In the first round of the 2017 French presidential election, the Socialist candidate received only 6.36% of the vote, and in the first round of the legislative elections, the party received only 7.44%. The German SPD's share in the general election of the same year was also only 20.5%. The Austrian SPÖ's vote share dropped from a peak of 51% in 1979 to 33% in 2000, and fell further to 21.7% in the most recent election. Center-right parties such as the British Conservative Party, the Conservative Party of Canada, the Venstre (Liberal) party in Denmark, and the Conservative Party of Norway are also clearly in decline, being shadows of their former selves. The decline of these large and old parties is the result of a combination of factors: the wear and tear of governing, weakened motivation for self-innovation, deteriorating financial conditions, the distancing of party-mass relations, and the hollowing out of grassroots organizations, all of which have led to a continuous erosion of their own strength and an eventual slide in public opinion.
II. Lessons from the Success and Failure of Foreign Centenarian Parties
During their long history of rises and falls, foreign centenarian parties have both accumulated rich historical experience and left behind profound lessons.
(1) Historical experience of the development of foreign centenarian parties
First, they mostly adhere to relatively clear guiding ideologies or values and can adjust and integrate them flexibly at appropriate times. Ideology is the soul of a political party. The "values and political beliefs within a party's political ideology" serve as the primary tool for mobilizing political force; no political party in the world can survive for a century relying solely on interest-based transactions without ideological appeal. Adhering to the principles of a guiding ideology while maintaining ideological tension is an important experience in the survival of foreign centenarian parties. Specifically, this is manifested in: First, the long-term persistence of their guiding ideology. For 185 years, Uruguay's Colorado Party has been guided by Batllism, which is based on liberty, democracy, and social justice. Since its founding, the Indian National Congress has taken secularism as its core value, asserting that it alone is truly committed to a united and secular India. Communist parties in countries such as the United States, Portugal, Greece, and Chile have adhered to the guidance of Marxism for a century, long upholding principles of fairness, equality, justice, and progress to mobilize the masses and expand their base of supporters. Second, the eclectic absorption of other ideas and reasonable propositions in step with the times. While adhering to the guiding ideology of social democracy and core concepts of fairness, justice, and mutual aid, social democratic parties in Germany, Sweden, the UK, Austria, and Portugal have, since the 1980s, incorporated ideas such as ecologism and feminism, expanding the ideological connotations of social democracy. The New Zealand Labour Party has long adhered to a political-cultural view of a "fair nation," enabling it to gain stable support from the middle class and lower-middle-class masses. German polls in the early 1980s showed that 80% of respondents believed effective measures had to be taken to stop environmental degradation; the German SPD captured this change in public sentiment in a timely manner and was early to absorb ecologist concepts. During its transition amid the drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the MPRP shifted from a belief in scientific socialism to "embracing social democracy while also absorbing parts of socialist thought," incorporating the "Middle Way" [4]—the essence of traditional Mongolian culture—to enhance the inclusiveness and compatibility of its ideology.
Second, focus on expanding the social base, enhancing policy inclusiveness, and broadening the scope of political influence. This is mainly reflected in two dimensions. First, expanding the Party's social base. After World War II, facing changes in the domestic and international situation, many centennial parties abroad relatively downplayed their class attributes in order to win more supporters. In the late 1940s, the Norwegian Labour Party positioned itself as a "catch-all party" representing the majority of the people. Since the 1950s and 60s, to adapt to changes in the class structure of German society, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) ceased to rely solely on the traditional working class, instead focusing on making its "political slogans and messages" meet the needs of multiple social groups simultaneously. According to the classification of German sociologists, there were a total of 12 "social milieus" of varying sizes in Germany at the end of the 20th century; the SPD won varying degrees of support from all groups, thereby achieving a political transformation from the left toward the center. For decades, the Social Democratic Party of Austria has politically "transcended" left and right, seeking a new balance between them and following an Austrian-style "Third Way." Second, enhancing the inclusiveness and coverage of ideas and policies. To attract more voters, the Socialist Party of France advocated the concept of "wanting a market economy, not a market society" at the turn of the century; the German SPD proposed the idea of "relative justice" and even the slogan of "creating more just inequality." The Indian National Congress (INC) proposed a concept of inclusion, emphasizing that only the "secularism and liberal nationalism" advocated by the party could truly encompass India's diversity. In practice, they proposed a governing theory of "secular inclusion, comprehensive coordination, and the promotion of harmony," and implemented administrative principles of "supporting the poor, rational distribution, and maintaining fairness," dedicating themselves to letting the majority of the domestic population share the dividends of development.
Third, internal Party life is relatively democratic and tolerant, with a significant emphasis on reform and innovation. To enhance their influence and capacity for action, some parties have invested considerable energy in Party management and governance. Their main practices include: First, emphasizing the promotion of intra-Party democracy, creating a good political ecosystem within the Party, and stimulating internal vitality. In particular, they respect the differing opinions of minorities within the Party; for instance, the French Socialist Party allows internal factions to exist and submit their own proposals to the Party congress. Of course, this model of permitting factional activity has also produced serious consequences within that party, leading to splits. Second, there are clear regulations for Party activities, with an emphasis on education for Party members and cadres, while being cautious about using organizational processing [5]. Social democratic parties in Western countries have strict requirements for the integrity and discipline of Party members and cadres, focusing on cultivating the self-awareness of Party members; for example, the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Portuguese Communist Party have long focused on cultivating the self-discipline and moral character of their members. The German and Austrian Social Democratic Parties mostly provide cautionary education for general members; even when certain disciplinary violations occur, they rarely impose organizational disciplinary sanctions. In recent years, major leaders of the Australian Labor Party have repeatedly violated Party discipline; for example, former leader Mark Latham publicly leaked internal Party secrets to the media but received no organizational punishment. Of course, this "lenient" policy has also planted hidden dangers for internal Party life. Third, ideological Party building is relatively open-minded, valuing the promotion of innovation through the collision of different viewpoints and opinions. For example, the British Labour Party's discussion on amending Clause IV of the Party Constitution regarding nationalization lasted over 30 years and involved multiple long-term debates throughout the whole party; it was only finally passed in the 1990s when there was a high level of consensus within the party. Fourth, they focus on primary-level Party building and strengthen ties with members and the masses. Some parties emphasize communication and exchange with grassroots members and supporters, focusing on work with groups such as youth, women, and the elderly. For example, members of the U.S. Democratic and Republican parties often maintain close contact with voters through phone calls, emails, door-to-door visits, and rallies; one state senator can even "name about 4,000 to 5,000 people. One must engage in one-on-one communication to establish personal relationships with voters."
Fourth, they have made outstanding contributions to national development and great national causes, leaving behind remarkable historical legacies. Most centennial parties have left a deep mark on their countries' political, economic, and social development, becoming indispensable political forces for national stability and prosperity. During his time in power, José Batlle, leader of the Colorado Party of Uruguay, achieved the separation of church and state and established a relatively complete bourgeois representative democratic system, laying an important foundation for the country's subsequent long-term stability. The African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa made significant and special contributions to the historical process of opposing apartheid, achieving national reconciliation, and building a new South Africa; thus, for a period of time, it gained the identification and support of the majority of the South African people. Both the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League played decisive roles in the founding and development of their respective nations, becoming the main designers and promoters of their countries' political systems and economic and social development models. Socialist parties in most Western European countries have made significant contributions to the struggle for and realization of universal suffrage and economic and social equality, playing a decisive role particularly in the construction of the welfare state. The Swedish Social Democratic Party's concept of the "People's Home" (Folkhemmet), as well as its theories of functional socialism and fund socialism, established its "meritocratic status" in the construction of the welfare state, which was also an important reason for the party's long-term governance in the 20th century. Currently, many centennial parties abroad still play an important role in leading the future development of their countries, fostering popular unity, and achieving social stability—something other parties, especially emerging ones, find difficult to do.
Fifth, they are committed to maintaining political systems, especially electoral systems, that are conducive to the survival of centennial parties. For some centennial parties abroad, the relative stability of their country's political system is an important condition for their long-term survival. In countries such as the United States, New Zealand, Uruguay, Colombia, Honduras, and Malta, the design of the party system and electoral system favors the dominance and long-term alternation of two major parties, while setting a high threshold for the establishment of new parties or the entry of small parties; this has played a certain role in preventing or slowing party fragmentation. Relying on the domestic political resources they control, centennial parties strive to maintain the party systems and electoral rules that favor them, basing their strategies on minor or gradual changes. When the United States initially constructed its system, it established a "winner-take-all" electoral system favorable to large parties; although third parties and small parties can exist, it is extremely difficult for them to win elections. The two major parties in power further consolidate and strengthen their dominant positions by maintaining and revising various institutions. In the 1992 general election, independent candidate Ross Perot, supported by a massive wave of public opinion, competed for the presidency; despite receiving 19% of the popular vote, he did not receive a single electoral vote because the electoral rules favored the two traditional parties. Although American public opinion occasionally calls for a change to these unfair electoral rules, they have remained unshaken to this day. In New Zealand, the simple majority electoral system favoring large parties was inherited for over 140 years until it was replaced by Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) representation in 1995, only then allowing small parties to participate in government.
(2) Historical Lessons from the Development of Centennial Parties Abroad
First, some party leaders lack governing skills, ability, and boldness, leading to a leadership crisis and doubts and concerns both inside and outside the party regarding the party's capacity to govern. Influenced by the short-sighted strategies of electoral politics, many centennial parties abroad focus their primary energy on elections held every few years, weakening the cultivation of reserve cadres, especially the tempering of top leaders. This has resulted in a lack of successors in the party leadership and a clear phenomenon of "hollowing out." The leaders of most parties have shallow political experience, lack roots within the party, and are replaced frequently, making it impossible to speak of leadership prestige. After Pamela Rendi-Wagner was elected leader of the Social Democratic Party of Austria in 2018, she failed to meet expectations, and her authority was repeatedly questioned within the party. She led the party into the 2019 general election, suffering its greatest defeat since World War II, with the vote share dropping to 21.2%; most people inside and outside the party believed she would find it difficult to lead the party out of its slump. In the 13 years since its reorganization in 2008, the Democratic Party of Italy has changed its National Secretary (top leader) eight times; such "revolving door" frequent changes make it difficult to establish leadership authority. Since the resignation of Gerhard Schröder, the German SPD changed its party chair five times in four years; the leadership has continued to change frequently in recent years, and in 2019, the party was even in a state of being "without a head" for nearly half a year, eventually electing two political newcomers to serve as co-chairs, which is rare in its history. German media stated that 70% of the German public questioned the leadership abilities of the two, believing they could not lead the SPD out of its predicament. Overall, the "mediocritization" of current centennial party leaders abroad appears to be a trend.
Second, constant internal disputes have had a "bone-deep" impact on some parties, leading to continuous fragmentation. As Ben Clift pointed out, factions were once "a positive and vibrant element of internal discussion because they could bring new ideas and debate," but now "only the struggle for organizational power and division remain." Most centennial parties abroad emphasize the development of intra-Party democracy but have loose requirements for political discipline. Intense ideological debates, line struggles, and power struggles are often followed by organizational differentiation or even party splits. For these parties, disputes over different issues are inevitable due to the constant changes in the situation and environment. However, many parties have learned profound lessons regarding how to control the degree of dispute, ensure that debates develop in a healthy direction, and achieve the correctness of the party's political line and party unity through such debates. The Colorado Party of Uruguay has split five or six times in over 100 years; many parties, such as the Nacionalista Party of the Philippines and the Communist Party of Finland, have experienced multiple splits. From its founding until the 1970s, the Indian National Congress experienced "three major splits." The right-wing forces of the British Labour Party also established the Social Democratic Party in 1981, an event that shocked Britain and international public opinion at the time and was considered one of the biggest changes in 20th-century British politics. The French Socialist Party has long been divided into numerous factions, with at least five or six existing since the 21st century. After the 2017 election defeat, many party elites and member-cadres moved to organizations such as La République En Marche! or La France Insoumise, leading to the rapid decline of the Socialist Party.
Third, the negative effects caused by the corruption of power damage the Party's organism. Except for the Communist parties, most centennial parties abroad have held power for long periods, and various scandals triggered by power-trading and monopolies have caused serious damage to them. The telecommunications corruption case that occurred during the Indian National Congress's 2009–2014 term led to the imprisonment of the government's Minister of Communications; more than a dozen high-ranking officials, including the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, were also implicated, triggering a large-scale anti-corruption protest movement. Anna Hazare, a leader of the Indian grassroots anti-corruption movement, launched a 12-day hunger strike in August 2011, dealing a severe blow to the INC and serving as an important reason for its crushing defeat in the 2014 general election. in recent decades, centennial parties in the UK, France, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Uruguay, and Colombia have all experienced serious corruption or even collective corruption, such as the large-scale collective corruption of MPs from both major British parties, which damaged the parties' images.
Fourth, excessive policy swings between left and right have weakened the parties' support bases. In the process of adjustment and change, many centennial parties have repeatedly failed to maintain a proper sense of proportion. Under Tony Blair, the British Labour Party clearly turned to the right, using the "Third Way" to implement neoliberal policies; under Jeremy Corbyn, it swung sharply to the left, putting forward "21st-century socialism," which increased the doubts of swing groups inside and outside the party. In the later stages of Gerhard Schröder's administration, the German SPD launched the "Agenda 2010" socio-economic reform policies—radical reforms that even right-wing parties would not have dared to implement while in power. This not only harmed the basic interests of a large number of the SPD’s support groups but also led the party's former chairman, Oskar Lafontaine, to lead left-wing forces to establish a new party in 2005—the Labor and Social Justice – The Electoral Alternative (WASG). After coming to power at the turn of the century, the Colorado Party of Uruguay turned sharply toward neoliberalism, which not only led to the 2002 financial crisis but also resulted in the party falling to third place in the 2004 presidential election and losing power.
Fifth, some centenarian parties with traditions of family rule and hereditary succession are increasingly showing their defects. Among foreign centenarian parties, some have long been permeated by a heavy personal and familial coloring, characterized by the transfer of power across generations or through skipping generations. This has gradually formed closed small circles, bred an unhealthy political ecosystem, blocked the upward mobility of capable cadres within the party, and hindered intra-party democracy. The nepotism spawned by family politics mostly results in serious corruption, which to a certain extent harms the party's vitality, drawing strong skepticism from within the party and attacks from domestic political rivals. The Indian National Congress (INC) is regarded as a "family kingdom" and a "dynastic polity." Recently, many middle- and high-level leading cadres within the party have resigned in succession, leaving the party or switching affiliations. As the fifth-generation leader of the INC, Rahul Gandhi has been the subject of much controversy both inside and outside the party, mocked and accused by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the media as a "playboy" [6]. His resignation in 2019 further sounded the alarm for the INC as it fell into confusion and decline.
III. Reflections on the Rise and Fall of Centenarian Parties
Sorting through the developmental trajectories of foreign centenarian parties and summarizing their experiences and lessons helps us more accurately understand and grasp the laws governing the development of political parties. It also provides a beneficial mirror [7] for the building and development of our own Party.
(1) Adherence to and the Unremitting Pursuit of Ideals and Goals are the Strong Spiritual Pillar for Some Centenarian Parties Although a considerable number of communist parties declined or even vanished following the dramatic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, it must also be seen that among the centenarian parties existing in the world today, more than one-third are non-governing communist parties. Many of these communist parties have not only failed to enjoy the dividends of their countries' institutional rules fairly but have long been targets of suppression by domestic mainstream forces, especially conservative parties; their survival and development environment is overall harsh. However, they withstood the various severe tests of the Cold War and especially the changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, surviving tenaciously and creating the miracle of "weak parties enduring for a long time." Their persistent adherence to ideals, pursuit of social progress, lack of fear toward the suppression of the powerful, and courage to struggle have been important spiritual forces behind their continued existence.
(2) The Performance of the Leader’s Role Directly Affects the Rise and Fall of a Political Party From the history of the rise and fall of foreign centenarian parties, it is evident that many parties flourished precisely when their leaders were achieving Great Things. In the 1980s, the British Conservative Party was able to break through entrenchment and revitalize Britain; this was directly related to the personal philosophy, policies, and boldness of the party leader, Margaret Thatcher. The Indian National Congress was able to dominate and remain the "sole major party" for decades after World War II, a feat for which Nehru deserves great credit. Against the backdrop of today's "changes unseen in a century" [8], many parties find it difficult to cultivate leaders capable of steering the entire party due to the constraints of current political and party systems in most countries—especially the limitations of political short-termism driven by electoral politics, the cultivation and selection of party cadres, and media-driven "talent shows." Currently, the crises appearing in some foreign centenarian parties are, to some extent, crises of the absence of capable leaders. The lack of authority and the mismatch between ability and position among leaders significantly restrict the future survival and development of these parties. Long after Felipe González Márquez, the General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), left the political arena in 1996, he was still rated as one of the ten most important Spaniards in history and maintains significant influence within the party. Due to the lack of strong leadership over many years, there is a strong yearning within the party for the reappearance of a González-style figure.
(3) Party Unity is the Lifeline Ensuring a Party’s Survival and Development In the development of world party politics since the modern era, there have been many instances where intra-party disunity led to splits and exits from the historical stage. Almost all contemporary foreign centenarian parties have experienced problems with intra-party disunity, and some have even undergone painful splits. The primary reason is that most have failed to properly handle the relationships between democracy and centralization, discipline and freedom, and the exertion of party vitality versus the realization of party unity and solidarity. Party leaderships have lacked sufficient art of political leadership, and their management and governance of the party have failed to be goal-oriented toward maintaining party unity and stability. Many parties, such as the Justicialist Party of Argentina, the Communist Party of Greece, and the Communist Party of Finland, have experienced such situations. Therefore, strengthening the Party’s leadership capacity is a topic of the times generally faced by political parties in all countries.
(4) A Mindset of Advancing with the Times and a Spirit of Self-Innovation are Key for a Party to Remain Prosperous and Achieve Lasting Stability In the evolution of party politics across the world today, the competition between parties and the survival of the fittest is a natural law. Those old parties that have emerged victorious and survived to this day generally focus on self-criticism and self-innovation; some have even undergone radical transformations to achieve a rebirth from the ashes [9]. History shows that parties that are rigid, conservative, and unable to advance with the times will go downhill or even be abandoned by the people. The Nacionalista Party of the Philippines was the country's primary party for most of the 20th century, but it later declined in the game of domestic party politics because it could not find its positioning and failed to keep up with the trends of the times. However, if innovation is excessive or goes to extremes, it can also cause serious harm to the party, as evidenced by the reforms of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Therefore, grasping the proper "degree" is of vital importance.
(5) Strong Execution is an Important Guarantee for a Party to Win Public Support and Build a Solid Foundation The practices of numerous foreign centenarian parties demonstrate that a party that only shouts empty slogans and aims too high without being down-to-earth cannot gain the genuine and lasting trust of the people. Some parties lack the hard skills to govern the party and the state; they make unrealistic promises during campaigns to win elections but find them difficult to fulfill while in power. Consequently, they lose credit with the people, eventually exit the stage, and accelerate their decline. During its time in power from 2012 to 2017, the Socialist Party of France proposed policy commitments such as taxing the wealthy, introducing a citizen's tax, reducing the burden of medical insurance, and ensuring equal pay for men and women. These were either left unfinished or abandoned halfway, and were essentially not implemented. For example, the "wealth tax" was halted under pressure shortly after implementation, and promises to create 500,000 "generation contract" jobs and 60,000 new teaching positions within five years of governing were not realized. This triggered serious dissatisfaction among supporter groups, leading to the party being abandoned by the majority of voters. Similar situations occurred with the Conservative Party of Canada and the Justicialist Party of Argentina. Of course, it must also be seen that although some centenarian parties are currently in decline, they have not yet collapsed; they still possess a certain capacity for self-repair, and there is already a strong sense of crisis and revitalization within them as they strive for self-salvation.
Xi Jinping stated at the Ceremony Marking the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China that the CPC is committed to the eternal great cause of the Chinese nation, and that a hundred years is just the prime of life. Over the past 100 years, the CPC has united and led the Chinese people in writing the most magnificent epic in the thousands of years of the Chinese nation's history, with the dauntless spirit of "our minds grow stronger for the martyrs' sacrifice, daring to make the sun and moon shine in new skies" [10]. The CPC has handed in an excellent test paper to the people and to history. By comparing and examining the rise and fall of some foreign centenarian parties, we—as the world's largest Marxist governing party—have reason to be proud of the glorious achievements created over the past century and have the confidence to achieve the Second Centenary Goal. On the journey ahead, we should take history as a mirror and strive to create the future.