Yue Kui: Lenin's Thought on Strengthening the Political Construction of the Party and Its Contemporary Value
The political construction of the Party is its fundamental construction, determining the direction and effectiveness of all Party building and bearing upon the overall advancement of the Great Struggle, Great Project, Great Cause, and Great Dream [1]. The 19th CPC National Congress for the first time incorporated the political construction of the Party into the general layout of Party building, emphasizing that it must be placed in the primary position. The 20th CPC National Congress further clarified the requirement to "use the political construction of the Party to command all aspects of Party building work," setting forth explicit demands for tightening political discipline and political rules and enhancing the "three political capacities" [2] of Party organizations and cadres at all levels. From a historical perspective, although the classical Marxist writers did not explicitly use the term "political construction of the Party," they proposed a series of ideological perspectives on the Party's political construction while guiding the building of proletarian parties and advancing revolutionary practice. As a significant developer of Marxist theory, Lenin's ideas on strengthening the political construction of the Party constitute a creative development of Marxist party theory within the practice of the Russian Revolution and form the core content of the theory for building a new type of proletarian party in Russia. In the great struggle to lead the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (RCP[B]) to seize and consolidate proletarian state power, Lenin profoundly elucidated the historical mission of the proletarian party to lead the exploited working masses in establishing Soviet power and building a new type of proletarian state. Revolving around this major task, Lenin explored the strengthening of the Party's political construction in conjunction with revolutionary practice, putting forward a series of important principles. Lenin’s significant explorations not only guided the victory of the Russian Revolution but also provided an important theoretical foundation and valuable practical experience for the Communist Party of China to strengthen its political construction in the New Era and on its new journey.
I. Stressing politics is the fundamental prerequisite for the political construction of the Party
Political parties are the core carriers of party politics. The essential characteristic that distinguishes them from general social organizations lies in their highly organized political attributes and clear claims to power. All actions of a political party have a distinct political orientation; the political essence is the fundamental characteristic of a party. All political parties possess distinct political attributes, and their essential differences are manifested in three dimensions: the value orientation of their political stance (whom they serve), the direction of their political alliances (with whom they walk), and the practical mode of their political line (how they achieve goals). These together constitute the core divisions in party politics. Lenin always firmly believed that "if a class does not look at issues correctly from a political perspective, it cannot maintain its rule." To abandon a political stance or to be timid in political struggle would not only lead to the loss of revolutionary power but would also cause all work, including the Party's political construction, to fall into stagnation. Therefore, persisting in building the Party from a political perspective is the primary foundation and fundamental guideline [3] for Party building.
The core essence of Lenin’s thought on strengthening the Party's political construction lies in establishing the Party's absolute leadership in the cause of the proletariat. After the victory of the October Revolution in 1917, facing the major challenge of consolidating the nascent Soviet regime and its governing status, the RCP(B) urgently needed to explore effective paths for strengthening the Party's political construction. The resolution of this proposition not only concerned the consolidation of revolutionary fruits but also determined the developmental direction of socialist political power, becoming a major political test that the RCP(B) had to confront at the time. In the early stages of the Russian Revolution, Lenin once proposed a conception of "shared power" among multiple parties, but simultaneously emphasized the Bolshevik Party's core leadership role within the government. In early 1918, political disagreements over major issues such as the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk led to the collapse of the multi-party coalition, eventually forming a political system of one-party rule by the RCP(B). During this historical turning point, the question of the Party's leadership status triggered widespread controversy. On one hand, opposition forces in society raised the political slogan "Soviets without Bolsheviks"; on the other hand, voices emerged within the Party demanding the transfer of state leadership to the "All-Russian Congress of Producers." These debates essentially reflected different understandings of the model of party politics under the conditions of the dictatorship of the proletariat. In response to these erroneous views, Lenin explicitly proposed the important idea that Party leadership is "general leadership" in his article On Proletarian Culture. "General leadership" is the highest leadership of a holistic nature; it requires one to "complete one's tasks as part of the tasks of the dictatorship of the proletariat... under the general leadership of the Soviet regime and the Russian Communist Party." In Lenin’s view, the Party is the highest form of proletarian association and plays a leading role in proletarian revolution and construction. Adhering to the Party's centralized and unified leadership is the fundamental guarantee for the success of the proletarian revolutionary cause and the establishment and consolidation of the dictatorship of the proletariat. He put forward the important thesis that "the dictatorship of the proletariat is the proletariat’s leadership of politics." Lenin’s theory on establishing the Party’s absolute leadership in the proletarian cause profoundly elucidated that, as the highest form of proletarian organization, the Party not only shoulders the historical mission of leading the revolutionary struggle but is also the fundamental political guarantee for consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat. Lenin particularly emphasized that adhering to the Party's centralized and unified leadership is both the key to seizing revolutionary victory and the fundamental prerequisite for the smooth advancement of the cause of socialist construction.
As the vanguard of the proletariat and the highest form of political organization, the proletarian party is the core force leading various proletarian mass organizations in revolutionary struggle and ultimately seizing state power. Lenin pointed out that only "when the highest form of the class association of the proletarians, i.e., the revolutionary party of the proletariat," is established can the proletariat undergo a qualitative change; its establishment enables the proletariat to transform from a "class-in-itself" to a "class-for-itself." By integrating various organizational resources and building a powerful system of political mobilization, the proletarian party becomes the command center leading the proletariat and the broad masses of the people in revolutionary struggle. In Lenin’s view, long-term practice in class struggle led the proletariat to successively create various organizational forms—such as trade unions, production cooperatives, youth pioneers, women's federations, and revolutionary armed forces—to adapt to the needs of struggle in different fields. These mass organizations play unique roles in uniting and educating the masses in specific fields, together forming the organizational system of the proletarian revolution and laying a solid organizational foundation for overthrowing bourgeois rule. Among these, the proletarian party always occupies the leading position, integrating these dispersed forces into a unified revolutionary whole through its political program and organizational principles. Regarding this, Lenin pointed out: "The Party is the directly governing vanguard of the proletariat; it is the leader." This "leader" status is reflected not only in "political leadership" over mass organizations but also in the Party’s comprehensive leadership over the Soviet regime, covering political, economic, cultural, and social fields, and implementing unified leadership over the work of all state organs. Therefore, within the Party's system of comprehensive leadership, political leadership must occupy the primary position; its essential requirement is to ensure the correct political direction of national development. Lenin’s innovative theory of "political leadership," emphasizing the theses that "the dictatorship of the proletariat is the proletariat’s leadership of politics" and "politics cannot but have precedence over economics," both reflects the governing requirements of a proletarian party and provides a fundamental guideline for correctly handling the relationship between the Party and the government—namely, that all state organs and mass organizations should consciously maintain and submit to the Party's political leadership. This is the fundamental political principle of socialist state governance.
II. Closely following the people's hearts as the greatest politics
Based on the basic principles of Marxism, Lenin pointed out that the fundamental purpose of the proletarian party is to represent and maintain the fundamental interests of the broadest laboring masses; this is the essential feature distinguishing it from other political parties. This thorough class nature and people-centered nature determine that, on one hand, the Party’s advanced nature stems from its flesh-and-blood ties with the masses, enabling it to scientifically grasp the laws of historical development, while the Party’s political legitimacy is likewise built on the practical basis of "seeking interests for the vast majority" rather than serving special interest groups. On the other hand, the Party’s historical mission is manifested in achieving the comprehensive liberation of the person and social equity and justice through organizing the masses for revolution. Regarding this, Lenin pointed out that "the ability to link up with, to draw close to, and—to a certain extent, if you like—to merge with the broadest masses of the working people, primarily with the proletarian, but also with the non-proletarian, laboring masses" is one of the conditions for the victory of the Russian dictatorship of the proletariat. This value orientation enables the proletarian party to become the vanguard force for the masses' understanding and transformation of the world.
In Lenin’s view, the Party is the vanguard of the proletariat and the laboring masses, the core force representing the people’s interests and leading the revolutionary struggle. Communists should ensure that "wherever there is a mass, one must work there." He many times sharply criticized the erroneous tendency to narrowly solidify Party organizations into small cliques or closed cells, pointing out that such a tendency causes the Party to be confined by sectarian interests and a limited vision, losing its essential attribute as the proletarian vanguard and the political representative of the broad laboring masses, and failing to truly play its role as the leadership core in revolutionary practice. Lenin pointed out that communists should carry out mass work in all organs, societies, and associations where there are proletarian or semi-proletarian masses; they must conduct propaganda and agitation systematically, relentlessly, steadfastly, and patiently within worker organizations that have a broad mass base, even if those organizations are extremely reactionary. For example, on the question of whether to participate in reactionary trade unions and do mass work within them, Lenin criticized the "Left-wing" Communists who proposed the erroneous claim of withdrawing from trade unions on the grounds that the upper echelons of the unions were reactionary and counter-revolutionary. He pointed out that this was a form of political "infantilism" and, moreover, an act of being divorced from the masses. Using the scientific methods of historical materialism and dialectical materialism, Lenin made a comprehensive and profound assessment of trade union organizations. He fully affirmed the historical progressiveness of trade unions in the development of the workers' movement while remaining clearly aware of their historical limitations. On one hand, he believed that the establishment of trade unions was a great step forward for the working class, achieving an initial class association of workers. On the other hand, he believed that trade unions could not yet avoid the influence of trade-unionism. With the establishment and development of proletarian revolutionary parties, trade unions inevitably exposed certain reactionary colors, with problems emerging such as reactionary leaders, a "labor aristocracy," and bourgeois agents becoming divorced from the majority of laborers—even leading to the problem of "bourgeoisified workers."
In response to these issues, while discussing revolutionary strategy, Lenin emphasized that the proletarian vanguard must infiltrate reactionary trade unions to carry out mass work. By conducting systematic propaganda, education, and organizational work within the unions, it is possible to effectively win over those backward worker masses who are still in the process of political awakening. On this basis, the Party helps the worker masses clearly recognize the essence of class struggle in practice. For instance, on the question of whether to participate in bourgeois parliaments, the "Left-wing" Communists believed that parliamentarianism was politically obsolete and resolutely refused to participate. Lenin, however, believed that the revolutionary proletarian party must participate in parliamentary elections and parliamentary struggles. Standing on the side of the laboring masses, Lenin expounded two reasons: first, "we must not regard what is obsolete for us as being obsolete for the class, as being obsolete for the masses." Considerations must be based on the actual level of consciousness of the entire proletariat and the whole of the laboring masses, rather than being limited to the narrow scope of the communist vanguard and advanced elements—though this does not mean lowering the revolutionary movement to the level of the backward proletarian masses. Second, the "purpose of participating in parliament is precisely to educate the backward strata of one’s own class, precisely to awaken and enlighten the undeveloped, downtrodden, and ignorant rural masses," thereby using parliamentary activity as an important form of struggle for accumulating revolutionary strength, educating the masses, and exposing the hypocritical essence of bourgeois democracy.
Beyond this, Lenin also pointed out that for a proletarian party to win the trust of the masses and effectively educate them, it must persist in...
The "going to the mass" work method ensures that the Party's policies and propositions are truly understood and mastered by the masses through maintaining close ties with them, listening to their voices, and carrying out promotion and education in combination with their vital interests. First, the Party must maintain close ties and become one with the masses of its own class and the broad masses of labor, including both the proletarian and non-proletarian laboring masses. While the proletarian laboring masses are the class foundation of the Communist Party, the non-proletarian laboring masses are also an important force that the Party should unite and must not ignore. Second, attention must be paid to the methods of mass work. One must be skilled at using the clearest and most vivid ways to carry out promotion and organization; in the actual revolutionary movement, various means of struggle must be applied flexibly according to specific conditions to achieve the best results in mass work. Third, the Party must correctly treat and correct its own mistakes. "The attitude of a political party towards its own mistakes is one of the most important and surest ways of judging how serious the party is and how it fulfills in practice its obligations towards its class and the working people." A mature and serious political party does not evade its own mistakes but has the courage to admit them openly, carefully analyze the environment and causes that produced them, accurately grasp their essence and impact, earnestly discuss methods for correction, and conduct deep reflection to summarize experiences and lessons to prevent similar mistakes from recurring. The Communist Party should be good at utilizing mistakes to make the Party recognize its own deficiencies and continuously promote self-improvement and self-innovation; this is also an excellent opportunity for the Party to demonstrate its candor and responsibility to the outside world, and to educate and train the proletariat and the broad laboring masses, thereby enhancing the masses' trust in and support for the Party.
III. Ensuring the Party Always Possesses Strong Political Leadership
A stable leadership group is the core guarantee for a political party to maintain cohesion and sustainable development. This group is usually composed of the most prestigious, experienced, and strategic members within the Party, who are endowed with the title of "leaders," becoming the hub of organizational operation and the guides of ideology. In exercising power, they reach basic political consensus through collective decision-making mechanisms, coordinate resource allocation, and provide authoritative decisions during crises. In his work What Is to Be Done?, Lenin pointed out that establishing "an organization of professional revolutionaries... led by the real political leaders of the whole people"—that is, an all-Russian centralized and unified party—was the urgent task at hand. As the core of the Party's political leadership, the Party leaders and a stable leadership group play a vital role in enhancing the Party's political leadership and its political stability by analyzing the situation, formulating policies, coalescing forces, and guiding the direction.
Proletarian leaders are both the advanced representatives of the masses and ordinary members of the revolutionary ranks. The reason they can become the guides of the revolutionary cause lies fundamentally in the fact that they always breathe the same air and share the same fate as their class brothers, representing the fundamental interests of the proletariat and the laboring masses most thoroughly. It is this class character, rooted in flesh-and-blood ties with the masses, that enables leaders to concentrate the wisdom of the masses and grasp historical laws, demonstrating extraordinary political foresight and organizational talent in revolutionary practice. Consequently, they win the heartfelt love and followship of the masses, leading the revolutionary cause from victory to new victory. In Lenin's view, "The masses are divided into classes... classes are led by political parties; and political parties are, as a general rule, directed by more or less stable groups composed of the most authoritative, influential, and experienced members, who are elected to the most responsible positions, and are called leaders." First, Party leaders must have rich political experience. "To train a group of experienced and highly authoritative Party leaders is a long and difficult task." Party leaders must undergo long-term, arduous tempering and testing in revolutionary practice; the more they participate in revolutionary practice, the deeper their understanding of the laws of revolutionary development and the more experienced they become. Second, Party leaders must be politically mature and talented. Lenin noted that Party leaders must have the "necessary knowledge, necessary experience, and the necessary (besides knowledge and experience) political flair to settle complex political questions quickly and correctly." Party leaders should stand higher and look further than ordinary people; based on a correct understanding of the laws of social development, they point out the direction of progress for the proletariat and its party, guiding the people to seize victory step by step.
In Lenin's view, the stability of the Party's leadership core is the fundamental guarantee of the Party's vitality and combat effectiveness, directly relating to the Party's governing capacity and the building of its advanced nature; the leadership group of the Party must maintain high levels of unity and stability. Only by ensuring that the leadership core is highly consistent in its political direction, organizational principles, and major decisions can the Party effectively maintain its centralization and unity, ensuring that the whole Party is unified in thought and consistent in action, forming an invincible leadership force to promote the steady advancement of the cause of the Party and the people along the right direction. From the founding of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1898 until 1912, when the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks) became an independent Marxist party and achieved a dominant position, the Party's leadership core remained in an unstable state. Only after Lenin struggled against figures such as Plekhanov, Martov, Trotsky, and Bukharin was the leadership group represented by Lenin gradually established, and the leadership group of the Party’s central leading organs gradually stabilized. At the same time, there must be a core within the leadership group; among the leaders, not every leader is on an equal or parallel footing—there must always be a "first violinist" and a "second violinist" [4]. The core figure in the leadership group possesses the strongest judgment, the highest decision-making power, and the greatest influence; they are typically able to grasp the overall situation, insightfully analyze trends, make accurate judgments on key issues, and better foresee future development trends. They bear the responsibility of leading the work of the whole Party, possess the power to decide all major issues, and are able to enhance the cohesion and centripetal force of the leadership group, guiding the entire group to jointly respond to various challenges and difficulties.
In the historical process of building proletarian parties, there has always existed an erroneous tendency to pit leaders against the masses. Lenin provided a profound dialectical interpretation of this, pointing out that the relationship between leaders and the masses is essentially that of a unified organic whole. On the one hand, the leaders of a proletarian party must always be rooted in the class foundation and the soil of the masses; their leadership authority stems from a deep cognition and conscious practice of the masses’ status as the subjects of history. On the other hand, the revolutionary practice of the masses also requires a leadership group armed with scientific theory to serve as the political core; otherwise, the revolutionary movement would fall into spontaneity and blindness. This dialectical relationship requires: both firmly opposing the feudal remnants of deifying leaders and engaging in personality cults, while maintaining the sober awareness of historical materialism; and guarding against the nihilistic tendency of totally denying the historical role of leaders, instead scientifically evaluating the important contributions of leaders under specific historical conditions. Only by accurately grasping this dialectical unity in both theory and practice can we ensure that the proletarian party maintains a correct political direction while possessing a solid mass base. As Lenin said: "Working-class leaders are not angels, not saints, not heroes, but ordinary people. They make mistakes—and the Party corrects them. The German workers' party even corrected the opportunistic mistakes made by such a great leader as Bebel." This scientific attitude opposes both the tendency toward personality cults that deify leaders and the nihilism that totally denies their historical contributions, reflecting the theoretical sobriety and political maturity that Marxists should possess when evaluating historical figures.
IV. Formulating and Adhering to a Correct Political Program
A political program is a general summary of the basic lines of action and policies formulated by a political party, organization, or government to achieve its political goals. Historical experience profoundly demonstrates that a scientific and correct political program is the fundamental baseline for unifying the thought, will, and action of the whole Party; it can coalesce a powerful force to overcome difficulties and push the cause of revolution and construction from victory to victory. Conversely, a political program divorced from reality will dissipate the will to fight, miss strategic opportunities, and cause serious losses to the cause of the Party and the state. Therefore, in Lenin's view, "To build the Party, it is not enough to just shout 'unity'; it is also necessary to have a political program, a program of political action." The degree of its scientific completeness is of decisive significance for ensuring that the Party's political leadership advances in the correct direction.
In Lenin's view, the Party's political program is the concentrated expression of its political propositions and a political manifesto declared to the whole of society, determining the Party's goals and direction. The Bolshevik Party led by Lenin, in its struggle against political factions such as opportunism and the Mensheviks, always adhered to a clear political program; this unity of principle and strategy became an important guarantee for the victory of the Russian Revolution. At the Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903, Lenin led the formulation of the Party's minimum program, clearly putting forward the revolutionary goals of overthrowing the Tsarist autocracy, completing the bourgeois-democratic revolution, and establishing a dictatorship of the proletariat. After the victory of the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolshevik Party led the people to crush the counterattacks of domestic and foreign reactionary forces and successfully defended Soviet power. As the revolutionary situation developed, the Eighth Congress of the RCP(B) in 1919 timely adjusted the minimum program, defining the Party's staged task as realizing the transition from capitalism to socialism, thus embarking on a new journey of socialist revolution and construction.
Lenin always believed that formulating and adhering to correct strategy and tactics is the key link and specific path for implementing the Party's political program. In his early theoretical constructions, Lenin once elevated tactical issues to the level of strategy, covering fighting methods, work methods, and means of implementation. In 1905, Lenin argued in Two Tactics of Social-Democracy in the Democratic Revolution: "The adoption of correct tactical decisions is of immense importance to a party which desires to lead the proletariat in the spirit of sound Marxian principles, and not merely to lag at the tail of events." In 1920, in “Left-Wing” Communism: An Infantile Disorder, Lenin began to distinguish between strategy and tactics, pointing out that one of the conditions for the success of the Russian Revolution was "by the correctness of the political leadership exercised by this vanguard, by the correctness of its political strategy and tactics, provided that the broad masses clarifies it by their own experience." Meanwhile, Lenin pointed out that when formulating strategy and tactics, the proletarian party should flexibly apply various forms of struggle, such as legal and illegal, peaceful and violent, parliamentary and mass-based. For example, regarding the erroneous view of "Left-wing" Communists who categorically rejected all compromises, Lenin believed one must size up the situation and distinguish between two types of compromise: one is a necessary compromise forced by objective conditions, which serves the needs of the revolutionary struggle, represents a flexible application of revolutionary tactics, and is a tactic for making a circuitous offensive—this does not harm the fundamental interests of the proletariat, nor does it in the least weaken or shake the workers' firm conviction in the revolution and their determination to continue the struggle; the other is the compromise of a traitor, which is a manifestation of an unsteady revolutionary stance and principles, while shifting the blame and responsibility onto objective conditions.
V. Placing the Imposition of Strict Political Discipline and Political Rules in a Prominent Position
Political discipline is the lifeline of the Party; it is the most important, fundamental, and crucial discipline, and the basic guarantee for maintaining the Party's unity. Strictly observing the Party's political discipline is the core requirement for complying with all Party discipline, and the fundamental prerequisite for adhering to the Party's political leadership and ensuring consistency in thought and action throughout the Party: "absolute centralization and rigorous discipline in the proletariat are an essential condition of victory over the bourgeoisie." Throughout the periods of revolution and construction, Lenin always implemented the principle of strict discipline. Whether facing the arduous struggles of the Civil War or the complex tasks of the socialist construction period, the Party maintained a high degree of ideological unity and organizational solidarity. This demonstrated powerful combat effectiveness and cohesion, becoming an important guarantee for promoting revolutionary victory and achieving construction milestones.
A distinctive feature that differentiates a proletarian party from other political parties is that its political discipline possesses—
"Iron" requirements. As the vanguard organization of the working class, the proletarian party shoulders the historical mission of overthrowing bourgeois rule, establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat, and leading socialist construction until the realization of communism. The long-term, complex, and arduous nature of this mission fundamentally determines that the Party must implement the strictest political discipline. First, iron discipline is a necessity for defeating powerful enemies and seizing complete victory in the proletarian revolution. Lenin pointed out that "unconditional centralization and the strictest discipline of the proletariat are one of the fundamental conditions for victory over the bourgeoisie." This was Lenin’s summary of the Bolshevik Party’s experience in leading the Russian Revolution to victory; without strict discipline, the dictatorship of the proletariat is out of the question. Second, after establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat, the Party still requires iron discipline. Such discipline is necessary not only for seizing power and establishing the dictatorship, but also for consolidating it. Lenin noted, "If our Party did not have the strictest, truly iron discipline... then the Bolsheviks would not have retained power for two and a half months, let alone two and a half years." Lenin believed that the establishment of a proletarian state did not signal the end of class struggle, but rather its continuation under new circumstances. Following the victory of the October Revolution, it was precisely because the Bolshevik Party possessed iron discipline that it was able to defeat reactionary armed intervenors at home and abroad, organize the Soviet people to restore the national economy, and relatively smoothly carry out socialist economic construction.
In enforcing the Party’s political discipline, the most fundamental task is to resolutely maintain the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership. Political discipline requires all Party members and organizations at all levels to maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee regarding political stance, direction, principles, and path. Within the organizational system of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), central, local, and primary-level organizations alike had to strictly follow the principle of democratic centralism. Among these, the Party’s central organization, as the leadership core of the whole Party, represented and embodied the unified will of the entire Party. Historical experience shows that without the constraints of iron discipline, the Party loses its cohesion and combat effectiveness, the line and policies of the Party Central Committee become difficult to implement effectively, and the Party becomes unable to shoulder its historical mission of leading the cause of revolution and construction. Any behavior that undermines the Party’s centralized unity—such as acting as dual-faced targets or "two-faced person" [5], adopting the tactic of "policies from above, counter-measures from below" [6], feigning compliance while acting in opposition [7], or going one's own way—must be resolutely corrected and strictly handled. To this end, Lenin emphasized that "refusing to submit to the leadership of the central bodies is tantamount to refusing to remain in the Party, and is tantamount to destroying the Party." Lenin always fought with firm principle and uncompromising struggle against behaviors that undermined the Party’s political discipline. He resolutely opposed any form of "dispersionism" [8], localism, or liberal tendencies, ensuring through the strengthening of centralized, unified leadership and the guarantee of iron discipline that the entire Party maintained a high degree of consistency politically, ideologically, and organizationally, thereby achieving unity of will and action for the proletarian party.
VI. The Contemporary Value of Lenin's Thought on Strengthening the Party's Political Building
Under the context of the New Era, strengthening the Party’s political building is a major strategic task for advancing the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party; it is also an inevitable choice for the Communist Party of China (CPC) in responding to the changes unseen in a century and the challenges of the times. Deeply understanding and scientifically grasping the essence of Lenin’s thought on the political building of the proletarian party holds significant theoretical value and practical guiding significance for the CPC as it embarks on the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution, and further advancing the new great project of Party building in the New Era.
First, we must adhere to the principle that "the Party is the highest force for political leadership." General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out in the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC: "The Communist Party of China is the highest force for political leadership, and upholding the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee is the highest political principle." The recently revised Constitution of the Communist Party of China, adopted by the 20th National Congress, also formally incorporated the major thesis that "the Party is the highest force for political leadership." This thesis is the result of combining Marxist theories of party leadership with China’s specific realities, representing an important development in the theory of Party building in the New Era. It means that whether it concerns Party organizations at all levels, state organs, the people’s armed forces, people's organizations, or social organizations—and whether at the central or local level, in eastern coastal areas or western regions—the Party’s comprehensive leadership must permeate all fields, aspects, and links. This scientific thesis not only clarifies the Party’s political status as the leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, but also provides a fundamental follow-up at the practical level for persisting in and strengthening the Party’s comprehensive leadership in the New Era.
The Party’s political leadership occupies a commanding position within the system of the Party’s leadership, constituting the very foundation of that leadership and determining the direction and effectiveness of the Party’s ideological and organizational leadership. In essence, the Party's political leadership is a construction of political authority based on the historical materialist view of the masses. At the value level, it establishes a people-centered political direction; at the institutional level, it constructs systems and mechanisms to ensure the execution of the Party’s line and policies; and at the practical level, it forms an operational mode of "overseeing the overall situation and coordinating all parties." The Party’s political leadership is not only strategic, holistic, and guiding, but through institutionalized and legalized confirmation, it transforms the Party’s line and policies into the national will and the actions of the people, ensuring the stability and authority of that leadership. In an era of transformation where risks and challenges coexist, the Party’s political leadership is centrally reflected in its ability to grasp major political directions and prevent complex political risks. This requires the broad ranks of Party members and cadres to continuously improve their political judgment, political understanding, and political execution, constructing a systematized framework of political competence. This enables them to accurately judge situations in complex and ever-changing political environments, grasp the big picture, prevent and defuse political risks, and ensure that the cause of the Party and the state always moves forward in the correct direction. On the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country and marching toward the Second Centenary Goal [9], only by unwaveringly upholding the Party's centralized, unified leadership can we ensure that Chinese-path modernization always advances in the right direction. The Party's political leadership is the fundamental political guarantee for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Only by fully exerting the Party’s role as the leadership core that oversees the overall situation and coordinates all parties can we effectively aggregate the wisdom and strength of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people, forming a magnificent force of one mind and one heart to overcome all difficulties. On the journey of the New Era, we must persist in and strengthen the Party’s comprehensive leadership with higher standards and stricter requirements, continuously improving the system of Party leadership and enhancing the Party’s governing capacity and leadership level to provide a strong political guarantee for the comprehensive buildup of a great modern socialist country.
Second, we must resolutely achieve the "Two Upholds." As a major innovation in the CPC's persistence in and development of Marxist party-building theory in the New Era, the "Two Upholds" profoundly reflect the inheritance and development of Lenin’s ideas regarding the "iron discipline" and "authority of leaders" of the proletarian party. This principle is the "political code" that has allowed the Party to move from victory to victory for over a hundred years and is the fundamental political consensus formed through the practice of governance since the 18th National Congress. The "Two Upholds" contain rich connotations of political philosophy. At the level of political epistemology, it reflects a scientific grasp of the laws governing Marxist parties in power; at the level of political axiology, it highlights the political requirement to maintain the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized, unified leadership; and at the level of political methodology, it provides a practical path for ensuring the Party's solidarity and unity. The political principle of the "Two Upholds" is not simple organizational obedience, but a conscious action built on the foundation of the high political, ideological, theoretical, and emotional identification of all Party members. Resolutely achieving the "Two Upholds" means attaining a high degree of political identification and resolutely implementing the major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee as well as the important instructions and comments of General Secretary Xi Jinping. Prior to the 18th National Congress, there existed to a certain extent problems such as the weakening, hollowization, and marginalization of Party leadership, which affected the Party's cohesion and combat effectiveness, as well as the enhancement of its leadership and governing capacities. Since the 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee has required all Party members to maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in politics, ideology, and action. Members are expected to regularly "align and check" [10] their performance and timely rectify deviations to ensure that what the Party Central Committee decides is resolutely implemented—carrying out major decisions to the letter without hesitation—and that what the Party Central Committee prohibits is resolutely avoided. This involves resolutely correcting any behavior that deviates from or violates the Party’s political direction and consciously resisting illegal and disciplinary acts such as corruption, abuse of power, and violation of organizational principles. The "Two Upholds" are not abstract but concrete; they are not only a political requirement but a guide to action. Strengthening the Party’s political building means internalizing the "Two Upholds" in one's heart and externalizing them in one's actions.
Third, we must keep in mind that "the hearts of the people are the greatest politics." This phrase serves as the value standpoint and practical follow-up for the Party’s political building; it is the solid foundation and source of power for realizing the Party’s political leadership. "The hearts of the people are the greatest politics" profoundly reflects the Party’s character of being "of the people." The nature and purpose of the Party determine that it must adhere to the value concept of putting the people first and persist in the people-centered development philosophy. "The country is the people, and the people are the country. The Communist Party of China leads the people in winning and guarding the country, and what it guards are the hearts of the people." Whether the people support or oppose is the key factor in determining the rise or fall, success or failure, and the future destiny of a political party or regime. The Party’s foundation is in the people, its lifeline is in the people, and its strength is in the people. The advocacy and support of the masses are the Party's greatest confidence and powerful impetus for governing and leading. To strengthen the Party’s political building in the New Era, we must always practice the people-centered development philosophy and continuously consolidate the "flesh-and-blood ties" between the Party and the masses. History and practice profoundly demonstrate that the people's hearts are the greatest politics, and their support is the most solid foundation for the Party's long-term governance. On one hand, we must fully give play to the role of the masses as the creators of history. By improving mechanisms for democratic participation and broadening channels for expressing public opinion, we can maximize the initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity of the people, transforming the Party's propositions into the conscious actions of the masses. We must concretize the fundamental purpose of "serving the people whole-heartedly" into a capacity for precision policy-making, establishing a sound mechanism for normalized research and investigation and using modern technical means such as big data to accurately grasp the ideological trends and interest-demands of the masses, ensuring that policy formulation both conforms to objective reality and responds to the people’s expectations. On the other hand, we must always take the people's interests as the starting point and foothold of all Party work, taking the continuous realization, maintenance, and development of the fundamental interests of the broadest possible masses—as well as the realization of the people’s yearning for a better life—as the Party’s goal. We must gain deep insight into the production and living conditions of the masses and the state of economic and social development, focusing on "urgent, difficult, and anxious" issues in education, healthcare, housing, and elderly care. This requires a clear orientation toward prioritizing and serving the people's livelihoods, establishing a closed-loop working mechanism of "need identification—policy research—implementation and resolution—evaluation and feedback." By responding to people's expectations with visible changes, the Party's foundation for governance can be deepened through the resolution of livelihood difficulties. We must always take whether the masses are satisfied, happy, and in agreement as the important criteria for measuring all the Party’s work, establishing an assessment system with the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security as core indicators. Taking the masses' evaluation as the primary standard for testing work effectiveness will push Party organizations and cadres at all levels to truly take their work to the hearts of the people.