DEMOCRATIC CENTRALISM
But the Party is not all about discipline. The norms of political life in the Party under the current conditions also stipulated to create within the Party "a political landscape, which integrates concentration with democracy, discipline with freedom, and unified will with ease of individual mind."
Democratic centralism has been taken by the CPC as a fundamental organizational principle.
The principle is reiterated in the newly published norms of political life in the Party under the current conditions, which says intra-Party democracy is vital to the CPC, and is fundamental to a positive, healthy internal political environment.
Party committees at all levels must adhere to the collective leadership system, the document says, adding all major decisions must be made after collective discussion and in line with the principle of majority rule.
According to Sun Xiaoli, a professor with the Chinese Academy of Governance, the democratic aspect of the principle involves the freedom of Party members to discuss and debate matters of policy and direction, while the leadership of the Party makes decisions based on the debate and discussion. This latter aspect represents centralism.
"Democracy and centralism are always closely linked," she said.
Her words were echoed by Wang Chuanzhi with the Qiushi Journal Press.
The essence of democratic centralism is democracy with leadership, Wang said.
"Only by finding and then maintaining a natural balance between centralization on the basis of democracy and democracy under centralized guidance will we be able to guarantee the smooth operation and effectiveness of democratic centralism," Wang said.
"Collective leadership, strict governance and democratic centralism, these are the lifelines of the CPC and what makes the Party what it is today," Xie Chuntao said.
