Chapter 8 Thoughts on the Transformation from the Revolutionary Party to the Ruling Party

In the first half of 2002, Pan Yue's "Report on Political Reform" entitled "Reflections on the Transformation from a Revolutionary Party to a Ruling Party" was quietly circulated among high-level central officials.Because this theoretical report is directly used as an internal document by the top leaders of the central government as a reference for decision-making, some people call it the most influential "political reform memorial" of the Chinese Communist Party since 1989. The Communist Party of China has been the ruling party since the founding of the People's Republic of China. This is not a problem in the eyes of ordinary people.But after more than 50 years, why has the term "ruling party" become popular again, frequently appearing in the reports of national leaders and the words of theorists like Pan Yue?This is a theoretical question.

Anyone who has read history knows that in the early years when Marx discussed the process of historical development, he came up with the inevitability of the realization of socialism. People call this theory scientific socialism.Prior to this, the utopian socialist theory characterized by system construction was ruthlessly abandoned by Marx in the European theoretical circles.Historians believe that these two kinds of socialism have different meanings to later generations.In the stage of revolution and the stage of seizing socialist power, Marx's theory should be applied more, while in the period of socialist construction, the socialist theory of system design should be applied more.In other words, scientific socialism is more meaningful to the revolutionary party, while institutional design socialism is more meaningful to the ruling party, because socialist construction and the ruling party itself consider the issue of system design and construction of the country.

Mao Zedong had been aware of the transformation from the "revolutionary party" to the "ruling party" in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, but his transformation has been encountering setbacks, especially the "Cultural Revolution" movement, which made this transformation come to naught.After the reform and opening up, the Chinese Communist Party has been looking for opportunities for this transformation, and has consciously reflected this new thinking in its governing policies. It was Deng Xiaoping who really put forward the construction of the ruling party as a major issue.In the early 1980s, he raised the question of "what kind of party should the ruling party be, how can the members of the ruling party be qualified, and how can the party be good at leadership?" Based on the practice and summarizing the historical experience, he made a preliminary answer to this century-old problem from all aspects.Under the collective leadership of the party's third-generation leadership, our country has basically completed the task of transforming from a revolutionary party to a ruling party.Although the conversion has been realized, what is missing is that this conversion has not been discussed and explained in theory.As a theorist, Pan Yue has been thinking long-term along the path of the reform of the Communist Party of China for many years. "Thoughts on the Transformation from a Revolutionary Party to a Ruling Party" is just to discuss and explain the legitimacy and rationality of this transformation in theory. .

Although the right-wing forces continue to cast cold arrows at Pan Yue, ridiculing him as "the lonely minister of the CCP", this does not affect Pan Yue's exploration and China's progress in the slightest. The proposal of the "Three Represents" and the specific practice in China all show that young Chinese cadres like Pan Yue are working hard to explore the road to national prosperity with their own enthusiasm.