Tongfang Academy
Micro-Party Class, Issue 324
Party discipline and getting things done are inherently unified.
“Theoretical cultivation is the core of the comprehensive quality of Party members and cadres. Theoretical maturity is the foundation for political maturity, and political steadfastness stems from theoretical clarity.” For Party members and cadres, fostering a fine academic ethos and strengthening theoretical training are both fundamental requirements for cultivating Party spirit and an inescapable political responsibility.
Tongfang Law Firm provides all its lawyers with learning opportunities in the form of micro-party classes, thereby enhancing their ideological and political awareness as well as their spirit of learning and inquiry. By establishing a long-term educational mechanism, the firm has created a new platform for self-education and self-improvement.
At the Central Political Bureau’s democratic life meeting held from December 26 to 27, 2024, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Party discipline not only serves as an educational and disciplinary tool but also plays a crucial role in providing guarantees and incentives. Party discipline and the pursuit of work and entrepreneurship are inherently unified. Discipline clearly defines the bottom lines and boundaries that must not be crossed, while also providing party members and cadres with a clear guide for acting with integrity and daring to take bold initiatives. By adhering to rules and observing discipline, we will enjoy ample freedom and broad space for pursuing work and entrepreneurship.”
Discipline is a modern phenomenon. Marx recognized early on the significance of discipline for modern society. In Marx’s view, one crucial factor behind the rise of capitalism in Europe was the disciplinary mechanisms that were established in the early stages of modern industrial capitalism in Europe. In his 1847 work, “The Poverty of Philosophy,” Marx observed that the primary difficulty of modern large-scale production lies precisely in cultivating the necessary discipline—discipline that enables people to abandon their disorganized work habits. Compared with the traditional agricultural production methods, which were characterized by freedom and informality, how was it possible to establish order and management in factories as a new mode of production? The answer lies not only in the emergence of new machine technologies but also in the advent of a brand-new form of political cooperation: discipline. In modern society, the significance of discipline resides in its ability to enhance organizational efficiency through collaboration among people and between people and tools. First, the fundamental function of discipline is to “eliminate danger” and to create order. When large numbers of people gather within an organization—whether it be a school, an army, a corporation, or a political party—orderly functioning inevitably becomes a challenge. To prevent disorder, discipline is essential. Second, the higher-level function of discipline is to unlock potential and boost efficiency. For the military, discipline serves not merely to prevent desertion or disobedience but also to forge the military into a unified whole, enhance each individual’s skills, coordinate the effective use of those skills among personnel, and thereby strengthen the military’s combat effectiveness. For factories, discipline is not only about preventing theft and loss of corporate property; it is also about improving various capabilities, accelerating production speed, increasing output, and ultimately boosting profits.
For political parties, party discipline aims to ensure that individual members act in a unified manner, refrain from acting independently against the party’s will, and avoid behaviors that could damage the party’s image and harm its interests. The significance of party discipline lies in two key aspects: First, it prevents actions that harm the party—such as arbitrary departures from party guidelines, internal divisions, or lack of loyalty—thereby safeguarding the party’s survival and maintaining its order. This is the “educational and restraining” function of party discipline. Second, it helps unleash the full potential of each member, unites party members, and maximizes the party’s fighting capacity, thus enabling the party to achieve its political objectives. This is the “guaranteeing and motivating” function of party discipline.
The function of Party discipline dictates that discipline and freedom are inherently unified. As Mao Zedong pointed out: “Within the people, we cannot do without freedom, nor can we do without discipline; we cannot do without democracy, nor can we do without centralization. This unity of democracy and centralization, this unity of freedom and discipline—this is precisely our democratic centralism. Under this system, the people enjoy extensive democracy and freedom; at the same time, they must also restrain themselves with socialist discipline.” At the second plenary session of the 18th Central Committee of the Party, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “We must better leverage the role of political life within the Party and strive to create throughout the Party a political atmosphere characterized by both centralized leadership and democracy, both discipline and freedom, and both unified will and individual satisfaction and vibrancy.” These important statements all underscore a fundamental truth: Party discipline and the drive to accomplish tasks and start businesses are intrinsically unified. On August 31, 2013, during his inspection tour of Liaoning Province, General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: “Our emphasis on honesty, compliance with rules, and observance of discipline is not meant to tie the hands and feet of cadres, making them overly cautious and afraid to take risks or innovate. Rather, it is intended to regulate the conduct of cadres so that reforms and innovations in all areas can be carried out more scientifically, more broadly, and more effectively.” During his inspection tour of Qinghai in 2016, he stressed: “We must properly handle the relationships among rights and obligations, power and responsibility, incentives and constraints, punishment and protection, and ultimately translate the seriousness of intra-Party political life into mobilizing the enthusiasm of the vast number of Party members and cadres and driving forward the development of our cause.” It is evident that Party discipline serves both as a bottom-line safeguard and as a high-standard aspiration. Through the unity of discipline and freedom, it maximizes the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of cadres, inspiring them to better lead the masses in accomplishing tasks and starting businesses, further deepening reform comprehensively, and continuously advancing Chinese-style modernization.
To achieve the unity of Party discipline and the spirit of getting things done, we must firmly adhere to the close integration of governing the Party according to rules and governing the Party by virtue. On the one hand, we need to strengthen the standardization of Party discipline and achieve good governance through sound regulations. Party discipline is embodied in a set of norms. The discipline that applies to Party members is neither merely coercive force nor ideological control; rather, it is a standardized form of training and discipline. The standardization of the Party means that the Party has a set of behavioral sanctions and disciplinary standards for its members, and the purpose of these standards is to provide clear guidelines for Party members’ conduct. Standardization of Party discipline can produce two kinds of effects: first, it enables us to identify those who fail to meet the regulatory requirements; second, through incentives and punishments, it guides the behavior of Party members, ensuring that discipline affects every single member. Thus, the standardization of Party discipline—through a system of penalties—allows us to examine and evaluate the actions of Party members, thereby building up a disciplined and standardized internal environment within the Party. Standardization not only strengthens the Party’s overall disciplinary mechanism but also keeps the actions of Party members within the bounds of established standards, providing them with clear guidelines for their conduct. On the other hand, we must strengthen moral governance within the Party, thus achieving the integration of rule-based governance and virtue-based governance. At the second plenary session of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must strive toward high standards, using personal integrity to unite the hearts of Party members and the people; at the same time, we must hold firm to the bottom line, strictly enforce Party discipline, and never cross the red line.” To achieve the unity of Party discipline and the spirit of getting things done, we must both cultivate noble moral character and uphold strict Party discipline. Morality inspires people to do good and serves as the necessary premise and foundation for discipline; discipline, in turn, punishes evil and provides a strong backing and guarantee for morality. By adhering to the combination of rule-based governance and virtue-based governance, we must both establish clear rules and define the bottom lines that must not be crossed, and also promote virtue by emphasizing positive guidance. Only in this way can we ensure that Party officials and members both strictly abide by the disciplinary bottom lines without overstepping boundaries, while also maintaining lofty aspirations and dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to serving the Party and the people, thus realizing the unity of Party discipline and the spirit of getting things done.
Source | People's Daily Online, Official Website for Party History Study and Education
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Tongfang Academy Micro-Party Class, Issue 325: Strengthen the Battle Fortress and Solidify the Foundation of Governance
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Tongfang Academy Micro-Party Class, Issue 323: Persistently Uphold a Proper Academic Atmosphere
