二元民主结构中的党内民主与人民民主

中国的民主结构是由党内民主与人民民主构成的独特的二元民主.其中,党内民主是核心和灵魂,是民主发展中的主要矛盾和矛盾的主要方面.党内民主领导和决定着人民民主,根本的是要通过党内民主的先进性来实现,但将西方政治学或法学中的所谓"合法性"理论适用于党内民主对人民民主的领导,是不恰当的.充分研究党内民主,大力发展党内民主,打开中国民主发展之门的金钥匙就找到了.     

全过程人民民主的理论逻辑与宪法实现

“全过程人民民主”是中国特色社会主义的政治发展道路,其实现需要借助于宪法的组织、程序和制度来完成。“全过程人民民主”作为一种理念,需依托于宪法所建构的制度来实现,同时,宪法的制度运行又要始终贯彻这一理念,理念与制度之间体现出一种交互影响的关系。“全过程人民民主”作为一种制度理念,与中国的传统以及近代中国所面临的国家建构问题密切相关,是一种将形式民主与实质民主融合在一起的民主理念,是民主理论在中国的创造性发展。结合中国的传统、宪法文本与政治现实,“全过程人民民主”的理论逻辑是与“社会主义”观念密切相关的民主理念,体现了最广泛的人民参与,将实质民主思维贯彻其中,并将形式民主、实质民主、政治集中、价值决断整合于全过程人民民主的链条当中。由此出发,才能理解我国宪法民主制度建构的规范本质,并在制度实现中切实贯彻这一新型民主理念。     

论我国现行宪法的人民民主原则

民主是全人类的共同价值，是中国共产党和中国人民的不懈追求。我国现行宪法颁行40年来，以其丰富的民主内涵，为发展社会主义民主，落实“国家的一切权力属于人民”的宪法精神，提供了坚实的规范基础。通过宪法实施，我们不仅完善了以人民代表大会制度为载体的代议民主，同时构建了人民依照法律规定，通过各种途径和形式，管理国家事务、管理经济和文化事业、管理社会事务的直接民主形式，形成了包括民主选举、民主协商、民主决策、民主管理、民主监督在内的全过程人民民主形态。新时代以来，宪法积极回应人民对民主发展的新要求、新期待，坚持党的领导、人民当家作主、依法治国三者有机统一，践行全过程人民民主，不断扩大人民民主，健全民主制度，拓宽民主途径，丰富民主形式，使中国的民主发展更好体现人民意志，贴近人民的生活。在宪法轨道上推进全过程人民民主是我国宪法对世界民主多样性发展作出的独特贡献。     

“人民民主是社会主义的生命”释论

在党的二十大报告中，习近平总书记再次重申，“人民民主是社会主义的生命”。之所以说人民民主是社会主义的生命，主要有以下几点原因。首先，人民民主是社会主义的本质，体现了社会主义的根本目的，社会主义以确立和实现人民民主为根本价值追求，没有民主就没有社会主义。其次，要保障人民民主的实现，就必须建构起保障人民当家作主的制度机制。人民代表大会制度为我国的根本政治制度，中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度、民族区域自治制度、基层群众自治制度为我国的基本政治制度，而协商民主是这些民主制度的运行形式。再次，社会主义事业必须依靠人民群众的努力与创造，只有发扬人民民主才能调动人民群众的主动性、积极性、创造性，人民民主由此成为社会主义的活力。最后，为了实现共产主义的远大理想，必须在社会主义阶段充分发扬人民民主，使人民养成民主的思维和民主的习惯，从而为共产主义社会下的个人高度自治、自律、自由、自主奠定人性基础。     

全过程人民民主的法治保障

发展全过程人民民主的治国理念,既是对已有民主制度和实践的总结,也是未来民主发展与创新的导向定位,以及开展制度对话与互鉴的智识资源.全过程人民民主具有主体广泛性、形式复合性、目标有效性、过程持续性等鲜明特征,也是其应当遵循的价值取向.坚持以人民为中心、坚持以人民代表大会制度为主渠道、坚持全过程人民民主的价值定位、坚持顶层设计与尊重人民首创相结合,是为全过程人民民主提供法治保障应当遵循的基本原则.就保障方式而言,法治保障不仅包括对法定民主制度的实施,也包括适时将成熟的民主制度通过立法加以确认.就法治保障的具体领域而言,进一步加强对全过程人民民主的组织保障、职权保障及程序保障应成为未来立法的重点,从而激发出更好的民主绩效、更高的民主兑现率和获得感.     

人民民主是社会主义的生命——大力弘扬十七大民主政治精神

人民民主是社会主义的生命,在经济高度繁荣的的今日更需要大力弘扬十七大民主政治精神。本文从人民民主的理论渊源和制度保障及意义三个方面进行了分析。     

不断深化联系联动充分发挥代表作用 —— 践行全过程人民民主重大理念的主要做法及成效

习近平总书记在中央人大工作会议上对我国发展全过程人民民主作出全面深刻论述,并强调人民代表大会制度是实现我国全过程人民民主的重要制度载体.回顾总结近年来六安市人大践行全过程人民民主重大理念的实践,充分表明,加强与代表的联系联动、充分发挥代表在实现人民当家作主中的重要作用,是践行全过程人民民主重大理念的重要路径.     

浅析中国的法治与民主现状

民主与法治为一体两面之制度。构建社会主义民主法治国家是我们党始终不渝的奋斗目标。改革开放以来,我国民主法治建设取得长足进步。但是我们也应当看到,我国的社会主义民主政治建设发展缓慢,存在许多缺陷,民主参与机制尚不健全,无法满足人民群众日益增长的政治参与要求。如何推动我国民主政治建设的发展,关系到我国社会主义现代化建设的全局战略。     

温岭“民主恳谈”的宪政意义

温岭民主恳谈是台州人民首创的一种基层民主政治形式，是对我国现行民主制度的创新，是我国公民基本权利的合理拓展，它与当代西方民主政治的最新发展——协商民主理论殊途同归，分别从理论和实践层面补正、完善和超越了代议民主，开启了协商民主的新时代。全面总结温岭“民主恳谈’，十年经验中的民主宪政新元素，挖掘整理温岭民主恳谈的制度化成果，形成普遍范式，用以构建我国基层民主协商制度，并纳入法治轨道，为我国宪政建设和政治体制改革探索新的路径。     

中国民主政治浅淡

随着中国社会主义市场经济的不断发展,人民群众政治参与的意识也日渐提高.十一届三中全会以后,我国的社会主义民主政治取得了巨大的发展,但不可否认的是,由于我国深刻的历史文化经济因素,包括长期的封建专制统治,不合理的政治体制等等,我国的社会主义民主政治建设发展缓慢,存在许多缺陷,民主参与机制尚不健全,无法满足人民群众日益增长的政治参与要求.如何推动我国民主政治建设的发展,关系到我国社会主义现代化建设的全局战略.     

Editoria: Corruption and democracy

Editorial Introduction

Editoria: Corruption and democracy     

检察民主研究

在当今世界的大多数国家,民主成为各种国家权力运行的普遍原则。基于此,本文提出了检察民主的概念,分析了其特征和内容,并对现行的人民监督员制度进行了概评,以求为检察民主的理论发展尽绵薄之力。     

War and democracy in ancient Greece

In the present paper we analyse some of the preconditions for the emergence of democracy in Ancient Greece. For democracy to emerge in Ancient Greece a combination of several enabling factors proved decisive: the development of new military tactic, the phalanx, marked by the appearance of a new type of heavy infantry warrior, the hoplite, who owned individually some property, i.e. land, sufficient to permit him to finance his weaponry and a city-state culture. We describe the emergence of this new type of warrior, link this emergence to the establishment of individual property rights and show how this brought about a military revolution, exemplified in a new tactical formation, the phalanx. We then proceed by showing how the attitudes and learning processes made necessary by this new type of warfare were transformed in the civic values and virtues that shaped democratic institutions. Our thesis can thus be briefly termed as the “military cum city-state” explanation of democracy.     

Making social media an instrument of democracy

In recent years, the responsibility of social media platforms towards their users and society at large has become a major political issue. However, the regulatory responses to the crisis of social media are still mostly considered unsatisfactory, as demonstrated by the widespread criticism of the German Network Enforcement Act of 2017. This article compares the current constitutional discourse on social media regulation with the debates that accompanied the last major transformation of the media landscape: the rise of broadcasting. While we certainly do not find a roadmap for social media regulation in the past, the key concept of the broadcasting discourse—the idea of media as a sphere of ‘institutional freedom’—can be applied to the challenges of today and can be used to strengthen the democratic function of social media.     

Corruption, democracy and the World Bank

In this era of political conditionality and good governance, anti-corruptionhas emerged as a top priority (at least in theory) for all major donors. Thisis almost always linked to support for democratisation efforts, with onenotable exception – the World Bank. The Bank is constricted by anon-political mandate which forbids it supporting one particular politicalsystem through its lending and other activities. Nonetheless, the languageit uses (e.g., accountability, transparency, participation, etc.) and theprojects it supports seem to endorse the spirit of liberal democracy. I arguethat the Bank's mandate is in conflict with a politically sensitive issue likeanti-corruption, and that it is impossible to separate economic issues frompolitical ones in this instance; however, given the lack of consensus on therelationship between democracy, development and corruption, this may bethe best state of affairs for now.     

Dictatorship,democracy and corruption in Chile

The study of corruption in Chile suffers from the lack of a pre-existing body of academic research on which to draw for historical or contemporary analysis. This situation may be partially explained by several factors. Firstly, academic research tends to be reactive rather than proactive, in the sense that issues rarely become researched until they are either topical, or perceived to be problematic and significant. The configuration of historical circumstances in Chile has meant that corruption has been perceived to be considerably less widespread and less overt than in other parts of Latin America. For reasons which will be examined below, Chile is quite clearly not in the same league as Brazil, México or Venezuela in terms of corruption in the political system, and therefore the body of existing research has tended to focus on those cases where corruption is evident and more easily observable. Secondly, the lack of research material may also be partially explained by the nature of corruption in Chile. It undoubtably exists, but it has been characteristically low-key, assuming its own particular characteristics which have become known as corrupción a la chilena. Low-intensity corruption is undoubtedly more difficult to categorise, define and measure in comparison with flagrant abuses by individuals, sectors of society or ruling parties, and this may also be a contributory factor. A third factor may be that such low-intensity activities may become such an integral part of the political culture that they become accepted ways of the business of politics and therefore fail to even raise objections from public opinion. Only when the political environment changes do these issues become perceived as unacceptable. However, what is beyond dispute is that corruption has and does exist in Chile but it is influenced by the political culture of a particular period and by the political and social context.