房宁：从实际出发推进中国民主政治建设（中英对照）

二

II

经过长期奋斗和探索，中国人民已经在中国共产党的领导下找到了一条中国特色社会主义民主政治的发展道路，初步掌握了建设和发展社会主义民主政治的规律，这就是把坚持共产党领导、人民当家作主和依法治国有机统一起来，实行人民代表大会制度、中国共产党领导的多党合作和政治协商制度、民族区域自治制度和基层群众自治制度。

Through our long-term struggles and explorations, we have succeeded in paving a socialist path of democratic development with Chinese characteristics under the leadership of the Party. Owing to these advances, we have now gained an initial grasp of the underlying requirements for the development of socialist democracy. In other words, China needs to maintain an organic balance between the leadership of the Party, the position of the people as masters of the country, and the rule of law, whilst implementing a system of people’s congresses, a system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, a system of regional ethnic autonomy, and a system of community-level self-governance.

当前，中国共产党正在开展党的群众路线教育实践活动，这一活动坚持从群众中来、到群众中去，深入开展批评与自我批评，增强了党的自我净化、自我完善、自我革新、自我提高能力，是中国特色社会主义民主政治的生动实践。在中国，离开了共产党的领导，民主政治就失去了主心骨，人民当家作主就成了一句空话。

The CPC is currently holding a series of activities to publicize and carry out the Party’s mass line. These activities practice the principle of “from the masses, to the masses” and engage Party members in criticism and self-criticism in order to increase the capacity of the Party to maintain its purity and to improve, develop and surpass itself. For this reason, these activities can be regarded as a vivid embodiment of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics. In China, the leadership of the CPC constitutes the backbone of democracy, without which the position of the people as masters of the country would be nothing but empty words.

在长期探索和推进中国特色社会主义民主政治建设进程中，我们取得了一些丰富而重要的经验。

We have gained a wealth of important insights during the course of our long-term efforts to explore and promote the development of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics.

第一，在经济社会发展进程中，把保障人民权利与集中国家权力统一起来。权利保障是中国民主建设的一个重要方面。改革开放给中国人民带来了充分的经济、社会自由，权利的开放和保障，激发了亿万中国人民的生产积极性、主动性和创造性。在资源禀赋没有发生根本性变化的条件下，由于人民生产积极性的提高，中国经济出现了历史性的飞跃。中国民主建设另一个重要方面是国家权力的集中。人民代表大会制度是人民掌握国家权力的根本途径和实现形式。中国共产党的长期执政地位，即“共产党领导”是国家权力集中的制度体现。权力的集中，保证了中国实现更具效率的集约化发展。

Firstly, we need to strike a balance between safeguarding the rights of the people and centralizing state power during the process of economic and social development. The safeguarding of rights constitutes an important aspect of the development of democracy in China. The Chinese people have come to enjoy extensive economic and social freedoms as a result of reform and opening up. The provision of wider rights and the protection of those rights have helped to bring out the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of millions upon millions of Chinese people in production. With no increase in the resources at its disposal, China has been able to achieve a historic economic leap forward on the power of the increased enthusiasm of the Chinese people in production. The centralization of state power represents another important aspect of the development of democracy in China. The system of people’s congresses represents the fundamental means and form through which the people exercise state power. The long-term governing position of the CPC—otherwise referred to as the leadership of the Party—represents an institutional embodiment of the centralization of state power. The centralization of power has ensured that China is able to achieve intensive development with a higher level of efficiency.

第二，在工业化阶段，选择协商民主为民主政治建设的重点内容。协商民主是中国民主的重要形式。工业化阶段是社会结构发生深刻变革和转型的时期，社会矛盾大量存在，易于发生冲突和动荡。发达国家和发展中国家的诸多经验证明，在工业化阶段实行竞争性的选举，开放社会参与的权力通道，可能会导致阶级与群体斗争的加剧，引发社会冲突和动荡。

Secondly, we need to identify consultative democracy as the key focus of our efforts to develop democracy during the process of the country’s industrialization. Consultative democracy is an important embodiment of China’s democracy. Industrialization is a period of social change in which the structure of society undergoes a profound transformation. The emergence of social problems in large numbers makes this phase prone to conflicts and turbulence. As has been demonstrated by the experiences of both developed and developing countries, holding competitive elections and allowing public participation in the exercise of political power during the process of industrialization may intensify struggles between different classes and groups, in turn leading to social conflicts and turbulence.

在工业化阶段重点发展协商民主是中国民主政治建设的重要经验。重点发展协商民主，可以在一定程度上避免选举民主给工业化进程中的社会增加社会矛盾和冲突的可能性，有利于减少社会矛盾，扩大社会共识；有利于提高民主质量，避免片面性，把“服从多数”和“尊重少数”统一起来；有利于提高决策效率，降低政治成本。

Focusing on the development of consultative democracy during the process of industrialization represents one of China’s major experiences in the development of democracy. By focusing on the development of consultative democracy, we are, to a certain extent, able to avoid the problems and conflicts that electoral democracy could cause in a society that is undergoing a process of industrialization. This approach boasts a number of merits: first, it is conducive to mitigating social conflicts and broadening social consensus; second, it is conducive to improving the quality of democracy, avoiding one-sidedness, and striking a balance between going with the majority and respecting the minority; and third, it is conducive to increasing the efficiency of decision-making, thereby reducing political costs.

第三，随着经济社会的不断发展，循序渐进扩大和发展人民权利。保障人民的权利是民主政治建设的题中应有之义，但人民权利的实现和扩大并不是一蹴而就的。许多发展中国家的民主政治之路充满了坎坷和曲折，甚至遭遇“民主失败”，一个重要原因就是人民权利的急遽扩大超过了政治制度和体制的最大承载能力，形成了权利超速现象。

Thirdly, we need to gradually expand and develop the rights of the people along with our continued economic and social development. Safeguarding the rights of the people is an inherent part of developing democracy. However, the realization and expansion of people’s rights is something that cannot happen overnight. Many developing countries have suffered difficulties and setbacks on their path to democracy, with some even experiencing “democratic failures.” An important reason was that the political systems and institutions in these countries were unable to cope with such a dramatic expansion of rights. In other words, what was seen was the development of rights at an excessive rate.

马克思主义的权利观认为，权利不是观念的产物而是经济社会发展的产物，它是伴随着经济社会文化的发展而不断扩大和增长的，并非与生俱来，也不是单纯靠政治斗争争取来的。权利在本质上是历史的、相对的。人们只有在具备条件的情况下，才有可能享有相应的权利。因此，中国发展人民权利的根本之道是以经济建设为中心，通过促进经济社会发展为人民权利的发展创造条件，带动人民权利的扩大和发展。这是中国在经济社会快速发展，人民权利意识不断上升的复杂社会环境中依然保持社会稳定的重要经验之一。

The Marxist outlook on rights holds that rights are a product of economic and social development rather than ideas. According to this outlook, rights neither come naturally, nor can they be gained through political struggle alone; rather, they expand and increase constantly along with the process of economic, social, and cultural development. Rights are in essence a historical and relative concept. People are only able to enjoy a certain right when the conditions that correspond to that right are in place. Therefore, the fundamental means by which China should develop the rights of its people is to take economic development as the central task. By promoting economic and social development, we can create favorable conditions for the development of rights, and promote the further expansion and development of the rights that the people enjoy. This is one of the main reasons why China has been able to enjoy continued social stability in a complicated social environment characterized by rapid economic and social development and a growing public awareness of rights.

第四，在民主政治建设和政治体制改革中，采取问题推动和试点推进的策略。改革开放以来，中国的改革策略被形象地称为“摸着石头过河”，即从实践中的问题出发而不是从观念出发，尽可能地通过实验、试点，逐步推广。这是中国改革和民主建设一项成功策略。政治体制改革和推进民主政治责任重大，也具有高度的风险。改革一旦失误，后果严重，甚至难以补救，各国历史上这样的教训不少。改革过程中存在一些失误是难免的，但只要控制在一定范围内则可以承受，失误或失败还可以加深我们对客观规律的认识，有利于找出更加科学、正确的方法。

Fourthly, we need to target our initiatives in the development of democracy and political reform at resolving practical problems and seek to make progress by engaging in trials. Following the launch of the reform and opening up drive, China’s reform strategy was vividly described as “feeling out the stones to cross the river.” In other words, this is an approach whereby reform initiatives are based on practical problems instead of ideas, and in which reforms are carried out gradually through experiments and trials wherever possible. This represents a successful strategy that China has adopted in reform and the development of democracy. Political reform and the development of democracy not only carry huge responsibility, but also pose high risks. History is dotted with examples of how miscalculation in reform can have serious and even irreparable consequences. It is inevitable that some errors will be made during the course of reform, but we will be able to cope as long as such errors are confined to certain limits. Moreover, errors and failures can deepen our understanding of objective laws, and facilitate our efforts to find more scientific and correct methods of proceeding.