In October 2017, the 19th Party Congress introduced the term “governing the Party according to regulations” into an amendment to the Party constitution, marking the rise of “governing the Party according to regulations” to the level of a basic method to strictly manage and govern the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the new era. At the same time, “the organic unity of governing the country according to law and governing the Party according to regulations” was clearly proposed and regarded as one of the most important features of the system of the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics. This article will further explain basic issues, such as what it is to govern the Party according to the regulations, why the Party must be governed according to the regulations, and how to promote the governance of the Party according to the regulations. 

I. Basic Significance of Governing the Party According to Regulations

What we call “governing the Party according to regulations” simply refers to the activities of the CCP to administer and govern the Party in accordance with the Party’s internal laws and regulations. It is an innovation in the governance model of the CCP that applies the ideas and methods of the rule of law to the practice of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party. It is a concept that holds practice and exploration come first, after which summaries and proposals are put forward. The Fourth Plenum of the 18th Central Committee once put forward: “Governing according to law requires the Party to govern the country and govern the Party in accordance with the constitution and laws, but that the Party is administered and governed in accordance with internal Party regulations.” This is the basis for the formation of the concept of “governing the Party according to regulations”. Together with “governing the country by law,” it has become one of the dual requirements of the CCP to govern according to the law. On this basis, when listening to the report on the sixth round of inspections by the 18th Central Committee in June 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping further clearly emphasized that “we must adhere to governing the country according to law and governing the Party according to regulations,” thus formally putting forward the concept of “governing the Party according to regulations.” Since then, important expositions on “governing the Party according to regulations” have emerged in succession, and the understanding of the relationships of governing the Party according to regulations with comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, governing the Party by virtue, and governing the country according to law have also been deepened. We can say that “governing the Party according to regulations” has become an important concept that is representative of the time, locality, and practicality. 

In terms of a normative basis, the “regulations” of governing the Party in accordance with regulations refer to internal Party laws and regulations. In the past, academic circles had different understandings of the “regulations” involved in governing the Party according to regulations. The fundamental reason was that they confused the difference between governing the Party by institutions and governing the Party according to regulations. From the instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on strengthening the construction of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations (党内法规制度), “insist on the coordinated progress and unified construction of governing the country by law with governing the Party by institutions and governing the Party according to regulations,” we can see that there is a conceptual difference between governing the Party by institutions and governing the Party according to regulations. Governing the country by institutions is a philosophy of Party governance similar to “governing the country according to law.” It emphasizes that Party administration and governance should rely on norms rather than the authority of leaders. “Adhere to the equality of all people before the system, implement the system without exceptions, resolutely maintain the rigor and authority of the system, and resolutely correct all kinds of behaviors that involve the failure to follow orders or the violation of prohibitions.” Therefore, under the philosophy of governing the Party by institutions, the “norms” or “Party rules” that play an important role in Party administration and governance will inevitably reflect the feature of strong tolerance and diversity. These include national norms and Party norms, written norms and unwritten norms. In this regard, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out that the Party’s rules include the Party constitution, Party discipline, national laws, and the excellent traditions and work practices that the Party has formed over long-term practice. These are the codes of conduct and rules that all levels of the Party organization and all Party members must abide by. Different from the concept of governing the Party by institutions, governing the Party according to regulations is a choice of Party regarding governing strategy and method. The “internal Party laws and regulations” on which this is based are mainly the internal Party laws and regulations that are part of “institutions” in Party governance by institutions. Therefore, it can also be said that “the key to governing the Party by institutions is to govern the Party according to regulations.” It should be noted, that the “internal Party laws and regulations” upon which the Party is governed according to regulations should be understood in a broad sense. That is, in addition to the seven types of internal Party laws and regulations in the narrow sense (the Party constitution, guidelines, provisions, rules, regulations, methods, and detailed rules), this also includes the norms scattered throughout the Party’s normative documents. 

In terms of value goals, governing the Party in accordance with regulations takes upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership as its core, while taking into account the requirements of democracy, the rule of law, the rule of virtue, and other values. Generally speaking, the main aim of political parties is to seize and maintain political power. This is a manifestation of the political nature of a party. Governing the Party according to regulations is proposed against the backdrop of the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. Fundamentally speaking, it seeks to solve outstanding problems such as the weakening of the Party’s leadership and loose and lax Party administration and governance. At the same time, as a Marxist party, the CCP insists on putting the people at the center and upholds its original intention and mission of seeking the happiness of the Chinese people and rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. “If the political advanced nature of a Marxist party is lost, there will be no way to discuss the party’s advanced nature and purity.” However, the popular character of the Party is established on the basis of the Party’s leadership. The Chinese Constitution stipulates: “The leadership of the Chinese Communist Party is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics.” In this sense, the Party leadership is essentially the organic unity of Party spirit and popular character. Of course, in order to govern the Party according to regulations, in addition to the value of the Party’s overall leadership, this also requires the implementation of values such as democracy, the rule of law, and the rule of virtue. For example, in the process of administering the party according to regulations, the building of intra-Party democracy shall be strengthened, institutional authority shall be established, and the governance of the Party by virtue shall be tightly integrated. These are the many requirements inherent in Party governance according to regulations in terms of political and legal aspects, tradition and modernity. Fundamentally speaking, however, governing the Party in accordance with regulations takes upholding and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership as its core value. To paint a picture, democracy is the source of legitimacy in governing the Party according to regulations, the rule of law is the institutional manifestation of governing the Party according to regulations, and the rule of virtue is the moral significance of governing the Party in accordance with regulations. Together, these three concepts serve to uphold and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership. 

In terms of practical motivation, governing the Party according to regulations represents the unity of demand and supply for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. Since the 18th Party Congress, the Party Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, has proposed the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party and incorporated it into the “Four Comprehensives” strategic layout for coordinated advancement. “For the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, the core issue is to strengthen the Party’s leadership, the foundation is comprehensiveness, the key is strictness, and the vital element is governance.” Because the rule of law is the basic approach to modern state and social governance, in terms of the governance practice requirements for comprehensive and strict Party governance, the fundamental approach is to implement the thinking and methods of rule of law in the internal governance of the Party. This constitutes the practical motivation for governing the Party according to regulations. Because of this, we say that governing the Party according to regulations is “a long-term and fundamental strategy for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party.” In terms of the supply side, first, governing the Party in accordance with regulations will lay the institutional cornerstone for the Party’s long-term governance and the country’s long-term peace and stability by strengthening the construction of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations. Second, governing the Party in accordance with regulations by integrating Party institution building into other aspects of party-building, the Party’s leadership and party-building are all included under the scope of institutional adjustment so as to fully implement institutions to manage authority, matters, and people. Third, governing the Party according to regulations applies strict standards and measures throughout the entire process and all aspects of the practice of governing the Party according to regulations. “The Party constitution and other Party regulations demand more of Party members than the law. Party members must not only strictly abide by the laws and regulations, but also strictly abide by the Party constitution and other Party regulations and demand more of themselves.” Fourth, governing the Party according to regulations is focused on addressing root issues. Through the continuous improvement of norms and summary of practical experience, it is not only based on solving the existing prominent contradictions and problems within the Party. At the same time, it also prevents the emergence of new contradictions and new problems and the reemergence of old contradictions and old problems. 

In terms of content, governing the Party according to regulations is an organic unity of static goals and dynamic processes. On the one hand, governing the Party according to regulations can be understood, at the macro level, as a static description of the overall practice of the CCP in administering and governing the Party according to internal Party regulations. This static practice properly purses “governance by Party regulations” and “good regulations and good governance.” Namely, it aims at a state of order within the Party where there are regulations to follow, regulations must be followed, regulations are strictly enforced, and violations are investigated. This is the goal of intra-Party governance that the CCP strives to achieve by insisting on governing the Party according to regulations. On the other hand, governing the Party according to regulations is manifested at the micro level as the dynamic process by which the CCP comprehensively strengthens the construction of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations, that is, specific practices such as establishing, enforcing, evaluating, and maintaining regulations. In other words, the CCP establishes a sound institutional system of internal laws and regulations through the scientific establishment of regulations to make it so “there are rules to follow” in internal Party governance. Through the strict enforcement of regulations, the establishment of institutional authority, the CCP makes raises internal Party laws and regulations from mere text to a reality. Through objective evaluation of regulations, the CCP promptly and effectively evaluates and summarizes the Party’s experience in the construction of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations to further enhance the Party’s ability and level with respect to governing the Party according to regulations. Through the maintenance of the regulations by the whole Party, the CCP strengthens the awareness of all Party members of the Party’s internal laws and regulations, creating an atmosphere conducive to the rule of law where regulations are respected, studied, observed, and applied. In addition, the significance of the dynamic process of governing the Party according to regulations also lies in the fact that this is in a constantly evolving and changing practice. It is the concrete manifestations of the role of the proper goals of governing the Party according to regulations in different times and places. It is a process of continuous improvement in the ability and level of “governing the Party according to regulations.” Therefore, from the macro to the micro, from static to dynamic, from goals to processes, governing the Party according to regulations presents an organic unity of static goal and dynamic process. 

In terms of function, governing the Party according to regulations not only has the internal function of strictly administering and governing the Party, but also has obvious external functions with respect to the country and society. Internal Party laws and regulations are the regulators of relationships involving Party affairs, including adjustments to intra-Party relationships and the relationship between the Party’s leadership and governance. In the adjustment of intra-Party relationships, internal Party laws and regulations place specific regulations on the work, activities, and behavior of Party members of Party organizations. By giving play to the functions of institutions in regulating, leading, promoting, and guaranteeing the Party’s political construction, ideological construction, organizational construction, work style construction, discipline construction, and anti-corruption struggle, this vigorously promotes the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party and provide institutional guarantees of the Party’s long-term peace and stability. At the same time, as the leading party and the governing party, relationships with leadership and political governance will arise in the CCP in fields such as the Party’s management of cadres and the Party’s management of ideology. Based on the Party’s relationships to leadership and governance, the adjustment of the Party’s internal laws and regulations will have a certain degree of impact on non-party organizations and the masses outside the Party. In addition, as the CCP is the highest force of political leadership, Party administration and governance have always had important relationships and effects on the overall situation. Thus, the adjustment of intra-Party relationships will inevitably produce “spillover effects,” which have a wide-ranging influence on the country and social life. For example, “the Eight-point Regulation changed China”, and the change in Party style led to the improvement of political style and style of the people. Therefore, governing the Party according to regulations not only has the internal function of strictly administering and governing the Party, but also has obvious external functions with respect to the country and society. 

II. Uphold the Inevitability of Governing the Party According to Regulations

The Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Strengthening the Construction of the Party’s Institutions of Internal Laws and Regulations (中共中央关于加强党内法规制度建设的意见) points out: “To govern the country, the Party must be governed first, the Party must be governed strictly, and the strictness must be based on a system of law.” 

(i) Uphold the Governance of the Party According to Regulations as the Inevitable Initiative of CCP to Promote Comprehensive and Strict Governance of the Party 

The courage for self-revolution and strict administration and governance of the Party are the distinctive character and basic experience of the CCP. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “A very important experience for our Party to grasp regarding party-building is to continuously summarize the historical experience and successful practices of our Party over the long term and to innovate in accordance with new situations, tasks, and practical requirements.” Governing the Party according to regulations is an innovation of the times carried out by the CCP to make up for the limitations of ideological party-building. It is an inevitable initiative to promote the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. 

First, its nature as a Marxist party determines that the CCP must persist in comprehensive and strict Party governance. Different from political parties in Western countries, the CCP is a political party that is guided by Marxism and always represents the fundamental interests of the people. The original intention and mission of the Chinese Communists are to pursue happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. Over the past hundred years, the fundamental reason that the CCP has always won the heartfelt support and firm support of the people and has maintained its position of governance and leadership over the long term is that it has not forgotten its original intention and has kept in mind its mission. This is also the fundamental force that drives the CCP to continuously promote self-revolution and strict Party administration and governance. “The reason why our Party has the courage to engage in self-revolution is that our Party does not have any special interests of its own outside the interests of the country, the nation, and the people.” At the same time, socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. For the CCP, how to lead the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, how to effectively deal with the “four major tests” and “four dangers” that the Party faces under the conditions of long-term governance and jump out of the “progression of historical cycles” (历史周期率, lit. historical cycle rate) are both opportunities and challenges. The keys to properly handling the affairs of China are the Party as well as the Party’s self-administration and comprehensive and strict Party governance. Only by continuing to carry forward the Party’s self-revolutionary spirit and promote the transformation and upgrade of the methods of Party administration and governance in the new era can the CCP deeply advance the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party and better adapt to the development trends and mission requirements of the Party in the new era. 

In addition, ideological party-building is an excellent tradition in the administration and governance of the CCP, but with the development of the times, it also manifests certain limitations. Maintaining the advanced nature of ideology is an inherent requirement and distinctive feature of a Marxist party. “Once a theory has gripped the masses, it will also become a material force.” As the fundamental principle of our party-building, ideological party-building emphasizes the importance of strengthening the study and education of advanced theories and overcoming wrong ideas with advanced ideas, so as to ensure the advanced nature of our ideology. During the historical period of our Party’s revolution, building, and reform, this effectively safeguarded the Party’s solidarity and maintained the Party’s vanguard nature. However, ideological party-building is not achieved overnight, but takes a long time. At the same time, with the development of the times and changes in the situation that the Party is facing, simply emphasizing ideological party-building can no longer adapt to the complex situation of comprehensive and strict Party governance. First, the diversification of trends in social thought will inevitably increase the difficulty of unified thinking. Since reform and opening up, trends in social thought have continuously emerged and China’s ideological field has become complex and diversified. In addition, the informatization era is characterized by massive volumes of diversified information, convenient access, and increased individual awareness of the people. “People’s thinking is more active, which significantly greater independence, selectivity, diversity, and differences.” As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The diversified development of society has made people’s ideological diversity and complexity more and more obvious, which will inevitably increase the difficulty of unifying thinking within the Party. Our Party is a big party, and unifying thinking has always been difficult.” Second, the development and growth of the scale of Party members will inevitably increase the difficulty of ideological construction. When the first Party Congress was held, there were just over 50 Party members across the country, but now the CCP has more than 90 million Party members. The scale of Party membership is not like it once was. This not only increases the implementation costs and difficulty of ideological construction, but also reduces the requirements and effectiveness of ideological construction. In particular, ideology is inherently concealed, and the “broken window effect” in ideological construction is prone to emerge given a large number of Party members. Therefore, in practice, there are many unqualified Party members who are confused in ideological matters. Third, the new situation of comprehensive and strict Party governance will inevitably place higher requirements on ideological party-building. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that the path of comprehensive and strict Party governance is mainly manifested in ideological strictness, strict Party administration, strict discipline, strict management of officials, strict work style, and strict anti-corruption. These “Six Stricts” (六个从严) can be further summarized into three specific requirements: comprehensiveness of content, strictness of standards, and fundamental treatment of effects. Obviously, relying solely on ideological construction cannot fully satisfy these requirements for comprehensive and strict Party governance, and self-discipline mechanisms may completely fail without the assurance of a broad range of other mechanisms, leading to chaos where “bad money drives out good money” in the Party. 

Finally, governing the Party according to regulations can effectively make up for the limitations of merely emphasizing ideological party-building. It is a long-term and fundamental strategy for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party. The rule of law is the basic method of governing the country. Although the CCP has promoted the construction of Party institutions since the establishment of the Party, such as the Program of the Communist Party of China adopted by the First Part Congress that clearly sets out regulations for the qualifications of Party members, Party organization, and Party discipline, because the Party’s understanding of institution-building has not been profound and comprehensive, Party institution-building has developed to varying degrees over a long period of time, but it remains in a rough and preliminary stage of development. Since the 18th Party Congress, in the face of the reality and long-term requirements of comprehensive and strict Party governance in the new era, governing the Party according to regulations has received unprecedented attention and development. General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out: “Strengthening the construction of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations is a long-term and fundamental strategy for comprehensively and strictly governing the Party.” Different from the mechanism of ideological party-building, governing the Party according to regulations focuses on the norms of conduct with powers and responsibilities, rights and obligations as the content. It prepares a set of visual, guiding, evaluable, and enforceable behavior standards for the behavior of Party organizations and Party members. Furthermore, by circumventing the irrationality of individuals through institutional rationality, governing the Party according to regulations mainly focuses on the operation of power to establish rules and regulations. Based on the unified regulation and adjustment of the behavior and activities of all Party members and Party organizations, it strengthens explicit rules to tears down implicit rules and strictly enforces discipline to maintain the authority of the Party’s internal laws and regulations. From this, it transforms the process of comprehensive and strict Party governance practices into a rule-based governance process of establishing, enforcing, evaluating, and maintaining regulations. Compared with ideological party-building, governing the Party according to regulations has fundamental, overall, stable, and long-term characteristics, which can effectively make up for the limitations of ideological party-building methods. Of course, the emphasis on governing the Party according to regulations does not mean that ideological party-building has lost its value for the times or that governing the Party according to regulations can replace ideological party-building. Instead, it should organically unify the ideological party-building and institutional governance of the Party, realize the complementarity, mutual promotion, and benign symbiosis of the rule of law and the rule of virtue, achieve the unity of knowledge and action, combine high standards with the maintenance of bottom lines, and unify discipline from others and from oneself. In this regard, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Strictly governing the Party depends on education as well as institutions. Of the two, one is flexible and one is rigid. We must exert our strength in the same direction and at the same time.” Therefore, by upholding the combination of ideological party-building and institutional governance and upholding the unity of governing the Party according to regulations and governing the Party by virtue, we will form the maximum combined force for comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. 

(ii) Uphold the Governance of the Party According to Regulations as the Inevitable Path of the CCP to Promote Its Own Modernization 

The modernization of political parties, also known as the adaptive changes of political parties, refers to “the process by which a political party adapts to the objective environment and its changing demands, adapts to the process of social development, and continuously institutionalizes, standardizes, and scientifizes (科学化) its own structure, functions, mechanisms, and modes of activity.” The CCP is the vanguard of the proletariat. This determines that the CCP must modernize itself in accordance with the new requirements of modern society and keep pace with the times so that it can always stand at the forefront of the times. The governance of the Party according to regulations is the inevitable path of the CCP to promote its own modernization. 

First, the CCP is faced with the urgent need for its own modernization. The modernization of political parties is caused by social modernization and is constantly developing in the process of adapting to social modernization and modern politics. In the current context of economic globalization, political democratization, cultural diversification, social informatization, and the wave of new technological revolutions, the issue of modernization is the most important, most practical, and most universal issue that any political party will inevitably face when it transitions from tradition to modernity. “Especially for a political party leading modernization, objectively, there is indeed a question of how to continuously reform itself to adapt to the modernization process of society as a whole.” If the problem of modernization receives a goo solution, the Party will rejuvenate the country. Otherwise, the Party will be destroyed and the country will be weakened. In terms of China, as the supreme force of political leadership, the CCP itself has a major influence on whether modernization is achieved and affects the overall situation. This is of decisive significance for the future and destiny of the Party and the country. Especially as our country is a late modernizing country, in terms of whether the CCP can truly adapt to the changes and development of the situation in the process of leading the country’s modernization and whether it can always maintain the Party’s vigor and vitality, the Party itself is also facing the modernization needs of advancing with the times and continuous development. In this regard, General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out: “To what stage has the cause of the Party and the people developed, to what stage must the Party’s construction progress to. This is the basic law that must be grasped to strengthen party-building.” “The key is whether we can persist in the Party’s administration and strict governance of itself and whether we can enhance its abilities of self-purification, self-perfection, self-renovation, and self-improvement.” These statements fully demonstrate that the CCP has a clear understanding of the necessity of advancing its own modernization as well as the path and method of realizing its own modernization. The process of the modernization of the CCP is essentially a process of deepening the Party’s self-revolution. The practice of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party and the modernization of the Party will continuously promote the Party’s self-purification, self-perfection, self-innovation, and self-improvement. 

Second, the inevitable trend of Party modernization is the institutionalization and rule of law in political party-building. People have various opinions about the content of political party modernization, but the core content is democratization and rule of law, that is, democracy is used to shape the rule of law, and the rule of law guarantees democracy. This is determined by the characteristics of modern politics. Of course, from a universal standpoint, the “rule of law” here emphasizes the spirit of the rule of law, which is essentially rule-based governance. In modern society, party politics has become the mainstream form of modern national political operations. Political parties are called the “nerve centers” of modern national political life. In order to ensure that political parties can participate in the country’s political life in an orderly manner and to avoid irregularities in party operations such as the abuse of power, arbitrary decision-making, and corruption, the general trend of modern party politics is to place party power on the track of the rule of law, and promote the institutionalization, standardization, and proceduralization of party activities. For example, after World War II, the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany was the first to impose constitutional provisions on political parties and enact special party laws. This had a profound impact on the legalization of political parties in all countries around the world. At present, the rule of law in most Western countries promotes the constructions of political parties in accordance with the rule of law, mainly through constitutional provisions, constitutional conventions, or the formulation of party laws and other separate regulations. 

Finally,  governance of the Party according to regulations is the inevitable path of the CCP towards institutionalization and rule of law. As the leading and ruling party, the Communist Party of China should undoubtedly promote its own modernization process with the spirit of the rule of law. However, in the practice of promoting the rule of law of political parties through national legislation in Western countries, the essence is to regulate political parties as general community organizations. This is obviously inconsistent with the status of the CCP as the leading and ruling party. The CCP is not a political party that developed with the parliament as its center of activity, but a Marxist party that represents the interests of the proletariat and has the mission of establishing and consolidating a new state power. It is “composed of the most enlightened and active part of the proletariat and serves as the vanguard of the proletarian revolutionary cause.” Based on the successful practice of party-centralism in building the country, the CCP shoulders the mission of pursuing the happiness of the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. Therefore, it must continue to be at the forefront of the times through self-revolution and always maintain the Party’s vanguard attributes. Governing the Party according to regulations is the inevitable path for the CCP to achieve self-revolution through institutionalization and rule of law. On this topic, General Secretary Xi Jinping believes that: “We study the important issue of governing the Party according to regulations, insist on Party discipline stricter than the law, put discipline ahead of the law, and realize the separation of discipline and law.” “In our country, the law is a requirement for all citizens, while the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations are requirements for all Party members and are stricter than the law in many places. Our Party is the vanguard, and the requirements for Party members should be stricter.” As the minimum requirements on the behavior of all citizens and organizations, national laws cannot impose high standards on political parties, especially the CCP, and cannot fundamentally protect the vanguard nature of the CCP. “There cannot be a political party without rules, let alone a Marxist party.” Therefore, the CCP can only strengthen the construction of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations from within the Party and embark on the road of self-revolution of rule of law and modernization by governing the Party in accordance with regulations. 

(iii) Uphold the Governance of the Party According to Regulations as the Inevitable Requirement of the CCP in its Leadership of the Modernization of National Governance 

The Report to the 19th Party Congress proposed: “We must uphold and improve the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and continuously advance the modernization of China’s system and capacity for governance.” Subsequently, the Fourth Plenum of the 19th Central Committee carried out a special study on national institutional and national governance issues and reached a decision. This clearly proposed that “by the centennial of the founding of New China, we will fully realize the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity so that the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics will be further consolidated and its superiority will be fully demonstrated.” The essence of the modernization of national governance is the rule of law in national governance. Leading the modernization of national governance will inevitably impose rule of law requirements on the leaders themselves and their leadership styles. This determines that the CCP must promote the governance of the Party according to regulations and uphold the organic unity of rule of the rule of law in national governance and the governance of the Party according to regulations. 

First of all, the essence of the modernization of national governance is the rule of law in national governance. The rule of law and the rule of the individual (人治) are two different modes of national governance, They represent a major issue that all countries in the world must face and solve in the process of modernization. After the end of the “Cultural Revolution,” Comrade Deng Xiaoping repeatedly emphasized the importance of institutions from the height of the modernization of the Party and state institutions. He profoundly pointed out: “Democracy must be institutionalized and legalized so that these institutions and laws will change with changes in leaders, nor due to changes in the views and attention of leaders.” “The question of institutions is which are more fundamental, global, stable, and long-term. This kind of institutional issue is relevant to whether the Party and the country will change its colors and it must arouse a high level of attention from the whole Party.” Since then, China’s legal system construction entered a period of restoration, reconstruction, and rapid development. In 1999, the Second Session of the Ninth National People’s Congress explicitly enshrined “implementing the rule of law in national governance and building a socialist country ruled by law” in the Constitution. This was a fundamental change in China’s governance strategy. Over more than 40 years since reform and opening up, rule of law in China has realized historic achievements. “We must have rule by law, not by individuals,” “The flourishing of the rule of law leads to the flourishing of the country, while the decline of the rule of law leads to chaos in the country,” and other summaries of our experience in rule of law construction have become the broad consensus among the people. The rule of law has become the basic approach to governing the country. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee formally proposed the “comprehensive promotion of the rule of law.” This was a profound revolution in national governance. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The key to governing a country and a society is to establish rules, explain the rules, and abide by rules.” We can say, the essence of the modernization of national governance is the rule of law in national governance, and the essence of Chinese governance lies in institutional governance. To promote the modernization of national governance, we must uphold the comprehensive promotion of the rule of law in national governance and place the work of the Party and the country on the track of the rule of law. It is necessary to coordinate social forces, balance social interests, regulate social relations, and standardize social behaviors through legal thinking and legal methods in order to provide institutional solutions to solve various social contradictions and problems. 

In addition, leading the modernization of national governance will inevitably require the CCP to promote the governance of the Party according to regulations. The Party is key to properly handling the affairs of China. As mentioned previously, the essence of the modernization of national governance is the rule of law in national governance. Leading the modernization of national governance inevitably requires that the CCP itself must model observance of the law, and its leadership style must be strictly in accordance with the law. On the one hand, governing the Party according to regulations is an inevitable requirement for the CCP and all its members to abide by the law. Each model of the rule of law is inseparable from a specific structure of political institutions, and the construction of legal order and the authority of the rule of law also require a higher institutional authority as its driving force and guarantee, such as the courts of the United States, the parliament of the United Kingdom, and the president of France. In China, the construction of the rule of law mainly relies on the CCP. China has adopted a top-down approach to the construction of the rule of law led by the ruling party. Realizing the modernization of national governance requires not only authoritative leadership, but even more, respect by the law by this authority. Therefore, how to make the world’s largest party, with more than 90 million Party members and more than 4.6 million grassroots Party organizations, and all its members take the lead in abiding by the law has become a key issue in China’s national governance. The advanced nature and authority of the CCP determine that the Party must not only abide by the law, but also model respect for the law. In addition to the constraints of national legal bottom lines, it is also necessary to strengthen the construction of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations from within the Party, insist on making discipline stricter than the law, and put discipline ahead of the law. In this way, we will form an effective mechanism to ensure that the CCP and all its members abide by the law. On the other hand, governing the Party according to regulations is an inevitable requirement for the rule of law over CCP leadership methods. The modernization of national governance is a comprehensive, overall, and transformative modernization. Its difficulty, complexity, and far-reaching impact have profoundly determined that the CCP must govern in accordance with the law and continuously promote the institutionalization and rule of law of the Party’s leadership. However, national law is facing many theoretical and practical problems in fully adjusting Party leadership issues. Therefore, in the field of Party leadership, in addition to the abstract confirmation of national laws, specific provisions on internal Party laws and regulations are also required. In this sense, the rule of law in national governance must not only uphold the rule of law, but also uphold governing the Party according to regulations, especially the establishment and improvement of the Party’s leadership and legal institutional systems. This will provide institutional guarantees so that the Party can better play its core leadership role in summarizing the overall situation and coordinating all parties in the process of national governance modernization. 

Finally, the organic unity of governing the country according to law and governing the Party according to regulations is one of the most important features of the system of the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and an institutional advantage of the CCP leadership in realizing the modernization of national governance. The type of road to rule of law a country follows and what kind of rule of law system it builds depend on its basic national conditions. Proceeding from the actual situation of China, the Fourth Plenum of the 18th  Central Committee incorporated the “improving the Party’s internal institutions of laws and regulations” into the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics for the first time and explicitly proposed that we “pay attention to the convergence and coordination of internal Party laws and regulations with national laws.” This effectively addressed the issue of the relationship between the Party and the law (power and law) and set us off on the road of the rule of law in national governance with Chinese characteristics. The subsequent report at the 19th Party Congress emphasized “upholding the organic unity of rule of the rule of law in national governance and the governance of the Party according to regulations” under the basic strategy of “upholding the comprehensive rule of law.” This signifies that the organic unity of governing the country according to law and governing the Party according to regulations has become one of the most important features of the system of the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics. In theory, the rule of law emphasizes the restriction of power. Both the power of the state and the power of the ruling party must accept the norms of the rule of law. Therefore, from the perspective of maximizing the effectiveness of the rule of law, the rule of law in national governance will inevitably require the coordination and convergence of the rule of law in national governance and the governance of the Party according to regulations. In this regard, Comrade Deng Xiaoping put forward a profound insight very early on, “without Party regulations and Party laws, it is difficult to provide assurance for national laws.” However, in practice, due to the influence of Western theories of the rule of law, for a long time in the past, people’s understanding of governing the Party according to regulations mainly remained in the field of party-building and governance not based on law. However, “only when governing the Party according to regulation goes deep into the hearts of the Party can ruling the country according to the law penetrate into the hearts of the people.” Since the 18th Party Congress, in order to lead the realization of the modernization of national governance, the advantages of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics were fully transformed into governance efficiency, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core placed institution building in an extremely important position, and we organically unified resolute confidence in the system with continuous reform and innovation. From the deployment of the “big rule of law” (大法治) construction pattern to promote the practice of comprehensive rule of law in national governance, we emphasize the coordinated promotion and integrated construction of the adherence to the rule of law in national governance along with the institutional governance of the Party and governance of the Party according to regulations as well as the organic unity of governing the country according to law and governing the Party according to regulations. The opened up a new realm in the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics. At the same time, it also provides a new perspective and path by which other countries from around the world can realize the rule of law and modernization of national governance. 

III. In-depth Promotion of the Basic Path of Governing the Party According to Regulations 

Governing the Party according to regulations is a brand-new practice of the CCP based on the situation and tasks of the new era. “Although the classic Marxist writers have provided abundant theoretical resources for the construction of internal Party laws and regulations, they have not proposed a mature and effective model of construction of internal Party laws and regulations in practice.” The Fourth Plenum of the 19th Central Committee clearly emphasized the need to deepen the reform of the institutions of party-building, adhere to governing the Party in accordance with regulations, establish and improve the institutions and mechanism to comprehensively promote party-building in all aspects under the leadership of the Party’s political construction, improve authoritative and efficient institutional implementation mechanisms, and strengthen research, publicity, and education on institutional theory. These provided the basic guidelines to follow for the in-depth promotion of Party governance according to regulations in the new era. 

First, we must take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era as the guide and adhere to the correct political direction. Since the 18th Party Congress, under the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the construction of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations has entered a stage of systematization and rapid development. The mode of establishing regulations has gradually changed from an emergency and scattered approach to a planned approach with a systematic basis, and the practice of governing the Party according to regulations has realized historic progress and achievements. In this process, General Secretary Xi Jinping has issued a large number of important expositions on governing the Party according to regulations. Taking a macro view, they lay out very significant strategic judgments regarding governing the Party according to regulations. Taking a middle view, they offer profound explanations of governing the Party according to regulations, governing the Party by virtue, and governing the country according to law. Taking the micro view, they offer scientific guidance on regulatory establishment, enforcement, supervision, evaluation, study, compliance, and maintenance. This profound ideology and comprehensive content provide a powerful ideological arsenal for guiding and strengthening the construction of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations and comprehensively advancing the governance of the Party according to regulations. To further promote the governance of the Party according to regulations in the new era, we must continue to adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era. In particular, we should thoroughly implement the important expositions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on governing the Party by institutions and governing the Party according to regulations to ensure that the governance of the Party according to rules is always deepening and progressing in the correct political direction. 

Second, we must pay attention to the work of establishing regulations and improve the quality of the Party’s internal laws and regulations. “Good institutions can prevent bad people from doing things in an arbitrary manner, but bad institutions can prevent good people from doing good things fully or may even turn good work into poor results.” Therefore, to further promote the governance of the Party according to regulations, we must focus on improving the quality of the Party’s internal laws and regulations. The first thing is to pay attention to the coordination and convergence of internal Party laws and regulations and national laws. We must strictly implement what is required by the significance of “stricter discipline than law, discipline ahead of law, and the separation of discipline and law” in the work of establishing regulations and promote the complementarity and mutual promotion of internal Party laws and regulations and national laws. The second thing is to adhere to the combination of governing the Party according to regulations and governing the Party by virtue. We must incorporate due ethical requirements, especially core socialist values, into the work of establishing regulations. This is a feature and advantage of governing the Party according to regulations. In practice, however, two extremes should be avoided: ignoring ethical requirements and lowering the strict standards of the Party’s internal laws and regulations so that the Party’s internal laws and regulations are no different from the national laws; and excessive ethical requirements, the incorporation of invisible and inaccessible standards into the Party’s internal laws and regulations, and imposing excessive standards at every level (层层加码) so that internal Party laws and regulations are too strict to be actually implemented. The third thing is to insist on scientifically established regulations, democratically established regulations, and regulations established based on rules. It is necessary to combine the requirements of the Party Central Committee, the expectations of the masses, practical needs, and fresh experience. “The institution lies not in the number [of regulations], but in the precision, practicality, and effectiveness, highlighting its targetedness and usefulness as a guide.” Therefore, the establishment of regulations must focus on embodying science, democracy, targetedness, and operability. We must coordinate and grasp the relationships between the inherent political and legal nature of the Party’s internal laws and regulations, the accuracy and ambiguity of language, the practicality of implementations and standardization, and the practicality of application and farsightedness. 

Third, we must follow the Party constitution as the fundamental principle and improve the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations. The formation of a complete institutional system of laws and regulations within the Party is an inevitable requirement for the in-depth promotion of governing the Party according to regulations and the comprehensive tightening of the institutional cage. At present, [concerning the goal that] “a relatively complete institutional system of laws and regulations within the Party will be formed by the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party”, time is tight and the tasks are difficult. In practice, the “quantity” and “speed” of the Party’s laws and regulations have increased. Objectively, some system problems such as the lack of consistency, coordination, and convergence between specifications have arisen. The Party constitution is the fundamental law within the Party. To perfect the institutional system of laws and regulations within the Party, the Party constitution must be followed as the fundamental guide and the “supply-side structural reform” of the Party’s internal laws and regulations must be effectively implemented. The first thing is to strengthen the implementation of the Party constitution. The Party constitution is the general constitution under which the Party is established, governed, and administered. The “Second Five-Year Plan (2018-2022) on the Formulation of Intra-Party Regulations” specifically emphasizes that we must “refine and make concrete the new regulations and new requirements of the amendments to the Party constitution of the 19th Party Congress and effectively maintain the authority and seriousness of the Party constitution.” Therefore, improving the institutional system of laws and regulations within the Party must be based on the Party constitution, align with the Party constitution, and provide support for the implementation of tasks and requirements of the Party constitution in accordance with a division of labor based on degree of effectiveness. The second thing is to coordinate and promote the work of legislation, revision, abolition, and interpretation. In forming a complete institutional system of internal Party laws and regulations, the emphasis is not only on establishing rules and regulations, but also on coordinating and advancing the revision, abolition, and interpretation of internal Party laws and regulations. In particular, the latter efforts still have significant room for improvement in the current practice of governing the Party according to regulations. Therefore, we should pay full attention to and comprehensively use the methods of revision, abolition, and interpretation. We should do this by improving their normalized working mechanisms and promoting the prompt update and reasonable adjustment of the institutional system of the Party’s internal laws and regulations. The third thing is to promote the complementarity of internal Party laws and regulations and internal Party normative documents. Internal Party laws and regulations and internal Party normative documents are two kinds of standards with different characteristics and functions in the institutional system of internal Party laws and regulations. They meet the needs of the diversified institutions involved in governing the Party according to regulations. To improve the institutional system of laws and regulations within the Party, standards of different formats should be used comprehensively according to actual needs in order to promote the mutual support and complementary functions of internal Party laws and regulations and internal Party normative documents. 

Fourth, we must strengthen the enforcement of internal Party laws and regulations and maintain the authority of internal Party laws and regulations. The vitality of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations lies in their implementation. In the process of governing the Party according to regulations, as to whether the institutional advantages of the Party’s internal laws and regulations can be transformed into efficiency in Party governance, the key lies in the effective implementation of the Party’s laws and regulations. “It is very important to formulate institutions, but more important to implement them. Nine-tenths of the effort should be spent on this.” Currently, the construction of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations has entered a new stage that emphasizes not only the establishment of regulations but also the enforcement of regulations. Therefore, it is necessary to further strengthen the implementation of the Party’s internal laws and regulations and conscientiously maintain the authority of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations. The first thing is to increase the intensity of disclosure and propaganda for information on the Party’s internal laws and regulations. From the perspective of execution, “there are regulations to follow” not only requires that we have regulations to be followed. At the same time, it also requires Party members and Party organizations to be aware of the norms that should be followed, that is, it emphasizes standards of knowledge for people who perform execution. In this sense, there is a positive correlation between the ability to enforce internal Party laws and regulations and awareness. Therefore, we must increase the intensity of the disclosure of internal Party laws and regulations, improve the procedures and methods of encryption and decryption, innovate propaganda methods and approaches for the Party’s internal laws and regulations, and replace the boring text propaganda with more interesting methods. This will help increase the popularity and acceptance of internal Party laws and regulations and give them deeper roots in the hearts of the people. The second thing is to further strengthen supervision, discipline, and accountability within the Party. Supervision, discipline, and accountability are the fundamental requirements for strengthening the implementation of internal Party laws and regulations. If there are institutions, but they are not respected, this will result in the “broken window effect.” General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “The vitality of laws, regulations, and institutions lies in their implementation. There is no trick to implementing laws, regulations, and institutions. The key lies in a true grasp and strict management.” Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen supervision of the implementation of internal Party laws and regulations, improve the supervision system and methods of supervision within the Party, and make Party members and leading cadres accustomed to performing activities under supervision; intensify the enforcement of discipline, ensure that everyone is equal under the system, and severely deal with violations of the system; use the responsibility system as a starting point to implement internal Party laws and regulations, strictly assess accountability, use responsibilities to transfer pressure, and encourage Party organizations, Party members, and leading cadres at all levels to conscientiously fulfill their political responsibilities for implementing internal Party laws and regulations. The third thing is to carry out the evaluation of the implementation of internal Party laws and regulations on a regular basis. Evaluation is not only an evaluation and summary of the implementation status, but also a way to reflect on and improve deficiencies in implementation. There are many factors that affect the effectiveness of the implementation of internal Party laws and regulations. Strengthening implementation evaluation will help to find the specific causes that restrict the effectiveness of Party governance according to regulations in order to facilitate targeted improvements. 

Fifth, we must shape the culture of laws and regulations within the Party and strengthen the rule of law thinking of Party members and cadres. Going from people who are afraid to be corrupt, to those who cannot be corrupt, to those who do not want to be corrupt is the goal of anti-corruption. This requires a deepening from a temporary cure to a permanent cure. This background reflects the difference in the effect in the transition from institutions to institutional culture. The Sixth Plenum of the 18th Central Committee proposed to strengthen the construction of political culture within the Party and that “the political culture within the Party is essentially institutional culture and rooted in the culture of the rule of law.” Shaping a good culture of internal Party laws and regulations is of great significance in purifying the political ecosystem within the Party and advancing the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party. The key to governing the Party according to regulations lies in governing power, but in the final analysis, it still lies with people. Therefore, the use of institution-building to promote cultural construction, which in turn promotes the formation of rule of law thinking among Party members and cadres is an inevitable requirement of governing the Party according to regulations. To this end, the first thing is that we must strengthen the study of internal Party laws and regulations. Study is the prerequisite of compliance. “It is not only necessary to learn for the first time and repeatedly study to know the content, but also to integrate practical study and deep reflection to know the reasons behind it.” Through study of the Party’s internal laws and regulations, we can strengthen the recognition of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations so as to firmly establish awareness of the rule of law, institutional awareness, and discipline awareness among Party members and form an atmosphere of the rule of law that respects institutions, abides by institutions, and defends institutions. The second thing is to strengthen the education on ideals and beliefs for Party members. “Ideals and beliefs signify the high degree of recognition of political ideas by political entities. This is the core and soul of political culture and plays a value-orienting role in the construction of political culture.” We must strengthen the education on ideals and beliefs, remember our original institution, keep our mission in mind, and deepen the understanding of governing the Party according to regulations in the process of ideological construction. This will help Party members consciously identify with the Party’s internal culture of laws and regulations and become accustomed to working and living under the condition of a Party governed according to regulations. The third thing is to consciously abide by the Party’s internal laws and regulations. “Among the four elements of culture, spirit, institutions, modes of behavior, and material vehicles, the institutional element is very important.” Institutions regulate people’s behavior. By consciously observing and aligning with internal Party laws and regulations, we can shape the behavior of Party members, thereby forming a common way of life and stable living habits, that is, forming the form of the external order of the Party’s internal laws and regulations. 

Sixth, we must conduct in-depth theoretical research on the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations, guided by discipline construction for the Party’s internal laws and regulations. Theory originates from practice and has important value in guiding and leading practice. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must conscientiously summarize the practical experience of party-building, and promptly distill relatively mature and universally applicable experience into institutions. At the same time, we must strengthen the theoretical research and macro-design for the construction of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations.” Since the 18th Party Congress, the rapid development of the construction of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations has promoted the flourishing of theoretical research on the Party’s internal laws and regulations. The Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations are unique political phenomena and phenomena of the rule of law that have developed along with the practice of the CCP in administering and governing the Party and cannot be fully and independently explained with respect to the various existing disciplines. At the same time, the practical logic of the political party system with Chinese characteristics determines that the construction of the discipline of internal Party laws and regulations has great practical significance and theoretical value. Disciplinization (学科化) is not only the inevitable result of the maturation of academic theory, but discipline construction, in turn, promotes the development of academic theories. Therefore, we should be guided by the discipline construction for internal Party laws and regulations, conduct in-depth theoretical research on internal Party laws and regulations, strengthen confidence in the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations, and provide strong disciplinary support for deepening the practice of governing the Party according to regulations. On the one hand, we must intensify research on the basic and cutting-edge issues concerning the Party’s internal laws and regulations, deeply grasp the differences and connections between the Party’s internal laws and regulations and other disciplines such as law, political science, Party history, and Party construction as well as the significance of its research methods and disciplinary divisions, and perform an in-depth study of basic theoretical issues such as the research objects, basic principles, disciplinary positioning, disciplinary system, and personnel training with regard to the study of the Party’s internal laws and regulations. On the other hand, we must pay attention to countermeasure research and the application of theoretical results in the construction of the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations, pay attention to the Party’s practices of governing the Party according to regulations, such as the Party’s institutions of internal laws and regulations and implementation and evaluation systems. In addition, we must also reflect and puts forward suggestions in the academic field and further promote institutional innovation through theoretical innovation on the basis of practice.