| Starting from the period of the New Democratic Revolution,when Mao Zedong first proposed and used the concept of party’s regulations within the Communist Party of China(CPC),to the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18 th CPC Central Committee,where the concept of party’s regulations was fully affirmed and highly reinforced,the CPC has attached increasing importance to party’s regulations in the process of governing the country according to the rule of law as well as the party in a comprehensive and strict manner.The academic research on Party’s regulations mainly focuses on the concept,basic principles,history,institutional system,and relationship with state governance of Party’s regulations through the perspectives of law,political science and Party construction,and few scholars have researched the legitimacy of Party’s regulations.Although the effectiveness of party’s regulations is mainly limited to the members and organizations of the CPC,the CPC,as the leading core of contemporary China,and party’s regulations,together with national laws and social norms,constitute the institutional basis of the " rule of China" and the " governance of China".They are an important part of the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics.Only on the condition that the Party’s regulations are recognized as legitimacy can the orders issued under the Party’s regulations be considered as legitimacy.Therefore,it is very important to prove the legitimacy of party’s regulations.Party’s regulations are different from state laws,and although the process of legitimacy discourse of Party’s regulations can refer to the relevant Western theories on legitimacy,it cannot be rigidly applied and try to explain Chinese problems through Western theories.As a special creation of the rule of law practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics,party’s regulations must be based on the framework of the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics.At the same time legitimacy,as a historical and pulsating concept,has its own different definitions under different forms of life,cultures and political traditions.On the basis of the special governing status of the CPC in China,this study defines the core concept of party’s regulations,establishes the background of the study in the framework of the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics,and adopts four standards of historical legitimacy,formal legitimacy,substantive legitimacy and procedural legitimacy in terms of legitimacy criteria.However,there are not only these four aspects of legitimacy of party’s regulations,and it is still an open issue as to whether they include other aspects of legitimacy.The historical legitimacy of the party’s regulations is reflected in the fact that the party’s regulations arose before the state constitution and laws,and are the norms that have evolved along with the historical process of the CPC from its establishment to the post-statehood.In different historical periods and in the face of different domestic social environments,the CPC completed the construction of the Party by paying attention to different priorities,which became one of the bases of the CPC’s governance.The definition of the term "party’s regulations" and the historical proof of its concept show that the party’s regulations are independent of national laws in terms of political rulings,and have a complete system with a historical lineage,and have maintained a continuity in time.The legitimacy of party’s regulations is derived from history,and is determined by the people’s choice.The formal legitimacy of party’s regulations refers to the basic and essential qualities of appearance,form and effectiveness that should be met by a normative body with legitimacy,which is specifically expressed in the conformity of party’s regulations with the formal standardization requirements of the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics.At the same time,the formal legitimacy is also reflected in the rigor of the normative hierarchy and the standardization of the formulation mode of the Party’s regulations themselves.After years of continuous efforts by the CPC,the existing Party’s regulations are extensive,forming a chain of Party’s regulations with different levels of hierarchy,comprehensiveness of different fields,coordination of different levels of effectiveness and completeness of different links in one,and also building a Party’s regulations system with clear guiding ideology,clear internal logic,clear normative effectiveness,relatively complete structure,extensive content coverage and relatively scientific Party’s regulations system.At the same time,the unified format and style characteristics of the Party’s regulations in each field and at each level constitute a coordinated and unified system of Party’s regulations,making the Party’s regulations themselves with formal legitimacy.The value behind party’s regulations as a norm is derived from their substantive legitimacy.Whether they are internal norms of political parties or incorporated into the rule of law system,they meet the essential requirements of constructing socialism with Chinese characteristics in terms of the effectiveness of the power to make and the rationality of the value orientation.This legitimacy emphasizes the rationality and acceptability of the system,which involves value judgments in the formation,operation,and adjustment of the system,and is reflected in the expression of the spirit of collective will,power constraints,rights protection,and fairness and justice in the Party’s regulations as a normative system.Within political parties,Party’s regulations embody the concept of rule of law and reflect the values of the CPC as a leading party,and the values inherent in and upheld by Party’s regulations are consistent with the attributes of the CPC.Within the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics,the construction of Party’s regulations is promoted on the basis of the formation of the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics and the accumulation of rich experience with Chinese characteristics in the construction of the national and local legal systems,and the relationship between Party’s regulations and national laws is normative.The objectives of Party’s regulations also set a value standard for the CPC to govern according to the law and rule the Party’s according to party’s regulations.To incorporate party’s regulations into the rule of law system,it is necessary to pay attention not only to the legitimacy of party’s regulations in the sense of results,but also to the procedural legitimacy in the whole process of making party’s regulations.Procedural legitimacy refers to the basic standards that should be met in the operation mechanism,operation process,and actual effect of a legitimate norm.The whole process of democracy reflects the will of the Party and the demands of the people in the Party’s regulations,while enabling democratic participation in a reasonable manner throughout the Party’s regulations system,satisfying the moral standards and value basis of procedural legitimacy.The true and effective operation of party’s regulations provides substantive and proper procedures for the implementation of the principle of commitment to compliance,and realizes the purpose of procedural propriety of party’s regulations.The construction and improvement of the rights relief mechanism of the Party’s regulations and the implementation of non-discriminatory relief for the rights of Party members and non-Party members further enhance the procedural legitimacy of the Party’s regulations. |
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