Mao: Role of Communist Party

Mao, the leader of the Chinese revolution, begins his quotations (The "Little Red Book") by giving priority to the Communist Party guided by Marxist-Leninist theory: "The force at the core leading our cause forward is the Chinese Communist Party. The theoretical basis guiding our thinking is Marxism-Leninism." Theory, for Mao, is based on that of Marx and Engels as expressed in the Communist Manifesto.

His words echo those of Lenin who said that "Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement.": "No political party can possibly lead a great revolutionary movement to victory unless it possesses revolutionary theory and knowledge of history and has a profound grasp of the practical movement."

While the fundamental theory does not change, Mao insists in his chapter on The Communist Party that the practical application of theory must be a constant process of dialogue and learning with the masses of the people: "Policy is the starting-point of all the practical actions of a revolutionary party and manifests itself in the process and the end-result of that party's actions. A revolutionary party is carrying out a policy whenever it takes any action. If it is not carrying out a correct policy, it is carrying out a wrong policy; if it is not carrying out a given policy consciously, it is doing so blindly. What we call experience is the process and the end-result of carrying out a policy. Only through the practice of the people, that is, through experience, can we verify whether a policy is correct or wrong and determine to what extent it is correct or wrong."

Mao emphasizes the importance of full communication between the party and the people: "before any action is taken, we must explain the policy, which we have formulated in the light of the given circumstances, to Party members and to the masses. Otherwise, Party members and the masses will depart from the guidance of our policy, act blindly and carry out a wrong policy."

In his chapter on Leadership of Party Committees, Mao goes into great detail on measures to ensure democratic participation in the work of the Chinese Communist Party.

He also emphasizes the need for party Unity: "It is only through the unity of the Communist Party that the unity of the whole class and the whole nation can be achieved, and it is only through the unity of the whole class and the whole nation that the enemy can be defeated and the national and democratic revolution accomplished." Unity does not mean lack of criticism and self-criticism, however: "This democratic method of resolving contradictions among the people was epitomized in 1942 in the formula "unity, criticism, unity". To elaborate, it means starting from the desire for unity, resolving contradictions through criticism or struggle and arriving at a new unity on a new basis. In our experience this is the correct method of resolving contradictions among the people."

Despite his emphasis on constant criticism and non-violent conflict in order to correct mistakes in the revolution (see the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution"), Mao insists that criticism should never weaken the leadership of the Communist Party: Hence, he says in the chapter on The Correct Handling of Contradictions among the People: "Words and actions ... should help to strengthen, and not discard or weaken, the leadership of the Communist Party."

In the tradition of Lenin, Mao argues for professional communists who put their revolutionary work above all else: "A Communist should have largeness of mind and he should be staunch and active, looking upon the interests of the revolution as his very life and subordinating his personal interests to those of the revolution; always and everywhere he should adhere to principle and wage a tireless struggle against all incorrect ideas and actions, so as to consolidate the collective life of the Party and strengthen the ties between the Party and the masses; he should be more concerned about the Party and the masses than about any individual, and more concerned about others than about himself. Only thus can he be considered a Communist."

Communists work by persuasion and not by force or violence: "The attitude of Communists towards any person who has made mistakes in his work should be one of persuasion in order to help him change and start afresh and not one of exclusion, unless he is incorrigible." and "As for people who are politically backward, Communists should not slight or despise them, but should befriend them, unite with them, convince them and encourage them to go forward."

The key is training and education. "Our Party organizations must be extended all over the country and we must purposefully train tens of thousands of cadres and hundreds of first-rate mass leaders. They must be cadres and leaders versed in Marxism-Leninism, politically far-sighted, competent in work, full of the spirit of self-sacrifice, capable of tackling problems on their own, steadfast in the midst of difficulties and loyal and devoted in serving the nation, the class and the Party." "If our Party does not have a great many new cadres working in unity and cooperation with the old cadres, our cause will come to a stop."

These thoughts of Mao remains fresh and relevant today for the strategy and tactics of revolutionary organization and leadership.

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