白皮书
White paper


这是12月4日在发布会现场拍摄的《中国的民主》白皮书中、英文版。新华社记者 李贺 摄

国务院新闻办12月4日发表《中国的民主》白皮书，系统介绍了中国民主价值理念、发展历程、制度体系、参与实践和成就贡献。

China's State Council Information Office on Dec 4 released a white paper titled "China: Democracy That Works," which expounded on the values, history, institutional frameworks, practices, and achievements of China's democracy.

白皮书说，民主是全人类的共同价值，是中国共产党和中国人民始终不渝坚持的重要理念。100年来，党高举人民民主旗帜，领导人民在一个有几千年封建社会历史、近代成为半殖民地半封建社会的国家实现了人民当家作主，中国人民真正成为国家、社会和自己命运的主人。

Democracy is a common value of humanity and an ideal that has always been cherished by the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people, said the white paper. Over the past hundred years, the Party has led the people in realizing people's democracy in China. The Chinese people now truly hold in their hands their own future and that of society and the country, said the white paper.

白皮书介绍，中国的民主是人民民主，人民当家作主是中国民主的本质和核心。全过程人民民主，实现了过程民主和成果民主、程序民主和实质民主、直接民主和间接民主、人民民主和国家意志相统一，是全链条、全方位、全覆盖的民主，是最广泛、最真实、最管用的社会主义民主。

The people's status as masters of the country is the essence of people's democracy, it said. China's whole-process people's democracy integrates process-oriented democracy with results-oriented democracy, procedural democracy with substantive democracy, direct democracy with indirect democracy, and people's democracy with the will of the state, it said. It is a model of socialist democracy that covers all aspects of the democratic process and all sectors of society. It is a true democracy that works, the white paper noted.

白皮书强调，民主是历史的、具体的、发展的，各国民主植根于本国的历史文化传统，成长于本国人民的实践探索和智慧创造，民主道路不同，民主形态各异。民主不是装饰品，不是用来做摆设的，而是要用来解决人民需要解决的问题的。民主是各国人民的权利，而不是少数国家的专利。

Democracy is a concrete phenomenon that is constantly evolving. Rooted in history, culture and tradition, it takes diverse forms and develops along the paths chosen by different peoples based on their exploration and innovation, it said. Democracy is not a decorative ornament, but an instrument for addressing the issues that concern the people. Democracy is the right of the people in every country, rather than the prerogative of a few nations, the white paper noted.

白皮书指出，一个国家是不是民主，应该由这个国家的人民来评判，而不应该由外部少数人指手画脚来评判。国际社会哪个国家是不是民主的，应该由国际社会共同来评判，而不应该由自以为是的少数国家来评判。实现民主有多种方式，不可能千篇一律。用单一的标尺衡量世界丰富多彩的政治制度，用单调的眼光审视人类五彩缤纷的政治文明，本身就是不民主的。

Whether a country is democratic should be judged by its people, not dictated by a handful of outsiders. Whether a country is democratic should be acknowledged by the international community, not arbitrarily decided by a few self-appointed judges, it said.There is no fixed model of democracy; it manifests itself in many forms. Assessing the myriad political systems in the world against a single yardstick and examining diverse political structures in monochrome are in themselves undemocratic, it added.