The fundamental difference between ancient elections in China and universal suffrage in the west.

Although the ancient "election" in China is the same as the popular "election" originated in the west, there is no doubt that there are fundamental differences in essence. D.E.Butler, the author of the word "election" in Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Science, pointed out that the word originated from the Latin verb "elite" (meaning "choice"). Although it originated very early, the history of free universal suffrage in the modern sense, as a prerequisite for democracy, is actually only two centuries. Election is a procedural form with recognized rules, according to which people choose several people from all or some people to hold certain positions. V.Bogdanor, the author of "The Electoral System", said that the electoral system is a method of allocating public office to candidates and political parties and converting votes into seats. According to J.Cotteret and C.Emeri, modern "election" can be defined as a whole composed of various procedural, judicial and concrete actions, and its main purpose is to let the ruled appoint rulers. The entry "election" in the Encyclopedia of International Sociology, edited by michael mann, says that election is a way for larger groups to provide smaller leadership groups for themselves. We can say that modern elections choose "less" with "more" and "virtuous" with "more" ("virtuous" does not contain praise or derogatory meaning), that is, the ruling minority is selected by the majority.

"Modern election" can be grasped from three aspects, that is, who participates, what to do and how to do it. Since modern times, the scope of people's participation in elections has experienced a process of expanding to universal suffrage. Wealth and gender are no longer restrictions, but people generally vote by voting, choose one or some people to represent their opinions or govern the whole society, such as electing heads of state or government. In theory, it is only effective if all citizens participate, or at least most people participate. For almost all voters, it is just to vote for others. But the person who is finally elected will become the highest decision-maker. Candidates will put forward a certain policy program, publicize it through a certain organization (usually a political party), mobilize the masses and win votes. It is popular, or "democratic". Although the public can still be manipulated, it is at least "democratic" in form. This is a bottom-up choice. Theoretically, it should not be limited by any predetermined ideological essence, but everything should be based on public opinion or consensus and the opinions of the majority. It must also allow a variety of possibilities to choose objects, so that people have the freedom to choose, in line with the original meaning of "election." The winner of the election is often not just a person, but a group (political party), so the change of the winner can bring about some changes in the national principles and policies. Therefore, rulers can be replaced by peace and provide a legal basis for modern government.

The "selection" in ancient China can be said to be the selection of rulers by rulers, or the selection of "sages" by "sages", that is, the selection of a few people by a few people, but it is quite objective and institutionalized, regardless of personal will and desire. 10 This is a top-down choice. Although almost everyone is not excluded in theory, in fact, only a few people participate or are selected, and even only a few people participate, and even fewer people are selected to operate smoothly. The contestants or candidates are actually selected or recommended by themselves, and finally selected through the recommendation of others, 1 1 or through objective examinations. The chosen people are naturally a group of people, not one person, nor the highest decision-maker, but only officials under the monarchy or people who are qualified to be officials. Candidates mainly rely on their own virtue, talent, fame, family ambition, or cultural accomplishment. Every election did not constitute a unified group but still some individuals. Every election did not bring about changes in national policies, but only sent new blood to the ruling class. Therefore, it is always an elite, and it is the activity of a few people from form to essence. Its selection criteria are limited by a predetermined substance, which does not involve the fundamental basis of the legitimacy of traditional countries and governments, but it provides a stable, reasonable and predictable expectation for society, which is of great significance to the distribution of social resources, the establishment of social stratification and the change of personal status.

As for the similarities and connections between "ancient elections in China" and "modern elections", this is a question worthy of further discussion, but this paper mainly demonstrates from the differences between them. Next, I want to continue to look at the social historical view of the ancient China people who experienced this period of life and the main explanation modes put forward to explain this period of history since modern times, and then elaborate a new observation angle, necessary theoretical explanation and preliminary historical verification, and put forward the concept of "electoral society" on this basis.

Enlightenment of democratic election and political party system in western developed countries on the construction of democratic politics in China Modern democratic system (political party system, electoral system, etc.). ) fully illustrates its importance in modern society, and also clearly shows that all political parties and organizations regard democratic elections as the only legal way to gain ruling status. Undoubtedly, most developed modern democratic systems belong to capitalist countries, which are different from our country in national system and have great limitations and one-sidedness. However, after hundreds of years of development, the capitalist democratic system has been quite complete, perfect and mature. The practice and development process of its electoral system and political party system, some theories, methods and experiences, and its operation mode and technology have provided many valuable things for the democratic politics of human society. In essence, capitalist democracy is only the ruling game of the bourgeoisie, but the shell or concrete form of its democracy often does not reflect the class content, but only has the nature of tools or means. We can critically absorb and learn from all valuable and reasonable things in ancient and modern times, at home and abroad, and make the past serve the present and foreign things serve China. Democratic elections in China are still in the process of development, and there are still many problems in political parties and electoral system that need to be explored and improved. The modern western democratic system has given us many inspirations and useful lessons.

(A) on the relationship between political parties and democratic politics. The position and role of political parties in elections, the operation and governance of political parties, the relationship between political parties and parliaments, political parties and laws, and the legalization of political parties. This provides some reference and ideas for us to think about how to strengthen and improve the party's leadership over state affairs, carry forward inner-party democracy, improve the party's leadership style in democratic elections, adhere to the party's activities within the scope of the Constitution and laws, develop and improve China's multi-party cooperation, and mobilize and organize the broad masses of the people to actively participate in elections. For example, western political parties cannot directly lead and manage state affairs. Even if the political party wins the election, its program and policies must become the norms of the whole society through the form of the state and the majority position of its members in the parliament. The actual leadership of political parties over the country is hidden, and its form is stipulated by law. Administer according to law, run the country according to law, and legalize government policies. Every time, the ruling party systematically and emphatically shows its general plan for governing the country for problems that need to be solved by the government in all aspects of the country; Every government has made all parts of its platform into law through legal procedures, and finally the platform of this government has been transformed into the legislative system of the same parliament. Another example is the legalization of political parties. Through the legislative activities of representative organs, the state regulates and regulates the existence and activities of political parties in the form of laws: the law stipulates the establishment of political parties, the scope and methods of their activities, the sources and use of their funds, and the correction and sanctions against political parties that violate the Constitution and laws. With the improvement of China's political system, it is entirely possible to introduce China's political party law or political party activity law that reflects China's political party system, embodies the status of China's productive political parties and democratic parties, and comprehensively regulates political party behavior.

(2) Technical problems of political parties in the election. There are many technical problems in the election of political parties in western countries, such as how to nominate candidates, how to organize election activities, the allocation of seats for members of all parties, the generation and proportion of members of party member and District Councils, etc., which are worth learning from, such as how to ensure the fairness and justice of nominating candidates, how to introduce competition mechanism to invigorate elections, how to solve the contradiction between geographical representatives and sector representatives, and how to reasonably determine the proportion of representatives of all parties, sectors and all aspects. The operation mode and technology of democratic elections are only tools, and their instrumentality determines that both bourgeois and working-class political parties can use them. For example, half of the deputies to the Russian State Duma are elected by constituencies, and half by political parties and alliances within the scope of the whole alliance, and they are distributed according to the proportion of votes, which undoubtedly has important enlightenment for solving the contradiction between the two representative systems in China. For another example, regarding the election, although many of us have no doubts about the introduction of competition mechanism in the election, and are aware of the positive role of the election in improving the level of deputies and encouraging citizens' political participation, there are still many comrades who are skeptical about its feasibility or operability, or think that China culture is conservative and introverted, and do not appreciate public appearances and aggressive personal competition. In fact, as long as we look at the situation of Korea and Japan, which are both Confucian cultural traditions, we can clearly see that this is a misunderstanding. What is important is not to demonstrate whether competition is needed, but to explore how to regulate and guide competitive behavior in the form of law.

(3) About the form of democratic election. After hundreds of years of development, the form of capitalist democracy is of course quite perfect. Form is the external expression of content, which can react on content. Good content needs good expression, and good form can better reflect the content. In the electoral system, form and content are almost integrated and interact. The socialist nature of China's democratic system determines that it is necessary and possible for China's electoral system and democratic system to adopt a relatively perfect form of expression. From the practice of western countries, there can be no democracy without concrete forms of democracy, and the forms of democracy (including procedures, rules and methods) are very important. Since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, China has made great efforts to improve and perfect the people's congress system and its electoral system, many of which have been carried out from specific forms of reform and improvement. Any thought that ignores the manifestations of democratic system is not conducive to the construction of people's congresses and the development of electoral system. There are still many specific forms that need to be further standardized and improved in many aspects, such as candidate nomination, official candidate preparation, candidate introduction, election procedures, and differential election.

(4) The relationship between market economy and democratic politics. From the development of democratic system, we can see the significance of market economy to the development of democratic politics. With the establishment of the socialist market economic system, the principles of equality, competition and legal system in the market economy will inevitably be reflected in the political field, and the diversification of economic subjects, interests and value orientations caused by the market economy will also be reflected in the political system. The latter in turn reacts on the former. While carrying out economic system reform, opening up and invigorating, and implementing market economy, the Party should also carry out political system reform, improve the electoral system, and gradually promote the construction of democracy and legal system, which is a conscious use of economic foundation and construction relations. Because the establishment, development and perfection of market economy system is a long-term process, the economic and cultural conditions required by socialist democracy are also a gradual development process, and the self-development and perfection of socialist democracy itself also need a long-term gradual development process. Governing the country according to law is a long-term strategy, and the party must lead the people to make unremitting efforts for a long time.

(5) Analyze the election process and results. Obviously, our research and analysis of democratic elections is not enough. Drawing lessons from the experience of developed countries, some past viewpoints need us to understand from a new angle. For example, the participation rate and turnout rate of democratic elections in China are very high. The high participation rate certainly shows the people's enthusiasm for participating in politics and the broad foundation for the generation of representatives. However, appropriately reducing the participation rate is not necessarily a bad thing. Does the high participation rate cover up the perfunctory and irresponsible phenomenon of some voters? Because the electoral system, mechanism and technology are not perfect, some voters lack a full and comprehensive understanding of the candidates, and it is inevitable that it is still difficult to make a choice after consideration and weighing (this situation is also common in the West where the electoral system is very perfect). It is better to abstain than to perfunctory. This is a respect for one's sacred rights and a reflection of a country's democratic election system and citizens' mature democratic consciousness. More importantly, we should do a lot of work in improving the nomination mechanism, increasing the transparency of elections, reforming the way candidates are introduced, and mobilizing the enthusiasm of voters to participate in elections. Another example is that the election result should be the most concentrated and direct reflection of the people's will, and of course it should also be the most reasonable and can best reflect the "public opinion". Western analysts generally judge the political will and value orientation of voters from the election results and the resulting national policy trends and trends. However, we always analyze the rationality of various proportions and structures (including the proportion of party representatives) first, which is obviously a reflection of the imperfection and irrationality of China's electoral system.