The CPPCC is a specialized consultative body, and the "internet plus" meets the needs of the CPPCC’s capacity-building for deliberative democracy. Accelerating the deep integration of the Internet and the CPPCC’s democratic consultation is the general trend and more promising. At the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the China People’s Political Consultative Conference, General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out that "to meet the requirements of comprehensively deepening the reform, we should vigorously promote the construction of performance ability with reform thinking, innovative ideas and pragmatic measures" and "explore new forms such as network discussion and remote consultation to improve the effectiveness of consultation", which pointed out the direction for "internet plus" to promote the construction of CPPCC’s deliberative democracy. Judging from the technical characteristics of the Internet and the function of deliberative democracy, the advantages of the two are complementary. "internet plus deliberative democracy" is conducive to giving full play to the advantages and endowments of the Internet and promoting the CPPCC to better perform its functions and play its role.
New Features of Consultative Democracy of CPPCC from the Perspective of Internet
It has expanded a new platform for deliberative democracy. The innovative development of the Internet makes the platform of deliberative democracy more diverse. China, as a big Internet country, makes full use of the advantages of the Internet, big data resources and mobile Internet platforms to strengthen the consultative democracy construction of the CPPCC, establish a channel of close contact with the people, and create a platform for better understanding and communication between the party and the masses, which can solve new problems in the process of democratic political construction more efficiently, be more conducive to the scientific leadership of the party to the people, and be conducive to the development and perfection of the socialist deliberative democracy system.
Expand the participation of all sectors within the people. The coordinated development of technology and society makes innovative organizations and social strata constantly evolve. With the advent of the Internet era, many new social stratum groups have emerged on the Internet: IT elites, Internet café s, makers, etc. They have made use of the advantages of information technology and the Internet platform to carry out application innovation, which has played an important role in innovating the economic development model and guiding public opinion. Network participation expands the participation of deliberative democracy and embodies the universality of socialist democracy. The improvement of the enthusiasm of ordinary people to participate in political life is more conducive to promoting the construction of a harmonious socialist society and the process of democratic politics.
It triggered a change in the model of deliberative democracy. With the comprehensive deepening of the reform, the society has further developed towards diversification, and the emergence of new interest classes and groups has continuously expanded the social foundation for the development of deliberative democracy in China. With the development of information technology, major traditional industries are deeply integrated with the Internet, and innovative ways are constantly sought to achieve leapfrog development. At the same time, the Internet also provides a platform through which people can express their opinions, participate in democratic political life and promote deliberative democracy. It can be said that the Internet, driven by innovation, is triggering a new model of deliberative democracy and political participation, which is also characterized by normalization.
Promote the CPPCC’s deliberative democracy into the Internet.
Establish the concept of "network deliberative democracy". "Network deliberative democracy" is a new thing with the arrival of the information society. According to the 42nd Statistical Report on China’s Internet Development released by China Internet Network Information Center, as of June 2018, there were 802 million Internet users and 788 million mobile phone users in China. As an important institution for multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPPCC should always adhere to the two themes of unity and democracy, advocate an atmosphere of free speech, consideration and tolerance, equal deliberation and interactive exchange, treat online public opinions from all walks of life with a more equal, open and respectful attitude, extensively collect and timely reflect interest demands, and actively interact with all walks of life to form a good "online democracy" atmosphere.
Establish the concept of "network democratic supervision". The Internet provides a platform for netizens to express their opinions freely and equally, to know the latest social trends at the first time, and there is no absolute dominant force, which promotes the netizens’ awareness of democratic supervision. To do a good job in the consultative democracy of the CPPCC, we must firmly establish the concept of consultation, seek the greatest common denominator, pursue all-round social progress, and at the same time accept the supervision of the whole society. CPPCC organizations and CPPCC members at all levels should adapt themselves to the new concept of network supervision, broadly unite all social forces to participate in the democratic supervision of CPPCC, incorporate the original ecological network supervision into the channels of democratic supervision, amplify the constructiveness of online public opinion, and eliminate its destructiveness and one-sidedness. At the same time, they should actively accept opinions and suggestions from all walks of life on the work of CPPCC, so that the democratic supervision of CPPCC can become more efficient, convenient and diversified with the help of the "east wind" from the perspective of the Internet.
Deliberative democracy from the perspective of Internet needs normative guidance.
Establish a legal system of deliberative democracy from the perspective of the Internet. As an interactive communication platform and smooth communication channel, the Internet needs necessary system design from the aspects of laws, regulations and participation mechanism, so as to ensure the legitimacy, equality and fairness of the negotiation process and results. On the one hand, the internet behavior of deliberative democracy will be brought into the track of rule of law; On the other hand, the construction of "official — People "interactive participation mechanism. In the design of the participation mechanism of Internet deliberative democracy, it is necessary to establish a regular consultation system, incorporate Internet deliberative democracy as a normal operation mechanism into the necessary procedures of public decision-making, and form standardized institutional rules from topic selection, specific discussion steps to consensus, so as to realize the normalization and procedure of public participation in Internet deliberative democracy.
Establish the management norms of deliberative democracy from the perspective of the Internet. The deliberative democracy of the CPPCC, from proposal, special investigation and special consultation to reflecting social conditions and public opinion, has created a number of dialogue sites to realize the communication of deliberative democracy and promoted the institutionalization of consultation. Democratic consultation should not be confined to a certain space. Different consultation designs can promote or restrict different aspects of democratic effectiveness. Only by combining different types of consultations can we achieve the greatest democratic effect. Of course, any form of political participation is inseparable from external institutional support and cultural environment. The form of political participation in Internet deliberative democracy also needs the joint efforts of the CPPCC and CPPCC members, so that it will continue to develop and improve, and eventually become a democratic mechanism and a platform for public consultation in which every CPPCC member has the conditions and ability to participate.
Enhance the responsibility and rationality of political participation of CPPCC members from the perspective of the Internet. CPPCC members are the main body of the CPPCC’s deliberative democracy practice, and their personal values can guide and change political participation behavior. The decentralized, non-central structure mode and free and open communication characteristics of Internet communication not only broaden the space for public political expression, but also easily lead to problems such as lack of morality, lack of sense of responsibility and blind follow-up, which leads to the anomie of public network behavior. Therefore, it is an important guarantee for the orderly development of online consultation democracy to cultivate the sense of responsibility and rational thinking of CPPCC members, and then reshape online behavior. On the one hand, enhance the network moral responsibility and political responsibility consciousness of CPPCC members; On the other hand, improve the rational thinking ability of CPPCC members. It is necessary to actively guide CPPCC members to objectively analyze and judge the massive network information around the public interest and carry out rational speculation to ensure that democratic consultation is the result of rational discussion among equal citizens. (Author: Yue Shumei, a professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law)
