On March 18, 2014, at the enlarged meeting of the Standing Committee of the Lankao County Party Committee in Henan Province, General Secretary Xi Jinping reminded the whole party to pay attention to the "Tacitus Trap".
The term "Tacitus Trap" comes from a passage in a history book written by the roman consul Tacitus, and in modern society, this concept is used specifically to refer to the loss of credibility of the government, and no matter what it says or does, people will think that it is telling lies and doing bad things.
In the view of Dai Yanjun, professor of the Teaching and Research Department of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, there was a period before the Eighteenth National Congress, and for various reasons, the credibility of party organizations and the government was seriously affected. "In this case, a lot of what you say and do a lot of things, even if you are kind, even if you do a good thing, it is difficult to get the understanding and trust of the people at once, and some unnecessary resistance is formed."
At a time when many countries in the world are plagued by the shadow of the "Tacitus Trap", China has relied on adhering to the mass line and continuously enhancing the credibility of the government to hand over an excellent answer sheet.
In January this year, the data of the Edelman Global Trust Report also supported this: in 2018, The Chinese people had the highest level of trust in public institutions in the world, of which the trust level of the government reached 84%, the highest in the world.
Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has made a solemn commitment to strike iron from the height of the life and death of the Party and the country, and with the determination and courage of fierce medicine to eliminate defects and emphasize the rule of chaos, it has promoted the comprehensive and strict management of the party to develop in depth, forming an overwhelming trend in the anti-corruption struggle, the party's heart and the people's will are invigorated, and the party's style and government style are new.
In this regard, Dai Yanjun pointed out that the first major measure taken by the central authorities in this regard is to start with the style of work, and it is to start from the style of work at the top level, that is, the "Eight Provisions."
Second, it is to promote the anti-corruption struggle, and the phenomenon of corruption in many fields has been markedly curbed and won the hearts and minds of the people.
The next step is system construction, in order to gain the trust of the people, we must be faithful in what we say, and we can neither "change the order at the end of the day" nor "say it does not count".
In addition, there is also education for party members and cadres, so as to enhance the consciousness of party members and cadres in implementing the party's purpose and serving the people wholeheartedly, so as to win the trust of the masses.
Of course, as long as society is still developing, there will still be all kinds of contradictions, and to avoid the "Tacitus Trap" in it, it is also necessary for the party and the government to maintain long-term vigilance.
Dai Yanjun said, "How to better meet the masses' pursuit of a better life under the new situation, and how to better gain the recognition of the masses and gain the trust of the masses under the conditions of constantly changing environments in all aspects" means that higher requirements are put forward for the work of the party and the government.
As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his speech at the conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, the practice of 40 years of reform and opening up has enlightened us: striking iron must be hard itself. The key to handling China's affairs well lies in the party, and the key lies in insisting that the party should manage the party and administer the party in an all-round and strict manner. Only when our party leads the great social revolution of reform, opening up, and socialist modernization, can it unswervingly push forward the party's great self-revolution, dare to eliminate all viruses that erode the party's healthy body, enable the party to constantly purify itself, improve itself, renovate itself, and improve itself, and constantly enhance the party's political leadership, ideological leadership, mass organizational strength, and social appeal, and ensure that the party always maintains flesh-and-blood ties with the masses of the people.