十六大以来，理论界十分关注关于党的执政能力问题的研究。学者们围绕党的执政能力问题提出的背景、执政能力的基本含义、执政能力建设的科学內涵和基本要求、加强党的执政能力建设的途径方法等问题进行了广泛探讨，取得了阶段性成果。十六届四中全会的召开，开启了进一步研究该问题的新阶段。 Since the 16th CPC National Congress, theorists have paid great attention to the research on the issue of the party’s ability to govern. Scholars carried out extensive discussions on the background proposed by the party’s governing capability, the basic meaning of governing ability, the scientific connotation and basic requirements of governing capacity building and the ways and means of strengthening the building of the party’s governing ability, and achieved initial results. The convening of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee has opened a new phase of further studying this issue.