> I don't have any opinion on the TDP, and don't think
> of myself as a Marxist. But my two cents' worth is
> that democratic centralism is archaic, born in and
> designed to deal with conditions in pre-WWI Russia,
> and probably has little relevance to early 21st-
> century Texas.
>
> --- Charles Peterson <charlesppeterson at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Is "democratic centralism" a good idea? Under some
>> or
>> all circumstances?
>>
>> It rubs me the wrong way, but then perhaps that's
>> because I'm a lucky debating society kind of guy.
>> Perhaps it's necessary in guerilla warfare, but I
>> think it's wrong in a large political party, in
>> general, because it enables insiders to have too
>> much
>> power.
>>
>> What little I know of it now comes from the
>> Wikipedia
>> entry and the links contained in it:
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_centralism
>>
>> I find it interesting that Trotsky denounced it in
>> his
>> 1904 book "Our Political Tasks", which pretty much
>> predicted the rise of a dictator like Stalin as it
>> happened, but then Trotsky renounced that position
>> when he joined the Bolsheviks in 1917.
>>
>> http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1904/tasks/
>>
>> In later work he seems to be suggesting it's a
>> matter
>> of proportion, with no magic formula.
>>
>>
> http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1937/xx/democent.htm
>>
>> I'm no expert on this sort of thing, and I was
>> hoping
>> some of you who are more experienced with Marxism
>> could help me out.
>>
>> It seems to me a bad kind of democratic centralism
>> has
>> arisen in the very ineffective Texas Democratic
>> Party
>> (TDP). In the 2004 TDP State
>> Convention, a "loyalty oath" was added to the bylaws
>> which requires candidates in the primary swear to
>> support the eventual nominee. According to a friend
>> of mine who was there, this came down from the party
>> "leadership", not from the floor, but it was
>> approved
>> by the floor. The party leadership has quite a bit
>> of
>> influence by setting the schedule, etc., in matters
>> like this. I was there too, and I didn't even
>> remember this. I was busy trying to educate my
>> neighbors about other authoritarian moves by the
>> party
>> leadership.
>>
>> This is now biting Kucinich, who crossed out the
>> loyalty oath on his application to be on the Texas
>> primary ballot, saying it was illegal. A federal
>> court judge disagreed last week, saying the TDP can
>> make rules like this if they want to. Kucinich is
>> appealing that decision this week. Depending on
>> outcome, it's quite possible that Kucinich will not
>> appear on the ballot in Texas. As far as I know,
>> this
>> is the only state where this sort of oath was being
>> required.
>>
>> I side with Kucinich on this one. But it does make
>> one think about what happened in 2006 when Lieberman
>> decided to run as an Independent after he lost the
>> Democratic primary to an antiwar candidate. Like
>> many, I was very angry at Lieberman.
>>
>> When I suggested to my friend that the TDP
>> leadership
>> is acting like Bolsheviks, he quickly corrected me.
>> If they were acting like Bolsheviks, they'd be
>> successful. No, he added, they're acting like
>> Putz's.
>> I won't disagree with that.
>>
>> A centrist liberal, he nevertheless seems to have a
>> lot more respect for Bolsheviks than I do, and calls
>> the Mensheviks a completely useless debating
>> society.
>> I tend to think the Bolsheviks sold the soul of the
>> revolution for "success," and Democratic Centralism
>> was part of that.
>>
>> Charles Peterson
>> San Antonio, TX
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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