Re: Decentralization & Hierarchy [Riesz]

1/25/2001, Paul Riesz wrote:
    > if you could prove in a small-scale trial, that such a
    harmonizing system works in practice. The success of such a
    trial might lend credibility to your plan for an alternative
    world system.

A positive suggestion.
    
    > As a first step you should try to convince a middle sized
    community (maybe with a population of some 50 000) to
    suspend their executive for a limited period (maybe one
    year) and let their affairs be handled by an assembly of
    elected citizens (excluding professional politicians).
    
Except that would not be testing the kind of harmonization process 
I've been proposing, nor would it be decentralized.

Instead, consider the following as a working example...

rkm
  


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Charles McKelvey <cemck@cs1.presby.edu> wrote to wsn  31 Jan 1998:

I have been to Cuba four times since 1993.  Last summer, I
was there for ten weeks, and my activities included in-depth
interviews of university professors and leaders in the
Popular Councils concerning the political process in Cuba. 
In addition, I talked to many different people that I met
informally, sometimes through families with which I was
connected and other times with people I met as I traveled
about Havana by myself.  I do not consider myself an expert
on Cuba.  I would describe myself as someone who is
knowledgeable about Third World national liberation
movements and is in the process of learning about the Cuban
case.  My general impression is that the revolutionary
government enjoys a high degree of legitimacy among the
people.  Occasionally, I came across someone who was
alienated from the system.  There disaffection was not
rooted in the political system but in the economic hardships
that have emerged during the "special period."  The great
majority seemed to support the system and seemed very well
informed about the structures of the world economy and the
challenges that Cuba faces.  Many defended the system with
great enthusiasm and strong conviction.  I had expected none
of this prior to my first trip, recalling my visit to
Tanzania in 1982, by which time many had come to view
"ujamaa socialism" as a faded dream, at least according to
my impressions during my brief visit.  But to my surprise, I
found much support for the revolutionary project in Cuba.  I
could not help but contrast this to the United States, where
there is widespread cynicism in regard to political and
other institutions.

The Cuban political system is based on a foundation of local
elections.  Each urban neighborhood and rural village and
area is organized into a "circumscription," consisting
generally of 1000 to 1500 voters.  The circumscription meets
regularly to discuss neighborhood or village problems.  Each
three years, the circumscription conducts elections, in
which from two to eight candidates compete.  The nominees
are not nominated by the Communist Party or any other
organizations.  The nominations are made by anyone in
attendance at the meetings, which generally have a
participation rate of 85% to 95%.  Those nominated are
candidates for office without party affiliation.  They do
not conduct campaigns as such.  A one page biography of all
the candidates is widely-distributed.  The nominees are
generally known by the voters, since the circumscription is
generally not larger than 1500 voters.  If no candidate
receives 50% of the votes, a run-off election is held. 
Those elected serve as delegates to the Popular Councils,
which are intermediary structures between the
circumscription and the Municipal Assembly.  Those elected
also serve simultaneously as delegates to the Municipal
Assembly. The delegates serve in the Popular Councils and
the Municipal Assemblies on a voluntary basis without pay,
above and beyond their regular employment.

The Municipal Assemblies elect the chief executives of the
Municipality, who have supervision over the various
ministries, such as health and education, within the
Municipality.  The Municipal Assemblies also elect an
electoral commission,  which develops a slate of candidates
for the Provincial Assembly for ratification by the voters
in the province.  The Provincial Assemblies have
responsibilities in the Province which parallel those of the
Municipal Assembly in the Municipality, including electing
an electoral commission which develops a slate of candidates
for the National Assembly for ratification by the voters in
the nation.  The National Assembly is the legislative
branch, and as such it makes the laws.  It also elects the
President of the Council of State, who appoints a cabinet
and makes a government.  The President of the Council of
State is Fidel Castro, a position to which he has been
re-elected since, I believe, 1975, when the Constitution was
established.

The role of the Communist Party in the political process is
very different from what I had previously thought.  The
Cuban Communist Party is not an electoral party.  It does
not nominate or support candidates for office.  Nor does it
make laws or select the head of state.  These roles are
played by the national assembly, which is elected by the
people, and for which membership in the Communist Party is
not required.  Most members of the national, provincial, and
municipal assemblies are members of the Communist Party, but
many are not, and those delegates and deputies who are party
members are not selected by the party but by the people in
the electoral process.  The party is not open to anyone to
join.  About fifteen percent of adults are party members. 
Members are selected by the party in a thorough process that
includes interviews with co-workers and neighbors.  Those
selected are considered model citizens.  They are selected
because they are viewed as strong supporters of the
revolution; as hard and productive workers; as people who
are well-liked and respected by their co-workers and
neighbors; as people who have taken leadership roles in the
various mass organizations of women, students, workers, and
farmers; as people who take seriously their responsibilities
as spouses and parents and family members; and as people who
have "moral" lives, such as avoiding excessive use of
alcohol or extramarital relations that are considered
scandalous.  The party is viewed as the vanguard of the
revolution.  It makes recommendations concerning the future
development of the revolution, and it criticizes tendencies
it considers counterrevolutionary.  It has enormous
influence in Cuba, but its authority is moral, not legal. 
The party does not make laws or elect the president.  These
tasks are carried out by the National Assembly, which is
elected by the people.

Prior traveling to Cuba, I had heard that the Cuban
Communist Party is the only political party and that in
national elections the voters are simply presented with a
slate of candidates, rather than two or more candidates
and/or political parties from which to choose.  These two
observations are correct.  But taken by themselves, they
given a very misleading impression.  They imply that the
Cuban Communist Party develops the slate, which in fact it
does not do.  Since the slate makers are named by those who
are elected, the ratification of the slate by the voters is
simply the final step in a process that begins with the
voters.  The reason given for using a slate rather than
presenting voters with a choice at this stage was that the
development of the slate ensures that all sectors (such as
women, workers, farmers, students, representative of
important social service agencies in the jurisdiction, etc.)
are represented.

As I indicated, Cubans tend to enthusiastically defend their
system. They point out that the elected members of the
assemblies are not professional politicians who must rely on
fund-raising to be elected, as occurs in the United States. 
Moreover, it avoids excessive conflict among political
parties, at the expense of the common good.  As my good
friend Professor Guzman observed, "it is a system which
avoids the absurdities and distortions of bourgeois
democracy."  They seem to believe in it.  I think it makes
sense.  I also think that the political system in the United
States is experiencing a legitimation crisis, so I am not
inclined to recommend it to Cubans.  It seems to me that
they have developed a system carefully designed to ensure
that wealthy individuals do not have greater voice than
working class individuals, and therefore it is a system that
is more advanced in protecting the political rights of
citizens.

Although I have not had the experience, I suppose it would
be possible to encounter a Cuban who feels alienated and who
might say, "The Communist Party controls everything."  This
is true, because a majority of those elected are members of
the Communist Party, and the higher up you go, the more
likely it is to be so.  Nevertheless, the selection of
leadership is based on local elections.  The Communist Party
occupies a position of authority in the political
institutions because the people support it.  Our
hypothetical alienated person is really expressing a
frustration over the widespread support of the people for
the Communist Party.  The mechanism for the removal of
members of the Communist Party from positions of authority
in the government is in place, should that desire be the
popular sentiment.

It is ironic that while many in the West assume that Cuba is
less protective of political rights, in fact they are
developing a system that is deliberately designed to ensure
that the right of the people to vote does not become
manipulated in a process controlled by the wealthy, and it
therefore is more protective of political rights.  Many in
the West make the same kind of false assumption in regard to
the issue of freedom of the press.  Take the case of
newspapers.  Many in the West think that the state controls
the newspapers.  In fact, the state prohibits the private
ownership of newspapers.  The various newspapers are
operated by the various organizations:  the Communist Party,
the federations of workers associations, the federation of
farmers associations, the federation of student
associations, etc.  In the United States, the newspapers are
owned by corporations.  In Cuba, those with financial
resources to do so are not allowed to form a newspaper. 
This is a restriction on the right of property ownership, a
restriction imposed for the common good, in particular to
ensure that the people have a voice and that the wealthy do
not have a voice disproportionate to their numbers.  By
prohibiting private ownership of newspapers, the system
ensures that the various newspapers will be under the
control of the various mass organizations. So it is a system
which pushes the principle of freedom of the press to a more
advanced level than what occurs in capitalism, ensuring that
all exercise this right equally and avoiding a situation
where the wealthy exercise freedom of the press but the
workers and farmers possess it only as an abstract right.

So the Cuban revolutionary project has many gains, not only
in the area of social and economic rights, but also in the
area of political and civil rights.  Because of these
achievements, the system enjoys wide popular support, in
spite of the hardships caused by U.S. opposition and by the
collapse of the Soviet Union.    Drawing upon the
institutions that they have developed over the last forty
years, they are responding to the present challenges and are
surviving in a post-Cold War world.  The strength and
vitality of these institutions is worthy of our
investigation, for Cuba may represent an important case as
we seek to understand how peripheral and semi-peripheral
states can overcome the legacy of underdevelopment.

For those of us on the Left, Cuba's achievements represent
the fullest attainment of our hopes.  The Cuban
revolutionary project is deserving of our active and engaged
support.

Charles McKelvey
Professor of Sociology
Presbyterian College
Clinton, South Carolina

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