On Thu, Dec 4, 2025 at 11:27 AM, Mark Baugher wrote: > > Not all want to lead, but the actual leadership in a > revolutionary-socialist organization needs to be far larger than the > number of functionaries. A healthy organization needs to have more leaders > than can fit into the small subset who participate leadership bodies or > positions.
This points to the inherent tension in the concept of democratic centralism. It would be more democratic if the political committee were subordinate to the central committee which would meet more frequently and be representative of the competing tendencies in proportion to their membership support. However, internal party debate then would become more frequent and contentious and decision-making more drawn out between general meetings. This is what prompted Lenin to counterpose his model of a narrow centralized leadership directing the activity of a more politically conscious, homogenous, and disciplined membership able to swiftly and effectively carry out the party line above and below ground in a fast moving revolutionary crisis. But we're are not in a revolutionary crisis and until we are, I agree the greater weight should be placed on the “democratic” side of the democratic centralist model. Whether this is more aspirational than achievable is an open question since the leadership of even today's multiple small Trotskyist and ML groups seems inevitably to devolve to their most experienced and committed individuals, often their founders, who become their paid or unpaid central leadership. A less formal model like a study group or caucus brings together like-minded Marxists, not unlike on marxmail but active outside of social media. It meets on a regular basis to identify openings and coordinate sustained activity in the broader left milieu. I have in mind the Marxist caucuses which have formed in the DSA and elsewhere on the US left. Apart from their orientation in and around the Democratic Party, are the Bread and Roses and other DSA caucuses more loosely organized than the Trotskyist and ML groups? Do any of them conduct public activity independently of the DSA with their own distinctive banners, slogans, and publications? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#39599): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/39599 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/116549413/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
