I'd suggest a moderate correciton to Yoshie on this. Things in California and New York, where you do have an engaged rank-and-file, there is clearly a broader support for independence and democracy within the party...as opposed to doing deals with Democrats.
Of course, entire state parties of the GPUS have a rank-and-file on paper that is deliberately kept unengaged in the work of the party. But even there, the rank-and-file have made a choice to sign up at a Green Party website or to take some step away from the Democratic Party. In contrast, their leaders often see themselves as power brokers with the Democrats who want to do deals. This does create an inherent difference of position between the ranks on their way out of the two-party system and the "leaders" who want to influence it. In places like Ohio, there is no interest in engaging the ranks at this point, and the emphasis on "decentralism" becomes a way to pass the buck to the local organizations which often exist only on paper...but send officers to represent the ranks readily enough. ML
