[Marxism] Marta Harnecker: Ideas for the struggle #4 -- Should we reject bureaucratic centralism and simply use consensus? | Links

[glparramatta]

[This is the fourth in a series of regular articles. *Click HERE for 
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By *Marta Harnecker*, translated by *Federico Fuentes* for /Links 
International Journal of Socialist Renewal/

For a long time, left-wing parties operated along authoritarian lines. 
The usual practice was that of *bureaucratic* *centralism,* influenced 
by the experiences of Soviet socialism. *All decisions regarding 
criterion, tasks, initiatives, and the course of political action to 
take were restricted to the party elite**, without the participation or 
debate of the membership*, who were limited to following orders that 
they never got to discuss and in many cases did not understand. For most 
people, such practices are increasing intolerable.

But in challenging bureaucratic centralisation, it is important to avoid 
falling into the excesses of *ultra-democracy*, which results in more 
time being used for discussion than action, since *everything, even the 
most minor points, are the subject of rigorous debates that frequently 
impede any concrete action*.

http://links.org.au/node/1078

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