Socialist Democracy versus Capitalist Democracy
What is Democracy?
Democracy is a concept with its origins often attributed to the ancient Greeks. The word democracy translates to ‘demos’ meaning citizen living in a particular area, and ‘kratos’ meaning rule. Democracy is a concept which has spread to every corner of the globe. Democracy in action has seen many forms and variations over the years, ranging from representative to direct.
Throughout the decades, particularly during the Cold War, the United States claimed to uphold the virtues of democracy. While the socialist countries, the eastern bloc, China, and Cuba, were portrayed as being authoritarian and tyrannical.
But the question remains, what exactly is democracy? Democracy, in my opinion, is the ability of the people to influence and enact real change. Socialist democracy is not limited to multiple parties and endless meaningless debates as we so often see in the US. I argue there is ample evidence which shows that socialist democracy, or people’s democratic dictatorship as it is known in China, has the ability to create real change. Democracy in the United States is much more limited in comparison to socialist democracy both currently and historically.
Democracy in the United States
In the United States democracy is linked to the freedom to choose. Since the Cold War, democracy, freedom, and capitalism have all been lumped together as a package deal. However, the US political system does not offer real meaningful choice and only presents a limited form of democracy. True, there are dozens of smaller political parties in the United States, but the two major parties, Democrat and Republican completely dominate the political landscape.
The United States frequently christens itself as the champion of democracy in the world, and is quick to scapegoat other countries as being authoritarian or tyrannical. But just how much democracy, meaning the ability of people to enact real change, tangibly exists in the states? How many people are even allowed to vote?
Let’s take a look at some examples. First, the major political parties Democrat and Republican are both aligned to the interests of capitalism. Nancy Pelosi recently stated “we are all capitalists” when asked about the Democratic party moving towards the left. With the extremely small exception of a few self labeled socialists, the Democratic Party is just as invested in preserving capitalism as the Republican Party.
Democrats may argue for small concessions for working people such as Medicare for All, but at the end of the day both the Democrat and Republican parties have the same vested interest in preserving capitalism. One piece of evidence is shown by the fact that the average member of Congress is worth at least 1.1 million. That is 12 times higher than the average American household. Which interests do you think congress represents?
Second, if the United States is the champion of democracy in the world, then surely the vast majority of its citizens participate in elections and enjoy the right to vote. If we look at the very beginning of the United States we can see the founding fathers were not interested in extending voting rights to all. The so called founding fathers, many of which owned slaves, of the United States only extended voting rights to white land owning males.
James Madison one of the primary framers and architects of the US constitution stated “democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”
Alexander Hamilton, whom is currently portrayed as a liberal champion, had the following to say about democracy “The ancient democracies, in which the people themselves deliberated, never possessed one good feature of government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure deformity.” As we can see the founding fathers feared democracy and advocated for limited influence from the common folk in political affairs.
Some may note that since the founding of the United States, times have changed and voting rights have now been extended to all. In actuality the United States prohibits 4.7 million Americans from voting due to their convicted felon status. The majority of these felons are people of color, which a high percentage are convicted for nonviolent crimes.
For those living in the US who managed to avoid incarceration, voting is not given via birthright, rather individuals must register to vote. Registering to vote presents a completely different challenge which varies from state to state. A perfect example is the state of Georgia which one article noted “between 2013 and 2016 Georgia rejected nearly 35,000 (voter registration) applications, and that black applicants were eight times more likely than whites — and Latinos and Asian-Americans six times more likely — to be rejected.” The mentioned voter registration applications were rejected due to names missing a single hyphen, letter, or accent.
Other examples of voter suppression include Alabama, Arkansas, and North Carolina all of which require a photo ID in order to cast a ballot. North Dakota initiated a new requirement which forced voters to show they have a current residential address in order to vote. This move prevented thousands of Native Americans from voting due to the fact many of them live on a reservation.
There are dozens of disturbingly innovative ways states have come up with to suppress voter turnout. Despite mass incarceration and voter suppression the number of eligible US citizens who actually show up to vote is only around half. Recent polling show that in 2016 nearly 56% of the U.S. voting-age population casted ballots. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ranks the US 26th out of 32 countries. This means the US is failing by its own metrics and at its own values, which it is supposed to champion.
Socialist Democracy
Marx stated in the Communist Manifesto “the first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class to win the battle for democracy.” Marx is saying socialist democracy puts the proletariat, also known as the worker, in the driving seat of the state. Whereas democracy under capitalism serves the interests of the wealthy and big business. Lenin rightly calls democracy in capitalism the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, or dictatorship of the rich, whereas socialist democracy is the dictatorship of the proletariat, the dictatorship of the poor and working class.
However, what does democracy for the poor, or the dictatorship of the workers look like in practice? How have various socialist states and projects functioned when put to the test?
Starting out let’s examine the USSR under Stalin. Stalin is often portrayed as a horrific tyrant who crushed all dissent. However, new scholarship has offered an alternative viewpoint. The 1936 Soviet constitution, also known as the Stalin constitution, was in fact radically democratic for its time. As historian Samantha Lomb notes in her paper Stalin’s Constitution “popular participation was a way for the Party and state to communicate certain goals and values to the population, as well as a way for the population to help the central state to identify problems with the implementation of these campaigns and local governance.”
The Soviet leadership sought out the opinions and recommendations from peasants and workers of how the central state should behave and function. During the six month process of collecting opinions from the local levels, an estimated 42,327,990 Soviet citizens participated in discussions and meetings on drafting a new constitution. Lomb notes “the state specifically solicited and meticulously recorded citizen answers and opinions about how the actual legal and theoretical foundations of the state should be formed.” This is a stark contrast to the framing and drafting of the US constitution which was done behind closed doors by 55 white men.
Socialist Cuba also provides a fantastic example of socialist democracy in action. Recently, Cuba drafted and approved a new constitution which had massive grass roots support. The constitution came about after 133,681 debates held at local levels with 9 million Cubans participating. The new constitution which affirmed the islands socialist economic system, was approved by 86.86 percent of the voters with 84.1 percent of citizens going to the ballot box. A voter turnout much higher than in comparison to the US.
Even before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the Communist Party, the current ruling party, has been deeply embedded in the masses. Mao organized the Communist Party of China along what he called the mass line. Mao described the process of the mass line as “ congress should call upon the whole Party to be vigilant and to see that no comrade at any post is divorced from the masses. It should teach every comrade to love the people and listen attentively to the voice of the masses; to identify himself with the masses wherever he goes and, instead of standing above them, to immerse himself among them; and, according to their present level.”
Since it’s humble origins, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has always placed heavy emphasis on being among the masses, not above the masses. Boasting 90 million members the CPC is the largest ruling party in the world. In the CPC workers and peasants remain the majority with 35.3 percent of membership. The CPC continues the tradition of listening to the needs and wants of the masses while upholding Marxism Leninism and Mao Zedong thought.
Every 5 years the CPC releases a “set of social and economic development initiatives that map out China’s strategies for growth in a five-year period.” The process of collecting data and opinions for the five year plan is extremely meticulous and takes years. Before each plan is finalized the CPC seeks out the research and opinions of industry experts, scholars, think tanks and the general public. For the latest drafting of the five year plan, the public was encouraged to submit suggestions through the app WeChat.
The suggestions and research is then taken into account and submitted by a team organized by the Central Committee to be put into draft form. The final draft is then finalized and voted on by the National People’s Congress.
The goals and objectives stated in the 5 year plans are not empty political rhetoric as we are used to the United States. Far too often politicians in the US make empty campaign promises and fail to live up to a single one. The CPC has launched highly successful campaigns to curb corruption and combat pollution. The CPC has also launched an initiative headed by Xi Jinping to eliminate poverty by 2020. So far China has been able to lift 13.7 million people out of poverty every year since 2012. This is all thanks to China’s democratic decision making process, the ability of the people to influence real change.
All of the listed countries above provide numerous examples of socialist democracy in action. The USSR, China, and Cuba each have and had distinct variations of representative and direct democracy. Venezuela and Bolivia under Evo Morales provide excellent examples of socialist parties who participated in elections under capitalist democracies and won major gains for the workers, farmers, and indigenous peoples. I dive into greater length about each country in my articles on Venezuela and Bolivia under Morales.
Socialist democracy unlike capitalist democracy, is not limited to the political realm. Democracy in the United States limits citizens involvement to voting for president once every four years. However, the economic centers of power remain untouched by the influence of democracy. In the United States CEOs and billionaires such as Jeff Bezos, and Charles Koch hold massive influence over US politicians. Unelected and unaccountable CEO’s such as Bezos, hold incredible amounts of power over their employees and the cities in which they build their factories.
Economic Democracy
Under the dictatorship of the rich, workers are at the complete mercy and subject to the whims of their bosses. In capitalism workers control next to nothing where they spend the majority of their lives and their day, the workplace. Whether that workplace be a coffee shop, warehouse, restaurant, corporate office, or factory floor, workers create the profits but have no say over how they are used. Under the dictatorship of the workers, workers would gain the ability to have a say over what they produce and how it is used.
Most socialist countries have a mixed variety of state owned, cooperative owned, union owned, and privately owned companies. The amount of each sector varies from case to case but all socialist countries share in putting workers in the driver’s seat. The economy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has a mix of agricultural cooperatives, family farms, and state run industries. In the DPRK, workers, party members, and engineers all contribute to the running of a given a factory. They call this the Taean work system, which you can learn more about in my article on the DPRK.
Another example of economic democracy can be found in the former USSR. In the Soviet Union, the majority of the economy was state owned and operated under 5 year plans, with a very limited market economy. Under socialism, nationalization of large industries puts those industries under public control and subject to the democratic demands of the population. Also, cooperatives (co-ops) played a large role in the economy of the USSR. For example co-op “membership was close to 35,000,000 in 1928, their annual turnover had risen to about $11,000,000,000 in 1928.”
It is also important to note that in the USSR workers were highly encouraged to voice their opinions about their managers, supervisors, and working conditions. In March of 1937 Stalin stressed to the party the importance of its “ ties to the masses” and for the party to “ listen closely to the voice of the masses, to the voice of ordinary folk.” Author Robert Thurston writes “up to the war, (World War 2) factory workers frequently acted as though they possessed a mandate to criticize. One emigre recalled that his step mother, a factory worker, ‘often scolded the boss’.” This was at a time when American workers were struggling just to unionize.
The exact amount and type of democratic participation in socialist countries be they current or historic, has always varied from country to country. Socialism in the United States will not look exactly like socialism in other countries, but we should take note of democratic examples and lessons of the past from other socialist countries. The point remains that socialism strives to give workers a voice and control over the state and their workplace. The infamous words of Karl Marx continues to be rallying cry of socialists around the world “Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.”
Sources and Additional Reading
1. Democracy Defined
2. Democracy in the United States
3. Socialist Democracy
Understanding the CPC, How the Party makes decisions:
Mao on the mass line:
Democracy in China
Co-ops in the Soviet Union
