OPE-L message, Re: [OPE] Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela internal ballot

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Re: [OPE] Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela internal ballot.

To: Outline on Political Economy mailing list <ope@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Subject: Re: [OPE] Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela internal ballot.

From: Alejandro Agafonow <alejandro_agafonow@xxxxxxxx>

Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:53:59 +0000 (GMT)

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I think that participation can be increased and this technology might help, but representation is unavoidable. For example, C&Câs model is very interesting because they foresee political competition between parties supporting different plans. I see their model as a ârepresentative Marxist democracyâ, despite its allowance for improved forms of participation.

Alejandro Agafonow

----- Mensaje original ----
De: Dave Zachariah <davez@xxxxxx>
Para: Outline on Political Economy mailing list <ope@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Enviado: martes, 11 de marzo, 2008 10:36:26
Asunto: Re: [OPE] Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela internal ballot.

Alejandro Agafonow wrote:
>
> Political parties are necessary because a direct democracy is
> impossible in a large society. The problem here is that there are not
> democratic mechanisms inside the Venezuelan socialist party (Of
> course, you donât have it also inside Popular Party, the conservative
> party of Spain).
>
>
>
> By themselves, mechanisms like âconsultation with battalion membersâ
> and âcongress delegates propositionsâ that Levy referred to are
> doubtfully democratic, but when you practice them in Iberoamerica
> (Latin-American, Portugal and Spain), their transparency becomes even
> doubtful.
>
>
>
> Unfortunately we have in these countries a corporative culture that
> subordinate merit and other criteria of justice to cronyism,
> plutocracy and patronage. Even Spain, despite its economic and
> democratic advancements thanks to European Union, has many social
> institutions corrupted by these practices.
>
>
>
> And you can not expect but an increase of this corruption in Venezuela
> whose polyarchal institutions, that where a case of study in the 70âs
> and 80âs due to its exceptionalism, have been erased by Chavism.
>
>
>

What makes you think that direct democracy is impossible in a large
society? I think you are underestimating the potential of information
technology.

//Dave Z
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