Communist Party Organization

[ReVoLuTiOnArY-BrOtHeR]

Comrades, I want to know what are the different ranking positions in a party. For example, you have Chairman, then Minister of Defense. I would like to know comrades. Thank you very much.

[ReVoLuTiOnArY-BrOtHeR]

?

[RED DAVE]

Different strokes for different folks.

RED DAVE

[The Vegan Marxist]

I thought it was just Chairman, Vice-Chairman, General Secretary, & Secretary...?

[Comrade_Stalin]

Comrades, I want to know what are the different ranking positions in a party. For example, you have Chairman, then Minister of Defense. I would like to know comrades. Thank you very much.

It based on what communist party you are working with, or their ideal of how it should work. Normal it starts with party members, which then get themselves assigned to a committee. These committees report to more powerful committees, which report to the top group. This group normal is the chairmen of the top committee who themselves appoint a chairman for them all.

[ReVoLuTiOnArY-BrOtHeR]

It based on what communist party you are working with, or their ideal of how it should work. Normal it starts with party members, which then get themselves assigned to a committee. These committees report to more powerful committees, which report to the top group. This group normal is the chairmen of the top committee who themselves appoint a chairman for them all.

How about the organization used by the Black Panthers?

[ReVoLuTiOnArY-BrOtHeR]

I thought it was just Chairman, Vice-Chairman, General Secretary, & Secretary...?

How about tha organization of the Black Panther Party?

[Benjamin Hill]

Comrades, I want to know what are the different ranking positions in a party. For example, you have Chairman, then Minister of Defense. I would like to know comrades. Thank you very much.
It depends from organisation to organisation. The CWI and IMT for example have a formal international structure that looks like this:



World Congress (meets once every 2 to 4 years, every section has representatives)
International Executive Committee (meets once a year, representatives of all sections (though smaller than on a congress), official IEC members are chosen by the congress, but visitors are welcome)
European Bureau (a direct subset of the IEC, for European sections of the CWI (don't know if one exists in the IMT)).
International Secretariat (daily staff of fulltimers, are chosen by IEC)
National Congress (every 2 to 3 years, all members or delegates from branches, chooses NC)
National Committee (meets monthly in most cases, representatives from branches or districts + EC members)
Executive Committee (national section level, daily leadership)
District Committee (optional level if practical)
Branch Committee (the local leadership, chosen by branch members).

Of course, this is a paper reality to show that, formally, congresses are the highest authority. In reality due to their resources, frequent meetings, social control, information and secret meetings, the EC (nationally) and IS (internationally) are the real political leadership. This is problematic because it creates a culture of hierarchy, followers, conformity and not a membership of political leaders that can act independently in the movement. As such, dissent and your own creative thought is often seen as a "problem" that needs to be "solved" as soon as possible, gently (by sending a fulltimer down to a branch explaining the "correct line") or more harshly if the dissenting opinion persists (ignore the dissenters, spread slander about them, expel them if all else fails).

With this I'm not saying the CWI or IMT are exceptionally bad organisations, on the contrary, they are one of the healthier ones among the 57 variants of communism. What I am saying however is that similar structures are widespread and add nothing to the goals of the communists, that is: to organise the working class as a class, training political activists that can intervene in the movement so as to achieve a higher level of awareness that the working class is more prepared in its role as the future ruling class.

[Ismail]

The standard Marxist-Leninist Party hierarchy in condensed form is generally like this:

Politburo
Central Committee
Party Committees (in regions, etc.)
Then more local stuff

The CC is generally chosen at a convened Party Congress, which has delegates from Party Committees who vote to select CC members. The CC then elects a Politburo, which has a General Secretary within it.

That's my understanding of it.

[RED DAVE]

How about tha organization of the Black Panther Party?Have to disillusion you, Comrade. The Panthers were just about the worst kind of organization to emulate. What follows is largely from my memory; there is virtually nothing I could find online about the actual party structure. Anyone who has facts to contradict my assertions, or support them, please!

The Panthers were, nationally, top-down. Huey Newton was at the top. He was never elected Chairman as far as I know. Under Huey were the various "Ministers." This title referred to the positions in a European- or African-style government, not a a religious leader. But the ambiguity of the word, especially in the context of the black community where the "minister" was often the dominant force, was often noted. Ministerial posts included, Minister of Defense, Minister of Information, Minister of Justice, Prime Minister (an honorary position given to Stokely Carmichael). Huey was sometimes called Chairman and sometimes Minister of Defense.

None of these positions were elected. They were appointed by Huey and the other national leaders, such as Bobby Seale, Bobby Hutton, David Hilliard, etc. The following is more-or-less accurate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_members_of_the_Black_Panther_Party

Much of the organization of the Panthers, nationally, was ad hoc, informal, and made up as they went along, accompanied by a good deal of bluster and posturing. Do not compare their structure to that of a left-wing organization as you understand it. A crucial role was also played by their newspaper, which was widely distributed and read.

On a local level, in the chapters, there was even less organization. In most cases, it's not clear that the Panthers had a real organization in the sense of active chapters. There were local groups, which were highly fluid, infiltrated by cops, and not really capable of sustained organization. The food distribution, medical clinics, etc., were, in general, not well organized. I had experience with their chapter in Brooklyn. You don't want to know.

The Panthers were, of course, adept at using the media. However, don't confuse their reputation, with the actuality of a badly organized (we would call it now dysfunctional) organization, more important for its legend than for its actuality.

RED DAVE

[Comrade_Stalin]

The standard Marxist-Leninist Party hierarchy in condensed form is generally like this:

Politburo
Central Committee
Party Committees (in regions, etc.)
Then more local stuff

The CC is generally chosen at a convened Party Congress, which has delegates from Party Committees who vote to select CC members. The CC then elects a Politburo, which has a General Secretary within it.

That's my understanding of it.

Is this not the samething that I said before? Only with the party committees reporting to higher one till they report to the central committee.

[Ismail]

Is this not the samething that I said before? Only with the party committees reporting to higher one till they report to the central committee.Well as I said there are differences for each party. There are multiple Secretary systems too, e.g. First Secretary, Second...

[Martin Blank]

Structures should fit the needs and goals of the organization. If you have the needs of a growing organization and the goal of helping to establish a new social system based on the abolition of classes, your structure should match that.

The Workers Party, for example, has its Convention (some call them a Congress or Conference) every two years (got one coming up in July, tentatively), which elects a Central Committee composed of five members. For us, this is mainly a working group and political guide. The C.C. oversees the Central Organ (Working People's Advocate) and political journal (Workers' Republic), issues statements on political events, facilitates communication among and charters Party Units, runs the National Office, etc. On the C.C. are two mandatory officers, the Chairperson and Secretary-Treasurer. Our C.C. also has an Organizer and Director of Strategic Operations (Chief Strategist). The Editor sits in on C.C. meetings, but Editor is not a C.C. position.

If we go by geographical breakdown, the next level is the Region, which is composed of Party Locals and Units. Regions have their own Conferences in advance of Conventions, elect a Regional Executive Committee, and elect a Regional Organizer (in consultation with the C.C.) and Regional Secretary-Treasurer. Regional Executive Committees, like the C.C., are mainly administrative coordinating bodies with no real power.

The next level is the Local, which is composed of Units in a metropolitan area. Locals also have their own Conferences, and elect a Local Chairperson, Local Secretary-Treasurer and Local Executive Committee.

Units (and Organizing Committees) are where everything happens. Under our structure, they have broad autonomy in their areas, allowing them room to be creative and flexible in carrying out their work. Units range from two to 10 people, organized in a city, neighborhood or workplace, or around a specific area of work. Whereas the C.C. meets every three months, and the R.E.C. and L.E.C. meet monthly, Units normally meet weekly or bi-weekly.

There are also commissions and caucuses that deal with specific tasks or questions. Commissions are usually membership-driven in origin before being formally established by a Party organization. Caucuses are entirely membership-driven, in origin and establishment. The Workers Party currently has three such caucuses in the process of formation: Women's Caucus, LGBT Caucus and Youth Caucus. It's likely these will be transformed into commissions after the Convention.

We also semi-autonomous Working Groups that are established to explore new concepts and areas of work for the Party. Our New Media Working Group, for example, is working on ways of expanding our outreach and message.

The only bodies that can take disciplinary action in the event of violation of the Constitution and By-Laws are Party Units. The only time other bodies come into play is during the appeals process, which goes all the way up to the Convention, except in the case of at-large members, when the R.E.C. or C.C. are the governing body, and there is an automatic appeal placed before the Convention. The only individual members who may be a part of a Party Unit but over whom the C.C. has a measure of oversight are those who may be elected to public office. In all cases, only the Convention has the right to expel a member, which, for us, is a permanent and irreversible decision; all other Party organizations can only remove a member, which allows them the right to appeal and be readmitted as a member in good standing.

Until recently, the League had a similar structure.

[Q]

Until recently, the League had a similar structure.

What happened to the League?

[Martin Blank]

What happened to the League?

The League is revamping its structure to meet its new tasks. I can't, at the moment, say what the new structure will be. Sorry.