What are the main criticisms on this theory? I know Left Communists and Libertarian Marxists are against it -- but why, excatly? My own thinking is that democratic centralism quickly becomes the rule of Party bureaucrats.
The main criticism is that it's no more "democratic" than a sawhorse is an equine.
If revolutionary party/movement don't applies democratic centralism in practice, revolution will quickly crushed by capitalists and they supporting forces. Capitalist have common target - yield, and common organizations - imperialist corporations. Communists shold have common target and common organisation when they want do defeat the bourgeise forces. Nature of Left Communists' and Libertarian Marxists' and other anti-Leninists' not only ultra-leftists', also Kautskyists' criticisms is petty-burgeois. All of that groups using the terms like "pure democracy","pure freedom", that was non-dialectical, but idealistic. Revolution take place in real, material world that was ruled by class struggle, not pure ideas. Not the Democratic-Centralist structure of Bolshevik Party, but the isolation of Soviet state, , devastation of industry by war activities, weakening of industrial working class - many leading revolutionary workers perished during the civil war, later purging the Left Opposition led to strengthening the strata of bureaucracy, and created later bureaucratic Stalinist regime.
Revolution take place in real, material world that was ruled by class struggle, not pure ideas. A man's 'class' does not determine his ideas, and a man's ideas determine his action. There is no such thing as 'class struggle' without people having ideas about how to achieve their ends. 'Classes' are produced not by 'objective material forces' but by the understanding of people about their situation.
