THE LEFT

...It is an example of how, under capitalism, the monopoly market shapes our consumer decisions...

...The next year, after dramatically increasing their total vote, the Socialists suffered the combined attacks of state, local, and Federal authorities...

...Indeed, such a vote is more than wasted...

...However, campaigning for national office should not be discounted, for national campaigns provide opportunities to deal with broader issues and to offer a socialist critique of what capitalism is doing at home and abroad...

...The number of registered voters has Who is elected can make a difference, but the question remains: Does the Left's electoral participation make a difference...

...Sometimes the answer is yes...

...Ronald Reagan's program was virtually identical, but there is no denying that he has proven to be a far worse President, dishing out cruel and unjust decisions in less time (but with less hypocrisy...

...Much depends on time, place, and other particular circumstances...

...Such groups set forth strong anti-business, but not explicitly anti-capitalist, programs that fall short of presenting an avowedly socialist alternative...

...Many of these voters are capable of veering either to the Left or to the Right...

...Election laws are becoming more, not less, rigidly exclusive...

...One was a member of Congress...

...His contributors understood that if anyone was to cash in on the popular discontent with the two-party monopoly, it should be someone who could be easily absorbed by that monopoly...

...Some lesser goods are really "not-much-goods...

...In Chile, Salva-dore Allende won election to the government only to be crushed by a state that showed no obedience to the rules Allende was obliged to observe...

...They are confronted by budgetary exigencies, enveloped in obscure executive or legislative tasks, outflanked by entrenched interests, obliged to deal with the dominant corporate forces on their own terms—until they begin to take on the appearance of the people they replaced...

...In the process, Sanders is building strong links with labor, the police, community groups, and the poor...

...Leftists who decide to make the long march along the campaign trail soon discover that the electoral system can absorb their time, money, and energy while leaving them no closer to the levers of power...

...Even if a socialist party has no immediate, or even long-range, hope of electoral triumph, political campaigns can provide ready-made opportunities to reach people, and to be reached by people eager to express their concerns...

...supporting an explicitly socialist party candidate...

...11 Electoral politics is more than ever a money game, and in that game the Left has an obvious handicap...

...This can happen not only to individual socialist candidates but to entire socialist parties that win office—such as the British Labor Party and, more recently, the socialist governments of France and Greece...

...An argument could be made today along similar lines...

...Voters may have no expectation that the incumbent will do much for them, but they fear the challenger who might make things even worse...

...As one of his aides said, "There's no telling what a new party might lead to...

...Major-party Presidential candidates receive ten to fifteen minutes of network television exposure during each day of the campaign, while socialist candidates are lucky to get a few minutes throughout an entire campaign...

...If so, how should they participate...

...But he did see participation as a worthwhile tactic, a means of gaining support and advancing the struggle...

...Socialists may take over a government, but they have little control of the productive wealth and power of a society...

...He has made many of us forget that many Americans were living in grinding poverty and Third World people were getting killed thanks to U.S...

...But in 1972, largely because of additional legal restrictions, Communists achieved ballot status in only thirteen of the fifty states...

...When they observe that two-party elections are designed to obscure or evade real issues, some leftists go on to conclude that what Democrats and Republicans do once elected to office is equally beside the point...

...Were they exactly alike in every way on every issue, they would be unable to play the lesser-evil game and maintain the appearance of choice...

...Often, we on the Left are much too quick to criticize...

...There is, in fact, no third-party electoral road to power in a system devised to preserve the capitalist two-party monopoly...

...redistricting to eliminate troublesome mavericks who have succeeded in winning office...

...He has acted so brutally that he has made many of us forget that even before his Administration slashed domestic programs, these were grossly inadequate for the needs they were supposed to meet...

...In the face of (his two-party monopoly, should socialists and other progressives who seek fundamental change give serious consideration to electoral politics...

...it works against one's interests...

...And there is another consideration—the large floating protest vote that occasionally breaks out of the two-party fold as more and more people refuse to identify with either the Democrats or the Republicans...

...As someone observed after the 1980 Presidential election, Reagan won only because he was running against Jimmy Carter...

...Many progressives, like millions of other voters, involve themselves in major-party contests not because they want to see a candidate elected but because they want to see another candidate defeated...

...The Socialists had confined themselves to legal and peaceful forms of political competition, but their class enemies were burdened by no similar compunctions...

...Anderson, the "temporary independent," received generous coverage from the business-owned media and substantial funds from rich donors...

...In contrast, the system of proportional representation in effect in most European countries provides a party with legislative seats roughly in accordance with the percentage of votes it wins, assuring minor parties of some parliamentary presence, some visible evidence of success, and a base upon which to build further victories...

...had he been running unopposed, he would have lost...

...supporting a progressive non-socialist candidate...

...It is a marvelous way to protect the interests of the ruling-class: You offer the people a candidate who will do nothing for them, and then you present them with another candidate who is even worse...

...So it is important that the parties be fraternal rather than identical twins...

...It is one thing to attack the "excesses" and "abuses" of large corporations (as Ralph Nader does, for example) with the implication that these can be remedied by better regulations and more dedicated regulators...

...multinational investments...

...We must go on to ask, "Do the differences make a differIn the face of a two-party monopoly, should socialists and other progressives who seek fundamental change take electoral politics seriously...

...gerrymandering and shifting of district populations to underrepresent dissident constituencies, be they blacks, Chica-nos, or students...

...f By entering electoral politics, does one lend a certain legitimacy to the political game one is trying to expose...

...A socialist critique can help develop a higher level of understanding, showing how military spending, tenants' rights, urban poverty, budget deficits, pollution, unemployment, and Third World interventions are all tied to the same corporate system...

...He faced a board of aldermen who denied him funds to pay his secretary, a city clerk who was caught opening his mail, and a conservative newspaper (the only one in town) that now attacks his every move...

...ence...

...The single-member-district system found throughout most of the United States tends to magnify the strength of the major parties and the weakness of the smaller ones...

...Local victories can have an impact on state and, eventually, on national politics...

...While frequently denouncing the defects of the system, progressive third parties seldom get around to launching a systemic critique...

...elections leave the Left no closer to power 11 Other distortions in the electoral system include at-large elections designed to bury minority candidates who might have a concentration of strength in a particular district...

...None of us can be sure of what will work, but too many of us seem sure of what will not work—and those who do no work at all seem surest...

...Voting is a hoax...

...While they may differ on tactics and particular programs, Republicans and Democrats are dedicated to strikingly similar definitions of the American economic way—at great cost to working people at home and abroad...

...increased as constituents discover a reason for voting...

...Anderson was a sublimation of the third-party impulse, a new "choice" who represented no new social formation, an I-can-do-it-better candidate like any other Republican or Democrat...

...Here are some considerations to take into account: f Will participation provide opportunities for raising political consciousness commensurate with the effort it demands...

...Support can mean voting, campaigning, contributing...

...In 1918, the Socialist Party held 1,200 offices in 340 cities...

...There is a tendency for some leftists to think the center is moving closer to them as they move closer to the center...

...Many socialists eventually conclude they Michael Parenti, a guest fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., is working on the fourth edition of his book, "Democracy for the Few...

...It is something else to attack capitalism as an entire system in need of revolutionary transformation...

...Displaying a newly discovered liberalism on some social and cultural issues, he disavowed any interest in a third party and announced he would return to the Republican fold on the day after the election...

...The guiding principle of the establishment was (and still is): When change threatens to rule, the rules are changed...

...military assistance when Carter was in the White House...

...Are we sending a contradictory message to the people— "The system is rigged...

...Their headquarters in many cities were sacked by police, their funds confiscated, their leaders jailed, their immigrant members deported, their newspapers denied mailing privileges, and their elected candidates denied seats in various state legislatures and in Congress...

...more often, it is no...

...The reformers, led by Mayor Ruth Goldway and linked to Tom Hayden's Campaign for Economic Democracy, have been trying to reverse local policies that amount to "socialism for the rich," and are allotting public funds to programs that benefit average people...

...Under the winner-take-all system, the smaller party suffers the highest percentage of wasted— that is, unrepresented—votes...

...Magnified by partisan campaign rhetoric, the differences between the parties seem sufficiently important to push many citizens into the voting booth...

...In contrast to Anderson, some lesser-good third parties seek to build enduring progressive coalitions: the Citizens' Party, the Peace and Freedom Party in California, the Liberty Union Party in Vermont during the 1970s, and the Unity Party in New York today...

...Michael Harrington and other leaders of what used to be the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee—now the Democratic Socialists of America—gave early support in the 1980 primaries to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, not because he was the lesser evil but because he seemed the most "practical" even if palest good...

...The hurdles are not always insurmountable, but they raise the question: Is it worth the enormous investment of effort and money...

...This has never enabled them to institute the structural changes that would amount to socialism, but it has helped create labor conditions superior to those found in the United States...

...Consider how John Anderson, after a dismal showing in the 1980 Republican primaries, metamorphosed into an independent Presidential candidate...

...Thus you do not give them a choice but force them into one...

...Third-party efforts seem less effective at the national level than at the local level, where the constituency is smaller, costs are lower, and the media are not totally enraptured by the two major parties...

...Some contests may provide a rich opportunity for political outreach and propaganda and even victory, while others may not be worth the try...

...How we answer such questions must depend on the kind of participation we have in mind...

...But upon entering electoral politics, they find themselves subjected to formidable obstacles put in their way by the two-party monopoly game they are trying to change: U Restrictive election laws are written and enforced by officials of the major parties...

...Conversely, they may dislike the challenger but cast a reluctant vote for him because the incumbent has become unbearable...

...But those of us who advocate a fundamental change in our economic system cannot be content to ask, "Are there differences between the parties...

...The party that polls a plurality of the vote, be it 40, 50, or 60 per cent, wins 100 per cent of a district's representation (or a state's representation, in the case of the U.S...

...Winner-take-all not only deprives the minority parties of representation but eventually of voters, too, since many citizens choose not to "waste" their ballots on a party that seems incapable of achieving legislative representation...

...Both support high-profit military budgets and alliances with dictatorial regimes around the world that are friendly to U.S...

...I make a point of this because his glowing visage and murky politics are likely to be with us again in 1984...

...Contrary to widespread belief, French, German, Benelux, and Italian workers are better off than their American counterparts when it comes to vacations, family allowances, safety conditions, retirement benefits, protection turn speed-ups, the right to collective bargaining, seniority, and job security...

...Many who attempt to carry on the struggle against capitalism on capitalism's own turf are not being naive—since it often happens to be the only turf available—but are probing and trying to discover a means of advancing the cause...

...the latter includes the powers of the courts, the army, the police, the bureaucracy, and a host of other publicly financed "authorities" and institutions that serve propertied interests under charters beyond legislative reach...

...There is no third-party electoral road to power in a system devised to preserve the capitalist two-party arrangement...

...he was not anticipating an electoral road to socialism...

...This strategy, somewhat more positive than the lesser-evil approach, might be called supporting "the lesser good...

...So we advocate an alternative social order, some variety of socialism, in which labor and wealth will serve to meet human need rather than sate private greed...

...Sometimes we hope it will be possible to make this transition from capitalism to socialism by way of the ballot box, but then we find ourselves confronted by two major parties that faithfully support what is mislead-ingly described as the "free enterprise" system...

...At some point, socialists realize that the lesser-evil game can go on forever, drawing a reluctant response from those who might otherwise support a third party...

...1 Once on the ballot, minor parties face difficulties built into the system of representation itself...

...His name was Jimmy Carter...

...When Lenin urged the Bolsheviks to participate in the "arch-reactionary Duma" elections from 1908 to 1917, he had no electoral strategy...

...The DSOC strategy has been to work within the less conservative of the two capitalist parties, though it remains to be seen whether "boring from within" does not lead to being buried alive...

...While it is still this way with the Left, it is difficult to measure the relative effectiveness of tactics, to anticipate results...

...In the United States, the leftist parties have tasted their share of repression...

...Inability to buy television time becomes a horrendous liability because socialist parties are denied national media news coverage...

...In scores of communities across the nation, third parties or independent progressive candidates have been gaining support and visibility, building coalitions, and reaching people who have previously been inactive...

...Across the country, the Santa Monica "Renters' Rights" movement swept into office and enacted a tough rent-control law as well as new zoning regulations to protect modest-income dwellers from the ravages of developers...

...Is there, then, anything to say for electoral participation...

...Socialists sometimes support progressive but non-socialist candidates who supposedly have a broader appeal than socialists and who might, therefore, even win office...

...In Europe, leftist parties have established a real political presence, even forming governments from time to time...

...In 1980, one of the major Presidential candidates called for a $1.5 trillion increase in the military budget, drastic cuts in human services, and a more militant confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union...

...Many Socialists were mayors or sat in state legislatures...

...Even if one rejects the electoral strategy, are not elections—in some places on some occasions—still a useful tactic...

...Within a few years, the party was flat on its back...

...Sanders has had to struggle all the way, but he has managed to channel almost $100,000 in Federal funds into low-income housing, start after-school programs for children of working parents, involve the police in various youth programs, upgrade the city parks, and save the city large sums by instituting competitive bidding on municipal insurance contracts...

...It is not quite accurate to characterize Republicans and Democrats as Tweedledee and Tweedledum...

...And what might they reasonably expect to accomplish...

...Candidates sympathetic to Sanders have won five of the thirteen seats on the board of aldermen...

...Vote for me...

...In truth, however, major-party policies can have an important effect on our lives, as the Reagan Administration is demonstrating...

...There have been some notable victories—as when Bernard Sanders, an avowed socialist, was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont (by three votes) in 1981 against three conservative opponents...

...Couldn't a party's resources be put to better use in other forms of struggle...

...The low-income wards in Burlington now vote for independents and Citizens' Party candidates, effectively shutting out the two-party monopolists...

...If nothing is offered on the Left, some of the disaffected will vote for Nazis and Klansmen, and some already have...

...For the first time, people of low and modest income believe they have a friend in city hall...

...Almost seventy years ago, Eugene Debs observed that most disputes among socialists are not over goals but over how to achieve them...

...They also learn the distinction Marxists discovered long ago between government and state...

...We have been urged to support Jimmy Carter to stop Ronald Reagan, or Hubert Humphrey to stop Richard Nixon, or Lyndon Johnson to stop Barry Goldwater...

...Both are ready to shell out multibillion-dollar Government subsidies, services, and lax allowances to bolster corporate profits...

...Who is elected can make a difference, then, but the question remains: Does our electoral participation make a difference...

...Campaigns also help build coalitions among people whose efforts are otherwise confined to single-issue organizing...

...Minor parties in many states simply cannot get on the ballot because of harsh petition and registration requirements, exorbitant filing fees, official harassment, intimidation, and legal entanglements...

...To leave the electoral arena exclusively to the two-party capitalist politicians is to grant them an unchallenged monopoly on political legitimacy...

...Senate) with the election of its candidate, while smaller parties, regardless of their vote, receive zero representation...

...The lesser-good candidate may still be tied to a major party...

...Of one thing we can be certain: Doing nothing doesn't work...

...We should, therefore, be more supportive (although not uncritical) of those who are willing to make an effort...

...Or we can run for office...

...Simon Gerson, veteran campaign manager for the Communist Party, observes that in 1932 Communists were able to run candidates in thirty-eight of the forty-eight states...

...This approach, known to all of us as "the lesser of two evils," is probably the single greatest inducement to participation in electoral politics...

...To be sure, there is a choice of sorts...

...So, many socialists come to believe that endorsing either of the two major parties, except under the most extraordinary circumstances, legitimates the capitalist two-party monopoly, does nothing to advance the struggle for socialism, and violates their own political interest...

...Perhaps we get around this when we make clear that the vote is a protest, and that the really wasted vote is the one cast for the two-party servants of corporate capitalism...

...Thus they rarely move from a liberal complaint about symptoms to a radical analysis of causes...

...We have several options: support* ing one or another major-party candidate...

...The struggle must be built from the bottom up...

...No one can doubt that both the Democratic and Republican parties are deeply committed to a state-supported oligopolistic capitalist economy—no matter what they choose to call it...

...On those rare occasions when radical candidates actually win office, they find other booby traps lying in wait...

...should work for socialist candidates and not for some lesser evil or lesser good...

...U Can a socialist party invest a major portion of its meager resources in election contests without neglecting other, more enduring forms of political work and without becoming exclusively another electoral party...

...They cannot effect changes in the class structure from the top down, and must respond to the "needs of the economy"—which means the needs of the dominant interests that control jobs, investments, and resources...