Workers' and Community Participation and Democratic Control in Cuba

Abstract

This article is a historical and current analysis and description of the evolution of worker, community, and popular participation and democratic control in Cuba since 1958. It contains: (a) an analysis of the political developments in the Cuban Revolution that led to the establishment of direct forms of democracy at the workplace and in the community; (b) a detailed analysis and account of how workers participate and control the processes of production and distribution of goods and services; and (c) an in-depth account and analysis of how people living in neighborhoods, rural and urban districts, municipalities, and provinces control the different levels and branches of the state apparatus—People's Power—and also how they participate in the implementation—through mass organizations—of state policies. The responsibilities, modus operandi, and relationships of the Communist Party, the trade unions, and other mass organizations, and the organs of People's Power, are also described and analyzed. The opportunities and problems, successes and failures, and strengths and weaknesses of the Cuban road to socialism and democracy are detailed. It is concluded that the Cuban Revolution has enhanced democracy most dramatically through the Cuban people's substantial involvement, participation, and control of their own lives.