Serious-posting time: what's wrong with the Cuban electoral system (not referring to electing women!). I did a report on it my senior year of highschool and basically all I could find from various sources was that it was a pretty great system and that the only complaint was Castro was in power for too long – which some sources presented as an example of him being a dictator, but I thought that was merely the consequence of a system where the executive is appointed and there aren't term limits, that one person would tend towards power through social relations with other powerful people. Is that a bad thing? Personally, I'm not sure, but it does seem like a system that is potentially open to abuse.
Last year they split the position of President of the Council of Ministers into the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister and limited the President of the Republic to two consecutive 5-year terms.
To draft the constitution they took hundred of thousands of proposals from the people in the local assemblies, coalesced them into 9595 similar proposals and voted on all of them in the local, provintial and national assemblies. The majority of the cuban people participated in the drafting of the constitution, and the final draft was subjected to a popular vote and received 86,85% approval. The term limit proposal was the most popular one.
It's designated by the National Assembly. The proposal to make the President of the Republic directly electable like in a bourgeois republic did not get through the deliberation phase.
This is something I feel specifically Americans can't wrap their head around. The idea that the president of a country is actually checked directly by the democratic power of the people.
That there can be a system where going to your local town hall meetings can directly effect policy beyond who gets their sidewalks re-paved first. A system where the people are actively involved in the governmental process and not just passive bystanders that get a chance to choose between 2 owners once every couple years.
Somewhat related, there was an amazing Proles of the Round Table episode (#39) where a guy who spent some time in Cuba, I think as a part of study abroad program, talks about modern Cuba and there are parts where he talks about the drafting of the new constitution and how people vote and all that.
Serious-posting time: what's wrong with the Cuban electoral system (not referring to electing women!). I did a report on it my senior year of highschool and basically all I could find from various sources was that it was a pretty great system and that the only complaint was Castro was in power for too long – which some sources presented as an example of him being a dictator, but I thought that was merely the consequence of a system where the executive is appointed and there aren't term limits, that one person would tend towards power through social relations with other powerful people. Is that a bad thing? Personally, I'm not sure, but it does seem like a system that is potentially open to abuse.
Last year they split the position of President of the Council of Ministers into the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister and limited the President of the Republic to two consecutive 5-year terms.
To draft the constitution they took hundred of thousands of proposals from the people in the local assemblies, coalesced them into 9595 similar proposals and voted on all of them in the local, provintial and national assemblies. The majority of the cuban people participated in the drafting of the constitution, and the final draft was subjected to a popular vote and received 86,85% approval. The term limit proposal was the most popular one.
http://www.cubadebate.cu/especiales/2018/12/21/cuales-son-los-principales-cambios-en-el-proyecto-de-constitucion/
Cool, wasn't aware of the new constitution rules. How is the PM chosen?
It's designated by the National Assembly. The proposal to make the President of the Republic directly electable like in a bourgeois republic did not get through the deliberation phase.
Better than bourgeois "democracy" for sure, though
It definitely seems that way on the ground and with the local power councils.
This is something I feel specifically Americans can't wrap their head around. The idea that the president of a country is actually checked directly by the democratic power of the people.
That there can be a system where going to your local town hall meetings can directly effect policy beyond who gets their sidewalks re-paved first. A system where the people are actively involved in the governmental process and not just passive bystanders that get a chance to choose between 2 owners once every couple years.
Somewhat related, there was an amazing Proles of the Round Table episode (#39) where a guy who spent some time in Cuba, I think as a part of study abroad program, talks about modern Cuba and there are parts where he talks about the drafting of the new constitution and how people vote and all that.