Anti-Democratic Ideologies & Structures

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Connexions Library

Against Anarchism
Fraser, Nancy
Article
2013
A critical theory of the public sphere should incorporate neo-anarchism’s best insights, while rejecting wholesale anarchism. Neo-anarchism fails to sustain the tension between fact and norm required ...
All Rights Reserved: Now We Know the Final TTP is Everything We Feared
Malcolm, Jeremy
Article
2015
The release by Wikileaks of what is believed to be the current and essentially final version of the intellectual property (IP) chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) confirms our worst fears a...
America Likes Democracy, Except In Venezuela : Chavez in the Crosshairs
Weisbrot, Mark
Article
2012
Venezuelans can be sure that their vote counts. The government in Venezuela has done everything to increase voter registration and participation.
The American Deep State: Wall Street, Big Oil, and the Attack on U.S. Democracy
Dale Scott, Peter
Book
2014
Scott makes a compelling case for a hidden "deep state," a second order of government behind the public or constitutional state, that influences and often opposes official U.S. policies.
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America
Hedges, Chris
Book
2006
Hedges examines the Christian Right's origins, its driving motivation and its dark ideological underpinnings, with interviews and coverage of events such as pro-life rallies and weeklong classes on co...
Bakunin: The Philosophy of Freedom
Morris, Brian
Book
1993
An attempt to portray Bakunin's political theories in a coherent manner.
Bakunin, Mikhail: Connexipedia Article
Article
Russian anarchist and revolutionary. (1814-1876).
Bakunin on Anarchy
Dolgoff, Sam
Book
1971
An anthology of Bakunin's writings.
Bakunin vs Marx
Dolgoff, Sam
Article
1979
The debates between Bakunin and Marx transcend petty personal squabbles and embody two diametrically opposed tendencies in the theory and tactics of socialism, the authoritarian and libertarian school...
Bakunin vs. Marx
Diemer, Ulli
Article
1978
The anarchist-Marxist split started with Bakunin, who systematically misrepresented Marx's positions.
Beyond the brexit debate
Malik, Kenan
Article
2016
Whatever the result of the Brexit referendum, of one thing we can be sure: Britain will neither be invaded by marauding Turks, as anti-EU campaigners suggest might happen if the country votes 'Yes', n...
Blocking Progress: Consensus Decision Making In The Anti-Nuclear Movement
Ryan, Howard
Article
1983
Howard Ryan maintains that consensus is wrong in principle and in practice: "The problem is not so much that individuals are being irresponsible or somehow abusing the consensus process. The problem l...
A Blueprint for a New Party: With the rise of Donald Trump, we need to think seriously about what it would take to form a democratic organization rooted in working class
Ackerman, Seth
Article
2016
A proposal for a national political organization that would have chapters at the state and local levels, a binding program, a leadership accountable to its members, and electoral candidates nominated ...
Brexit and the new hostility to participatory democracy
Sparrow, Jeff
Article
2016
The reaction to Brexit illustrates the desperate need for the Left to return to first principles. For, as the result broke on social media, a remarkable number of progressives directed their anger not...
Britain, Europe and the Real Crisis
Malik, Kenan
Article
2016
The decision by British voters last week to leave the European Union has brutally exposed two features of contemporary British politics. The first is the depth of popular disaffection with mainstream ...
Can the Egyptians Come to Canada to Liberate Us?
Kunin, Jason
Article
2011
As I sat glued to Al Jazeera for two weeks watching the Egyptian revolution unfold from my home in Toronto, I must confess to having experienced feelings of jealousy. How nice it must be, I thought, t...
Canada After Harper: His Ideology-fuelled Attack on Canadian Society and Values, and How We Can Resist and Create the Country We Want
Finn, Ed (editor)
Book
2015
Essays documenting the breadth and depth of the Harper government's attack on institutions, policies, and programs that embody values and principles shared by most Canadians: education, health care, w...
Canada's Distorted Electoral System
Diemer, Ulli
Article
2000
Canada's electoral system is undemocratic
Consensus decision-making: Connexipedia Article
Article
2010
Article about the group decision making process known as consensus decision-making.
The conspiracy to censor the Internet
Article
2017
The political representatives of the American ruling class are engaged in a conspiracy to suppress free speech. Under the guise of combating "trolls" and "fake news" supposedly controlled by Russia, t...
The Corporation
Achbar, Mark; Abbott Jennifer
Film/Video
2004
The Corporation explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time.
The Death of Democracy: Israel's Flood of Anti-Democratic Laws
Cook, William A.
Article
2011
Democracy is dying in both Israel and the United States, and much of the world is turning away in revulsion.
Defend Brazil!
Vltchek, Andre
Article
2016
Enough weeping! Latin America has wept incessantly, continuously, for years, decades and centuries. Its people robbed of everything since the days of Columbus, since Potosi. Tens of millions, perhaps ...
Democracy for the Few
Parenti, Michael
Book
1988
How does the U.S. political system work and for what purpose? What are the major forces shaping political life and how do they operate? Who governs in the United States? Who gets what, when, how, and ...
Democracy in the Unites States? Fugetaboutit!
Spritzler, John
Article
2007
We who want a more equal and democratic society are the vast majority. There is no reason for us to feel hesitant about speaking our minds and talking revolution to our friends and neighbors, our co-w...
Democracy Is that it?: New Internationalist June 2000
Serial Publication (Periodical)
2000
Democracy has become commonplace and its original meaning -- "rule by the people" -- has got lost. Real democracy depends on active citizenship, something that's missing from contemporary culture. Ar...
Democracy loses out
Diemer, Ulli
Article
1978
The people can say what they want, they can vote how they want, but the bureaucrats make the decisions.
Democracy was never intended for degenerates
Malik, Kenan
Article
2016
This is not a left vs right debate -- today, as a century ago, the anti-democratic impulse comes from both left and right, from both reactionaries and self-defined progressives.
Destroying the Commons: How the Magna Carta Became a Minor Carta
Chomsky, Noam
Article
2012
Our rights and liberties are under ever-increasing attack.
The Disconnect in US Democracy
Chomsky, Noam
Article
2004
Noam Chomsky describes how the American people are excluded from political participation, claiming that action must also come before and after elections and not only once every four years.
Dismantling Democracy: Stifling Debate and Dissent in Canada
Article
2015
An extensive dossier of the Harper government's attacks on democracy, debate, and dissent.
The End of Politics: Corporate Power and the Decline of the Public Sphere
Boggs, Carl
Book
2000
From the events of privatization, economic globalization, spread of violence and gun culture, and the end of the cold war, Boggs explores the depoliticization process in the United States.
Everything under control, Life in a managed society: New Internationalist April 1985
Serial Publication (Periodical)
1985
A deluge of commercial messages are subtly undermining the consumer's ability to make autonomous decisions. Discussion of why, and how, social control is becoming the norm in Western societies.
Falsifying History and Ourselves: Anti-Democratic Propaganda in the Classroom
Spritzler, John
Article
2001
Contrary to the views promoted by FHAO, the true facts about Germany during the Holocaust show that 1) working class Germans fought the Nazis; 2) anti-Semitism did not come from ordinary people; and 3...
Fascism and Big Busness
Guerin, Daniel
Book
1939
A history of the rise of fascism in Europe and the role of big business in supporting fascism.
Fascism and Big Business (excerpt)
Guérin, Daniel
Article
1938
Events have demonstrated with tragic clearness that the moment the working class allows the fascist wave to sweep over it, a long period of slavery and impotence begins - a long period during which so...
Fascism and Socialism
Guérin, Daniel
Article
1945
Fascism is not a product that is specifically Italian or specifically German. It is the specific product only of decaying capitalism, of the crisis of the capitalist system which has become a permanen...
Fascism Shall Not Pass
Ibárruri, Dolores
Article
1936
On all fronts communists, anarchists, socialists and republicans are fighting shoulder to shoulder. We have also been joined by non-party people from town and country, because they too have realized w...
The Great Class War: 1914-1918
Pauwels, Jacques R.
Book
2016
In this critical, revisionist account, historian Jacques Pauwels shows how the First World War was rooted in class strife that begin with the French Revolution in 1789 and continued long past the war ...
Greece again Can Save the West
Roberts, Paul Craig
Article
2015
The 'Greek crisis' is not about debt. Debt is the propaganda that the Empire is using to subdue sovereignty throughout the Western world.
Harper, Serial Abuser of Power: The Evidence Compiled: The Tyee's full, updated list of 70 Harper government assaults on democracy and the law.
Beers, David; and Tyee Staff and Contributors
Article
2015
Stephen Harper and his Conservatives have racked up dozens of serious abuses of power since forming government in 2006. From scams to smears, monkey-wrenching opponents to intimidating public servants...
The History of Democracy: A Marxist Interpretation
Roper, Brian S.
Book
2013
Roper traces the history of democracy from ancient Athens to the emergence of liberal representative and socialist participatory democracy. He argues that democracy cannot be understood separately fro...
Hollowing out democracy and law
Malik, Kenan
Article
2017
The recent actions of the Catalan government are not those of politicians respecting democracy. The reaction of the Madrid government, which criminalize political dissent, are equally disturbing.
How will we get to an ecological civilization?
Williams, Chris
Article
2015
Capitalism's infrastructure, which is designed to dominate nature, cannot simply be taken over and used for an ecological transformation. Only a complete, root-and-branch change will do the job.
Individualist anarchism: Connexipedia Article
Article
Refers to several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasize the individual and his/her will over any kinds of external determinants such as groups, society, traditions, and id...
Is this what a police state looks like?
Dobbin, Murray
Article
2010
The corporate security state is not static - it will keep filling more and more space to the extent that they are allowed to by civil society. The police actions in Toronto are one of those key moment...
Israel's education system peddles intolerance and lies
Cook, Jonathan
Article
2014
John Kerry spent last week testing the waters with the Israelis and the Palestinians over his so-called framework agreement – designed to close the gaps between the two sides. But the issues he is try...
Keep raising the issue of democracy
Diemer, Ulli
Article
1989
Socialists should keep hammering away at the issue of democracy.
The Mass Psychology of Fascism
Reich, Wilhelm
Book
1933
Wilhelm Reich's class study, written during the years of the German crisis. Reich repudiates the concept that fascism is the ideology or action of a single individual or nationality, or any ethnic or ...
National Anarchism: Connexipedia Article
Article
National-Anarchism is a syncretic political current that was developed in the 1990s by former Third Positionists to reconcile anarchism with nationalism and in some cases racial separatism. It has phi...
National Catechism
Bakunin, Mikhail
Article
1866
Bakunin sketches out his vision of an anarchist social and political revolution, stating that "in order to prepare for this revolution it will be necessary to conspire and to organize a strong secret ...
The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town
Allen, William Sheridan
Book
1965
A study of how the Nazi takeover took place in one German town.
On Translating Securityspeak into English: In the Land of False Cognates
Carson, Kevin
Article
2012
The Security State has its own language: Securityspeak. Like Newspeak, the ideologically refashioned successor to English in Orwell’s “1984,” Securityspeak is designed to obscure meaning and conceal t...
One Vote for Democracy: Consensus vs. democracy
Diemer, Ulli
Article
1986
Makes the case that the democratic model is better than the consensus model for activist group decision-making.
Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - October 8, 2015: Elections
Diemer, Ulli (editor); Richwood, Darien Yawching (production)
Serial Publication (Periodical)
2015
Elections are the topic of the week, with items related to the October 19 Canadian federal election, and also to broader issues of parliamentary democracy, voting and whether voting can bring about ch...
Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter - July 2, 2016: Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn, and Contempt for Democracy
Diemer, Ulli (ed.)
Article
2016
Brexit, the British vote to leave the European Union, has thrown the political elites into turmoil and confusion. The referendum was supposed to be a safe political manoeuvre, a way to produce an appe...
Peril from the Right
Baier; Walter
Article
2012
Many serious observers hold that the crisis in Europe has not come to an end. With the restructuring of the Greek national debt and the enlargement of the European Stability Mechanism, only time was b...
Poisoning the Democratic Well
Dobbin, Murray
Article
2015
Opponents of so-called free trade deals have always struggled with the question of why these international treaties don't generate more alarm and vocal opposition from Canadians. These treaties, after...
A Profound and Jarring Disconnect: The Writing on the Wall
Lindorff, Dave
Article
2011
How the US government has gone against the wishes of the public majority on key issues.
The Program of the International Brotherhood
Bakunin, Mikhail
Article
1869
Bakunin maintains that his revolutionary anarchist vision "excludes any idea of dictatorship and of a controlling and directive power." but then goes on to say "It is, however, necessary for the estab...
Puerto Rico: a Junta By Any Other Name
Cruz Díaz, Miguel A.
Article
2016
Empire is once again fashionable. The financial crisis that is presently gutting the island of Puerto Rico plays out like the world's worst case of botched assisted suicide. The sell of its municipal ...
Radical Democracy
Lummis, C. Douglas
Book
1997
Lummis revives the meaning of democratic struggle and critques the economic and technological processes that have hindered its growth.
Revolutionary Catechism
Bakunin, Mikhail
Article
1866
Bakunin believed that workers were very far from being able to attain revolutionary consciousness on their own. To imbue the masses with this consciousness and to prevent the deformation of a resultin...
Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort
Berlet, Chip; Lyons, Mathew N.
Book
2000
Examines the historical roots and current situation of right-wing populism in the US. Berlet and Lyons highlight the dangers of right-wing populism in affecting the political system and opportunities...
The Secret Secret: Of Wikileaks and Literacy
Johnson, Jimmy
Article
2010
Only those with proper clearances can participate in discussions that affect significant aspects of our lives. Certain technological achievements, our collective ethical decisions (torture, secret pri...
A Short History of Black Voter Suppression
Parker, Nicholas
Article
2012
The Right's organized movement to suppress the votes of African Americans and Latin Americans, and the urban and rural poor by means of the passing of voter ID (Poll Tax) laws in states receives no me...
The Silent Takeover: Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy
Hertz, Noreena
Book
2001
A combination of globalisation and the growing power of major corporations is rendering democratic governments impotent for influencing key decisions that affect the lives of ordinary people.
Some Pundits Think the Solution to Right-Wing Populism Is Less Democracy
Johnson, Adam
Article
2016
The core orthodoxies of neoliberalism are under attack by populist forces, and commentators are scrambling for a response. Some are suggesting more left-wing red meat. Others, a moment of self-reflect...
State Lawlessness on the Rampage: The Menu for 2011
Roberts, Paul Craig
Article
2010
As 2011 dawns, public discourse in America has the country primed for a fascist dictatorship.The situation will be worse by 2012. The most uncomfortable truth that emerges from the WikiLeaks saga is t...
Taking the Risk Out of Democracy: Corporate Propaganda versus Freedom and Liberty
Carey, Alex
Book
1995
The twentieth-century history of corporate propaganda practiced by U.S. businesses and the ways in which such corporate propaganda was exported to, and adopted by, other western democracies especially...
The Venezuelan Opposition does not want Democracy or Elections
Vaz, Ricardo
Article
2017
Interview with Jorge Martin, secretary of the "Hands Off Venezuela" solidarity campaign. The Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela is facing its most challenging times. The right-wing opposition, backed ...
Top 5 Reasons Eaters should be Worried about Obama's New Trade Deal
Article
2015
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a wide-ranging deal that would expand corporate rights across member states to the detriment of worker rights, the environment, and public health.
The Trickledown Revolution
Roy, Arundhati
Article
2010
The first step towards re-imagining a world gone terribly wrong would be to stop the annihilation of those who have a different imagination - an imagination that is outside of capitalism as well as co...
The Two Souls of Socialism: Socialism from Above vs. Socialism from Below
Draper, Hal
Article
1960
It was Marx who finally brought the two ideas of socialism and democracy together, because he developed a theory which made the synthesis possible for the first time. The heart of the theory is this p...
The Tyranny of Structurelessness
Freeman, Jo
Article
1970
Contrary to what we would like to believe, there is no such thing as a "structureless" group. Any group of people of whatever nature that comes together for any length of time for any purpose will ine...
We must win back democracy, even if it takes Hedges' revolution
Fillmore, Nick
Article
2016
While the banks, elites, and the super-rich have been scrambling to try to hold onto their billions following the UK's shocking vote to exit from the European Union, the anger expressed by the leave s...
What is Stephen Harper doing to Canada? How can we stop him?
Article
2015
The Harper regime has had a toxic effect on Canada. The wealthy are better off, but most Canadians are worse off, and rights and freedoms, democracy, access to information, and science have suffered. ...
Who Will Tell The People: The Betrayal Of American Democracy
Greider, William
Book
1993
An exploration of the undermining of U.S. democracy, starting with the basic issues of who gets heard, who gets ignored, and why.
Why Consensus Decision-making Won't Work for Grassroots Unionism
Wetzel, Tom
Article
2009
Wetzel contrasts consensus decision-making with democratic decision-making to explain why the latter is more suited to activist groups.
'Worse Than We Thought': TPP A Total Corporate Power Grab Nightmare
Article
2015
On issues ranging from climate change to food safety, from open Internet to access to medicines, the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) is a disaster.

Sources Library

Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn, and Contempt for Democracy
Introduction to the July 2, 2016 issue of Other Voices
Diemer, Ulli
2016
A constant theme in elite reaction to the Brexit referendum, expressed especially through the mainstream media, has been a visceral contempt for democracy. Ordinary working people are portrayed as stu...
Extremism goes mainstream
Across Europe far-right parties are gaining power by forming coalitions while liberals have failed to find a coherent response
Traynor, Ian
2010
Right wing extremist parties that attempt to stir up racial and ethnic prejudices have been gaining support during the recession in Europe. In Denmark, the Netherlands and Italy liberals already form ...
Fascism
Sources Select Resources Encyclopedia
Fascism is a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to organize a nation according to corporatist perspectives, values, and systems, including the political system and...
Fascism and ideology
Sources Select Resources Encyclopedia
Fascism and ideology is the subject of numerous debates. The position of fascism on the political spectrum is a point of contention. Various scholars have sought to define fascism, and the consensus i...
A freedom that we can't afford
Rightwing thinktanks profess a love of freedom, but their refusal to reveal who funds them is deeply undemocratic
Monbiot, George
2011
Freemarket thinktanks vastly outnumber those arguing for public spending. The author suggests that these thinktanks allow corporations to exert influence on public life without showing their hand, he ...
The Reaction to Brexit Is the Reason Brexit Happened
If you believe there's such a thing as "too much democracy," you probably don't believe in democracy at all
Taibbi, Matt
2016
"This isn't democracy; it is Russian roulette for republics," Kenneth Rogoff recently wrote in the 'Boston Globe,' of last week's Brexit vote.
Trade agreements and the corporate war on democracy
Introduction to the November 7, 2015 issue of Other Voices
Diemer, Ulli
2015
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, negotiated in secret, and now scheduled to be rubber-stamped by national governments on a take-it-or-leave-it basis, is best understood as a major milestone in the long-...