Other political parties are legal in Cuba. What’s not legal is to be a political party based abroad, or to receive funding from abroad.
It’s certainly true that communist party has special status in Cuba, compared to other parties. That’s quite common in communist countries, where the model is that the country is subordinate to the party. People who prefer a model where the party is subordinate to the country don’t like that very much, but it’s not obviously bad - just different.
You could even argue that it’s a very sensible tweak to make if your ultimate goal is world communism, since it gives you leeway to dissolve the country later. With the other model, that gets tricky fast - advocating for it in Germany is a crime, for instance.
Parties in liberal democracies are private, ie, separate from the state. When the Democratic party rigged the 2016 primary they openly admitted to it and argued it was their right as a private party. The US government is supposed to follow certain ethical rules and have a certain openness, but the two parties which control the government aren’t bound by those rules.
I wouldn’t say the government is subordinate to the party or vice versa. The government is nothing but a tool and a weapon in the hands of those who wield it. It isn’t capable of subordinating any more than a shovel is, though those who are employed by either might think differently. The difference is that in a socialist state the communist party is integrated into the government. There are no backroom conspiracies dedicated to subverting the law. It’s not a two-faced mafia sort of political system with a public and private position.
Other political parties are legal in Cuba. What’s not legal is to be a political party based abroad, or to receive funding from abroad.
It’s certainly true that communist party has special status in Cuba, compared to other parties. That’s quite common in communist countries, where the model is that the country is subordinate to the party. People who prefer a model where the party is subordinate to the country don’t like that very much, but it’s not obviously bad - just different.
You could even argue that it’s a very sensible tweak to make if your ultimate goal is world communism, since it gives you leeway to dissolve the country later. With the other model, that gets tricky fast - advocating for it in Germany is a crime, for instance.
It’s almost like people living in communism actually vote for the communist party because they like what they’re doing!
Democracy is when progress gets undone
Parties in liberal democracies are private, ie, separate from the state. When the Democratic party rigged the 2016 primary they openly admitted to it and argued it was their right as a private party. The US government is supposed to follow certain ethical rules and have a certain openness, but the two parties which control the government aren’t bound by those rules.
I wouldn’t say the government is subordinate to the party or vice versa. The government is nothing but a tool and a weapon in the hands of those who wield it. It isn’t capable of subordinating any more than a shovel is, though those who are employed by either might think differently. The difference is that in a socialist state the communist party is integrated into the government. There are no backroom conspiracies dedicated to subverting the law. It’s not a two-faced mafia sort of political system with a public and private position.