Marxist IQ: The power of the vote

 
BY:Communist Party USA| November 22, 2019
Marxist IQ: The power of the vote

 

1. The struggle for universal suffrage, the right to vote, was led throughout Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries  by:

a. Political parties which called themselves liberal;
b. Anarchist organizations;
c. Marxist Socialist parties which called themselves Social Democratic  or Labor;
d. Political parties which called themselves conservative.

2. From the Communist Manifesto to the present, Marxist movements and parties have defined the struggle for “democracy” as:

a. The struggle for taxation with representation;
b. The struggle for political rights that would enable the working class to obtain economic and social rights;
c. The struggle to create “free market economies;”
d. The struggle to abolish government.

3. As workers began to achieve the right to vote in elections in many European countries Karl Marx warned that:

a. Workers must support the existing parties in order to protect themselves;
b. Workers should not participate in the existing political system because they will be co-opted;
c.  Workers must  make sure that they register and vote;
d. Workers must establish labor based socialist parties so as not to have to choose every few years what party of the ruling capitalist class would govern them for the next few years.

 

4. Presidential elections in U.S. history have played a role in accelerating  far reaching changes, some of a revolutionary nature.  Which of the following elections did not usher in major changes in U.S. politics and society in the  interests of labor and the people?

a. The election of Franklin Roosevelt in 1932;
b. The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860;
c. The election of Bill Clinton in 1992;
d. The election of Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

 

5. Even by modern capitalist definitions of democracy, which concern free and fair elections, the U.S. ranks low among major industrialized countries because:

a. There is no check on the use of money by individuals and parties in election and  per capita election spending is far greater than in any major industrialized  nation in the world;
b. The turnout among eligible voters for a variety of reasons is the lowest in the developed world, in non-presidential elections usually below 50% and in the last presidential election 57.%;
c. Campaigns are usually waged for many months  on the basis of “negative advertising” principles,   personal attacks, appeals to traditional ethnic and gender biases,  exaggerated and/or invented domestic and  international scandals and crises;
d. All of the above.

 

6. In regard to elections, the CPUSA has:

a. Refused to participate in elections because they are capitalist dominated;
b. Uncritically supported major party candidates on the lesser of two evils principle;
c.  Sought to gain ballot status and run its own candidates where possible, not endorsing candidates of other parties but distinguishing between major party candidates in terms of working class interests;
d. Sought to take over the Democratic Party like ultra-right “tea party” Republicans took over the Republican Party.

 

7. The CPUSA has made the defeat of Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential elections and the defeat of his Republican supporters in all 2020 elections as the first priority because;

a. This will lead to a socialist revolution;
b. The CPUSA fears that Trump will “make America great again;”
c. The CPUSA sees Trump’s racist incitements, militarist threats, attempts to dismantle social welfare and  environmental legislation and giveaways to corporations and the wealthy as a direct threat to democracy and peace;
d. The CPUSA finds Trump personally vulgar and repulsive.

 

Answers here.

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    The Communist Party USA is a  revolutionary working-class  political party founded in 1919 in Chicago, IL. The Communist Party stands for the interests of the American working class and the American people. It stands for our interests in both the present and the future. Solidarity with workers of other countries is also part of our work. We work in coalition with the labor movement, the peace movement, the student movement, organizations fighting for equality and social justice, the environmental movement, immigrants rights groups and the health care for all campaign. But to win a better life for working families, we believe that we must go further. We believe that the American people can replace capitalism with a system that puts people before profit — socialism. We are rooted in our country's revolutionary history and its struggles for democracy. We call for "Bill of Rights" socialism, guaranteeing full individual freedoms.

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