The coming elections will be among the most crucial in modern history. This Marxist IQ is dedicated to understanding these elections and elections generally.

1. Marxists from the days of the Communist Manifesto (1848) to today have been leaders in the struggle to establish democracy in the nations of the world. By “democracy” Marxists and Communists have meant

a. the struggle to establish universal suffrage to elect governments that would reflect and represent the majority of the people.
b. the struggle to use political democracy to enable the working-class majority to achieve economic and social rights.
c. the commitment to extend political, economic, and social rights as the foundation for a socialist or people’s democracy.
d. All of the above

2. 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

3. In elections where the working class and democracy itself have been threatened by reactionary or fascist candidates and parties, Marxists and Communists in capitalist countries have called for which of the following?

a. Formations of third parties to challenge existing parties which had the support of working-class constituencies
b. Boycotts of elections on the grounds that they were always dominated by the capitalist class
c. The formation of united fronts of all anti-fascist parties and broader people’s fronts with mass organizations to defeat reactionary fascist and pro-fascist forces in elections and advance a program that would concretely address the interests and needs of the working class
d. An electoral strategy which would make the abolition of capitalism and the establishment of socialism the first priority of government

4. While the last national  “third party” to replace an existing party from the left was the Republican Party in the 1850s, third parties representing labor, progressive, and socialist oriented policies  have been significant forces in U.S. politics at the state level  for periods of time, helping to shape policies in the interests of labor and the people.  These include which of the following?

a. The Progressive Party of Wisconsin from the 1920s to the 1940s
b. The Farmer Labor Party of Minnesota in the 1930s and 1940s
c. The American Labor Party of New York from 1936 to the early 1950s
d. All of the above

5. While Marxists and Communists see fully developed fascism as an open terroristic dictatorship of the most reactionary sectors of the capitalist class in the service of finance capital, the definition developed by the Comintern included which of the following general and visible characteristics?

a. A leader cult sustained by endless political rallies which portray the leader as the savior of the nation.
b. A cult of violence which blames all problems on domestic minorities, foreigners, foreign powers, and all opposition parties and which incites violence against all these groups.
c. Demagogic appeals to sections of the working class with promises to save their jobs and restore their incomes while advancing policies that strike at their unions and strengthen the arbitrary power of their employers.
d. All of the above

6. For Marxists and Communists the defeat of Trump and the GOP in next week’s elections will be the beginning, not the end, of struggle to defend democracy. For Marxists and Communists the struggle for basic political democracy can and must include the following:

a. Strict regulation of the use of money by individuals and parties in elections.
b. Universal suffrage for all citizens, universal voter registration, and simple, direct access to voting
c. Equal-time provisions for candidates of major and minor parties and systems of proportional representation to give voters greater choices beyond the candidates of the two-party system
d. All of the above

Answers here.

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