MLs make democracy a core part of the political process through democratic centralism, but Lenin expresses it as “diversity in discussion, unity in action.” Members might have intense debates about an issue but they follow the party line when it comes time to vote. An ML party’s more disciplined approach to politics results in being able to throw a lot of organisational weight at something with the full support of the base. It also limits infiltration and the influence of people whose view is too far right to be socialist or too far-left to be scientific socialism.

Those things are really important since an ML doesn’t believe that the existing electoral system allows you to vote your way to communism, and even if we did have a Red New Deal it would be dismantled under the next crop of politicians. Bourgeois democracy exists for the bourgeoisie and they have have the resources to multiply the value of their vote, rig the system, or assassinate anyone they want. Revolutions are something you inherit more than you spontaneously create. The old system dies under the weight of its contradictions and you’re the most organised group to take power during that moment of rupture. Until then, you fight for bread and roses while increasing the party’s strength.

Democratic socialism, at least with the DSA that I’m familiar with and member of, has problems that make it very vulnerable. There’s a disconnect between local chapters and national which makes messaging and organising more difficult than it should be. National doesn’t set the programme that Local is bound to follow. The Black Panthers were able to start the same mutual aid projects across the US within a few years, while my local DSA hasn’t achieved much beyond endorsing a few local democrats for non-specific policy goals. The Panthers were able to form the necessary militias to protect their projects, while the DSA’s entryist model allows liberal views to have too much weight. PSL has an interview process to join where you have to at least have read the material like any other serious subject, DSA has a public discord and joining is just handing over $20. An infiltrator has a lot more ability to cause damage or derail the project, including the opposing politicians in the elections they’re investing so much effort in.

Beyond the structural issues, there’s the question of what happens when the DSA-backed politician wins. They have to participate in the empire and that shapes their material interests. AOC and Mamdani both slid right on some really important issues after winning because they have to maintain their office. DSA may have gotten out the vote but most of their constituents aren’t in the DSA and most of the party hates socialism. It’s very bad branding if you accidentally/intentionally elect the next Graham Platner or John Fetterman and you’re held responsible. PSL might run a protest candidate from the party to raise awareness of its platform and drive membership, but its time and resources go to fighting for individual issues.

I still think an ML should be in both spaces. DSA has a Marxist caucus and they’re at least people willing to put their name next to socialist during a red scare. It’s good for local networking and you can inject revolutionary ideas into their projects. Here the environmental justice committee is very lackluster and has no public awareness. As an eco-Marxist, I’m using park cleanups as Debordian derives to discuss the socioecology and public land, unionising the municipal workers in the process with the help of another DSA member forming a union in their department. It’s super easy to get someone to agree with revolutionaries when you point at the contradiction and can give a detailed historical or theoretical answer, and that trains me to talk to the rest of the public who are even less radical. I just limit my participation to things like that because I don’t think the DSA will be able to elect someone more radical than FDR. I’m in PSL because if society collapses tomorrow I think they’ll be the quickest to rally around a coherent message even if I disagree with some small percentage of it.