LENIN ON ORGANIZATION
direct popular legislation and fail to understand
that this principle can be applied in modern society
only conditionally.
Those who have had experience of practical work
in our movement know how widespread the ‘‘primitive”
 conception of democracy is among the student
youth and the workers. It is, therefore, not surprising
 that this conception should make its influence
 felt in statutes and literature. The economists
of the Bernstein type have included the following
clause in their statutes: Ҥ10. All matters concerning
 the interests of the whole organization are
to be decided by a majority vote of all its members!”
The theoretical economists say: “It is essential
that all committee decisions should be approved by
all the circles and only then become binding decisions”
 (“Svoboda,” No. 1, p. 67). It should be
observed that this demand for the wide application
of the referendum is advocated in addition to the
demand that the whole organization should be built
upon the principle of election! We are of course
far from condemning on this account active workers
 who had had only too little opportunity of
acquainting themselves with the theory and practice
of real democratic organizations. But when “Rabochie
 Delo” which has pretenses to leadership
confines itself under such conditions to a resolution
advocating the principle of broad democracy what
else can we call it but simply a “search after
effect”?

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