Workers’ councils

Workers’ councils are elected bodies through which workers organize and exercise political or workplace authority. Their powers range from workplace representation to governing institutions.

Delegative democracy: A democratic system in which elected delegates remain accountable to those who appoint them. Revocable, accountable delegates can connect local councils without creating a separate political elite.
Russian Revolution: The revolutionary upheavals that ended the Russian Empire and established Soviet rule between 1917 and 1923. Workers’ and soldiers’ councils became rival centers of authority during the upheavals of 1917.
Paris Commune: A revolutionary municipal government that ruled Paris from March to May 1871. Karl Marx treated its elected, recallable officials as a model of working-class political power.
Trade union: An organization formed by workers to represent their interests in dealings with employers. Unions bargain and organize across workplaces, while councils may directly govern a workplace or territory.
Workers’ control: The exercise of decision-making authority over production and workplace organization by workers. It names the workplace power councils have sought to establish.
Soviet democracy: A political model based on councils of workers, soldiers, and peasants, especially in revolutionary Russia. It developed workers’ councils into a proposed structure for state power.
Petrograd Soviet: The council of workers’ and soldiers’ deputies formed in Petrograd during the 1917 Russian Revolution. Its influence illustrates how a city council could challenge the authority of a provisional government.
First International: The International Workingmen’s Association, founded in London in 1864 to coordinate labor and socialist movements. Its debates connected workers’ self-organization with wider political strategies.
Political party: An organization that seeks political power by contesting elections or shaping government. Council advocates often distinguish direct worker representation from rule through a party hierarchy.
Dual power: A political situation in which rival institutions claim governing authority over the same territory. Councils can become an alternative source of legitimacy alongside an existing government.

Linked from 12 pages