The members of the Workers Party in America see the need for a far-reaching and comprehensive platform to address all the objective needs and desires of the working class, while also understanding that, at times, it is necessary to prioritize certain demands that speak directly to the crisis facing working people in the U.S. at any given moment. We believe that the following demands can only be fulfilled by sweeping the exploiting and oppressing classes from power. While small elements of these demands could be implemented in a capitalist society relatively painlessly, each numbered demand, and the series of demands as a whole, can not be put into effect by anyone other than the political party of the working class. The bourgeoisie and its petty-bourgeois allies cannot resolve the outstanding tasks of this society.

    Even though we support all struggles of working people, regardless of how partial or half-hearted their demands, we do this on the basis of our own principles and platform.

Political Demands

    For us, the road to the working people’s republic, the first step on the road to the classless, communist society, is paved through the struggle for revolutionary democratic change. Winning the battle of democracy, a battle that can only be waged fully by the working class, is what provides that necessary foundation. The capitalists, through the imposition of corporatism, seek to deprive working people once and for all of their political rights — rights that were already limited under their concept of “democracy.”

    In order to defeat the reactionary corporatist tide, and to achieve victory in the battle of democracy, it is necessary to have a platform of changes we would make if in power. To that end, upon achieving victory, we will implement the following concrete changes to the political system:

1.    Abolition of the two-chamber federal legislature and bicameral state legislatures. In their place, we call for an expanded, single-chamber federal Congress and single-chamber state legislatures, with half of the body elected on the basis of one federal Representative for every 100,000 people, and one state Representative for every 20,000 people, and the other half elected on the basis of closed-list, party-recallable proportional representation.
2.    Abolition of the presidency, with its imperial war powers and unchecked executive authority, and state governorships. All executive Cabinet officers, including the chief executive of the United States and of states, should be elected by and from the Congress or equivalent state legislatures.
3.    Abolition of the appointed judiciary. Statistically random selection of all federal judges and justices, up to and including the Supreme Court of the United States, based on lists of qualified and vetted applicants. Panels of judges and justices to replace one-person decision-making. Extension of the jury system to all federal levels.
4.    Elimination of all special privileges and immunities for elected officials. No salary of an elected official should exceed the average wage of a skilled worker. The right to recall an elected official at any time must be universal.
5.    Abolition of waiting periods for the public to review Congressional or executive documents that are used to formulate public policy. Expansion and strengthening of the Freedom of Information Act. Abolition of the Official Secrets Act and similar “state secrets” laws.
6.    Public control of all elections through the creation of a non-partisan National Electoral Council, which shall be responsible for creating an electoral system that includes all parties in the process. Creation of “blind” electoral districts and the abolition of gerrymandering.
7.    The right to vote and hold office for all persons beginning at the age of 14. Removal of all barriers restricting the civil, democratic and economic rights of young people.
8.    Abolition of all laws that restrict the civil, democratic or economic rights of those convicted of crimes, including felonies. The right to vote and hold office for all persons held in jails and prisons. Full civil and democratic rights for prisoners, including the right to receive uncensored correspondence and political literature. Incoming and outgoing mail only to be checked for contraband.
9.    Abolition of all laws that give corporations the same rights as citizens. Abolition of all laws that restrict the right of working people to participate directly, either individually or collectively, in the political process.
10.    An end to the “state’s rights” federal system and for final union of the country. Standardization of all laws and regulations that affect citizens. Federalization of all civil liberties and civil rights legislation and enforcement.

    Central to the task of winning the battle of democracy today is the immediate end to the so-called “War on Terror,” which is used by the ruling class to keep working people in the U.S. atomized and unable to defend themselves. The ever-present “threat of terrorism” and artificial wartime climate are meant to make workers suspicious of each other, as well as their class brothers and sisters in other countries. They also give the capitalists a powerful weapon that can be used to keep working people from acting collectively for more rights or a better livelihood.

    In order to bring an immediate end to the “War on Terror” and further deprive the capitalist class of its weapons of power, we would implement the following:

1.    An immediate and unilateral end to the “War on Terror.” Immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all military personnel from Afghanistan, Iraq and other targets of U.S. imperialist aggression.
2.    Full repeal of the USA-PATRIOT Act, Domestic Security Enhancement Act, Anti-Terrorism and Death Penalty Act, Omnibus Counterterrorism Act, Transportation Security Act, and all other “anti-terrorist” legislation.
3.    Abolition of the Department of Homeland Security and its associated agencies. Abolition of the FBI, CIA and all other “intelligence gathering” agencies.
4.    Restoration of Posse Comitatus laws. Abolition of the military’s North American Command and restriction of the use of military personnel on U.S. soil to disaster relief and invasion only.

Social Demands

    Revolutionary change of the political system is only one outcome of the victory in the battle of democracy. In order to make these changes into useful tools for the working class, additional provisions that challenge the basis of capitalist social and political relations must also be raised. Capitalism uses differences based on race/nationality, gender, sexuality, age and ability to divide working people and maintain control. Overturning these efforts to divide and conquer is a necessary task and part of winning the battle of democracy.

    In order to further advance the political and social position of the working class, and to build a stronger unity among our class, we will implement the following:

1.    Full political, economic and social equality for all, regardless of race/nationality, gender, sexuality, age or ability. Comprehensive civil rights protection for all, enforced by the federal state. Equal pay and “comparable worth” laws enforced at all levels of society.
2.    Fully funded and enforced affirmative action programs, including quotas and timetables, in housing, education, employment and public services, enforced by local councils of working people. Comprehensive reparations program for descendents of those held as slaves or indentured servants in the United States.
3.    The right of self-determination for all nationalities imprisoned within the borders or jurisdiction of the United States, including U.S. possessions (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, etc.), the District of Columbia and Native American/First Nation territories. Full representation in Congress for all autonomous territories under U.S. jurisdiction.
4.    Full citizenship rights for all residents inside the political borders of the United States, regardless of immigration status. The right of citizenship for any immigrant worker who has lived one year and worked at least six months in the U.S.
5.    Abolition of all existing “English Only” laws. Prohibition of the establishment of an official language. The right of any person to be educated or receive state services in their own language. Language classes for immigrants offered free of charge and administered by the state.
6.    Free, comprehensive domestic care programs, including child care, meal preparation and delivery, and cleaning and maintenance services, to free women from domestic slavery and servitude. Free, comprehensive elderly care programs, including social and cultural activities, meal preparation and delivery, and cleaning and maintenance services. Abolition of laws that mandate institutionalization for the elderly or mentally disabled in favor of in-home nursing care and community-oriented programs.
7.    Decriminalization of prostitution. The right of prostitutes and other sex-industry workers to unionize. Mandatory health care and medical checkups for all sex workers, under the control of sex workers’ councils or assemblies, and paid for by the capitalists.
8.    Abolition of all laws that restrict the rights of homosexuals and transgendered people. Abolition of laws that favor heterosexual nuclear families, including special taxation privileges and preferences in state services. Extension of the common rights associated with marriage to any pairing that requests them. Inclusion of sexual orientation and sexual identity in all anti-discrimination laws.

    In addition to the above, which address specific institutional and societal discrimination and oppression, it is necessary to address broader social issues that not only affect all people, but also are used as a means of keeping working people divided and fighting against each other. Achieving these goals is a means of paving the way for greater political and social transformation, not only by improving the position of people in society as a whole, but also by breaking the iron grip of the armed enforcers of the capitalist state on society.

    In order to further the advancement of the working class, and to finally break the grip of the capitalist state, we will implement the following:

1.    Free, comprehensive public education from pre-kindergarten to post-graduate studies, under the control and supervision of workers’ councils and assemblies. Abolition of all private educational institutions, including “charter” and parochial schools. Mandatory primary and secondary education to the age of 16. Addition of mandatory vocational curriculum to all academic studies. Full stipends at a living wage for all students. Nullification of all existing student loan debt. Recognition of professional education from abroad, professional education standardization, etc., to counter underemployment of educated immigrants.
2.    Free, universal health care from birth to death. All medical and related health services placed into public ownership, under the control of councils of health care workers and patients. Nullification of all previous medical debts. Free, universal sex education classes and counseling programs that are non-moralistic, do not stigmatize or marginalize any sexual orientation, and teach “safe sex” practices.
3.    Fully paid medical leave for all workers. Fully paid leave for pregnant women for three months before and six months after medically-expected date of birth. Six months fully-paid leave for partners of pregnant women. Maximum four-hour day, four-day week for pregnant women. Free and unrestricted access to comprehensive reproductive health services, including contraception and medical pregnancy termination (abortion) procedures.
4.    Complete separation of church and state, and of church and school. Full freedom for both religious and anti-religious writings. Immediate withdrawal of all tax abatements and subsidies from any religious institution or body that interferes in the political process or the affairs of state, with monetary assessments prorated to the date of the first documented incident of interference.
5.    Decriminalization of possession and use of all illicit drugs. Legalization and regulation of the production and distribution of marijuana. Free and comprehensive detoxification and drug-aversion programs for all who request it. Classification of smoking as a nicotine addiction, not a “lifestyle choice,” with free smoking-aversion and stop-smoking programs and aids available through all health care service providers.
6.    Free legal services for all, regardless of ability to pay. Abolition of all private legal services. Immediate release from prisons and jails of all victimless offenders. Review of the cases of all non-violent offenders. Abolition of mandatory minimums for sentencing. Sliding scale for all fines and monetary compensation awarded in court, based on ability to pay. Abolition of the death penalty.
7.    Immediate closure of all privately-owned or managed prisons. All jails and prisons to be supervised by commissions elected by local workers’ councils or assemblies. One prisoner to a cell; each cell self-contained. Prisons to operate on the principle of rehabilitation, not punishment. Cultural and social activities, full health care and education services, daily family and weekly conjugal visits to be allowed and/or provided.
8.    Abolition of existing police forces in favor of volunteer units organized by neighborhood or workplace. Administration of such units under worker/community control through elected councils. Free training in the care and use of weapons for all who desire it; mandatory training for those volunteering for neighborhood or workplace defense, and for those wishing to possess firearms.
9.    Disbanding of the military officer corps (including non-commissioned officers). Abolition of all ranks and orders, replaced by elected task- or unit-designated positions. Organization of all military personnel into unit councils to administer organization. Demobilization and immediate recall of all overseas military units. Universal arming and training of the people for self-defense.

Economic Demands

    The victory of the working class in the battle of democracy is impossible if workers are too busy trying to survive. Winning the battle of survival is the prerequisite to meaningfully fighting the battle of democracy. In order to win the battle of survival, economic measures are necessary that raise the working class out of its imposed state of poverty and despair, and remove the economic shackles that keep working people from participating in the political process.

    In order for the working class to possess a livelihood that allows for their full and unchallenged participation in political life, we will implement the following:

1.    The reduction of the normal workweek to a maximum of six hours a day, five days a week, including time for participation in workplace committees and assemblies, without loss of pay or benefits. Reduction to four hours a day, four days a week, without loss of pay or benefits and including time for participation, for dangerous or particularly demanding jobs.
2.    Double-time pay for all hours worked over the normal workweek and over six hours a day. Prohibition of mandatory overtime and the provision of one hour off with pay for every two hours of overtime worked in a week. Uninterrupted weekly break of not less than 60 hours for all workers.
3.    A minimum weekly wage of $560 or living wage equivalent, whichever is higher, properly adjusted and tied, on a non-deflationary basis, to the cost of living. Raising of unemployment benefits to the minimum wage. Similar adjustments for all other non-executive remunerations and benefits.
4.    The right of all working people, including enlisted personnel in the military, to organize themselves into unions and workplace committees in defense of their rights and interests. The right of the unemployed to organize into unions and similar economic organizations. Abolition of all laws against the right to organize, collectively bargain and strike. Abolition of the Taft-Hartley Act, and those sections of the Landrum-Griffin Act that restrict the rights of labor unions and working people.
5.    Prohibition of the use of prison labor for profit, as a supplemental or replacement workforce, or in other ways that undermine the position of the working class. Any prison labor must be meaningful, paid at a level consistent with equivalent non-prison labor, and the programs developed in coordination with appropriate workers’ councils or assemblies.
6.    All labor unions to be fully independent from the state, including free from state oversight and harassment. All officials in labor unions, from shop steward to the executive president, directly elected and recallable at any time. No union official to be paid more than the average wage of their membership. Industrial unionism to be encouraged and promoted over craft unionism.
7.    All decision-making and determination bodies for the National Labor Relations Board to be composed of a 50-percent minimum of workers. All decision-making and determination bodies for the Social Security Administration and state unemployment insurance agencies to be composed of a 50-percent minimum of benefits recipients.
8.    Social Security benefits, including Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability, and equivalent state benefits, to be raised to the above minimum wage. Retirement pensions to be guaranteed by the state and paid out at the same rate the retiree made when they were working or the minimum wage, whichever is higher.
9.    Free job training and retraining programs, under the control of workers’ councils or assemblies, open to any working person. Such programs may be developed in conjunction with educational institutions. Funding for expansion of apprenticeship programs organized and controlled by labor unions.
10.    Prohibition of mandatory retirement ages and economic restrictions on older workers. The right to retire for all workers after 30 years of continuous employment, regardless of specific occupation, and after 25 years if working in dangerous or particularly demanding jobs.
11.    Mandatory price freezes on all staple goods and services. Massive penalties, up to and including seizure of all assets, for companies violating price regulations. Price freezes and a one-year payment moratorium on all rental properties. Cancellation of all mortgage debts below $100,000.

    In the battle of survival, achieving provisions that address the individual needs of working people are only the beginning. While they may aid in giving workers as individuals a breathing space, they do not address the inherently socially-unequal conditions that exist under capitalism. To begin any meaningful removal of the economic shackles that capitalist society places on working people, additional measures, which seek to transform the whole of the economy, are necessary.

    In order to remove the power held by the capitalist class over working people in the economy as a whole, we will implement the following:

1.    A heavily graduated and progressive income tax structure. Abolition of all tax loopholes and breaks for corporations and the wealthy (“corporate welfare”). A 100-percent “capital flight” tax to be imposed on any capitalist or corporation, regardless of the country of origin of its owners, seeking to move assets out of the U.S.
2.    A publicly-owned construction-industrial program to build and rebuild public service and recreation facilities, residential neighborhoods and communities, schools, workplaces, urban farms, and societal infrastructure. All programs to be organized and controlled by councils or assemblies of workers.
3.    Abolition of subsidies for “factory farms” and farms worked by hired labor. Placement of such farms into cooperative or public ownership, under the control of elected councils or assemblies of farm workers.
4.    Mandatory annual review and amendment of taxation rates, including rates on capital gains, dividends, rent, property and income taxes. Abolition of the payroll tax, and all “sin taxes” and sales taxes on articles of consumption.
5.    Reinstatement and strengthening of the estate tax. Curtailing of the right of inheritance of personal possessions and financial assets, based on a sliding scale. Abolition of the right of inheritance of land and means of production.
6.    Immediate withdrawal from all so-called “free trade” agreements and institutions.
7.    Abolition of all restrictions on the non-commodity economy, such as “peer-to-peer” sharing and “open source” programming. Abolition of “intellectual property” laws.
8.    Abolition of all public and state debt, including credit-bond and trade debts.
9.    Immediate placement of all assets of workers’ insurance and private pension funds into public ownership, with levies against corporate assets for any fund deficits, under the control of councils of working-class insurance holders and pensioners.
10.    Immediate placement of all banking and financial institutions into public ownership, under the control of elected councils of financial service workers and customers. Consolidation of banking services into a single, national banking service.
11.   Immediate placement of all failing, closing and bankrupt companies and workplaces into cooperative or public ownership, under the control of elected workers’ councils or assemblies.
12.   Immediate placement of all essential services and utilities currently privately owned into public ownership, under the control of elected workers’ councils or assemblies. All state-provided services placed under the control of elected workers’ councils.
13.   The right of workers’ councils and assemblies operating at any company to review the books and records of the business, either directly or through contracting with an appropriate third party.

    The proposals listed above are admittedly modest. In some capitalist countries, they already exist or could be implemented relatively painlessly. But, in the United States today, these provisions are not reforms of the capitalist system. No section of the bourgeois ruling class, or its petty-bourgeois appendages, are willing to stand up and fight for a consistently democratic platform or even defend the norms of the limited ‘democracy’ that existed before 2000. Thus, only the working class, organized and fighting for its own class interests, can resolve the outstanding democratic questions that exist in American society today, and only through taking political power can the working class move society forward.

Working People’s Republic

    The theft of the 2000 election dealt a mortal blow to the second republic of the United States of America. That republic, which emerged from the Civil War and Reconstruction (the Second American Revolution), lasted for 135 years before succumbing to the forces of counterrevolution — much as the first republic, formed in 1788, fell after 72 years of relatively unstable rule.

    There will be some who will long to restore the second republic, its “democratic” institutions and practices. We must clearly state that the second republic is dead and can no sooner be resurrected as can their dead grandparents. Today, working people should no longer speak about “democracy” or the republic as it was; rather, we must now begin to talk about the republic as it will be — that is, as it should be.

    The third republic of the United States, if it is to be a really democratic republic, will have to be a working people’s republic. That is, it will have to be governed by working people, in the interests of working people. The democracy it would implement would be a system that makes the sentimental proclamations of “liberty” and “equality” a reality, and truly accessible to all.

    Unlike the old capitalist republics, which were governed by administrative districts drawn arbitrarily (or according to factional dominance), a working people’s republic would base itself on neighborhood and workplace councils or assemblies. By moving to such a basis for election of representatives, the dominance of the capitalist class would be broken because of their inability to use their financial or political influence to attain or retain power.

    Therefore, in addition to the policies implemented above, we would implement the following political policies as part of the establishment of a working people’s republic:

1.    All political power taken into the hands of working people, through the establishment of democratically-elected assemblies and councils of working people, composed of representatives from workplace and neighborhood committees, assemblies and councils.
2.    The directly-elected representation in Congress to be chosen from among the assemblies and councils of working people.
3.    Full freedom for all political parties and organizations, based on their participation and support of the formation of the working people’s republic. The right of any political parties or organizations to form coalitions within workers’ councils and assemblies for the purposes of forming an administration and formulating policy.
4.    Executive power to be held by commissions and departments of the workers’ councils and assemblies, not independent bodies. As much as possible, power to implement and enforce policy to be devolved to local councils and assemblies.
5.    Abolition of all state secrets and secret diplomacy. Nullification of all existing military and economic treaties, alliances and agreements. Review of all existing political treaties, alliances and agreements with the right to nullify any such deals that are not in the interests of the working people’s republic. Mandatory ratification of all sustained and future political, military and economic agreements by referendum.
6.    Abolition of the standing military in favor of a civilian-soldier defense force, under the direction, when necessary, of local self-defense commissions, and under the control of workers’ councils and assemblies.

As well, we would implement the following economic policies as part of establishing a working people’s republic:

1.    All economic power taken into the hands of working people, through the establishment of workplace committees and assemblies, representatives of which will compose the bulk of the politically-oriented workers’ councils and assemblies.
2.    Establishment of a Congress of the Economy, and appropriate Congresses of Industries and Services, composed of elected representatives from workplace committees and assemblies, and delegations from labor unions. These Congresses to present annual schedules of production and distribution, based on assessments of raw materials, resources and products available, production and/or distribution capacity, and the needs of the population, for review, amendment and ratification by local workplace committees and assemblies. Monitoring and adjustment of schedules to be handled by elected commissions of the Congresses, with changes subject to review, amendment and ratification.
3.    Election of all management, and hiring of all technical and professional personnel, by workplace committees, assemblies and councils. All managers, technicians and professionals hired on an “at will” basis, paid no more than the average wage of a skilled worker (if they are elected from outside of the workforce), and removable at any time.
4.    All shareholder-owned companies traded on stock exchanges placed into full public ownership without compensation, under the control of elected workers’ councils or assemblies.
5.    All companies contracted to produce weapons, equipment and other items for the military placed in public ownership without compensation, under the control of elected workers’ councils or assemblies.
6.    Graduated replacement of arbitrary minimums for wages and hours with a sliding scale calibrated for each industry or service, based on need and material conditions, and set and monitored by commissions of the Congresses of Industries and Services, and the Congress of the Economy.
7.    All trade with other countries to be supervised and monitored by a commission of the Congress of the Economy, in consultation with the Congresses of Industries and Services.
8.    All persons in society who can are expected to engage in meaningful labor that contributes to society as a whole. No services or benefits will be provided to those who refuse to work.

Transition to Communism

    The political revolution that brings about the working people’s republic, however, is only one aspect of the overall social revolution we communists fight for; we also fight for a revolution in the economic relations of society. Just as the first American revolution abolished the semi-feudal landed nobility, and just as the second American revolution abolished slavery and indentured servitude, so the third American revolution will free society of the private ownership of the means of production. Collective, public ownership of the means of production, combined with workers’ control of those facilities, will liberate humanity from the scourge of production for profit, which ignores the needs of people in favor of what stimulates the “bottom line.”

    Finally, the revolution that brings about a working people’s republic will be the spark for a revolution in social relations. Unlike previous social revolutions, which were based on transferring power from one minority class to another, the revolution that leads to the working people’s republic and workers’ control of the economy will put the majority in control of the destiny of society. Moreover, as workers’ control of the economy expands and becomes universal, the other classes in society will begin to disappear.

    As the members of the dispossessed classes (the bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie) integrate themselves into the working class, all classes begin to disappear. When this process is complete, there will no longer be the need for a republic. It will become obsolete, and will “wither away” into the pages of history.

    The abolition of classes, carried out during the transitional period of a working people’s republic, is the necessary prerequisite for embarking on the path to the new human society. This society without classes and class antagonisms, without the coercive state apparatus or totalitarian economy, is what we fight for. This is communism — genuine communism — and it is the future of all humanity, the only future that offers society an alternative to war, poverty and violence.

World Communist Society

    The United States starts from a relatively high level of technique, output and culture. Once the hard task of winning state power by the working class has been achieved, we will advance directly toward communism — the speed of that advance dictated by both the success of the world revolution and the validity of the principles and policies advanced by the working class.

    In its early phase, communism will not have reached complete maturity or completely rid itself of the traditions and remnants of capitalist society. It will still retain the “birthmarks” of its development. One of the central economic “birthmarks” is formally-equal, or bourgeois, right, which means that the communist principle of “to each according to their needs” cannot yet be fully applied. The concept of bourgeois right continues in the early phase of communism due to relative scarcity and the continuing presence of strata, as opposed to classes, in society. Everyone has the right to receive from society only as much as they give, and distribution based on “need,” while met in terms of the basic items all humans require for survival and participation in modern society, is not fully achieved.

    Right still depends on contribution, and its abolition depends on both the reduction of socially-necessary labor time and the elimination of the material basis for want (the material basis for need eliminated in the period of transition) through development and innovation in the industrial and technological fields. When the material basis for want is removed, and society can provide in abundance for all of humanity without fetters, the basis for differing strata is also finally removed. We will then begin the transition into the higher, more mature phase of communist society, where “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need” is the operating principle.

    The other key “birthmark” that has to be overcome in the early phases of communist society is the concept of democracy as a form of rule. In the transition from capitalism to communism, democracy is transformed from a weapon of deception used by the capitalists into a material reality for all working people, and, as society advances and classes are abolished, for all of humanity. In the early phases of communism, the task is to further transform democracy, from a form of governance over human beings into a practice and cultural norm that is socially inherent for human beings.

    This is tied very closely to the question of what happens to the remnants of political governance as we enter into the classless society. With the abolition of classes and class rule, the state is eliminated. But what of the institutions of policy? As we enter into the early phases of communism, these institutions are transformed from governing bodies into methods of administration — “the government of persons is replaced by the administration of things.” This administration still retains elements and “birthmarks” of political rule and governance that stem from capitalism (deliberative bodies and congresses), but its content is in a state of transformation.

    The transition from the early to mature phases of communism will see this process of transformation continue, as outside administration of things is supplanted and overtaken by self-administration — as the principles of democracy become an internal and cultural practice among human beings. The society of generalized freedom means freedom not only as an individual, but freedom through the recognition of common interests as a social norm. Democracy as a form of governing and rule withers away along with the state as we enter communism, in turn, democracy as administration withers away along with the remnants of political administration, giving way in favor of a democracy as cultural practice and social norm, on a par with other cultural and social norms as doing no harm to a fellow human being.

    The higher phase of communism is the free association of producers — the society of general freedom. Everyone will contribute according to their ability and receive according to need. Real human history will begin as society leaves behind the “realm of necessity.” In the “realm of freedom,” human beings will become fully-rounded social individuals who can, for the first time, truly develop their natural humanity.

Working Draft adopted by the Central Committee, December 29, 2008