People's Power: Cuba's Experience with Representative Government (Critical Currents in Latin American Perspective) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A theoretical, historical, and contemporary analysis. The book encompasses the institution of the Organs of the People's power in 1976 to the present.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.; Updated edition (October 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0742525651
• ISBN-13: 978-0742525658
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,402,108 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for Cubanologists, June 26, 2008

By	Amaury Cruz (Miami Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Contrary to what we have been led to believe, Cuba does have elections--just not our kind of elections. Peter Roman presents a comprehensive analysis of Cuba's municipal and provincial electoral system, based on years of study and numerous visits, as well as actually living on the island. It also provides the ideological and theoretical underpinnings of this system, going back to the Paris Commune, Marxist concepts about the nature of society and the original soviet system. This book will challenge people's assumptions about the superiority of our two-party, adversarial electoral system. Roman is a scholar who has not lost the ability to write in plain English. A good read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction to Cuba's political system, May 30, 2008

By	A customer "intellectually oriented" (California USA) - See all my reviews

I bought this book because I am interested in the political and economic history of Cuba. After reading dozens of books on Cuba (both in favor and against), I believe this one is one that all scholars on the genre should have.

It is very common to find scholar books on Cuba with a political bias in them. Most books I have read are negative towards Cuba's democratization. Most people believe that Cuba is a totalitarian state, however Roman disproves this political myth. Cuba has been going through a democratization process since 1959. It has made various changes to the Constitution to further push their democratization.

Dr. Roman introduces the reader to the political system of Cuba by first describing the grassroots, or local, political structures, its functions, services, and relationship to the public citizenry. He then takes the reader through a historical analysis of Cuba's democratic heritage. The chapters that follow are related to each other in that they each continue to describe the political structure of Cuba and the role of the constituents and the politicians.

Roman assures us that Cuba has had a tradition of the "mandat imperatif" (instructed delagate); that the constituents have a close relationship with their political representative; that constituents can recall their representatives at any time; political transparency is also existent because the constituents can attend public meetings to hear about their representatives work in progress.

Although I believe this book is of great importance to students, scholars and lay readers interested in Cuba's political system, Roman's writing can get boring and confusing at times. Confusing, perhaps should be directed at the fact that he is describing a political system, thus the writing can get boring or long. The writing is in small font and the chapters can get long, but I still recommend this book because it is unique in its own field. I don't know, or I am not aware, of any other scholar book that makes an objective description and analysis of Cuba's political system.