"Bureaucratic Deviationism" written by Alisa Nikitina.
This is a work published by Alisa Nikitina in the Xeroist Union Party in 101 VE. under the action of the author (me) the decision has been taken to publish this as an open letter under the Crimson Quill.

Preamble:

Bureaucratism. Everybody’s favourite thing. Long live the statesmen, long live the eternal unchanging exclusive and permanent government and the bureaucratic masses! The bureaucrat class, the individualists, the diplomats, the economists, the generals, and the politicians; they are the ones to which national success and ideological glory must be attributed. They are the ones which we must wholeheartedly support and keep in power. Long live bureaucratism!

There is a concerning misunderstanding of the necessity of “bureaucracy” and how this bureaucracy operates in relation to the Xeroist movement. In fact, ever since the USSE, the primary ideological criticism of the Xeroist states has been their bureaucratism.

As the movement continues existing, it is necessary for old questions to be revisited and answered again. The current Xeroists must understand the lessons taught by our former comrades once more, and develop the Xeroist movement not by stagnating progress and useless discussions, but by thorough criticism and self-criticism of the current and former movements.

As a result, it is necessary to re-examine the relations between party and state, and the most concerning, even if unintentional, movement of bureaucratic deviationism.

The State:

The state is the organisation of political power in a nation. The state is the machine that ticks like clockwork to ensure that the nation in which it exists survives, and that its people are safe and secure. There is no real need to do an in depth exploration of the state, however it must be noted that the character of the state we will discuss here is that of the Xeroist kind; which implies that the state follows Xeroist policies, and considers its ultimate leaders to be the people.

The most traditional form of the state is built upon the separation of powers between a legislative branch, an executive branch, and a judicial branch. Due to its political, economic, and ideological significance, and relative difficulty to get into, we will primarily focus on the executive branch of the government. This includes the head of state, the head of government, and the cabinet of ministers of commissars.

The primary goal of the state is the continued prosperity, safety, and endurance of its peoples and goals against internal or external threats. Since it is difficult for a singular, or two individuals to do this, the power of action and planning is spread across the entire executive so that the economic minister may manage the economy, and the construction minister may manage construction etc.

The state is a transitionary period of compromise. The ultimate goal of Xeroism is the establishment of a classless society, which would lead to the withering away of the state. However, due to the existing international conditions forced upon Xeroist movements, and the current inherent need for its existence, the state is a compromise. It is not permanent, and it should seek its very own dissolution and withering away.

The state, in all its actions represents the working masses of the nation, and must therefore exercise the strictest discipline and abide by the demands of the masses with the powers granted to it.

The executive is an exclusive body. Due to its nature, only a limited number of individuals can at any one point be a member of the executive. If the powers granted to the executive are kept exclusive too and are exercised by the executive for the goals of the executive without the interaction of the populace in this process, this leads to bureaucracy. Similarly, if the executive does nothing with the power, and refuses to listen to the demands of the masses in this way, this leads to bureaucracy. Similarly, if the executive takes action to counteract the demands of the masses, and attempts to manipulate public discourse in such a way that it benefits the executive, this leads to bureaucracy. It is possible to go further in-depth, but is rather unnecessary. In short, anything besides the complete inclusion of the working masses in governance, and the complete action based on the will of the working masses leads to bureaucracy.

Dictatorship:

The dictatorship of the proletariat is a democracy. It is the temporary collection of all political power in the hands of the most progressive class (the proletariat), and the elimination of all other classes with said political power. With this, the dictatorship of the proletariat eliminates all other classes, and in the process eliminates itself. The dictatorship of the proletariat is not some sort of “pure” or “ideal” democracy. Such concepts are of a reactionary nature and demand that those individuals with significant amounts of wealth, and the hoarding of capital, and possessing paid slavery must hold the same political power as those same paid slaves who fight against the grip of the oppressing classes. 

The dictatorship of the proletariat is a democracy, however it is a democracy of different kind than that of reactionary democracy. Instead, the democracy of the proletariat gives all political power to the proletariat so that it may destroy the other classes or elevate them to its own level, and at the same time make internal democratic decisions in itself.

The dictatorship of the proletariat then requires a vanguard political organisation to exercise this concentrated political power. This is done by the vanguard party. The vanguard party may have either acquired this political power after a successful revolution, or after the initial formation of the nation, in either case the political power of the most progressive class (the proletariat) is held in this vanguard party.

Party:

The vanguard party is a necessity for the state, otherwise it would deteriorate into a bureaucracy devoid of democratic participation. Without the vanguard party, there is no dictatorship of the proletariat, more so just a dictatorship.

What are the specifics of this party?

1. The party is the advanced detachment of the proletarian class. The party consists of the most ideologically well-taught, most technically capable, and most ideologically strict individuals of the working masses. The party is the political leader of the working class. Just as it is impossible for an army to operate without a general staff or a general or a commissar, just as it is impossible for the economy to be organised through miraculous unity in individual action, it is also impossible for the working class to exercise its political power without a guiding, vanguard party. In this sense, the party is also the general staff or economic manager of the party.
2. The party is the organised detachment of the proletarian class. The party is not some anarchist, disorganised loosely connected movement of the working class; instead, it is the organised, consistent, active, and mighty organisation of the working class in order to get itself through the toughest of times and the most important affairs. With its organisation, the party forms almost an army of class-conscious, active, and willing fighters whose duties it is to develop the Xeroist movement and expand it. The party is the organised detachment of the working masses.
3. The party is the instrument of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The party is not simply the highest organisation of the proletariat, but it is also the means by which the dictatorship of the proletariat comes into existence and the means by which the dictatorship of the proletariat defends itself from threats and continues its existence. The party is the pickaxe and hoe, the sword and shield of the dictatorship of the proletariat. It is not an end by itself, nor will it ever see any end besides its very own eradication as it withers away with the state as material conditions no longer require it. 
4. The party is the unified and centralised detachment of the working class. The party exercises all its actions following its rules, and following the process of democratic centralism which signifies the illegality of factionalism within the movement of the working class, while maintaining all democratic processes which allow it to be the most progressive movement of all. The party, in its unified action, works as an unstoppable machine which will be stopped by nothing to achieve the goals of the working classes.
5. The party is the disciplined detachment of the working class. The party exercises all its actions with the strictest adherence to discipline. It is tied to the working masses directly, and therefore it functions with the utmost discipline. The party purges itself of reactionary, counter-revolutionary, adventurist, and opportunist elements, and by doing so it ensures that the movement of the working class maintains its purity and its strength.

The party forms the basis of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and in the state, it is the primary voice of the working masses. Due to the nature of the dictatorship of the proletariat then, the party, besides complete and unified action by the entire populace, is, or at least should be, the highest voice and authority in the state.

Because the party is the primary organisation of the Xeroist and workers movement in the state, and because it functions based on the principle of democratic centralism, every member of the party who is in any government position is directly responsible for following the directives and actions of the party, and the actions of the Xeroist movement at large. If the party is unable to exercise this power, if the members of the party in government positions act against the party and democratic centralism, then this leads to bureaucracy and reactionary subversion of the Xeroist movement.

The primary role of the vanguard party is not “education”. It is not a school, nor is it a youth league. The primary role of the vanguard party is functioning as the vanguard of the Xeroist movement, and directing all operations in a state to follow the Xeroist movement and its ultimate goals.

Bureaucratic Deviationism

Bureaucratic deviationism is the deviation of the Xeroist movement by the government, with deviation from the will of the party and the masses, and action based on the needs, and will of the state. Bureaucratic deviationism occurs when the vanguard party loses its grip on power when it becomes less relevant, and when it becomes stagnant. In this duration, the primary guiding organisation of the states becomes not the party, and therefore not the working masses, but instead the government and the state. This situation leads to a drastic and concerning rise in the number of reactionaries, revisionists, opportunists, anarchists, and otherwise enemies of the Xeroist movement to take control of the state, and to direct it in a manner which directs the political work of the state to be “apolitical”, or otherwise reactionary.

The rise of bureaucratic deviation is partially the fault of the party, as it implies that the members of the party have failed to sufficiently continue the development of the Xeroist movement, and have failed to sufficiently exert the will of the working masses, and the principles of democratic centralism on the government, and on each other. This can only be solved by a mass campaign by the leading bodies of the party, to reactivate party activity, and to revitalise the power of the party.

Bureaucratic Deviationism can only be solved with the vanguard party returning to its original position as the active vanguard of the Xeroist movement. It can do this by exerting the principle of democratic centralism onto the members of the party who find themselves in the government, and it can do this by forming a united block to remove those members of the party in government who do not follow the principles of democratic centralism in their operations from their positions.

Without bureaucratic centralism, all operations of the state become severely more democratic and more stable. With the complete will of the party exerted on the state, and the principle of democratic centralism fully enacted, state policies take a character which is much less dependent on the individual views of individuals, or their expertise and weaknesses, but instead, they take on a character of unified democratic discussion, and unified action, which enshrines the most correct knowledge about policies into official action, and removes those elements of individual views and policy weaknesses which will arise when any single individual is in charge of these policies.

That being said, there is an important line which must be drawn at the point of state security. Despite the role of the vanguard party as the vanguard of the state, there are matters which cannot simply be declassified to the party at large due to risks of weakening state security, which in itself is another tool of the dictatorship of the proletariat to keep itself alive. These matters of state security however are not issues of diplomacy, politics, or economic actions (excluding classified economic data which may threaten the economic state of the country if revealed).

In a state plagued by bureaucratic deviation, the executive works on behalf of the working masses. In a state not plagued by bureaucratic deviation, the executive works for the sole purpose of organising information and working for the working masses. Ultimately, if bureaucratic deviation is followed, individualism, anti-democratic action, and secrecy will be dominant in state affairs; whereas if it is not followed, and the rule of the vanguard is set in stone, it is replaced with collective, unified, democratic, open action which is organised by the political vanguard of the working masses.

Bureaucratic Deviation In Practice

Bureaucratic deviation has played a very significant role in the history of the Xeroist movement. Most significantly, almost the entire history of the USSE was plagued by it.

In the USSE, the vanguard party held little actual power over the state. It had no branches of government assigned to it, and it could do little besides complain about the actual operations of the state. The truth of the matter is that in the USSE the party only really held theoretical value, with little other purpose besides developing the theoretical framework of Xeroism. Because of this, the USSE saw both great governments such as those of Xeroise, Chelovek, Rosa etc. and governments which were rather subpar, such as those of Magerius, Wntryi, Lead etc. The truth of the matter is that the USSE was at its time both an example Xeroist state, and one which in its later history was, to some extent, lacking in ideological commitment and power.

Bureaucratic deviation perhaps most recognisably affected the USSE in what we today can call “Mageriocracy” (this term was taken from another open letter). Mageriocracy was an era towards the later periods of the USSE, where General Secretary Magerius, and a clique of his followers and friends, were continued and consistent members of the government due to their heavy influence in politics, which eventually led to a period of stagnation and anti-democratic tendencies in the nation. On the one hand, it would be easy to make this a problem regarding Xeroist ideology, but this would simply be untrue. Such an accusation would require first that the vanguard party was at the time holding a significant amount of power, or even a sufficient amount of power in the nation to do anything, but the truth of the matter is that it did not. Instead, this issue of increasing anti-democratic sentiment was due to the bureaucratic deviation in the USSE, which allowed Magerius and his government to acquire popularity, influence and power utilising their non-political successes, and maintain their grip on this power for the remainder of the USSE because there existed no proper vanguard party with sufficient power to challenge them and ensure that the democracy of the masses continued to exist consistently.

The primary issue in the USSE which led to ideological subversion and deviation, was the lack of a strong party, and the prominent role which bureaucratic deviation played in how it was managed. This is of course expected from one of the first Xeroist experiments of all time, but it is possible to see how much different even current-day situations may have been had the USSE not made the mistake of following through with the bureaucratic deviation in the Xeroist movement.

Even today, this bureaucratic deviation exists, and it exists in a concerning amount. The two primary “successor” states of the USSE, if that term can be used, are Zilatra and Sentara. The issue of the bureaucratic deviation in the USSE has naturally followed into these two states.

In Sentara, this has resulted in turmoil and ultimately, the stabbing in the back of Xeroism with the implementation of what they call “Communal Mai’Narism”. This “ideology” supports the understanding that the executive government and its operations in states such as Zilatra have been sabotaged by party interference, and among other things, it supports a reduction of party power even more, and the transfer of political power, not to the working masses, but to the bureaucratic class and the executive. The bureaucratic deviation in Sentara, which has existed since the USSE, has resulted in an openly anti-Xeroist movement which seeks to destroy the principles of democracy and Xeroist operation.

Zilatra is a very different case. After the formation of Zilatra, more power was given to the vanguard party. In Zilatra, the vanguard party is in charge of the judiciary and can make sure that the Xeroist law is more or less followed. However, even here, the vanguard party is unable to fully exert its power over the executive or the Kelita, and as a result, the state is still, even if not necessarily completely under the influence of bureaucratic deviation, moving towards the bureaucratic deviationist movement, and is in the process endangering itself with creating the chances of making the same mistakes of Sentara or the USSE. Even though it is unlikely that Zilatra will ever follow in the same footsteps of Sentara, the national character of bureaucratic deviationism may make it present itself with different symptoms and problems. In this way, not even Zilatra, with its more proper checks and balances, and greater incorporation of the party is necessarily safe from bureaucratic deviation.

In Zilatra, bureaucratic deviation takes the character of the actions of the executive which are done without consultation with the party, or simply the general lack of inclusion of the vanguard party in state affairs. This bureaucratic deviation can at times lead to actions taken without ideological consideration, and it always leads to a certain unnecessary amount of secrecy and exclusion of the wider population from state affairs. Therefore, as anywhere else, this bureaucratic deviation results in anti-democratic elements in how the state is organised.

Bureaucratic deviation doesn’t only affect state affairs, however. It also plays a crucial role in the degradation of relations between Xeroist nations. Sentara has been the primary example of this for quite a while now, as their bureaucratic deviation, lack of concern for ideological matters, and pursuit of the goals of their executive government has led to quite a number of people who dislike them. A wider look however, will also reveal how this bureaucratic deviation has infiltrated the ASI.

The ASI, or the Abexilian Socialist Internationale, is supposed to be the primary international socialist organisation. Among its other purposes, its primary goal, as derived from its name, should be socialist cooperation and mutual assistance. However, the issue arises in how the ASI lets nations represent themselves. Instead of the primary ideological bodies doing the representation for this inherently ideological international alliance, it is instead the executive governments of the nations which take part in that do the representation. This allows the bureaucratic deviation in individual nations to seep into the ASI itself, as the actions of nations such as Sentara, or Zilatra (perhaps even Krasnoi if bureaucratic deviation is as big a problem there as well), have resulted in the ASI morphing into less of an ideological international organisation to unite the socialist movements of the world, and more of a simple alliance of nations. No doubt the ASI hasn’t yet fully given in to the bureaucratic deviation, however, the threat this deviation poses develops every single day. With the recent departure of Krasnoi from the ASI, the alarm bells must be ringing that signal that this issue must be solved at once, and the ASI must return to being primarily the organisation of international socialist cooperation and mutual assistance, instead of international state cooperation and mutual assistance.

Bureaucratic deviation has of course otherwise negatively affected diplomacy and internal affairs. For example, the connections between the executive governments of certain other “socialist” movements in Abexilas have blocked the possibility of proper ideologically based cooperation and understanding between nations. At the same time, this deviation has sabotaged the internal importance of Xeroism and the vanguard party in nations, as more and more both of those have become less relevant due to the prominence of bureaucracy-based politics which has subverted both the movement at large and the vanguard party of said movement.

Solution

There are multiple ways one can approach solving the issue of bureaucratic deviation. Most of these are revisionist, reactionary, dogmatic, or simply incorrect.

For example, let's take a right deviationist. A right deviationist will denounce bureaucratic deviation and the influence of the executive, they will propose the solution to the weakening of both the party, and the executive, and they will preach such ideas as economic and political liberalisation. The right deviationist will either perfectly play into the hand of the bureaucratic deviation and by mistake give it more power in an attempt to follow its own goals, or it will dismantle the bureaucratic deviation, and in its place restore reactionary ideology.

A left deviationist will approach the matter differently. They will denounce the bureaucratic deviation, and they will demand revolution, revolution and revolution in all aspects of governance. A left deviationist will claim that bureaucracy is contrary to socialism and will attempt to replace it with a dictatorship where neither the party nor any branch of the state has any power over the radical and revolutionary literal dictatorship of the left deviationists.

An actual Xeroist however will approach the topic in a much more different way. The Xeroist understands the problem and solves it from its root. In our case, bureaucratic deviation is caused by a subversion of the party and the dominance of the executive. As a result, the only solution is the empowerment of the democratic and unified activity of the party, and the removal of the independence of the executive from the vanguard of the Xeroist movement. In this way, the Xeroist solution to the problem maintains the commitment to the Xeroist movement but completely solves the issue.

The actual question however is the specifics of how we are to enact this solution. The answer is both complex and simple. A sufficiently large vanguard party with a sufficient amount of remaining influence will be able to form a voting block in the nation, and it will be able to force the state to either fully commit to bureaucratic deviation and form a dictatorship, or follow the democratic demands of the masses and remove the government. After removing the government which is causing the bureaucratic deviation, the vanguard party must put into all positions of government its very own members. Following this, it must set an example where those government members who fail to abide by the demands of the vanguard party, are removed from power, and replaced. Either through democratic processes, or revolutionary ones, this is what the vanguard party must do to maintain its influence over the state. Following the establishment of a government which is ideologically principled and loyal to the vanguard party, there must take place a great state or party reform which makes it mandatory for the state to discuss important matters at length with the party, and enact the democratically reached decisions of the party as official state policy.

After all matters are completed, and the state is secured under the mass-line of the Xeroist movement and the supervision of the vanguard party, new systems must be introduced to fight any attempts of re-emergence of bureaucracy. Despite the existence of the party for this, there must exist a redundant and more directly available system for the masses to sufficiently bring into existence questions regarding the government and its members, and to fight bureaucratisation in all manners possible. For this, either a or party body composed of elected party members and under a dual leadership of the masses and the party, must be established whose job is the continued fight against bureaucracy. This body, which may perhaps be called the People’s Control Commission, must work to eradicate bureaucratism from the bottom up, working with the population at large, and allowing residents of the nation to criticise elements of the state without having their identity revealed, following such criticism with sufficiently in-depth investigations. It is important however that bureaucratism does not invade this body too, which is why it should be as transparent as possible, providing detailed records of investigations to the general population after they are concluded, and doing such investigations periodically.

There may be other solutions that must be proposed and examined. There isn't necessarily a single cookie cutter method of fighting the bureaucratic deviation, but it is the general fact that this deviation must be fought. The methods which are to be utilised in order to do that, are up to the democratic discussion between Xeroists, and the unified action of the results of said democratic discussion.

That is the fact of the matter regarding the topic of bureaucratic deviation in Xeroism. Thank you for reading.