After watching months of media coverage, you go to the polls for a few minutes and cast a vote for someone to represent you . . . and then it’s over. This is what “democracy” means today.

To be sure, winning even this limited form of electoral democracy was an important working-class victory. And access to the polls remains an important issue. Conservatives continue their efforts to roll back voting rights for people of color in the United States. Other populations, such as felons, non-citizen residents, and teenagers under eighteen, are outside the franchise entirely.

The question remains, however, whether these are anything more than tactical battles, ways to win advantage in the struggle against capital. In a better world, isn’t there more to democracy than this? What kind of political organization is suited to a socialist society?