A must-read — maybe even a must-join.
Volkov, Krasheninnikov: Let's Go Party The parties that exist in Russia have been, and still are, Moscow-centered, leader-driven projects. Read in full So, we invite everyone interested to join us in creating, using the Democracy2 platform, a political party based on the following core principles. First, to build a party from scratch, relying on regional leaders who have proven themselves through practical work while also making effective use of modern communication tools. Second, to create mechanisms for its self-financing, allowing it to function without dependence on the federal center and the financial dependence of the entire party that follows from that. Third, to implement absolute intra-party democracy, operating on the principles of electronic, cloud-based democracy. We are convinced that the first party able to live primarily on membership dues, relying on the regions and on genuine internal democracy, will in the future become the largest political force in Russia. So far, we do not have a single such party, and broadly speaking, that means we do not have a single real party. http://www.vedomosti.ru/opinion/news/1653858/lets_go_party?full#cut Be sure to read the article by leonwolf and fyodorrrrr. They have started something tremendously important and absolutely right: the creation of a new party from the ground up, based on constant direct universal elections through systems of electronic democracy. In other words, we don’t need all those disgusting, nauseating party conferences with their murky representation quotas, where regional leaders and the federal leadership are chosen through intrigue. Those conferences devour huge amounts of money, but they do not produce normal, legitimate leadership. Why do you need a party conference and congress in Moscow with a budget of 10 million rubles (roughly over $300,000 at the time), if the party leader can be elected by direct vote of 100% of the party’s members through an electronic voting system? This completely changes the format of party competition, and changes it in the right direction. Before, to win, you had to persuade (bribe) the leaders of regional branches. Now you appeal directly to all party members and seek their support, rather than to "Vasily Petrovich, who controls the votes of the Volgograd and Rostov organizations". The same applies at the regional level. Everyone is sick of the eternal leaders of regional party organizations, who are leaders only because they control the accountant, the office, and the party lists. All these pointless old-timers, whose only real skill is fiddling with the number of delegates at a conference. The leader should be chosen by 100% of the members of the regional branch, by direct vote. If you want to challenge someone’s leadership, do it through public politics — appeal to all party members. There is no longer any need to somehow steal the branch’s membership list. The most important thing: at last, there is a way to end the endless mess of Moscow’s disproportionate dominance over the regions. Bringing delegates in from the regions is expensive, so at every party congress there are always more Muscovites than regional representatives hanging around. And in fact, there is no need to bring anyone anywhere. Voting is direct and free. Why haul someone to Moscow and spend a pile of money just so they can vote for the chair? Let them vote from home, on their computer. The same goes for financing. A party costs money. Here is a transparent budget. If you want to be a party member and want your party to be independent — pay. Part of the money goes to maintaining the shared infrastructure, while most of it stays in your region. The regional spending estimate is also approved by direct vote. I’m convinced that such a party is a great opportunity for real activists and capable people to advance in “systemic politics” and take leadership positions, pushing aside this whole tired old gang that has been sitting on political councils at various levels for 20 years simply because of long-standing personal ties with the “opposition leaders.” What kind of prospects could such a party have? Fantastic ones. Read Grigory Golosov’s interesting analysis of party applications, "Who Are All These Parties." It immediately becomes clear that amid all this trash and ugliness (and that makes up 90% of it), the new party instantly looks like one of the strongest. As for me, I’m not planning to take part in party politics right now — I want to focus on my usual areas of work: investigations, RosPil, RosYama, my beloved minority shareholders, plus I have several new ideas for practical ways to fight crooks. But of the existing party projects, this one seems the most appealing and promising so far. They need help. This is exactly that long-awaited “party of the internet and real action.”