Bureaucratic centralism signals a ruling group hardening into a narrow clique

Evidence

Democratic centralism is “organic” because on the one hand it takes account of movement, which is the organic mode in which historical reality reveals itself, and does not solidify mechanically into bureaucracy; and because at the same time it takes account of that which is relatively stable and permanent, or which at least moves in an easily predictable direction, etc. This element of stability within the State is embodied in the organic development of the leading group’s central nucleus, just as happens on a more limited scale within parties. The prevalence of bureaucratic centralism in the State indicates that the leading group is saturated, that it is turning into a narrow clique which tends to perpetuate its selfish privileges by controlling or even by stifling the birth of oppositional forces—even if these forces are homogeneous with the fundamental dominant interests (e.g. in the ultra-protectionist systems struggling against economic liberalism). — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 777

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the core distinction between organic democratic centralism and bureaucratic centralism as a diagnostic of ruling-group decay.
• XREF: Connects to Gramsci’s later discussion of hegemony and the ‘saturated’ leading group; also resonates with the Islamophobia readings on how state apparatuses calcify into exclusionary cliques. — connects to: Expert bureaucracy came to control democratic regimes and parliaments; Organic and democratic centralism are organisational forms hiding real political relations; Democratic centralism means adapting constantly to movement rather than hardening into bureaucracy (+7 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 777

Broader Connections

• A dominant minority can hold power through threats and enforced coordination costs #expands (0.78) — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 287
• Bureaucracy is a stylized model of society’s positional structure #responds-to (0.75) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 189