Grassroots dictatorship

The concept of a grassroots dictatorship was created by historian Lillian Guerra to describe her understanding of the unique political structure of Cuba. According to Guerra, Cuba is a "grassroots dictatorship", because of its mass deputization of citizens as spies, to gather intelligence on neighbors' "subversive" activities, and generally collaborate with government initiatives. This mass deputization is carried out by the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) who organize citizens to carry out "acts of repudiation" against other citizens who are considered subversive. These "acts of repudiation" often involve the gathering of deputized citizens to taunt or assault targeted "subversive" citizens. Through the mass deputization of citizens via CDRs, Guerra argues that the Cuban government is able to suppress public speech, and maintain a sense of "grassroots" support, despite what Guerra calls: the "undemocratic nature of the Cuban government."

The historian Anne Luke has criticized the model as too limited in its description of Cuban political culture in the 1960s.

Concept

Historiography

The concept of a "grassroots dictatorship" is utilized by Guerra to make a certain historiographic argument regarding the Cuban Revolution and the development of the post-revolutionary government. Various historians before Guerra have argued as to what exactly caused Fidel Castro's political consolidation after 1959. Guerra presents an argument that synthesizes both "from above" and "from below" models. According to Guerra's model, political consolidation did not exclusively arise from the long-term plans of the Castro brothers (the "from above" model) or from political pressure and ideological dedication from the Cuban masses (the "from below" model). Instead, Guerra posits that political consolidation in Cuba arose from a collaboration between political officials and the general masses.