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The Revolutionary Party

Critique of the Gotha Programme By Karl Marx
When the two sections of the German socialist movement fused in 1875, Marx was very critical of their first programme, approved at the Gotha Congress, and written by some of his supporters. This text offers important insights into how to approach the question of tactical alliances and compromise in a way that forwards ideological clarity, rather than generating confusion.

What is to be Done? By V.I Lenin
Lenin's What is to be done? is sometimes, incorrectly, treated as the last word in organisational wisdom for the revolutionary movement. But despite it's weaknesses (see Lenin and the Party) it remains a core text for the Marxist theory of the party, and was a central political document in the formation of the Russian Socal Democratic Labour Party which gave birth to the Bolsheviks.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back By V.I Lenin
One Step Forward is Lenin's account of the Second Congress of the Russian Socal Democratic Labour Party, at which the Bolshevik-Menshevik split occurred.

Lenin: Building the Party By Tony Cliff
An excellent biography of Lenin's political life up to WWI. Looks at the construction of the Bolshevik Party.

Sectarianism By Duncan Hallas
Hallas looks at that most misused term on the left: sectarianism.

Lenin and the Party: Debunking the Myths By Sandra Bloodworth, Marc Newman & Mick Armstrong
This pamphlet looks the development of Lenin's ideas on the party, their supposed practice on the left, and tries to extract the real core of Lenin's ideas on the revolution organisation from under a pile of distortions.

Democratic Centralism By Mick Armstrong
This short essay looks at the development of of the term "democratic centralism".