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Arnold August, Cuba and Its Neighbours: Democracy in Motion (London: Zed Books, 2013) pb 288pp. ISBN: 9781848138667
Reviewed by David Grantham
'It is my intention through this book', author Arnold August writes, 'to provide readers with some tools for following the future situation independently, without the blinders of preconceived notions' (p. 232). For August, the future situation is a rejuvenated Cuban Revolution, and the preconceived notions involve the supposed superiority of United States democracy, which has jaded, even blinded, its citizens against alternative versions of democracy. August aims to remove those blinders through a systemic, comparative analysis of political practices carried out in Cuba and other surrounding countries. However, comparing governing strategies is no novel idea. Where August sets himself apart is in reimagining the practice of democracy. In so doing, August redefines Cuban politics as a form of democracy. Part political science, part history, Democracy in Motion is an intimate unveiling of Cuba's political process designed to explore the island nation's 'approach to democracy' (p. xiii).
August states up front the need for 'clarity and discussion' concerning Cuba's political system and the idea of participation (p. xv). First, if public participation is a precondition of democracy, evidence suggests Cuba is another form of democracy. Historical records, along with August's first-hand accounts of government procedure and personal interviews, all point to Cuba's astonishing legacy of public participation, and thus democracy. Indeed, most readers will be perplexed, if not shocked by the extent of democracy in Cuba and some surrounding neighbours. August aims 'to accompany the reader through a variety of countries experiences in order to extrapolate and characterize certain features of participatory democracy' (p. 4).
The main thrust of the publication hinges on the comparison between U.S....