Revolutionary Landonist Worker's Party of Brazoria
| Revolutionary Landonist Worker's Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairperson | Antonia Weiss |
| Deputy Chair | Victor Guzman-Hughes |
| Founded | January 19, 1932 |
| Headquarters | 2604 East Cesar Chavez St, Austin |
| Newspaper | Solidarity |
| Membership | ~85,000 (2020) |
| Ideology |
Marxism-Landonism Karsism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| International affiliation | Continentalist International |
| Official colors | Crimson |
| Senators |
0 / 46 |
| Representatives |
0 / 300 |
| Provincial/Municipal |
6 / 6,250 |
The Revolutionary Landonist Worker's Party (commonly abbreviated as the RLWP, or colloquially, the Karsites; German: Revolutionäre Landonistischen Arbeiterpartei, RLA; Spanish: Partido Landonista y Revolucionario de los Trabajadores, PLRT) is a Marxist-Landonist political party in Brazoria. Founded by John Kars and Martin Hockburger on 19 January 1932, the RLWP is the oldest and largest Marxist-Landonist party in the country, with more than 85,000 members as of 2020.
The RLWP replaced the Democratic Worker's Party as the leading Landonist party in Brazoria due to the DWP's absorption into the Democratic Cooperative in 1932. Leading hard-line members of the Democratic Worker's Party led it's Revolutionary Caucus away from the party in protest of its primary leaders' accused acceptance of gradualism and revisionism. John Kars, a preeminent Czech-Brazorian trade unionist and Marxist-Landonist, was the party's first and most successful leader. Kars was so influential among the Brazorian left that members of his RLWP were often mocked as "Karsites," a term which was later reclaimed by members of the party. Under Kars, the RLWP preformed relatively well in the 1932 and 1936 elections, although it would never out-preform its predecessor DWP. The RLWP is the only party in Brazorian history to have held seats while not being one of the two largest parties. From 1932 to 1940, it maintained a small presence in the Congress, winning six seats in the House of Representatives in 1932 and four in 1936. After the 1940 elections, the RLWP lost all of its seats, and it's membership significantly declined during the Crimson Craze of the 1950s.
At the height of the Crimson Craze, being accused of supporting the RLWP was seriously damaging to a public figure's reputation. John Kars was arrested in 1953 under suspicion of treason, along with many high-ranking members of the RLWP. Following Kars' arrest, the number of registered members of the party dropped from more than half a million to a mere fifty thousand within a year. After several decades of political suppression, the policy of denténte promoted during the Presidency of George H. W. Bush towards the United Commonwealth significantly improved the standing of the RLWP in Brazoria. After more than six decades of decline, electoral support for the RLWP increased for the first time in the 2012 elections, with the party winning municipal seats in Austin and Denver. Since then, the RLWP has attained the standing of being a significant third party like the Green and Libertarian parties, and just as those two parties, it has failed to win a seat at the provincial or federal level since 1936.
Organization
The party structure of the Revolutionary Landonist Worker's Party is modeled after the Continentalist Party of the United Commonwealth. Matters of party-wide policy, logistical affairs, and public relations are managed through the party's Central Committee. The Central Committee is composed of five Secretaries, who are elected on a rotational basis among party members. As with all Brazorian political parties, membership and voting in RLWP primaries requires official registration with the Brazorian Electoral Commission. Unlike most political parties in Brazoria, there are no membership dues for the RLWP, as Central Committee policy dictates that expenses are to be paid solely through individual donations.
The RLWP maintains its headquarters in the East Cesar Chavez neighborhood of Austin, one of the locales where support for the party has historically been the strongest. The Central Committee meets in Austin, and most of its grassroots campaign organizers are centered around the city. Additionally, the RLWP has campaign offices in Denver, Houston, and Las Palmas.
Political positions
The RLWP describes itself as anti-revisionist, revolutionary, and Marxist-Landonist. Although it is modeled after the CPUC, the influence of John Kars' focus on pacifism, nonviolent revolution, and Ameroskepticism have led some to distinguish the party as uniquely "Karsist." The most significant difference between the CPUC and the RLWP is the latter's rejection of Continentalism and militarism.