National Assembly of People's Power

National Assembly of People's Power

Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular
National Assembly of People's Power ; Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular
10th Legislature
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	2 December 1976
Preceded by	Congress of Cuba
Leadership
President	Esteban Lazo Hernández ; since 24 February 2013
Vice president	Ana María Marí Machado ; since 2013
Structure
Seats	470
Political groups	Communist Party of Cuba and its affiliates Communist Party of Cuba (442); Independents (28);
Elections
Voting system	Two-round system
Last election	26 March 2023
Next election	2028
Meeting place
	El Capitolio, Havana
Website
	www.parlamentocubano.gob.cu

The National Assembly of People's Power (Spanish: Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular) is the supreme organ of power of the Republic of Cuba. It is the only branch of government in the state, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs are subservient to it. It is currently composed of 470 representatives who are elected from multi-member electoral districts for a term of five years called consejos populares. The current President of the Assembly is Esteban Lazo Hernández. The Assembly only meets twice a year, with the 31-member Council of State exercising legislative power throughout the rest of the year.^[2] The most recent elections were held on 26 March 2023. The number of deputies was reduced from 605 to 470 for the 2023 election.^[3]

Liberal democracy is not practiced in Assembly elections in post-1959 revolutionary Cuba because the ruling Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) government does not permit competitive elections.^[4]^[5] Cuba is a one-party state, with the PCC being described as the "superior driving force of the society and the state" in the Constitution of Cuba, and all other political parties are illegal.^[5] There is only one candidate for each seat in the Assembly, and all candidates are nominated by committees that are firmly controlled by the PCC.^[6]^[7] Voters can either select individual candidates on their ballot, select every candidate, or leave every question blank, but voters have no option to vote against candidates.^[8]^[9] During the 2013 elections, around 80% of voters selected every candidate for the Assembly on their ballot, while 4.6% of voters submitted a blank ballot; no candidate for the Assembly has ever lost an election in Cuban history.^[10]

^ Roman, Peter (2003). People's Power: Cuba's Experience with Representative Government. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 131–132. ISBN 978-0-7425-2565-8. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
^ Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, 1976, Article 89: "The Council of State is the body of the National Assembly of People's Power that represents it in the period between sessions, puts its resolutions into effect and complies with all the other duties assigned by the Constitution. It is collegiate and for national and international purposes it is the highest representative of the Cuban state."
^ "Cuba: Freedom in the World 2021 Country Report". Freedom House. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
^
Multiple sources:
- Hyde, Susan D. (2011). The Pseudo-Democrat's Dilemma: Why Election Observation Became an International Norm. Cornell University Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-8014-6125-5.
- Galvis, Ángela Fonseca; Superti, Chiara (3 October 2019). "Who wins the most when everybody wins? Predicting candidate performance in an authoritarian election". Democratization. 26 (7): 1278–1298. doi:10.1080/13510347.2019.1629420. ISSN 1351-0347. S2CID 197727359.
- Domínguez, Jorge I.; Galvis, Ángela Fonseca; Superti, Chiara (2017). "Authoritarian Regimes and Their Permitted Oppositions: Election Day Outcomes in Cuba". Latin American Politics and Society. 59 (2): 27–52. doi:10.1111/laps.12017. ISSN 1531-426X. S2CID 157677498.
- Domínguez, Jorge I. (2021). "The Democratic Claims of Communist Regime Leaders: Cuba's Council of State in a Comparative Context". Communist and Post-Communist Studies. 54 (1–2): 45–65. doi:10.1525/j.postcomstud.2021.54.1-2.45. ISSN 0967-067X. S2CID 236365630.
^ ^a ^b "Cuba: Freedom in the World 2021 Country Report". Freedom House. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
^ Smyth, Regina; Bianco, William; Chan, Kwan Nok (25 April 2019). "Legislative Rules in Electoral Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of Hong Kong's Legislative Council". The Journal of Politics. 81 (3): 892–905. doi:10.1086/703068. ISSN 0022-3816. S2CID 159138096.
^ Braithwaite, Alex; Braithwaite, Jessica Maves (2020). "Restricting Opposition in Elections and Terrorist Violence". Terrorism and Political Violence. 32 (7): 1550–1572. doi:10.1080/09546553.2018.1495627. ISSN 0954-6553. S2CID 149575921.
^ Domínguez, Jorge I.; Galvis, Ángela Fonseca; Superti, Chiara (2017). "Authoritarian Regimes and Their Permitted Oppositions: Election Day Outcomes in Cuba". Latin American Politics and Society. 59 (2): 27–52. doi:10.1111/laps.12017. ISSN 1531-426X. S2CID 157677498.
^ Leogrande, William M. (2012). The Cuban communist party and electoral politics: Adaptation, succession, and transition. Cuba Transition Project, Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami. ISBN 978-0-9704916-2-6.
^ Fonseca Galvis, Ángela; Superti, Chiara (3 October 2019). "Who wins the most when everybody wins? Predicting candidate performance in an authoritarian election". Democratization. 26 (7): 1278–1298. doi:10.1080/13510347.2019.1629420. ISSN 1351-0347. S2CID 197727359.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[1] Roman, Peter (2003). People's Power: Cuba's Experience with Representative Government. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 131–132. ISBN 978-0-7425-2565-8. Retrieved 7 February 2023.

[3] Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, 1976, Article 89: "The Council of State is the body of the National Assembly of People's Power that represents it in the period between sessions, puts its resolutions into effect and complies with all the other duties assigned by the Constitution. It is collegiate and for national and international purposes it is the highest representative of the Cuban state."

[4] "Cuba: Freedom in the World 2021 Country Report". Freedom House. Retrieved 5 December 2021.

[5] Multiple sources:
Hyde, Susan D. (2011). The Pseudo-Democrat's Dilemma: Why Election Observation Became an International Norm. Cornell University Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-8014-6125-5.

Galvis, Ángela Fonseca; Superti, Chiara (3 October 2019). "Who wins the most when everybody wins? Predicting candidate performance in an authoritarian election". Democratization. 26 (7): 1278–1298. doi:10.1080/13510347.2019.1629420. ISSN 1351-0347. S2CID 197727359.

Domínguez, Jorge I.; Galvis, Ángela Fonseca; Superti, Chiara (2017). "Authoritarian Regimes and Their Permitted Oppositions: Election Day Outcomes in Cuba". Latin American Politics and Society. 59 (2): 27–52. doi:10.1111/laps.12017. ISSN 1531-426X. S2CID 157677498.

Domínguez, Jorge I. (2021). "The Democratic Claims of Communist Regime Leaders: Cuba's Council of State in a Comparative Context". Communist and Post-Communist Studies. 54 (1–2): 45–65. doi:10.1525/j.postcomstud.2021.54.1-2.45. ISSN 0967-067X. S2CID 236365630.

[5] Hyde, Susan D. (2011). The Pseudo-Democrat's Dilemma: Why Election Observation Became an International Norm. Cornell University Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-8014-6125-5.

[6] Galvis, Ángela Fonseca; Superti, Chiara (3 October 2019). "Who wins the most when everybody wins? Predicting candidate performance in an authoritarian election". Democratization. 26 (7): 1278–1298. doi:10.1080/13510347.2019.1629420. ISSN 1351-0347. S2CID 197727359.

[7] Domínguez, Jorge I.; Galvis, Ángela Fonseca; Superti, Chiara (2017). "Authoritarian Regimes and Their Permitted Oppositions: Election Day Outcomes in Cuba". Latin American Politics and Society. 59 (2): 27–52. doi:10.1111/laps.12017. ISSN 1531-426X. S2CID 157677498.

[8] Domínguez, Jorge I. (2021). "The Democratic Claims of Communist Regime Leaders: Cuba's Council of State in a Comparative Context". Communist and Post-Communist Studies. 54 (1–2): 45–65. doi:10.1525/j.postcomstud.2021.54.1-2.45. ISSN 0967-067X. S2CID 236365630.

[:0-6] "Cuba: Freedom in the World 2021 Country Report". Freedom House. Retrieved 5 December 2021.

[:42-7] Smyth, Regina; Bianco, William; Chan, Kwan Nok (25 April 2019). "Legislative Rules in Electoral Authoritarian Regimes: The Case of Hong Kong's Legislative Council". The Journal of Politics. 81 (3): 892–905. doi:10.1086/703068. ISSN 0022-3816. S2CID 159138096.

[:52-8] Braithwaite, Alex; Braithwaite, Jessica Maves (2020). "Restricting Opposition in Elections and Terrorist Violence". Terrorism and Political Violence. 32 (7): 1550–1572. doi:10.1080/09546553.2018.1495627. ISSN 0954-6553. S2CID 149575921.

[9] Domínguez, Jorge I.; Galvis, Ángela Fonseca; Superti, Chiara (2017). "Authoritarian Regimes and Their Permitted Oppositions: Election Day Outcomes in Cuba". Latin American Politics and Society. 59 (2): 27–52. doi:10.1111/laps.12017. ISSN 1531-426X. S2CID 157677498.

[10] Leogrande, William M. (2012). The Cuban communist party and electoral politics: Adaptation, succession, and transition. Cuba Transition Project, Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami. ISBN 978-0-9704916-2-6.

[11] Fonseca Galvis, Ángela; Superti, Chiara (3 October 2019). "Who wins the most when everybody wins? Predicting candidate performance in an authoritarian election". Democratization. 26 (7): 1278–1298. doi:10.1080/13510347.2019.1629420. ISSN 1351-0347. S2CID 197727359.

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