ABSTRACT
The first of the fundamental principles of self-government was formulated by Marx himself in The Civil War in France. This rule, as simple as it is radical, aims at preventing the division of society into two categories of people, those who command and those who obey. This division, which in the beginning can pass as a simple technical convenience "for the good of all", has shown itself in history to be one of the causes of the division of society into antagonistic classes. The second principle is the following: there is no democracy or, with even more reason, self-government if people are not in a position to decide with full knowledge of the matter. Even if the general education of the people is assumed to be accomplished and private capitalism suppressed, the question of the circulation of information is again raised. In this system, the ruling apparatus in fact enjoys a monopoly of decision-making power.
