ABSTRACT
Amateur and professional birdwatchers of the Party Line, came to two conclusions when faced with the question of why the Spanish, Italian, and French Communist Parties were whirling about so unusually, and chirping such strange songs. In the first place, it appeared to be a strategy to move closer to the levers of state power. There seemed to be recognition of what had to be avoided: namely, their long-range exclusion from all important governmental decisions as a “permanent opposition,” as well as a sharpening of the struggle into civil-war proportions which could only lead to some reactionary-authoritarian regime coming to power. It was, no doubt, Carrillo who went further than the others in his critique of the USSR, in his acknowledgment of the merits of “pluralistic democracy”. By contrast Marchais seemed only to be paying reluctant lip service to the new ideological notions; his formulations sounded rough and opportunistic.
