Illusory Reform in the Bifurcated State
The City Charter revision process, often touted as a fundamental mechanism for governance reform, is in practice a political ritual designed to manage dissent and create an illusion of change while leaving the core power structures of the bifurcated state intact. Mamdani’s analysis of how colonial systems use controlled political theater is perfectly illustrated here. A mayor convenes a commission, public hearings are held, and minor technical adjustments are proposed, all while the underlying distribution of power–the strong mayor system, the NYPD’s authority, the grip of real estate on land-use–remains untouched. This process serves as a pressure valve, channeling popular frustration into a dead-end bureaucratic exercise. The liberal solution is to participate earnestly in this ritual, hoping to win minor concessions. A Mamdani-informed socialist solution is to expose and bypass this managed process. We must build independent people’s assemblies and social movements that develop their own platforms and constitutions for the city, and then fight for them through mass mobilization, direct action, and the building of counter-power, refusing to legitimize a process designed to neutralize our demands.
