Cadre (politics)

For revolutionary socialists (Including Leninists), and some anarchists, a cadre is a group of committed, active, and experienced intellectuals who share political beliefs and participate in the revolutionary movements they see the most promise in. It can also refer to a member of said group.[1]

A cadre policy as a political mechanism may take one of two forms:

1. Cadre deployment: The appointment by a government's governing party of a loyalist to an institution, as a means of circumventing public reporting-lines and bringing that institution under the control of the party, as opposed to the state. It involves the creation of a parallel power-structure to a constitution, so that party members answer first to the party and second to the public. In turn, that party advances its own interests ahead of those of the public.
2. Cadre employment: Economic patronage dispensed to individuals, companies and agencies, by the government, not on merit but on the basis that they enjoy some political connection to the governing party.

Under cadre policies, every level of government often acts to reward loyalists with tenders and with government contracts. The African National Congress government in South Africa commonly practises this form of tenderpreneurship. Together with Black Economic Empowerment policies, cadre policy is used to address the injustices of the former apartheid system in South Africa.[2]

• "South African Political Dictionary: Cadre employment and cadre deployment". Inside-politics.org. 2012-08-30. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
• "The beginning of the decade of the ANC cadre | News | National | M&G". Mg.co.za. 2013-05-25. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
• "Second National Consultative Conference: Report of the commission on cadre policy, political and ideological work". Anc.org.za. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-09.