AGENDA SETTING community back to a restoration of Islamic society . For example , Qutb emphatically specified the need for an Islamist vanguard in his book Milestones : It is necessary that there should be a vanguard , which sets out with this determination , and then keeps walking on the path ….
It is necessary that this vanguard should know the landmarks and the milestones of the road toward this goal …
I have written “ Milestones ” for this vanguard . 11
But , just as significantly , it can legitimately be argued that much of the character of modern-day political lobbying and community organizing is a direct heir of the Leninist concept that a political movement can only succeed if it is led by a professional organization of fulltime agitators organizing and propagandizing for a cause . The emphasis on creating vanguard-party-style leadership to facilitate organization and agitation is on prominent display among lobbying and activist organizations across the spectrum of political orientation in the West . In the United States , such examples of professional agitators and organizers include ( or have included ) the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now ( ACORN ), the American Civil Liberties Union , People for Ethical Treatment of Animals , the National Rifle Association , the National Council of La Raza , and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee , to mention just a tiny fraction of such vanguard-party style groups .
Not surprisingly , the literature that often guides the activities of such lobbying groups and community-activist groups has been produced by professional community organizers and agitators like Saul Alinsky and Wade Rathke , whose writings reflect the Leninist imperative to build vanguard organizations together with occasional allusions to , and overtones of , Leninist jargon , thinking , and practice . For example , in his Rules for Radicals , Alinsky observes , A naked illustration of this point is to be found in Trotsky ’ s summary of Lenin ’ s famous April Theses , issued shortly after Lenin ’ s return from exile . Lenin pointed out : “ the task of the Bolsheviks is to overthrow the Imperialist Government . But , this government rests upon the support of the Social Revolutionaries and Mensheviks , who in turn are supported by the trustfulness of the masses of people . We are in the minority . In these circumstances , there can be no talk of violence on our side .” The essence of Lenin ’ s speeches during this period was , “ They have the guns and therefore we are for peace and for reformation through the ballot . When we have the guns , then it will be through the bullet .” And it was . 12
Indeed , Alinsky himself billed his book Rules for Radicals as nothing less than a guide for organizing and agitating for revolution by conducting activities that clearly resonate with overtones of Leninist-like strategies aimed at coercing a result from a political opponent through skillful organization , agitation , and propaganda ( see figure 3 ).
Mass Medium Required for Revolution
Second , for the vanguard party to succeed , Lenin asserted that it was essential for it to control at least one influential mass medium . Consequently , Lenin stipulated that the vanguard party must get under its direct control a mass medium totally dedicated to promoting its cause . For this purpose , he called for establishment of what he termed an “ all-Russia ” newspaper . Why a newspaper ? In an era when radio and telegraph were in their infancy and the telephone still being invented , the only true mass medium available was the newspaper . He describes the vital necessity of such a medium to political activism as follows : The publication of an all-Russia political newspaper must be the main line by which we may unswervingly develop , deepen , and expand the organization ( viz ., the revolutionary organization that is ever ready to support every protest and every outbreak )….
A newspaper is not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator , it is also a collective organizer . In this respect it may be compared to the scaffolding erected round a building under construction ; it marks the contours of the structure and facilitates communication between the builders , permitting them to distribute the work and to view the common results achieved by their organized labour . 13
In other words , the purposes of the “ all-Russia ” newspaper as outlined by Lenin were to provide employment to the members of the vanguard party as
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