---
title: FLACSO-Cuba
type: research
status: active
country: CU
website: https://flacso.org/pa%C3%ADs/cuba
summary: The Cuban chapter of the Latin American Social Sciences Faculty (FLACSO),
  based at the University of Havana — one of the few academic bodies in Cuba publishing
  empirical research on Cuba's Poder Popular governance system, electoral participation,
  and local government reform.
concepts:
- democracy
- constitutional-democracy
- e-government
location:
  latitude: 23.1136
  longitude: -82.3666
  name: Havana, Cuba
events:
- date: '1988-01-01'
  title: FLACSO's Cuban academic unit (Sede Cuba) created
  url: https://flacso.org/quem-somos/nuestra-historia/historia-flacso/
  note: FLACSO's official institutional timeline lists "1988 Creación de la Sede Cuba.
    Creación de la Unidad Académica en Cuba." ("1988 Creation of the Cuba seat. Creation
    of the academic unit in Cuba.")
  proof_level: medium
  url_checked: '2026-08-17'
- date: '1994-01-01'
  title: Begins teaching the Master's in Social Development (Maestría en Desarrollo
    Social)
  url: https://revistas.uh.cu/revflacso/article/view/7419
  note: 'The FLACSO-Cuba journal article states: "FLACSO-Cuba imparte dos maestrías,
    Desarrollo Social (1994) y Gestión y Desarrollo de Cooperativas (2000)..." ("FLACSO-Cuba
    teaches two master''s programmes, Social Development (1994) and Cooperative Management
    and Development (2000)..."), both accredited with excellence by the Junta de Acreditación
    Nacional.'
  proof_level: medium
  url_checked: '2026-08-17'
activity:
  manual:
    checked: 2026-06-07
    date: 2026-06-04
    note: website loaded. news in main page. Latest is 4 Jun 2026 'Communiqué for
      the death of Dr. Raúl Vega-Pacheco Researcher and teacher of FLACSO Mexico'
  rss:
    checked: 2026-06-07
    note: No feed found
  sitemap:
    checked: 2026-08-17
    note: Sitemap found, no lastmod
last_checked: '2026-06-02'
---

> **Note on scope:** FLACSO-Cuba operates within the constraints of a single-party state. Its research on Cuban governance is empirical and sometimes critical in tone, but it works within institutionally bounded space. It is included here as the primary academic body studying Cuba's Poder Popular system as a governance design — not as an independent watchdog, but as a source of substantive comparative governance research.

FLACSO-Cuba is the Cuban chapter of the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), housed at the University of Havana. It publishes research on Cuban political institutions, social policy, and governance — including empirical studies of the Poder Popular (People's Power) assembly system.

Cuba's **Poder Popular** system, established under the 1976 constitution and significantly revised in 2019, has architectural features that are genuinely studied as a distinct democratic model. At the municipal level, candidates are nominated directly by neighbourhood assemblies — not formally by the Communist Party of Cuba — and there is documented variation in who gets elected. The National Assembly exercises formal legislative authority. The 2022 Family Code, which passed by referendum with 67% approval (under single-party electoral conditions), is a concrete example of popular input on a contested legislative question.

FLACSO-Cuba's research engages these structures empirically rather than purely descriptively — examining participation rates, the role of municipal delegates, and the relationship between local and national governance bodies.

## Links

- FLACSO Cuba: [flacso.org/país/cuba](https://flacso.org/pa%C3%ADs/cuba)
- Original site (archived): [flacso.uh.cu (Wayback Machine)](https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://flacso.uh.cu)

## See also

- [CPPCC](cppcc.md)
- [Vietnam Fatherland Front](vietnam-fatherland-front.md)