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A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a
one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other partie ...
that is administered and governed by a
communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...
guided by
Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and vario ...
. Marxism–Leninism was the
state ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied prim ...
of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, the
Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...
after Bolshevisation and the communist states within the
Comecon The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (, ; English abbreviation COMECON, CMEA, CEMA, or CAME) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc#List of s ...
, the
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
and the
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...
. Marxism–Leninism currently still remains the ideology of a few parties around the world. After its peak when many communist states were established, the
Revolutions of 1989 The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
brought down most of the communist states, however, it is still the official ideology of the ruling parties of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
,
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
,
Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...
, and
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
. During most of the 20th century, before the Revolutions of 1989, around one-third of the world's population lived under communist states. Communist states are typically
authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic vot ...
and are typically administered through
democratic centralism Democratic centralism is a practice in which political decisions reached by voting processes are binding upon all members of the political party. It is mainly associated with Leninism, wherein the party's political vanguard of professional revo ...
by a single centralised communist party apparatus. These parties are usually Marxist–Leninist or some national variation thereof such as
Maoism Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
or
Titoism Titoism is a political philosophy most closely associated with Josip Broz Tito during the Cold War. It is characterized by a broad Yugoslav identity, workers' self-management, a political separation from the Soviet Union, and leadership in th ...
, with the official aim of achieving
socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...
and progressing toward a
communist society In Marxist thought, a communist society or the communist system is the type of society and economic system postulated to emerge from technological advances in the productive forces, representing the ultimate goal of the political ideology of co ...
. There have been several instances of communist states with functioning political participation (i.e.
Soviet democracy Soviet democracy, or council democracy, is a political system in which the rule of the population is exercised by directly elected '' soviets'' (Russian for "council"). The councils are directly responsible to their electors and bound by thei ...
) processes involving several other non-party organisations such as
direct democratic Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are represe ...
participation,
factory committees Factory committees (russian: script=Latn, zavodskoy komitet, , ), , , ) were workers' councils representing factory workers in the history of Russia and Soviet Union that accomplished workers' control in various forms. (In Russian language, the t ...
, and
trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
, although the communist party remained the centre of power. As a term, ''communist state'' is used by Western historians, political scientists and media to refer to these countries. However, these states do not describe themselves as communist nor do they claim to have achieved
communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
—they refer to themselves as socialist states that are in the process of constructing socialism.: "Contrary to Western usage, these countries describe themselves as 'Socialist' (not 'Communist'). The second stage (Marx's 'higher phase'), or 'Communism' is to be marked by an age of plenty, distribution according to needs (not work), the absence of money and the market mechanism, the disappearance of the last vestiges of capitalism and the ultimate 'whithering away' of the State." Terms used by communist states include '' national-democratic'', '' people's democratic'', '' socialist-oriented'' and '' workers and peasants''' states. Academics, political commentators and other scholars tend to distinguish between communist states and
democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...
states, with the first representing the Eastern Bloc and the latter representing Western Bloc countries which have been democratically governed by socialist parties such as Britain,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
, and Western
social-democracies Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to prom ...
in general, among others.Barrett, William, ed. (1 April 1978)
"Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy: A Symposium"
''Commentary''. Retrieved 14 June 2020. "If we were to extend the definition of socialism to include Labor Britain or socialist Sweden, there would be no difficulty in refuting the connection between capitalism and democracy."
Heilbroner, Robert L. (Winter 1991)
"From Sweden to Socialism: A Small Symposium on Big Questions"
''Dissident''. Barkan, Joanne; Brand, Horst; Cohen, Mitchell; Coser, Lewis; Denitch, Bogdan; Fehèr, Ferenc; Heller, Agnès; Horvat, Branko; Tyler, Gus. pp. 96–110. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
Kendall, Diana (2011). ''Sociology in Our Time: The Essentials''. Cengage Learning. pp. 125–127. . "Sweden, Great Britain, and France have mixed economies, sometimes referred to as democratic socialism—an economic and political system that combines private ownership of some of the means of production, governmental distribution of some essential goods and services, and free elections. For example, government ownership in Sweden is limited primarily to railroads, mineral resources, a public bank, and liquor and tobacco operations."Li, He (2015). ''Political Thought and China's Transformation: Ideas Shaping Reform in Post-Mao China''. Springer. pp. 60–69. . "The scholars in camp of democratic socialism believe that China should draw on the Sweden experience, which is suitable not only for the West but also for China. In the post-Mao China, the Chinese intellectuals are confronted with a variety of models. The liberals favor the American model and share the view that the Soviet model has become archaic and should be totally abandoned. Meanwhile, democratic socialism in Sweden provided an alternative model. Its sustained economic development and extensive welfare programs fascinated many. Numerous scholars within the democratic socialist camp argue that China should model itself politically and economically on Sweden, which is viewed as more genuinely socialist than China. There is a growing consensus among them that in the Nordic countries the welfare state has been extraordinarily successful in eliminating poverty."


Overview


Development

During the 20th century, the world's first constitutionally communist state was in
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
at the end of 1917. In 1922, it joined other former territories of the empire to become the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the
Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...
occupied much of Eastern Europe and helped bring the existing communist parties to power in those countries. Originally, the communist states in Eastern Europe were allied with the Soviet Union.
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
would declare itself non-aligned, and
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...
later took a different path. After a war against Japanese occupation and a
civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...
resulting in a
Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
victory, the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
was established in 1949. Communist states were also established in
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
,
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...
,
Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...
,
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
, and
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
. In 1989, the communist states in Eastern Europe collapsed after the
Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its ...
broke as a result of the Pan-European Picnic, under public pressure during a wave of mostly non-violent movements as part of the
Revolutions of 1989 The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
which led to the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
in 1991. China's socio-economic structure has been referred to as "nationalistic state capitalism" and the Eastern Bloc (
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...
and the
Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
) as "bureaucratic-authoritarian systems." Today, the existing communist states in the world are in China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. These communist states often do not claim to have achieved socialism or communism in their countries but to be building and working toward the establishment of socialism in their countries. The preamble to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's Constitution states that Vietnam only entered a transition stage between
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...
and
socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...
after the country was re-unified under the
communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...
in 1976 and the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Cuba states that the role of the
communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...
is to "guide the common effort toward the goals and construction of socialism." The
Constitution of North Korea The Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea () is the constitution of North Korea. It was approved by the 6th Supreme People's Assembly at its first session on 27 December 1972, and has been amended and supplemented i ...
has replaced references to Marxism-Leninism and communism in favor of its own ideology called '' Juche'', although the ruling
Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party ...
remains ideologically committed to communism.


Institutions

Communist states share similar institutions which are organised on the premise that the
communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...
is a vanguard of the proletariat and represents the long-term interests of the people. The doctrine of
democratic centralism Democratic centralism is a practice in which political decisions reached by voting processes are binding upon all members of the political party. It is mainly associated with Leninism, wherein the party's political vanguard of professional revo ...
, developed by
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
as a set of principles to be used in the internal affairs of the communist party, is extended to society at large. According to democratic centralism, all leaders must be elected by the people and all proposals must be debated openly, but once a decision has been reached all people have a duty to account to that decision. When used within a political party, democratic centralism is meant to prevent factionalism and splits. When applied to an entire state, democratic centralism creates a one-party system. The constitutions of most communist states describe their political system as a form of democracy. They recognize the sovereignty of the people as embodied in a series of representative parliamentary institutions. Such states do not have a
separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typi ...
and instead have one national legislative body (such as the
Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet (russian: Верховный Совет, Verkhovny Sovet, Supreme Council) was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USS ...
in the Soviet Union) which is considered the highest organ of state power and which is legally superior to the executive and judicial branches of government. In communist states, national legislative politics often has a similar structure to the parliaments that exist in liberal republics, with two significant differences. First, the deputies elected to these national legislative bodies are not expected to represent the interests of any particular constituency, but rather the long-term interests of the people as a whole; and second, against
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
's advice, the legislative bodies of communist states are not in permanent session. Rather, they convene once or several times per year in sessions which usually last only a few days. When the national legislative body is not in session, its powers are transferred to a smaller council (often called a
presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. Communist states In Communist states the presid ...
) which combines legislative and executive power and in some communist states (such as the Soviet Union before 1990) acts as a collective
head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...
. In some systems, the presidium is composed of important communist party members who vote the resolutions of the communist party into law. A feature of communist states is the existence of numerous state-sponsored social organisations (associations of journalists, teachers, writers and other professionals, consumer cooperatives,
sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
s,
trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
s,
youth organisation The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise. ...
s, and women's organisations) which are integrated into the political system. In communist states, the social organisations are expected to promote social unity and cohesion, to serve as a link between the government and society and to provide a forum for recruitment of new communist party members. Historically, the political organisation of many socialist states has been dominated by a one-party monopoly. Some communist governments such as those in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
,
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
or
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
have or had more than one political party, but all minor parties are or were required to follow the leadership of the communist party. In communist states, the government may not tolerate criticism of policies that have already been implemented in the past or are being implemented in the present. Nevertheless, communist parties have won elections and governed in the context of multi-party democracies without seeking to establish a one-party state and therefore these entities do not fall under the definition of communist state. In most of Europe, communist parties were highly popular and served in several coalition governments during the 20th century. Examples of direct ruling include
San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
(1945–1957),
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...
(1984–1990),
Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
(1992–2015),
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...
(2001–2009),
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
(2008–2013), and
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
(1994–1998; 2008–2013; 2015–2017; 2018–present) as well as several Brazilian, Indian (Kerala), and Russian states.


State

According to Marxist–Leninist thought, the state is a repressive institution led by a
ruling class In sociology, the ruling class of a society is the social class who set and decide the political and economic agenda of society. In Marxist philosophy, the ruling class are the capitalist social class who own the means of production and by ex ...
. This class dominates the state and expresses its will through it. By formulating law, the ruling class uses the state to oppress other classes and forming a class dictatorship. However, the goal of the communist state is to abolish that said state. The Soviet Russia Constitution of 1918 stated: "The principal object of the Constitution of the R.S.F.S.R., which is adapted to the present transition period, consists in the establishment of a dictatorship of the urban and rural proletariat and the poorest peasantry, in the form of a powerful All-Russian Soviet power; the object of which is to secure complete suppression of the bourgeoisie, the abolition of exploitation of man by man, and the establishment of Socialism, under which there shall be neither class division nor state authority". The communist state is the dictatorship of the proletariat, where the advanced elements of the
proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...
are the ruling class. In Marxist–Leninist thinking, the socialist state is the last repressive state since the next stage of development is that of
pure communism In Marxist thought, a communist society or the communist system is the type of society and economic system postulated to emerge from technological advances in the productive forces, representing the ultimate goal of the political ideology of co ...
, a classless and stateless society.
Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
argued: "No one, I think, in studying the question of the economic system of Russia, has denied its transitional character. Nor, I think, has any Communist denied that the term Soviet Socialist Republic implies the determination of the Soviet power to achieve the transition to socialism, and not that the existing economic system is recognised as a socialist order." The introduction of the
first five-year plan The first five-year plan (russian: I пятилетний план, ) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was a list of economic goals, created by Communist Party General Secretary Joseph Stalin, based on his policy of socialism in ...
in the Soviet Union got many communists to believe that the withering away of the state was imminent. However,
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
warned that the
withering away of the state Withering away of the state is a Marxist concept coined by Friedrich Engels referring to the idea that, with the realization of socialism, the state will eventually become obsolete and cease to exist as society will be able to govern itself without ...
would not occur until after the socialist mode of production had achieved dominance over capitalism. Soviet jurist
Andrey Vyshinsky Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky (russian: Андре́й Януа́рьевич Выши́нский; pl, Andrzej Wyszyński) ( – 22 November 1954) was a Soviet politician, jurist and diplomat. He is known as a state prosecutor of Joseph ...
echoed this assumption and said that the socialist state was necessary "in order to defend, to secure, and to develop relationships and arrangements advantageous to the workers, and to annihilate completely capitalism and its remnants." Ideology permeates these states. According to scholar Peter Tang, " e supreme test of whether a Communist Party-state remains revolutionarily dedicated or degenerates into a revisionist or counterrevolutionary system lies in its attitude toward the Communist ideology." Therefore, the sole ideological purpose of communist states is to spread socialism and to reach that goal these states have to be guided by Marxism–Leninism. The communist states have opted for two ways to achieve this goal, namely govern indirectly by Marxism–Leninism through the party (Soviet model), or commit the state officially through the constitution to Marxism–Leninism (Maoist China–Albania model). The Soviet model is the most common and is currently in use in China. Marxism–Leninism was mentioned in the Soviet constitution. Article 6 of the
1977 Soviet constitution The 1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union, officially the Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was the constitution of the Soviet Union adopted on 7 October 1977 until its dissolution on 21 December 199 ...
stated: "The Communist Party, armed with Marxism–Leninism, determines the general perspective of the development of society and the course of the domestic and foreign policy of the USSR." This contrasts with the 1976 Albanian constitution which stated in Article 3: "In the People's Socialist Republic of Albania the dominant ideology is Marxism–Leninism. The entire social order is developing on the basis of its principles." The 1975 Chinese constitution had a similar tone, stating in Article 2 that "Marxism–Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought is the theoretical basis guiding the thinking of our nation." The 1977 Soviet constitution did also use phrases such as "building socialism and communism", "on the road to communism", "to build the material and technical basis of communism" and "to perfect socialist social relations and transform them into communist relations" in the preamble.


People's democratic state

The people's democratic state was implemented in Eastern Europe after World War II. It can be defined as a state and society in which feudal vestiges have been liquidated and where the system of private ownership exists, but it is eclipsed by the state-owned enterprises in the field of industry, transport and credit. In the words of Eugene Varga, "the state itself and its apparatus of violence serve the interests, not of the monopolistic bourgeoisie, but of the toilers of town and country." Soviet philosopher N. P. Farberov stated: "People's democracy in the people's republics is a democracy of the toiling classes, headed by the working class, a broad and full democracy for the overwhelming majority of the people, that is, a socialist democracy in its character and its trend. In this sense we call it popular."


People's republican state

The people's republican state is a type of socialist state with a republican constitution. Although the term initially became associated with
populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...
movements in the 19th century such as the German
Völkisch movement The ''Völkisch'' movement (german: Völkische Bewegung; alternative en, Folkist Movement) was a German ethno-nationalist movement active from the late 19th century through to the Nazi era, with remnants in the Federal Republic of Germany a ...
and the
Narodniks The Narodniks (russian: народники, ) were a politically conscious movement of the Russian intelligentsia in the 1860s and 1870s, some of whom became involved in revolutionary agitation against tsarism. Their ideology, known as Narodism, ...
in Russia, it is now associated to communist states. A number of the short-lived communist states which formed during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
and its aftermath called themselves people's republics. Many of these sprang up in the territory of the former
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
following the
October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mom ...
. Additional people's republics emerged following the Allied victory in World War II, mainly within the Soviet Union's
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
. In Asia,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
became a people's republic following the
Chinese Communist Revolution The Chinese Communist Revolution, officially known as the Chinese People's War of Liberation in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and also known as the National Protection War against the Communist Rebellion in the Republic of China (RO ...
and
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
also became a people's republic. During the 1960s,
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
and
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...
ceased to use the term ''people's republic'' in their official name, replacing it with the term ''socialist republic'' as a mark of their ongoing political development.
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
also added the term ''socialist republic'' into its name during this period. It had become a people's republic in 1948, but the country had not used that term in its official name.
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...
used both terms in its official name from 1976 to 1991.


National-democratic state

The concept of the national-democratic state tried to theorize how a state could develop socialism by bypassing the capitalist mode of production. While the theory of non-capitalist development was first articulated by Vladimir Lenin, the novelty of this concept was applying it to the progressive elements of the
national liberation movements National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...
in the
Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
. The term ''national-democratic state'' was introduced shortly after the death of Stalin, who believed colonies to be mere lackeys of Western imperialism and that the socialist movement had few prospects there. The countries in which the national liberations movements took power and which instituted an anti-imperialist foreign policy and sought to construct a form of socialism were considered as national-democratic states by Marxist–Leninists. An example of a national-democratic state is Egypt under
Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-r ...
which was committed to constructing
Arab socialism Arab socialism ( ar, الإشتِراكيّة العربية, Al-Ishtirākīya Al-‘Arabīya) is a political ideology based on the combination of pan-Arabism and socialism. Arab socialism is distinct from the much broader tradition of sociali ...
. With the exception of Cuba, none of these states managed to develop socialism. According to scholar Sylvia Woodby Edington, this might explain why the concept of the national-democratic state "never received full theoretical elaboration as a political system." However, one feature was clearly defined, namely that these states did not need to be led by a Marxist–Leninist party.


Socialist-oriented state

A socialist-oriented state seeks to reach socialism by non-capitalist development. As a term, it is substantially different from the concept of the national-democratic state. The singular difference is that the socialist-oriented state was divided into two stages, firstly into a national-democratic socialist-oriented state and secondly into a people's democratic socialist-oriented state. Countries belonging to the national-democratic socialist-oriented state category were also categorised as national-democratic states. Examples of national-democratic socialist-oriented states are
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
ruled by the National Liberation Front,
Ba'athist Iraq Ba'athist Iraq, formally the Iraqi Republic until 6 January 1992 and the Republic of Iraq thereafter, covers the History of Iraq, national history of Iraq between 1968 and 2003 under the rule of the Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction), Arab S ...
and Socialist Burma. In contrast, people's democratic socialist-oriented states had to be guided by Marxism–Leninism and accept the universal truths of Marxism–Leninism and reject other notions of socialism such as
African socialism African socialism or Afrosocialism is a belief in sharing economic resources in a traditional African way, as distinct from classical socialism. Many African politicians of the 1950s and 1960s professed their support for African socialism, althou ...
. The socialist-oriented states had seven defining features, namely they were revolutionary democracies, had a revolutionary-democratic party, class dictatorship, defense of the socialist-oriented states, had organs of socialisation, initiated socialist construction and the type of socialist-oriented state (either national-democratic or people's democratic). The political goal of revolutionary democracy is to create the conditions for socialism in countries were the social, political and economic conditions for socialism do not exist. The second feature to be met is the establishment of a revolutionary-democratic party which has to establish itself as the leading force and guide the state by using Marxist–Leninist ideology. While introduced in these states,
democratic centralism Democratic centralism is a practice in which political decisions reached by voting processes are binding upon all members of the political party. It is mainly associated with Leninism, wherein the party's political vanguard of professional revo ...
is rarely upheld. Unlike capitalism which is ruled by the bourgeoisie class and socialism were the proletariat leads, the socialist-oriented state represents a broad and heterogeneous group of classes that seek to consolidate national independence. Since the peasantry were usually the largest class in socialist-oriented states, their role were emphasised—similar to the working class in other socialist states. However, Marxist–Leninist admitted that these states often fell under the control of certain cliques such as the military in Ethiopia. The establishing of a legal system and coercive institutions are also noted to safeguard the socialist-oriented nature of the state. The fifth feature is that the media and educational system has to be taken over by the socialist-oriented state while establishing mass organisations to mobilize the populace. Unlike the Soviet economic model, the economy of the socialist-oriented states are mixed economies that seek to attract foreign capital and which seeks to maintain and develop the
private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...
. In the words of Soviet leader
Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and 1 ...
, these states were in the process of taking over the commanding heights of the economy and instituting a state planned economy. According to Soviet sources, only Laos was the one socialist-oriented state that has managed to develop into a socialist state.


Socialist state

A
socialist state A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The term '' communist state'' is ...
is more than a form of government and can only exist in countries with a socialist economy. There are examples of several states that have instituted a socialist
form of government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
before achieving socialism. The former socialist states of Eastern Europe were established as people's democracies (a developmental stage between
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...
and
socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...
). On the question of the Marxist–Leninist ruled countries of Africa and the Middle East, the Soviet Union deemed none of them to be socialist states—referring to them as socialist-oriented states. While many countries with constitutional references to socialism and countries ruled by long-standing socialist movements exist, within Marxist–Leninist theory a socialist state is led by a
communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...
that has instituted a socialist economy in a given country. It deals with states that define themselves either as a socialist state or as a state led by a governing Marxist–Leninist party in their constitutions. For this reason alone, these states are often called communist states.


Political system


Government

The highest administrative agency of state power is the government. It functions as the executive organ of the legislature. The
Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet (russian: Верховный Совет, Verkhovny Sovet, Supreme Council) was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USS ...
has been introduced with variations in all communist states. For most of its existence, the Soviet government was known as the
Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or ...
and identical names were used for the governments of
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...
,
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
,
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. It was independent of the other central agencies such as the legislature and its standing committee, but the Supreme Soviet was empowered to decide on all questions it wished. The Soviet government was responsible to the legislature and in between sessions of the legislature it reported to the legislature's standing committee. The standing committee could reorganise and hold the Soviet government accountable, but it could not instruct the government. In communist states, the government was responsible for the overall economic system, public order, foreign relations and defense. The Soviet model was more or less identically implemented in
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
,
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania, with few exceptions. One exception was Czechoslovakia, where it had a
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
and not a collective head of state. Another exception was in Bulgaria, where the State Council was empowered to instruct the Council of Ministers.


Legislature


Powers and organisation

All state power is unified in the legislature in communist states. This is a firm rejection of the separation of powers found in constitutional democracies. The constitution is passed by the legislature and can only be amended by the legislature. Judicial review and extra-parliamentary review were denounced by Soviet legal theorists as bourgeoisie institutions. They also perceived it as a limitation of the people's supreme power. The legislature together with its suborgans was responsible for overseeing the constitutional order. Since the legislature is the supreme judge of constitutionality, the legislature's own acts cannot, therefore, be unconstitutional. The
Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet (russian: Верховный Совет, Verkhovny Sovet, Supreme Council) was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USS ...
was the first socialist legislature and the Soviet legislative system has been introduced in all communist states. The Supreme Soviet convened twice a year, usually for two or three days each, making it one of the world's first frequently convened legislatures during its existence. The same meeting frequency was the norm in the Eastern Bloc countries as well as modern-day China. China's legislature, the
National People's Congress The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. With 2,9 ...
(NPC) is modeled on the Soviet one. As with the Soviet one, the NPC is the highest organ of the state and elects a Standing Committee (the Soviets had a
Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. Communist states In Communist states the presid ...
), the government and the State Council (the Soviet counterpart being the
Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or ...
). In addition, all communist states the ruling party has either had a clear majority such as China, or held every seat as they did in the Soviet Union in their Supreme Soviet. Western researchers have devoted little attention to legislatures in communist states. The reason being that there are not significant bodies of political socialisation when compared to legislatures in constitutional democracies. While political leaders in communist states are often elected as members of legislatures, these posts are not relevant to political advancement. The role of legislatures is different from country to country. In the Soviet Union, the
Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet (russian: Верховный Совет, Verkhovny Sovet, Supreme Council) was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USS ...
did "little more than listen to statements from Soviet political leaders and to legitimate decisions already made elsewhere" while in the legislatures of Poland, Vietnam and Yugoslavia it has been more active and had an impact on rule-making.


Representativity

Both Marx and Lenin abhorred the parliamentary systems of
bourgeois democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into dif ...
, but neither of them sought to abolish it. Lenin wrote that it would be impossible to develop proletarian democracy "without representative institutions." Both of them considered the governing model of the Paris Commune of 1871 in which executive and legislative were combined in one body to be ideal. More importantly, Marx applauded the election process by "universal suffrage in the various wards and town." While the institution of the such a legislature might not be important in itself, they "have a place in the literature and rhetoric of the ruling parties which cannot be ignored—in the language of the party's intimacy with working masses, of its alleged knowledge about interests of working people, of social justice and socialist democracy, of the
mass line The mass line is the political, organizational and leadership method developed by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during the Chinese Communist Revolution. It refers to formulating policy based on theory, implementing it based pe ...
and learning from the people." By having legislatures, the Marxist–Leninist parties try to keep ideological consistency between supporting representative institutions and safeguarding the leading role of the party. The seek to use the legislatures as a linkage between the rulers and the ruled. These institutions are representative and usually mirror the population in areas such as
ethnicity An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
and
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
, "yet with occupations distributed in a manner skewed towards government officials." Unlike in constitutional democracies, legislatures of communist states are not to act as a forum for conveying demands or interest articulation—they meet too infrequently for this to be the case. This might explain why communist states have not developed terms such as delegates and trustees to give a legislature representatives to vote according to their best judgement or in the interest of their constituency. Scholar Daniel Nelson has noted: "As with the British parliament before the seventeenth-century turmoil secured its supremacy, legislative bodies in communist states physically portray the 'realm' ruled by (to stretch an analogy) 'kings'. Members of the assemblies 'represent' the population to whom the rulers speak and over whom they govern, convening a broader 'segment of society' ..than the court itself." Despite this, it does not mean that the communist states use legislatures to strengthen their communication with the populace—the party, rather than the legislature, could take that function. Ideologically, it has another function, namely to prove that communist states do not only represent the interests of the working class, but all social strata. Communist states are committed to establish a classless society and use legislatures to show that all social strata, whether bureaucrat, worker or intellectual, are committed and have interests in building such a society. As is the case in China, national institutions such as the legislature "must exist which brings together representatives of all nationalities and geographic areas." It does not matter if the legislatures only
rubber stamp A rubber stamp is an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized onto a sheet of rubber. Rubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to rubbe ...
decisions because by having them it shows that communist states are committed to incorporate minorities and areas of the country by including them in the composition of the legislature. In communist states, there is usually a high proportion of members who are government officials. In this instance, it might mean that it's less important what legislatures do and more important who its representatives are. The members of such legislatures at central and local level are usually either government or party officials, leading figures in their community, or national figures outside the communist party. This goes to show that legislatures are tools to garner popular support for the government in which leading figures campaign and spread information about the party's policies and ideological development.


Military


Control

Communist states have established two types of civil-military systems. The armed forces of most socialist states have historically been state institutions based on the Soviet model, but in China, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam the armed forces are party-state institutions. However, there are several differences between the statist (Soviet) model and the party-state model (China). In the Soviet model, the
Soviet armed forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and t ...
was led by the Council of Defense (an organ formed by the
Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. Communist states In Communist states the presid ...
of the
Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...
) while the Council of Ministers was responsible for formulating defense policies. The party leader was ''
ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...
'' the Chairman of the Council of Defense. Below the Council of Defense, there was the Main Military Council which was responsible for the strategic direction and leadership of the Soviet armed forces. The working organ of the Council of Defense was the General Staff which was tasked with analysing military and political situations as they developed. The party controlled the armed forces through the Main Political Directorate (MPD) of the
Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...
, a state organ that functioned "with the authority of a department of the CPSU Central Committee." The MPD organised political indoctrination and created political control mechanism at the center to the company level in the field. Formally, the MPD was responsible for organising party and
Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...
organs as well as subordinate organs within the armed forces; ensuring that the party and state retains control over the armed forces; evaluates the political performance of officers; supervising the ideological content of the military press; and supervising the political-military training institutes and their ideological content. The head of the MPD was ranked fourth in military protocol, but it was not a member of the Council of Defense. The Administrative Organs Department of the CPSU Central Committee was responsible for implementing the party personnel policies and supervised the KGB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defense. In the Chinese party-state model, the
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the China, People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five Military branch, service branches: the People's ...
(PLA) is a party institution. In the preamble of the
Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party The Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party has 53 articles and its contents describe the program of the Party, as well as its organizational structure and Party symbolism. History The Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Pa ...
, it is stated: "The
Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...
(CPC) shall uphold its absolute leadership over the People's Liberation Army and other people's armed forces." The PLA carries out its work in accordance with the instructions of the
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a political body that comprises the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is currently composed of 205 fu ...
.
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...
described the PLA's institutional situation as follows: "Every communist must grasp the truth, ' Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.' Our principle is that the party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party." The Central Military Commission (CMC) is both an organ of the state and the party—it is an organ of the CCP Central Committee and an organ of the national legislature, the National People's Congress. The
CCP General Secretary The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader ...
is ''ex officio'' party CMC Chairman and the
President of the People's Republic of China The president of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the president of China, is the head of state and the second-highest political office of the People's Republic of China. The presidency is constitutionally a largely ceremonial off ...
is by right state CMC Chairman. The composition of the party CMC and the state CMC are identical. The CMC is responsible for the command of the PLA and determines national defense policies. There are fifteen departments that report directly to the CMC and that are responsible for everything from political work to administration of the PLA. Of significance is that the CMC eclipses by far the prerogatives of the CPSU Administrative Organs Department while the Chinese counterpart to the Main Political Directorate supervises not only the military, but also intelligence, the security services and counterespionage work.


Representation

Unlike in constitutional democracies, active military personnel are members and partake in civilian institutions of governance. This is the case in all communist states. The
Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of No ...
(CPV) has elected at least one active military figure to its CPV Politburo since 1986. In the 1986–2006 period, active military figures sitting in the CPV Central Committee stood at an average of 9,2 percent. Military figures are also represented in the national legislature (the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
) and other representative institutions. In China, the two CMC vice chairmen have had by right office seats in the CCP Politburo since 1987.


Ruling party


Leading role

Every communist state has been led by a Marxist–Leninist party. This party seeks to represent and articulate the interests of the classes exploited by
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...
. It seeks to lead the exploited classes to achieve communism. However, the party cannot be identified with the exploited class in general. Its membership is composed of members with advanced consciousness who are above sectional interests. Therefore, the party represents the advanced section of the exploited classes and through them leads the exploited classes by interpreting the universal laws governing human history towards communism. In ''
Foundations of Leninism ''Foundations of Leninism'' is a 1924 collection by Joseph Stalin of nine lectures he delivered at Sverdlov University that year. It was published by the Soviet newspaper, ''Pravda''. Background After the January 1924 death of Vladimir Lenin, ...
'' (1924),
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
wrote that "the proletariat orking classneeds the Party first of all as its General Staff, which it must have for the successful seizure of power. ..But the proletariat needs the Party not only to achieve the lassdictatorship; it needs it still more to maintain the lassdictatorship." The current
Constitution of Vietnam The Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Hiến pháp nước Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam) is the current constitution of Vietnam, adopted on 28 November 2013 by the Thirteenth National Assembly, and took eff ...
states in Article 4 that " e
Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of No ...
, the vanguard of the Vietnamese working class, simultaneously the vanguard of the toiling people and of the Vietnamese nation, the faithful representative of the interests of the working class, the toiling people, and the whole nation, acting upon the Marxist–Leninist doctrine and
Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as (' Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as P ...
's thought, is the leading force of the state and society." In a similar form, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) describes itself as "the vanguard of the Chinese working class, the Chinese people, and the Chinese nation." As noted by both communist parties, the ruling parties of communist states are vanguard parties.
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
theorised that vanguard parties were "capable of assuming power and leading the whole people to socialism, of directing and organising the new system, of being the teacher, the guide, the leader of all the working and exploited people in organising their social life without the bourgeoisie." This idea eventually evolved into the concept of the party's leading role in leading the state as seen in the CCP's self-description and Vietnam's constitution.


Internal organisation

The Marxist–Leninist governing party organises itself around the principle of
democratic centralism Democratic centralism is a practice in which political decisions reached by voting processes are binding upon all members of the political party. It is mainly associated with Leninism, wherein the party's political vanguard of professional revo ...
and through it the state too. It means that all directing bodies of the party, from top to bottom, shall be elected; that party bodies shall give periodical accounts of their activities to their respective party organisations; that there shall be strict party discipline and the subordination of the minority to the majority; and that all decisions of higher bodies shall be absolutely binding on lower bodies and on all party members. The highest organ of a Marxist–Leninist governing party is the party congress. The congress elects the central committee and either an auditing commission and a control commission, or both, although not always. The central committee is the party's highest decision-making organ in between party congresses and elects a politburo and a secretariat amongst its members as well as the party's leader. When the central committee is not in session, the politburo is the highest decision-making organ of the party and the secretariat is the highest administrative organ. In certain parties, either the central committee or the politburo elects amongst its members a standing committee of the politburo which acts as the highest decision-making organ in between sessions of the politburo, central committee and the congress. This leadership structure is identical all the way down to the primary party organisation of the ruling party.


Economic system

From reading their works, many followers of
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
and
Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
began advocating a national state planning system. The 8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) resolved to institute "the maximum centralisation of production ..simultaneously striving to establish a unified economic plan." The
Gosplan The State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan ( rus, Госплан, , ɡosˈpɫan), was the agency responsible for central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until the dissolution of ...
, the State Planning Commission, the
Supreme Soviet of the National Economy Supreme Board of the National Economy, Superior Board of the People's Economy, (Высший совет народного хозяйства, ВСНХ, ''Vysshiy sovet narodnogo khozyaystva'', VSNKh) was the superior state institution for managem ...
and other central planning organs were established during the 1920s in the era of the
New Economic Policy The New Economic Policy (NEP) () was an economic policy of the Soviet Union proposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1921 as a temporary expedient. Lenin characterized the NEP in 1922 as an economic system that would include "a free market and capitalism, ...
. On introducing the planning system, it became common belief in the international communist movement that the Soviet planning system was a more advanced form of economic organisation than capitalism. This led to the system being introduced voluntarily in countries such as China, Cuba and Vietnam and in some cases imposed by the Soviet Union. In communist states, the
state planning A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, parti ...
system had five main characteristics. Firstly, with the exception of the field consumption and employment, practically all decisions were centralized at the top. Secondly, the system was
hierarchical A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
—the center formulated a plan that was sent down to the level below which would imitate the process and send the plan further down the pyramid. Thirdly, the plans were binding in nature, i.e. everyone had to follow and meet the goals set forth in it. Fourthly, the predominance of calculating in physical terms to ensure planned allocation of commodities were not incompatible with planned production. Finally, money played a passive role within the state sector since the planners focused on physical allocation. According to Michael Ellman, in a centrally planned economy "the state owns the land and all other natural resources and all characteristics of the traditional model the enterprises and their productive assets. Collective ownership (e.g. the property of collective farms) also exists, but plays a subsidiary role, and is expected to be temporary." The
private ownership Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property and personal property, which is owned by a state entity, and from collective or ...
of the means of production still exist, although it plays a fairly smaller role. Since the class struggle in capitalism is caused by the division between owners of the means of production and the workers who sell their labour,
state ownership State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public owners ...
(defined as the property of the people in these systems) is considered as a tool to end the class struggle and empower the working class.


Judicial system


Constitution


Role of constitutions

Marxist–Leninists view the
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...
as a fundamental law and as an instrument of force. The constitution is the source of law and legality. Unlike in constitutional democracies, the Marxist–Leninist constitution is not a framework to limit the power of the state. To the contrary, a Marxist–Leninist constitution seeks to empower the state—believing the state to be an organ of class domination and law to be the expression of the interests of the dominant class. It is the belief of Marxist–Leninists that all national constitutions do this to ensure that countries can strengthen and enforce their own class system. In this instance, it means that Marxist–Leninists conceive of constitutions as a tool to defend the socialist nature of the state and attack its enemies. This contrasts with the liberal conception of constitutionalism that "law, rather than men, is supreme." Unlike the relatively constant (and, in some instances, permanently fixed) nature of democratic constitutions, a Marxist–Leninist constitution is ever-changing.
Andrey Vyshinsky Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky (russian: Андре́й Януа́рьевич Выши́нский; pl, Andrzej Wyszyński) ( – 22 November 1954) was a Soviet politician, jurist and diplomat. He is known as a state prosecutor of Joseph ...
, a Procurator General of the Soviet Union during the 1930s, notes that the "Soviet constitutions represent the sum total of the historic path along which the Soviet state has traveled. At the same time, they are the legislative basis of subsequent development of state life." That is, the constitution sums up what already has been achieved. This belief is also shared by the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...
which argued that "the Chinese Constitution blazes a path for China, recording what has been won in China and what is yet to be conquered." A constitution in a communist state has an end. The preamble of the 1954 Chinese constitution outlines the historical tasks of the Chinese communists, "step by step, to bring about the socialist industrialisation of the country and, step by step, to accomplish the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicraft and capitalist industry and commerce." In communist states, the constitution was a tool to analyse the development of society. The Marxist–Leninist party in question would have to study the correlation of forces, literally society's class structure, before enacting changes. Several terms were coined for different developmental states by Marxist–Leninists legal theorists, including '' new democracy'', '' people's democracy'' and the '' primary stage of socialism''. This is also why amendments to constitutions are not enough and major societal changes need a novel constitution which corresponds with the reality of the new class structure. With
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
's repudiation of Stalin's practices in the " Secret Speech" and the Chinese Communist Party's repudiation of certain
Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
policies, Marxist–Leninist legal theories began to emphasise "the formal, formerly neglected constitutional order."
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...
, not long after
Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...
's death, noted that " mocracy has to be institutionalised and written into law, so as to make sure that institutions and laws do not change whenever the leadership changes or whenever the leaders change their views. ..The trouble now is that our legal system is incomplete. ..Very often what leaders say is taken as law and anyone who disagrees is called a lawbreaker." In 1986, Li Buyan wrote that "the policies of the Party usually are regulations and calls which to a certain extent are only principles. The law is different; it is rigorously standardised. It explicitly and concretely stipulates what the people should, can or cannot do." These legal developments have been echoed in later years in Cuba, Laos and Vietnam. This has led to the development of the communist concept of socialist rule of law which runs parallel to and is distinct to the liberal term of the same name. In the last years, this emphasis on the constitution as both a legal document and a paper which documents society's development has been noted by Chinese Communist Party
general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...
, who stated in 2013 that " organisation or individual has the privilege to overstep the Constitution and law."


Constitutional supervision

After
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
's death, several communist states have experimented with some sort of constitutional supervision. These organs were designed to safeguard the supreme power of the legislature from circumvention by political leaders.
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
was the first to experiment with constitutional supervision when it established a Constitutional Committee in 1965. It was elected by the legislature and leading jurists sat in the committee, but it was only empowered to advice the legislature. Keith Hand has commented that " was not an effective institution in practice," being unable to prevent Nicolae Ceausescu's emasculation of Romania's Great National Assembly after the inauguration of the
July Theses The July Theses ( ro, Tezele din iulie) is a name commonly given to a speech delivered by Romanian leader Nicolae Ceaușescu on July 6, 1971, before the Executive Committee of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR). Its full name was ("Proposed meas ...
.
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
and
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
experimented with constitutional supervision in the early 1980s. Hungary established the Council of Constitutional Law which was elected by the legislature and consisted of several leading jurists. It was empowered to review the constitutionality and legality of statutes, administrative regulations and other normative documents; however, if the agency in question failed to heed its advice, it needed to petition the legislature. In 1989, the Soviets established the Constitutional Supervision Committee which "was subordinate only to the USSR constitution." It was empowered "to review the constitutionality and legality of a range of state acts of the USSR and its republics. Its jurisdiction included laws assed by the legislature decrees of the Supreme Soviet's Presidium, union republic constitutions and laws, some central administrative decrees, Supreme Court explanations, and other central normative documents." If the committee deemed the legislature to have breached legality, the legislature was obliged to discuss the issue, but it could reject it if more than two-thirds voted against the findings of the Constitutional Supervision Committee. While it was constitutionally powerful, it lacked enforcement powers, it was often ignored and it failed to defend the constitution during the coup against
Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Com ...
. The Chinese leadership has argued against establishing any corresponding constitutional supervisory committee due to their association with failed communist states of Europe. None of the surviving communist states (China, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam) have experimented with constitutional supervision committees or constitutional supervision of anykind outside the existing framework.


Legal system

All communist states have been established in countries with a civil law system. The countries of Eastern Europe had formally been governed by the
Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
,
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
and
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
—all of whom had civil law legal system. Cuba had a civil law system imposed on them by Spain while China introduced civil law to overlay with Confucian elements and Vietnam used French law. Since the establishment of the Soviet Union, there has been a scholarly debate on whether socialist law is a separate legal system or is a part of the civil law tradition. Legal scholar Renè David wrote that the socialist legal system "possesses, in relation to our French law, particular features that give it a complete originality, to the extent that it is no longer possible to connect it, like the former Russian law, to the system of
Roman law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...
." Similarly, Christoper Osakwe concludes that socialist law is "an autonomous legal system to be essentially distinguished from the other contemporary families of law." Proponents of socialist law as a separate legal system, have identified the following features: # The socialist law is to disappear with the
withering away of the state Withering away of the state is a Marxist concept coined by Friedrich Engels referring to the idea that, with the realization of socialism, the state will eventually become obsolete and cease to exist as society will be able to govern itself without ...
. # The rule of the Marxist–Leninist party. # The socialist law is subordinate and reflect changes to the economic order (the absorption of
private law Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the '' jus commune'' that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts and torts (as it is called in the common law), and the law of obligations ...
by
public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that are of direct ...
). # The socialist law has a religious character. # The socialist law is
prerogative In law, a prerogative is an exclusive right bestowed by a government or state and invested in an individual or group, the content of which is separate from the body of rights enjoyed under the general law. It was a common facet of feudal law. Th ...
rather than
normative Normative generally means relating to an evaluative standard. Normativity is the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good, desirable, or permissible, and others as bad, undesirable, or impermissible. A norm in ...
. Legal officials argue differently for their case than Westerners. For instance, " e predominant view among Soviet jurists in the 1920s was that Soviet law of that period was Western-style law appropriate for a Soviet economy that remained capitalist to a significant degree." This changed with the
introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and ...
of the command economy and the term socialist law was conceived to reflect this in the 1930s. Hungarian legal theorist Imre Szabó acknowledged similarities between socialist law and civil law, but he noted that "four basic types of law may be distinguished: the laws of the slave, feudal, capitalist and socialist societies." Using the Marxist theory of
historical materialism Historical materialism is the term used to describe Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx locates historical change in the rise of class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. For Marx and his lifetime collaborat ...
, Szabó argues that socialist law cannot belong to the same law family since the material structure is different from the capitalist countries as their superstructure (state) has to reflect these differences. In other words, law is a tool by the
ruling class In sociology, the ruling class of a society is the social class who set and decide the political and economic agenda of society. In Marxist philosophy, the ruling class are the capitalist social class who own the means of production and by ex ...
to govern. As Renè David notes, socialist jurists "isolate their law, to put into another category, a reprobate category, the Romanist laws and the common law, is the fact that they reason less as jurists and more as philosophers and Marxists; it is in taking a not strictly legal viewpoint that they affirm the originality of their socialist law." However, some socialist legal theorists such as Romanian jurist Victor Zlatescu differentiated between type of law and family of law. According to Zlatescu, " e distinction between the law of the socialist countries and the law of the capitalist countries is not of the same nature as the difference between Roman-German law and the common law, for example. Socialist law is not a third family among the others, as appears in certain writings of Western comparatists." In other words, socialist law is civil law, but it is a different type of law for a different type of society. Yugoslav jurist Borislav Blagojevic noted that a "great number of legal institutions and legal relations remain the same in socialist law", further stating that it is "necessary and justified" to put them to use if they are "in conformity with the corresponding interests of the ruling class in the state in question." Importantly, socialist law has retained civil law institutions, methodology and organisation. This can be discerned by the fact that
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
retained the 1896 German civil code until 1976 while
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
used existing Austrian, French, German and Russian civil codes until its adoption of its own civil code in 1964. Scholar John Quigley wrote that " cialist law retains the inquisitorial style of trial, law-creation predominantly by legislatures rather than courts, and a significant role for legal scholarship in construing codes."


List of communist states


Current communist states

The following countries are one-party states in which the institutions of the ruling communist party and the state have become intertwined. They are adherents of
Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and vario ...
or its derivatives, such as Juche. They are listed here together with the year of their founding and their respective ruling parties. }
Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...
: , data-sort-value="1949-10-01", ,
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...
, - , , es, República de Cuba , data-sort-value="1959-01-01", , Communist Party of Cuba , - , , lo, ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ
, data-sort-value="1975-12-02", , , - , , , data-sort-value="1945-09-02", )
30 April 1975 (
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
)
2 July 1976 ( unified) ,
Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of No ...
, - , , Korean: 조선민주주의인민공화국 Korean romanisation: ''Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk'' , 9 September 1948 ,
Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party ...


Multi-party states with governing communist parties

There are multi-party states with communist parties leading the government. Such states are not considered to be communist states because the countries themselves allow for multiple parties and do not provide a constitutional role for their communist parties.
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
was previously ruled by the
Nepal Communist Party The Nepal Communist Party, abbreviated NCP ( ne, नेपाल कम्युनिष्ट पार्टी, ) is a defunct communist party of Nepal. It was founded on 17 May 2018, from the unification of two leftist parties, Communist ...
, the
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) (; abbr. CPN (UML)) is the largest political party in Nepal on the basis of memberships. As per the results of recent elections, ''CPN (UML)'' stands as the second largest party of Nepal ...
and the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) between 1994 and 1998 and then again between 2008 and 2018 while states formerly ruled by one or more communist parties include
San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
(1945–1957),
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...
(1984–1990),
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...
(2001–2009),
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
(2008–2013) and
Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
(1992–2015).
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
is currently ruled by
Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and president of Venezuela since 2013, with his presidency under dispute since 2019. Beginning his working life as a bus driver, Maduro rose to become a trade union ...
, who has been
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
since 2013 ( disputed since 2019). Maduro is the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which is considered
far-left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars conside ...
and
Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...
. During the socialist Free Peru party's rule over
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
, many international observers described the party as being somewhat Marxist or even Marxist-Leninist.


Former communist states

The following communist states were socialist states committed to communism. Some were short-lived and preceded the widespread adoption of Marxism–Leninism by most communist states. * Russia ** Chita Republic (1905-1906) ** Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1991) *** Amur Socialist Soviet Republic (1918) *** Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1918–1924) *** Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1918–1941) *** Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1919–1991) *** Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1990) *** Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (1920–25), Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (1920–1925) *** Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1924) *** Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1991) *** Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1941; 1944–1945) *** Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1922–1991) *** Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1923–1990) *** Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1923–1940; 1956–1991) *** Kazakh Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (1925–1936) *** Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (1926–36), Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic (1926–1936) *** Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1934–1990) *** Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1934–1990) *** Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1935–1943; 1957–1991) *** Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1936–1944; 1957–1991) *** Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1936–1944; 1957–1991) *** Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1936–1991) *** Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1936–1991) *** North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1936–1993) *** Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1956) *** Kabardin Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1944–1957) *** Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1961–1992) *** Gorno-Altai Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1990–1991) ** Soviet Republic of Soldiers and Fortress-Builders of Naissaar (1917–1918) ** Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic (1918) ** Crimean Socialist Soviet Republic (1919) ** Far Eastern Republic (1920–1922) ** Tuvan People's Republic (1921–1944) ** Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991) * Ukraine ** Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets (1917-1918) ** Odessa Soviet Republic (1918) ** Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic (1918) ** Crimean Socialist Soviet Republic (1919) ** Galician Soviet Socialist Republic (1920) ** Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991) *** Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919–1991) **** Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1924–1940) **** Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1991–1992) * Finland ** Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (1918) ** Finnish Democratic Republic (1939–1940) ** Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1956) * Germany ** Free Socialist Republic of Germany (1918–1919) *** Mainz Workers' and Soldiers' Council 1918 *** Saxony Soviet (1918–1919) *** Bremen Soviet Republic (1919) *** Bavarian Soviet Republic (1919) *** Würzburg Soviet Republic (1919) *** People's State of Bavaria (1918-1919) ** Soviet occupation zone, Soviet occupation of Germany (1945–1949) *** Soviet occupation zone, Soviet occupation of Berlin (1945–1949) ** German Democratic Republic (1949–1990) *** East Berlin (1949–1990) *
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
** June Rebellion, First Paris Commune (1831) ** Communards, Communard France (1870-1871) *** 1870 Paris uprising, Second Paris Commune (1870) *** Lyon Commune (1870-1871) *** Paris Commune, Third Paris Commune (1871) *** Besançon Commune (1871) ** Alsace-Lorraine Soviet Republic (1918) * Estonia ** Commune of the Working People of Estonia (1918–1919) ** Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940), First Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940–1941) ** Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1944), Second Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1944–1945) ** Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (1944–1991) * Latvia ** Iskolat, Executive Committee of the Soviet of Workers, Soldiers, and the Landless in Latvia (1917-1918) ** Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic (1918–1920) ** Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (1944–1991) * Lithuania ** Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (1918–1919), Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (1918-1919) ** Lithuanian–Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919) ** Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940), First Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940–1941) ** Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1944), Second Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1944–1945) ** Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (1944–1991) * Belarus ** Lithuanian–Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919) ** Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1922–1991) * Hungary ** Hungarian Soviet Republic (1919) ** Serbian–Hungarian Baranya–Baja Republic (1921) ** Hungary in World War II#Soviet occupation of Hungary, Soviet occupation of Hungary (1944–1946) ** Second Hungarian Republic (1946–1949) ** Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) * Azerbaijan ** 26 Baku Commissars, Baku Commune (1918) ** Mughan Soviet Republic (1919) ** Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1991) *** Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1990) ** Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (1922–1936) * Czechoslovakia ** Slovak Soviet Republic (1919) ** Military occupations by the Soviet Union#Czechoslovakia (1944), Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia (1944–1948) ** Fourth Czechoslovak Republic (1948–1960) ** Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1960–1990) * Tajikistan ** Bukharan People's Soviet Republic (1920–1925) ** Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (1929–1991) * Turkmenistan ** Khorezm People's Soviet Republic (1920–1925) ** Bukharan People's Soviet Republic (1920–1925) ** Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (1925–1991) * Uzbekistan ** Khorezm People's Soviet Republic (1920–1925) ** Bukharan People's Soviet Republic (1920–1925) ** Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (1924–1991) *** Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1924–1929) *** Karakalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1932–1991) * Iran ** Persian Socialist Soviet Republic (1920–1921) ** Military occupations by the Soviet Union#Iran (1941–1946), Soviet occupation of Iran (1941–1946) ** Azerbaijan People's Government (1945–1946) ** Republic of Mahabad (1946–1947) * Poland ** Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee ** Galician Soviet Socialist Republic (1920) ** Provisional Government of National Unity (1945–1947) ** Polish People's Republic (1947–1989) * Armenia ** Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1991) ** Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (1922–1936) * Georgia (country), Georgia ** Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1991) *** Adjar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1990) *** Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1931–1996) ** Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (1922–1936) * Mongolia ** Bogd Khanate of Mongolia, People's Republic of Mongolia (1921–1924) ** Mongolian People's Republic (1924–1992) *
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
** Hailufeng Soviet (1927) ** Autumn Harvest Uprising, Hunan Soviet (1927) ** Guangzhou Uprising, Guangzhou Commune (1927) ** Communist-controlled China (1927–1949), Soviet Zone of China (1927–1949) *** (1931–1937) **** Jiangxi–Fujian Soviet (1931–1934) ** People's Revolutionary Government of the Republic of China (1933–1934) ** Northwest Chinese Soviet Federation (1935-1936) ** Tibetan People's Republic (1936) ** Second East Turkestan Republic (1944–1949) ** Inner Mongolian People's Republic (1945) ** Soviet occupation of Manchuria (1945–1946) * Spain ** Asturian miners' strike of 1934, Asturian Socialist Republic (1934) * Kazakhstan ** Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (1936–1991) * Kyrgyzstan ** Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (1936–1991) * Romania ** Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina (1940) ** Soviet occupation of Romania (1944–1947) ** Romanian People's Republic (1947–1965) ** Socialist Republic of Romania (1965–1989) *
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...
** Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1991) ** Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (1990–1991) * Greece ** Political Committee of National Liberation (1944–1949) ** Provisional Democratic Government (1947-1949) * Albania ** Democratic Government of Albania (1944–1946) ** People's Republic of Albania (1946–1976) ** People's Socialist Republic of Albania (1976–1992) * Bulgaria ** Strandzha Commune (1903) ** Military occupations by the Soviet Union#Bulgaria (1944), Soviet occupation of Bulgaria (1944–1946) ** People's Republic of Bulgaria (1946–1990) * Norway ** Military occupations by the Soviet Union#Northern Norway (1944–1946) and Bornholm, Denmark (1945–1946), Soviet occupation of Northern Norway (1944–1946) * Sudan ** Democratic Republic of the Sudan (1969–1985) * Austria ** Allied-occupied Austria#Soviet rule and reestablishing Austrian government, Soviet occupation of Austria (1945–1946) *** Allied-occupied Austria#Soviet rule and reestablishing Austrian government, Soviet occupation of Vienna (1945–1946) * Denmark ** Bornholm#Soviet occupation (1945–1946), Soviet occupation of Bornholm (1945–1946) * Japan ** Military occupations by the Soviet Union#Kuril Islands (1945), Soviet occupation of the Kuril Islands (1945) * Korea ** Soviet Civil Administration (1945–1946) ** Provisional People's Committee of North Korea (1946–1947) ** People's Committee of North Korea (1947–1948) ** North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (1948–1992/2009) * Yugoslavia ** Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1963) ** Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1963–1992) * Colombia ** Marquetalia Republic (1948–1958) *
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
** Nghệ-Tĩnh Soviets, Nghệ-Tĩnh Soviet ** Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1954–1975) ** Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam (1969–1976) * Yemen ** People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (1967–1990) * Republic of the Congo ** People's Republic of the Congo (1969–1992) * Somalia ** Somali Democratic Republic (1969–1991) * Ethiopia ** Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia (1974–1987) ** People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (1987–1991) * Mozambique ** People's Republic of Mozambique (1975–1990) * Angola ** People's Republic of Angola (1975–1992) * Benin ** People's Republic of Benin (1975–1990) *
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
** Democratic Kampuchea (1976–1979) ** People's Republic of Kampuchea (1979–1989) ** People's Republic of Kampuchea#Transition and State of Cambodia (1989–1992), State of Cambodia (1989–1992) ** Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (1982–1992) ** Provisional Government of National Union and National Salvation of Cambodia (1994–1998) * Afghanistan ** Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (1978–1987) ** Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Republic of Afghanistan (1987–1992) * Grenada ** People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada (1979–1983) * Burkina Faso ** Burkina Faso#Burkina Faso (since 1984), Burkina Faso (1984–1987) * Turkey ** Strandzha Commune (1903) * Brazil ** Communist Uprising of 1935, National Liberation Alliance of Brazil * Seychelles ** One party rule in Seychelles, Republic of Seychelles


Analysis

Countries such as the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
and
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
were criticised by Western authors and organisations on the basis of a lack the representative nature of multi-party constitutional democracy, in addition to several other areas where socialist society and Western society, Western societies differed. Socialist societies were commonly characterised by
state ownership State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public owners ...
or social ownership of the means of production either through Management, administration through
communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...
organisations, democratically elected councils and communes and co-operative structures—in opposition to the liberal democratic capitalist free-market paradigm of management, ownership and control by corporations and private individuals. Communist states have also been criticised for the Social influence, influence and outreach of their respective ruling parties on society, in addition to lack of recognition for some Western legal rights and Civil liberty, liberties such as the right to own property and the restriction of the right to free speech. The early economic development policies of communist states have been criticised for focusing primarily on the development of heavy industry. Soviet advocates and socialists responded to criticism by highlighting the ideological differences in the concept of freedom. McFarland and Ageyev noted that "Marxist–Leninist norms disparaged ''laissez-faire'' individualism (as when housing is determined by one's ability to pay), also [condemning] wide variations in personal wealth as the West has not. Instead, Soviet ideals emphasized equality—free education and medical care, little disparity in housing or salaries, and so forth." When asked to comment on the claim that former citizens of communist states enjoy increased freedoms, Heinz Kessler, former Ministry of National Defence (East Germany), East German Minister of National Defence, replied: "Millions of people in Eastern Europe are now free from employment, free from safe streets, free from health care, free from social security." In his analysis of states run under Marxist–Leninist ideology, economist Michael Ellman of the University of Amsterdam notes that such states compared favorably with Western states in some health indicators such as infant mortality and life expectancy. posits that there was an increase in the standard of living throughout
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
countries as the result of modernisation programs under communist governments. Similarly, Amartya Sen, Amartya Sen's own analysis of international comparisons of life expectancy found that several Marxist–Leninist states made significant gains and commented "one thought that is bound to occur is that communism is good for poverty removal." The
dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
was followed by a rapid increase in poverty, crime, corruption, unemployment, homelessness, rates of disease, infant mortality, domestic violence and income inequality, along with decreases in calorie intake, life expectancy, adult literacy and income.


Memory

Monuments to ''the victims of communist states'' exist in almost all the capitals of Eastern Europe and there are several museums documenting communist rule such as the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights in Lithuania, the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia in Riga and the House of Terror in Budapest, all three of which also document Nazi rule. In Washington D.C., a bronze statue based upon the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, 1989 Tiananmen Square ''Goddess of Democracy'' sculpture was dedicated as the Victims of Communism Memorial in 2007, having been authorized by the United States Congress in 1993. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation plans to build an International Museum on Communism in Washington. As of 2008, Russia contained 627 memorials and memorial plaques dedicated to victims of the communist states, most of which were created by private citizens and did not have a national monument or a national museum. The Wall of Grief in Moscow, inaugurated in October 2017, is Russia's first monument for victims of political persecution by Stalin during the country's Soviet era. In 2017, Canada's National Capital Commission approved the design for a memorial to the victims of communism to be built at the Garden of the Provinces and Territories in Ottawa. On 23 August 2018, Estonia's Victims of Communism 1940–1991 Memorial was inaugurated in Tallinn by President Kersti Kaljulaid. The memorial construction was financed by the state and is managed by the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory. The opening ceremony was chosen to coincide with the official European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism. According to anthropologist Kristen Ghodsee, efforts to institutionalize the victims of communism narrative, or the moral equivalence between the Nazi Holocaust (race murder) and the victims of communism (class murder), and in particular the recent push at the beginning of the global financial crisis for commemoration of the latter in Europe, can be seen as the response by economic and political elites to fears of a leftist resurgence in the face of devastated economies and extreme Economic inequality, inequalities in both the East and West as the result of the excesses of neoliberalism, neoliberal capitalism. Ghodsee argues that any discussion of the achievements under communist states, including literacy, education, women's rights, and social security is usually silenced, and any discourse on the subject of
communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
is focused almost exclusively on Stalin's crimes and the double genocide theory. According to Laure Neumayer, this is used as an anti-communist narrative "based on a series of categories and figures" to "denounce Communist state violence (qualified as 'Communist crimes', 'red genocide' or 'classicide') and to honour persecuted individuals (presented alternatively as 'victims of Communism' and 'heroes of anti totalitarian resistance')."Neumayer, Laure (2018). ''The Criminalisation of Communism in the European Political Space after the Cold War''. London: Routledge. .


See also

* List of socialist states * List of anarchist communities * Capitalist state * List of anti-capitalist and communist parties with national parliamentary representation * List of communist parties * Marxism–Leninism–Maoism * Stalinism


Notes


References


Bibliography


General

References for when the individuals were elected to the office of CCP leader, the name of the offices and when they established and were abolished are found below. * *


Articles and journal entries

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Books

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Marxism–Leninism Communist states, Authoritarianism Communism, State Dictatorship Lists of countries Maoism Marxism–Leninism Socialism Totalitarianism