Communist state
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- This article is about a form of government in which the state operates under the control of a Communist Party. For information regarding communism as a form of society, as an ideology advocating that form of society, or as a popular movement, see the communism article.
Communist state is a term used by many political scientists to describe a form of government in which the state operates under a one-party system and declares allegiance to Marxism-Leninism or a derivative thereof. Communist states may have several legal political parties, but the Communist Party is constitutionally guaranteed a dominant role in government. Consequently, the institutions of the state and of the Communist Party become intimately entwined.
In multi-party liberal democracies, the system of government (executive, legislative and judicial) operates independently of any political party, with each party competing for a right to control the system of government for a specific tenure. In Communist states, however, state institutions and party institutions depend on each other to function effectively.
What separates Communist states from other one-party systems is the fact that ruling authorities in a Communist state claim to be guided by Marxist-Leninist ideology. The state and the Communist Party claim to act in accordance with the wishes of the working class; they claim to have implemented a democratic dictatorship of the proletariat; and they claim to be moving towards the gradual abolition of the state and the implementation of communism. These claims have been strongly disputed by opponents of the historical Communist states, including communists who do not subscribe to Marxism-Leninism or who regard these states as bastardizations of the ideology.
Most Communist states have adopted centrally planned economies for most of their existence. For this reason, Communist states are often associated with economic planning in both popular thought and scholarship. However, there are exceptions. The Soviet Union during the 1920s and Yugoslavia after World War II used limited markets and worker self-management. China and Vietnam have introduced far-reaching market reforms since the 1980s.
The policies adopted by Communist Parties ruling over communist states have been a source of political debate for much of the 20th century. However, this article describes the political structure of communist states, not the specific policies implemented by their governments. See Criticisms of Communist party rule for more information on the arguments surrounding those policies.
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[edit] Usage of the term
The term Communist state (often with an upper-case 'C' to denote a state ruled by a Communist Party) originated in the West during the Cold War. It was invented to describe the form of government adopted by several countries in Eastern Europe and East Asia who followed the political model of the Soviet Union. These countries were ruled by parties which typically used the name "Communist Party of [country]." Since the separation of Party and State became very blurred in those countries, it seemed logical to name them "Communist states," by analogy with the Communist parties that ruled them.
Communist states do not use the term Communist state to describe themselves, however. Within Marxist theory, world communism is the final phase of history at which time the state would have withered away; therefore, the notion of a "communist state" is an oxymoron. Current states are either in the capitalist or socialist phase of history, and the role of the Communist Party (i.e., the vanguard party) is to pull a nation toward the communist phase of history.
Not every country ruled by a Communist party is a Communist state. As noted above, the term Communist state has been created and used by Western political scientists to refer to a specific type of one-party state. There have been instances where Communist parties won elections and governed in the context of multi-party democracies, without seeking to establish a one-party state. Examples include the Republic of Moldova and the Indian states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. Such countries do not fall under the definition of a Communist state.
Not all Marxists supported the communist states. Since the 1930s, significant numbers of Marxists have argued that most communist states did not actually adhere to Marxism but rather to a perversion of it that was heavily influenced by Stalinism, called Marxism-Leninism. This critique is based on the view that the communist states were not democratic and did not, therefore, represent the interests of the working class. For example, Trotskyists referred to the Soviet Union as a "degenerated workers' state" and called its satellites "deformed workers states." All Marxists agree that democracy (the rule of the people) is essential to both socialism and communism, but they disagree on the particular form that this democracy should take.
[edit] Relations between State and Party
All Communist states are based on the system of government that was developed in the Soviet Union during its first decade of existence. The General Secretary of the Communist Party was the de facto leader of the government, even when he did not hold a state office like president or prime minister. Instead, such state offices were usually held by party members answerable to or controlled by the general secretary. They were given these offices as a reward for their long years of service to the party. On other occasions, having governed as general secretary, the party leader might assume a state office in addition. For example, Mikhail Gorbachev initially did not hold the presidency of the Soviet Union, that office being given as an honor to a former Soviet foreign minister. However, Gorbachev ultimately chose to assume the presidency, running the party and the official state institutions simultaneously.
The degree of this party-state relationship fluctuates both within a state and between different Communist states. In the contemporary People's Republic of China, for example, a degree of separation has developed between state and party, while a number of very small rival parties have appeared on the fringe. Nevertheless, the degree of Communist Party control over state institutions, and the ability of party figures outside state offices to influence the functioning of the state, is far more extensive than in any multiparty system.
The constitutions of Communist states usually provided for democratic elections and the rule of law. However, they usually also provided a privileged role to the Communist Party, for instance requiring that all candidates for state office be approved by the party. Since the party had the authority to determine who would be able to run for office, it had in effect the power to appoint people to all state offices. As a result, one's standing within the party became more important than one's standing within the state hierarchy. A powerful member of the Communist Party could appoint himself, or anyone else, to the office of his choice.[1]
[edit] State institutions
All Communist states share similar institutions, which are organized on the premise that the Communist Party is a vanguard of the proletariat and represents the long-term interests of the people. The doctrine of democratic centralism, which was developed by Lenin 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 obey that decision and all debate should end. 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.[2]
The constitutions of most Communist states describe their political system as a form of democracy.[3] Thus, they recognize the sovereignty of the people as embodied in a series of representative parliamentary institutions. Communist states do not have a separation of powers; instead, they have one national legislative body (such as the Supreme Soviet 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.[4] Such national legislative bodies in Communist states often have a similar structure to the parliaments that exist in liberal democracies, 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 the long-term interests of the people as a whole. Second, in contradiction to Marx'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.[5]
When the national legislative body is not in session—that is, most of the time—its powers are transferred to a smaller council (often called a "Presidium"), which combines legislative and executive power, and, in some Communist states, acts as a collective head of state. The Presidium is usually composed of important Communist Party members and votes into law the resolutions of the Communist party.
Another feature of Communist states is the existence of numerous state-sponsored social organizations (trade unions, youth organizations, women's organizations, associations of teachers, writers, journalists and other professionals, consumer cooperatives, sports clubs etc.) which are integrated into the political system. In some Communist states, representatives of these organizations are guaranteed a certain number of seats on the national legislative bodies. In all Communist states, the social organizations 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.[6]
Communist states maintain their legitimacy by claiming to promote the long-term interests of the whole people, and Communist parties justify their monopoly on political power by claiming to act in accordance with objective historical laws. Therefore, political opposition and dissent is regarded as unnecessary at best, and counter-productive or even treasonous at worst. Some Communist states have more than one political party, but all minor parties are required to follow the leadership of the Communist Party. Criticism of proposed future policies is usually tolerated, as long as it does not turn into criticism of the political system itself. However, in accordance with the principles of democratic centralism, Communist states usually do not tolerate criticism of policies that have already been implemented in the past or are being implemented in the present.[7]
[edit] List of current Communist states
The following countries are one-party states in which the ruling party declares allegiance to Marxism-Leninism and in which the institutions of the party and of the state have become intertwined; hence they fall under the definition of Communist states. However, they are not the only countries in the world that currently have Communist governments. There are some multi-party democracies, such as the Republic of Moldova, where Communist parties have won democratic elections and currently form the government. Such states are not considered Communist states because the institutions of the party and of the state are not embedded in each other.
With the above disclaimer, current communist states and their ruling parties are:
- People's Republic of China (since 1949); Communist Party of China
- Republic of Cuba (Cuban Revolution in 1959, socialist state declared in 1961); Communist Party of Cuba
- Democratic People's Republic of Korea (since 1948); Korean Workers' Party
- Lao People's Democratic Republic (since 1975); Lao People's Revolutionary Party
- Socialist Republic of Vietnam (since 1976); Communist Party of Vietnam
While these countries share a similar system of government, they have adopted very different economic policies over the past 15 years.
Moreover, during the Cold War era, various countries, especially in Africa, copied superficial aspects of the Soviet dominant-party system without necessarily sharing the Marxist-Leninist ideology of the Communist parties. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is often considered a Communist state by observers, although it no longer espouses Marxist-Leninsm; instead, it officially describes itself as a socialist republic governed according to the ideology of Juche.
See also: List of communist parties
[edit] References
- ^ Furtak, Robert K. "The political systems of the socialist states", St. Martin's Press, New York, 1986. pp 11-12
- ^ Furtak, Robert K. "The political systems of the socialist states", St. Martin's Press, New York, 1986. pp 8-9
- ^ Furtak, Robert K. "The political systems of the socialist states", St. Martin's Press, New York, 1986. pp 12
- ^ Furtak, Robert K. "The political systems of the socialist states", St. Martin's Press, New York, 1986. pp 13
- ^ Furtak, Robert K. "The political systems of the socialist states", St. Martin's Press, New York, 1986. pp 14
- ^ Furtak, Robert K. "The political systems of the socialist states", St. Martin's Press, New York, 1986. pp 16-17
- ^ Furtak, Robert K. "The political systems of the socialist states", St. Martin's Press, New York, 1986. pp 18-19
