Concept

Communist state

Overview

A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a socio-economic form of government that combines the state leadership of a communist party, Marxist–Leninist political philosophy, and an official commitment to the construction of a communist society. Modern communism grew out of the socialist movement in 19th-century Europe as a program to replace capitalism with a stateless, classless, and moneyless society, but its application as Marxism–Leninism began later in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam are the only communist states that now exist. With the exception of North Korea, these have moved away from collectivism in the economic sphere in favor of forms of market economy, but retain an authoritarian or totalitarian single-party system generating a mandatory state ideology.

In the 20th century, several communist states were established, first in Russia with the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then in portions of Eastern Europe, Asia, and other regions after World War II. The institutions of these states were heavily influenced by the writings of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and others. However, the political reforms of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev known as Perestroika and socio-economic difficulties produced the revolutions of 1989, which brought down all communist states of the Eastern Bloc. The repercussions of the collapse of these states contributed to political transformations in non-European communist states.

In accordance with Marx's theory of the state, communists believe all state formations are under the control of a ruling class. Communist states are no different, and the ruling communist party is defined as the vanguard party of the most class conscious section of the working classes, particularly the proletariat but sometimes including the peasantry, such as under its Maoist formulation. Communist states usually affirm that the working class is the state's ruling class and that the most class-conscious workers lead the state through the communist party, establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat as its class system and, by extension, the socialist state, which will eventually wither away into a communist society free of oppressions. However, not all communist states chose to form this class system, and some, such as Laos, have opted to establish a people's democratic state instead, in which the working class shares political power with other classes. According to this belief system, communist states need to establish an economic base to support the ruling class system by creating a socialist economy, or at the very least, some socialist property relations strong enough to support the communist class system. By ensuring these two features, the communist party seeks to make Marxism–Leninism the guiding ideology of the state. Normally, the communist state constitution defines the class system, political, economic system and guiding ideology of the state.

The political systems of these states are based on the principles of democratic centralism and unified power. Democratic centralism seeks to centralise powers in the highest leadership and, in theory, reach political decisions through democratic processes. Unified power is the opposite of the separation of powers and seeks to turn the national representative organ elected through non-competitive, controlled elections into the state's single branch of government. This institution is commonly called the supreme state organ of power, and a ruling communist party normally holds at least two-thirds of the seats in this body. The supreme state organ of power has unlimited powers except for the limits it has set itself by adopting constitutional and legal limits. What would be considered the executive or judicial branches in a liberal democratic system are in communist states considered part of the supreme state organ of power. The supreme state organ of power usually adopts a constitution that explicitly gives the ruling communist party leadership of the state.

The communist party controls the supreme state organ of power through the political discipline it exerts on its members and, through them, dominates the state. Ruling communist parties of these states are organised on Leninist lines, in which the party congress functions as its supreme decision-making body. In between two congresses, the central committee acts as the supreme organ. When neither the party congress nor the central committee is in session, the decision-making authorities of these organs are normally delegated to its politburo, which makes political decisions, and a secretariat, which executes the decisions made by the party congress, central committee and the politburo. These organs are composed of leading figures from state and party organs. The leaders of these parties are often given the title of general secretary, but the power of this office varies from state to state. Some states are characterised by one-man dominance and the cult of personality, while others are run by a collective leadership, a system in which powers are more evenly distributed between leading officials and decision-making organs are more institutionalised.

These states seek to mobilise the public to participate in state affairs by implementing the transmission belt principle, meaning that the communist party seeks to maintain close contact with the masses through mass organisations and other institutions that try to encompass everyone and not only committed communists. Other methods are through coercion and political campaigns. Some have criticised these methods as dictatorial since the communist party remains the centre of power. Others emphasise that these are examples of communist states with functioning political participation processes (i.e. Soviet democracy) involving other non-party organisations such as direct democratic participation, factory committees, and trade unions.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

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In bourgeois society living labor is but a means to increase accumulated labor. In Communist society accumulated labor is but a means to widen, to enrich, to promote the existence of the laborer. In bourgeois society, therefore, the past dominates the present; in Communist society, the present dominates the past. In bourgeois society capital is independent and has individuality, while the living person is dependent…
Karl Marx, Manifesto of the Communist Party
States what Communist state is; the author is tied to Communist state in the knowledge graph.
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What is called "virtue" is an offshoot of vanity: it is the habit of acting in a manner which others praise. The operation of material conditions may be illustrated by the statement (Myers's _Dawn of History_) that four of the greatest movements of conquest have been due to drought in Arabia, causing the nomads of that country to migrate into regions already inhabited. The last of these four movements was the rise…
Bertrand Russell, The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism
States what Communist state is; names Communist state.
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The working class in Germany is, in its social and political development, as far behind that of England and France as the German bourgeoisie is behind the bourgeoisie of those countries. Like master, like man. The evolution of the conditions of existence for a numerous, strong, concentrated, and intelligent proletarian class goes hand in hand with the development of the conditions of existence for a numerous…
Friedrich Engels, Revolution and Counter-Revolution
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Philosophers who discussed Communist state

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Opposing perspectives

Constitutionalism

Place in the tradition

Part of Communism.

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