Russian text edited by F. Kalinychev, LL.D.
PROGRESS PUBLISHERS • MOSCOW [1]Translated from the Russian~
Edited by M. Saifulin~
B. EaHHOB, H. VManCKHH, M. LUatJwp~
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__COPYRIGHT__ First Printing 1968In November 1967 the Soviet Union marked its 5()th anniversary.
Historically speaking, 50 years is not a long period, but glancing back at the road covered by the U.S.S.R. we cannot but marvel at the great achievements of its people in building a new life and the socialist state.
The Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917 put power in the hands of the workers and peasants, tore Russia out of the barbarous imperialist war, into which she had been plunged by the then ruling bourgeois and landowner classes, and saved her from a national catastrophe.
It swept away the hated capitalist system, wiped out national oppression and abolished all estate and class privileges.
The young Soviet state proclaimed a policy of peace and started enforcing new principles in relations between peoples and countries.
Russia, which occupies one-sixth of the land area of the globe, became the first country in the world to build socialist society.
``We have the right to be and are proud,'' Lenin wrote in the first years following the October Revolution, ``that to us has fallen the good fortune to begin the building of a Soviet state, and thereby to usher in a new era in world history, the era of the rule of a new class, a class which is oppressed in every capitalist country, but which everywhere is marching forward towards a new life....''^^*^^
_-_-_^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 32, p. 430.
5The road that lay before the working people was both difficult and unexplored.
The reactionary forces repeatedly attempted to throttle Soviet rule. For this purpose they organised military campaigns, set up an economic blockade, utilised the internal economic dislocation, hatched plots and resorted to sabotage.
Moreover, the building of socialism was tremendously impeded by Russia's age-old economic and cultural backwardness.
The victorious workers and peasants did not yet have practical experience either in administering the state or in building a new society.
There was nobody from whom the Soviet people could learn. Armed with the Marxist-Leninist theory, the Communist Party knew the general road towards socialism. But it neither knew nor could know how to tackle all the problems that it would face on each sector of that road, much less did it have ready-made solutions to these problems. To use Lenin's figurative expression, while the Rus sian bourgeoisie that came to power in February 1917 received ``a well-designed and tested vehicle, a well-prepared road and well-tried appliances'', the proletariat which seized power in October 1917 had ``neither vehicle, no road, absolutely nothing that had been tested beforehand''. It was precisely the Soviet Communist Party that had to blaze the trail to socialism, to build and test the ``appliances'' of the new society in practice.
Lastly, for almost 30 years the Soviet Union was the world's only socialist state and was subjected to vicious attacks by hostile capitalist countries. But the Soviet people surmounted all the difficulties and obstacles that were put up in their way.
They have built socialist society and are confidently advancing towards communism. The Soviet Union and the entire mode of life of its people have changed beyond recognition.
Socialism, the social system whose inevitable emergence was scientifically predicted by Marx and Engels and whose plan of building was elaborated by Lenin, has become a reality in the Soviet Union and some other countries.
6At present there are other countries whose peoples have taken the socialist road of development.
A world socialist system has taken shape and become consolidated. It is a social, economic and political community of free, sovereign peoples advancing towards socialism and communism, united by common interests and objectives and cemented by close links of international socialist solidarity.
Socialism has ensured unpreccdentedly rapid economic and cultural development and a steady rise of the standard of living.
Socialist society was the first in world history to create the economic, social and political prerequisites for genuine democracy for the whole nation.
This springs from the fact that in no other society are all sections of the people welded so closely together. Moreover, all matters of state are resolved in a genuinely democratic way, without one class exercising coercion over another.
This book gives a broad idea of the reality of Soviet socialist democracy.
This subject covers a very wide field. It touches the most diverse aspects of human activity because socialist democracy is intrinsic to Soviet society and is founded on popular rule, the utmost promotion of initiative and self-- administration.
This book does not claim to offer a detailed analysis of the Soviet Union's development. The authors have concentrated only on what is basic and vital and characterises the democratic nature of the Soviet social and political system which has once and for all liberated the people from exploitation, given them broad rights and freedoms, and ensured them a life worthy of human beings and a secure future.
Particular attention has been given to the various forms in which the people administer society and the state, to the organisation and functions of the Soviets and other state organs, to the position of the individual and also to the role and place of the mass organisations in the life of the countrv.
7
__CAPTION__
The State Arms of the U.S.S.R.
[8]
__NUMERIC_LVL1__
CHAPTER I
__ALPHA_LVL1__
SOCIETY OF WORKING PEOPLE
__ALPHA_LVL2__
1. ECONOMIC FOUNDATION OF SOVIET DEMOCRACY
As a form of state system, democracy springs from the economic basis, being always dependent on society's material foundation. It may be taken as axiomatic that in the final count the nature of democracy, its social substance and forms and extent are determined by the appropriate relations of production.
The degree of the people's participation in public affairs and the enforcement of citizens' rights and freedoms as legislatively recorded in the laws of a state, depend first and foremost on the existing mode of production and on what classes own the instruments and means of production.
Hence, in order to obtain a full picture of the nature and features of Soviet socialist democracy we must first analyse the socialist social system and the class structure of Soviet society.
Socialist system of economy. The actual foundation and material guarantee ensuring genuine democracy in the U.S.S.R. are the socialist system of economy and socialist ownership of the instruments and means of production. They ensure Soviet people with freedom from exploitation, economic crises, unemployment and poverty, and guarantee them equal rights to work and to be paid for their work in accordance with their contribution to social production.
The principal purpose of socialist production is systematically to improve the welfare of the nation as a whole. Lenin had specially emphasised the fact that socialist revolution replaces private with public ownership of the means of production, and introduces planned production to ensure the welfare and all-round development of all 9 members of society, because the new society is built in the name of and for the benefit of the people.
The socialist system of economy and socialist ownership of the means of production reign supreme in Soviet economy. Many years passed before this was achieved, for when the working people seized power in October 1917 they inherited a completely wrecked economy in an extremely backward country. Moreover, they had to repel the fierce onslaught of the internal reaction and the international counter-revolution. On account of all this it took the Soviet people almost two decades to build up a socialist economy.
In the period of transition from capitalism to socialism the economy of Soviet Russia was multistructural in character, i.e., it combined features of both socialism and capitalism.
``This transition period,'' Lenin wrote, ``has to be a period of struggle between dying capitalism and nascent communism---or, in other words, between capitalism which has been defeated but not destroyed and communism which has been born but is still very feeble.''^^*^^
The economy of the transition period had three basic socio-economic sectors: socialist, small commodity and capitalist,^^**^^ which were backed by the three corresponding classes, namely, the proletariat, the peasants and the overthrown but still existing bourgeoisie.
The socialist sector promptly occupied the leading place, for it commanded the key branches of production (large industrial enterprises, banks, transport, communications, and the foreign and a considerable portion of the internal trade) that determined economic development in the country as a whole. Moreover, this was ensured by the socialist sector's tremendous advantages over the small commodity and capitalist sectors thanks to elaborate planning.
In the first years after the Revolution, however, the socialist sector was not predominant. Suffice it to say that _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 107.
^^**^^ In addition, there were a patriarchal sector embracing natural peasant households based on personal labour and practically disconnected with the market, and a state-capitalist sector, that is, enterprises leased to foreign firms in the form of concessions.
10 in 1923--24 the socialised sector accounted for only 38.5 per cent of the gross industrial output, and was almost nonexistent in agriculture. In 1924 its share of the national income added up to only 35 per cent.In order to establish a single socialist economy all sectors had to be completely socialised. This meant pushing ahead with socialist industrialisation as rapidly as possible, i.e., giving priority to the heavy industry and thus re-equipping the entire economy, helping the country achieve economic independence and defending the gains of the October Revolution. Moreover, this meant reorganising agriculture along socialist lines by gradually turning petty-peasant ownership into co-operative ownership with the object of replacing the labour of individual peasants with collective labour which excludes exploitation of man by man. Capitalist elements had to be ousted completely from all branches of the economy.
Because of the bitter class struggle and the desperate resistance of the capitalist elements, it was extremely difficult to put an end to the multisectoral structure of the economy. However, towards the mid-thirties the socialist remaking of Soviet economy was, in the main, completed. This gave undivided supremacy to the socialist sector of economy.
In the countryside, too, the economy was socialised with the establishment of collective farms and artisans' and handicraftsmen's co-operatives.
Lenin had stressed that the most important prerequisite for the co-operative plan was to build a large-scale socialist industry capable of supplying agriculture with machines, and that it was of immense importance to correctly combine the personal and public interests of the peasants. His co-operative plan substantiated the need for a gradual transition from simple to more complex forms of agricultural co-operation, and showed that co-operatives were the simplest and most accessible form of cultural and political education of the peasants.
Collectivisation worked a real revolution in the countryside. It transformed the mode of life and labour of millions of peasants along socialist lines and consolidated the alliance between the working class and the peasantry. Large-scale collective-farm production opened up broad 11 prospects for the growth of the productive forces in the rural areas and increased the output of farming and animal husbandry.
The private-capitalist sector disappeared completely with the ousting of the capitalist elements from industry, trade and agriculture. All avenues for the emergence and restoration of capitalist relations of production and exploitation were thus closed. On the other hand, socialist ownership of the implements and means of production obtained a stable basis for reproduction and development. It became the foundation of the new social relations, changed the character of work and ensured the rapid growth of the productive forces.
The principal contradiction between young and developing socialism and defeated but not destroyed capitalism was thus eliminated, and socialist economy, which knows neither crises nor unemployment and brings a prosperous and cultured life to all people, became supreme in the U.S.S.R.
As a result of the dedicated work of the Soviet people, a socialist society, whose formation Lenin had outlined, now exists in the world.
The victory of socialism was legislatively recorded in the 1936 Soviet Constitution. It states that the economic foundation of the U.S.S.R. is the socialist system of economy and the socialist ownership of the instruments and means of production, that have been firmly established as a result of the abolition of the capitalist system of economy, private ownership of the instruments and means of production, and the exploitation of man by man.^^*^^
Upon the completion of socialist reforms in town and country socialism began developing on its own foundation, on the basis of large-scale modern industry and mechanised collective agriculture.
Two forms of socialist property. In socialist society all instruments and means of production are socialised.
In other words, the means of production are collectively owned by the people using them, and this completely rules _-_-_
^^*^^ Soviet law allows individual peasants and handicraftsmen to possess small private property but categorically forbids them to exploit the labour of others. For many years already the share of these households in the country's economy has been negligible, and in 1965 comprised only a few hundredths of one per cent.
12 out the possibility of one section of society turning them into a means of exploiting another.Under socialism there are two forms of social property. It is either state property (belonging to the whole people) or co-operative property (the property of collective farms or co-operative societies). These forms arose from the different attitude of the victorious working class to largescale private capitalist property and to the small property of peasants and handicraftsmen. While expropriating private capitalist properly, which is based on exploitation, the working class permits no coercion whatever with regard to petty goods producers.
The small private property of peasants and handicraftsmen was socialised as soon as they joined the collective farms and co-operatives.
State property is the more advanced and perfect form of socialist property, and is characterised by a higher level of socialisation.
It covers all key branches of economy and therefore occupies a leading place in the country's economy. In the U.S.S.R. nearly 90 per cent of the fixed assets of production are state property.
Initially, state socialist property appeared as a result of the nationalisation of large-scale industry, transport, and the banks, and the confiscation of the landed estates.^^*^^ But what has been confiscated from the bourgeoisie and the landowners comprises an insignificant part of the means of production possessed by the Soviet state.
Everything else was created by the working class and all other Soviet people in the period of socialist construction. In 1958--65 the state-owned means of production in industry have been doubled.
In the Soviet Union state property, that is, property belonging to the whole people, consists of the land, its mineral wealth, waters, forests, the factories and mines, rail, water and air transport facilities, means of communication, large state-organised agricultural establishments _-_-_
^^*^^ The establishment of slate property was initialed by the Soviet Government decrees on the nationalisation of land (November 8, 1917), banks (December 14, 1917), foreign trade (April 22, 1918) and large-scale capitalist industry (July 28, 1918).
13 (slate farms, repair and service stations, etc.), the bulk ol the housing in cities arid industrial localities.Through the appropriate agencies the state manages its enterprises on behalf of the whole people. All the means of production and Ihe output of these enterprises are the property of the people.
Every enterprise is headed by a director appointed by the state who organises its work in accordance with the oneman management system and is fully responsible for its condition and operation.
This does not imply that the workers and office personnel at factories, mines, state farms and building projects take no part in economic affairs. On the contrary, they prominently participate in managing production.
The statute on state enterprises passed in 1965 by the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. rules that, being a key link in the country's economy, a state enterprise operates under centralised management coupled with its own independent activity and initiative and the vigorous participation of its personnel in all production matters.
A self-supporting enterprise operating in conformity with its plan has to attain the best results with the minimum expenditure of labour, materials and financial resources. Its mass organisations and entire personnel participate in discussing and implementing measures to fulfil the state plan, develop and improve production and working conditions.
In capitalist countries the entire system of managing production is built in such a way as to prevent the workers from participating in the administration of capitalist economy. There the entire development of production is geared to amassing huge profits and enriching industrialists.
Work for the benefit of others and production as a force that is opposed to the worker cannot inspire the working man with creative interest, nor fill his work with a great spiritual content.
In socialist society, where the people possess not only political power but also all public wealth, the working people themselves guide the development of the economy.
Economic life, which in bourgeois countries is the sphere of activity of private capital, becomes a sphere of intense 14 public activity of millions of working people after the socialist revolution is accomplished.
``Under the bourgeois system,'' Lenin wrote, ``business matters were managed by private owners and not by state agencies; but now, business matters are our common concern. These are the politics that interest us most.''^^*^^
Management of socialist economy rests on profoundly democratic principles and on the active participation of the personnel in solving all important matters in the work of industrial enterprises.
It is implemented not only in the interests of the people, but by the people themselves. At the same time, centralised state control is improved simultaneously with the expansion of the forms of the people's participation in the management of production.
Production conferences function at state enterprises, which also organise technical and economic conferences as well as conferences of front-rank workers in order to discuss ways and means of furthering technical progress and the economic growth of the enterprises concerned and to map out measures to eliminate shortcomings.
At every state-run enterprise general meetings of workers and other employees are convened to hear and discuss the reports of the management on draft production plans and on how these plans have been fulfilled. Great importance is attached to collective agreements and to controlling the fulfilment of the commitments made under these agreements, as well as to production problems and to problems connected with the everyday life of members of the staff and with providing them with cultural and other services. The management reports on the fulfilment of the decisions passed at previous general meetings.
In this way one-man management is combined with the active participation of the workers in promoting production.
Now let us examine collective-farm and co-operative property. Collectively-owned property came into being when peasants and artisans voluntarily set up collective farms and other co-operatives in order to work collectively.
_-_-_^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 32, p. 430.
15Initially this form of property included the peasants' implements of production, which were socialised, i.e., became common property, when the peasants joined the collective farms. Later, however, this property was substantially increased thanks to the collective labour of the peasants, who received tremendous assistance from the socialist state in the form of machines, fertilisers, seeds, credits, and so forth.
All socialised enterprises of the collective farms and cooperatives with their livestock and dead stock, their output and commonly-owned structures comprise the socialist property of these collective farms and co-operatives.
No basic diii'erence exists between state and co-operative property. Both rule out exploitation and presuppose work for the benefit of all people. The socialist principle of remuneration according to the work done operates both at state enterprises and collective farms and their economy is managed according to a plan. Both forms of property open the road to a steady growth of socialist production and rise of the standard of living. Thus both are socialist forms of property.
At the same time, co-operative ownership has some features that distinguish it from state ownership.
To clarify this point let us examine what is meant by a collective farm. In the U.S.S.R. collective farms are large, highly mechanised socialist agricultural enterprises which are voluntary associations of peasants (collective farmers). In 1966 there were 37,100 collective farms in the country with over 15 million households. State enterprises hire their workers and other employees, whereas collective farmers are members of their collective farm. If a collective farmer wishes to move to another collective farm, he has to discontinue his membership at the old farm. All collective farmers work on state-owned land which is turned over to the collective farms free of charge for perpetual use. The right to perpetual use of land is set down in a deed issued to every collective farm. As regards the basic means of production and the output, they are the exclusive property of the collective farm concerned.
The collective farmers jointly own the collective farm to which they belong. The farm itself is managed by the general meeting of its members, and in the interim between 16 these meetings---by a board headed by a chairman elected at the meeting. Collective farms dispose of their produce at their own discretion. Part of this produce is sold to the stale by plan, another part is spent to enlarge the socialised economy and the rest is divided up among the collective farmers according to their work, which is measured by workday units. The collective farms and their members can market their surplus produce if they wish.
By selling their produce the collective farms replace their production outlays and receive cash which is used to purchase farm machinery, build production premises, clubs, schools, and so forth, systematically expand the economy and increase output.
In addition to its basic income from the collective farm, every member has a small plot of land, a subsidiary husbandry on this plot, a house, livestock, poultry and minor agricultural implements.
The collective farm household is a family association of persons based on the principle of labour. Its adult members contribute to the collective-farm socialised economy and in addition to this jointly conduct their small personal husbandry on a plot of land attached to their house. Naturally, the personal properly of the collective farmers cannot grow to the extent where il will hinder Ihe colleclive farmers from participation in social labour. That is why the Collective-Farm Rules slipulate the number of livestock a collective-farm family may possess. Subsidiary husbandries will outlive themselves economically and disappear on their own accord when the colleclive farms are able lo salisfy all the personal requirements of their members.
It has lo be borne in mind that as production associalions of peasants the collective farms arc components of Ihe economic structure of society and, at the same time, mass organisations that unite the peasants socially and politically. Collective farms are the principal media for politically educating the peasants and drawing them into the administration of state affairs. They are a school of communism for the peasantry. Mikhail Kalinin, who came of peasant stock and had a good knowledge of rural life, quite rightly said: ``Collective production is the foundation on which socialism is built up in the countryside. The __PRINTERS_P_17_COMMENT__ 2---3173 17 psychology of the people changes, and their outlook develops to the level of understanding first collective-farm and then state, socialist tasks.''^^*^^
The Soviet Government gives the collective farmers every incentive to increase output rapidly. The collective farms are receiving steadily increasing quantities of machinery, fertilisers and other supplies from state enterprises. More and more electric power is channelled to them from state power stations. The government is financing gigantic irrigation and reclamation projects for the collective farms.
It must be said that co-operative ownership is neither immutable nor eternal. It is gradually drawing close to stale ownership, and eventually these two forms will merge into a single communist ownership.
Furthermore, it is important to note that the transition to a single communist ownership does not mean that all collective farms will be reorganised into state farms. The gradual merging of the two forms of socialist ownership implies the all-round development of both state and collective-farm co-operative ownership. Practice shows that the latter form of ownership has not exhausted all its possibilities for further development.
The economic consolidation of the collective farms is accompanied by increased socialisation of collective-farm property and the greater supply of technical equipment to the collective farms.
Moreover, the distinctions between collective farms and state enterprises will gradually be erased in such fields as the forms of organisation, the level of payment for labour and social insurance for collective farmers. At collective farms rate setting, organisation of labour, payment for work, pensions and other benefits will approach the level of the state farms.
An important step in this respect was the establishment of guaranteed remuneration for labour at the collective farms in conformity with the wage scale operating at state farms.
All this enables the two forms of ownership existing today to draw closer to each other and subsequently to merge.
In socialist society there is personal property alongside socialised ownership of the means of production.
_-_-_^^*^^ M. I. Kalinin, Selected Works, Russ. ed., Vol. 2, 1960, p. 588.
18This property is derived from public, socialist property, for it is acquired by people through participation in social production. Thus, it is obtained through personal labour and can consist solely of items of personal use.
Planned economic development. Socialist economy is an integral organism whose development is guided by a single will. Resting on public ownership of the means of production and on Ihe underslanding of the social laws of economic development, socialist society plans the development of social production. A key objective law of socialist production is that of planned, proportionate economic development. This law is mirrored in state economic plans, whose cardinal objective is to increase the nation's wealth, steadily raise the material and cultural level of the people and strengthen the independence and defence capacity of the U.S.S.R.
In the U.S.S.R. planning is strictly scientific. Carefully assessing all available resources and potentialities and proceeding from the tasks facing the country, the planning agencies---the U.S.S.R. State Planning Committee (GOSPLAN), republican state planning commissions and the planning commissions attached to the executive committees of the local Soviets draw up long-term (five-year) and annual economic plans. GOSPLAN determines the correct proportions of economic growth in the country as a whole and indicates the reserves for rapidly boosting production and the welfare of the population. Millions of people take part in drafting and discussing these plans.
Planned economic development enables the government to manage the economy effectively on a country-wide scale, to establish optimum proportions and rationally site productive forces, and to save material, labour and financial resources.
The new system of planning and economic stimulation which is being realised in the U.S.S.R. is of great importance for its economic development plans. This system reflects the changed conditions of socialist economic management and the increased scale of modern production, qualitative changes in its pattern and the requirements of the revolution in science and technology.
Being consistently socialist by its nature, the new economic reform involves a new attitude to economic __PRINTERS_P_19_COMMENT__ 2* 19 management. Its purpose is to strengthen the role of economic methods of guidance, to improve state planning and extend the economic independence and initiative of the enterprises.
The economic reform also stimulates the activity of the masses, enhances their role in running production and con tributes to the further economic growth of the country.
Centralised planning combined with the participation of the people in managing production and in drafting and discussing economic development plans allows making the most effective use of the advantages of the socialist system of economy.
An economic development plan establishes the quantity and type of products for every industry, states what new enterprises have to be built and names the sites, and determines the number of skilled workers that have to be trained. It sets the targets for the growth of labour productivity and reduction of production costs, and outlines what has to be done in order to achieve a further rise of the living standard and cultural level of the people. It ensures the creation of state reserves of fuel, metals, machines, food, raw materials and money. These reserves are needed to offset breakdowns in the fulfilment of the plan and cover unforeseen expenditures (for instance, in case of natural calamities) and other extraordinary circumstances.
The activity of every enterprise is subordinated to the fulfilment of the state plan targets. Lately the list of planned indexes handed down to enterprises has been substantially cut, thus permitting them to show more initiative. At the same time, new indexes have been introduced in order to speed up production and improve its quality. Previously, for example, there was an index for the volume of gross output, that is, every enterprise had to turn out goods worth a definite sum. This index, however, did not orientate an enterprise towards commodities that were most needed by the national economy and the people nor towards manufacturing high-quality goods. That is why enterprises arc handed down targets defining not the volume of gross output, but the quantity of goods they have to sell. Moreover, the plan defines the type of goods to be produced, the profits and some other indexes. This provides the economic foundation for scientific and technological progress, 20 improving the quality of the output and strictly observing the policy of stringent economy.
On the basis of the state plan every enterprise draws up its own technological production and financial plan, envisaging a definite volume of output, the installation of new plant, modernisation (or renewal) of operating equipment, and an improvement of technological processes, methods of work and the quality of the output.
Collective farms likewise draw up annual and long-term plans determining the size of the crop area and the yield of every crop, the growth of the commonly-owned livestock, the productivity level of this livestock, the outlay of manpower and financial resources, the volume of building, the distribution of incomes and other indexes.
The production and financial plans of the collective farms take the unconditional fulfilment of the collective farms' commitments to the state into consideration and provide for a further expansion of their socialised economies, introduction of modern farming methods, improved labour organisation, higher labour productivity, and raising the standard of living and the cultural level of the collective farmers.
But the drafting of a plan is only the initial stage. No plan can envisage all the potentialities of the socialist system which are disclosed only in the process of work, in the course of the creative activity of the people. The creative labour of all members of society brings to light new reserves and results in the fulfilment and overfulfilment of the plannned targets.
Immense importance is also attached to regularly checking up on the fulfilment of plans and commitments. These checks, in which the public participates, prevent deviations from the plan and ensure precise, systematic and uninterrupted fulfilment of production targets and of the commitments given to the state.
Soviet achievements in fulfilling economic development plans arc widely known. The first of these was Lenin's plan, adopted in 1920, for the electrification of Russia.
The Soviet Union has been carrying out five-year plans since 1928. A little less than 40 years have passed from the time the first of these plans was adopted and the first steps were made to build the economic foundation of socialism. All told, the Soviet Union has fulfilled seven five-year plans.
21Every plan was a triumph of the Soviet people, a heroic stage in the development of Soviet society and a landmark in the building of socialism and communism.
The current (eighth) five-year plan for 1966--70 envisages large-scale economic tasks. In this period the material and technical basis of communism will be considerably enlarged, the economic and defence potential of the U.S.S.R. expanded, and Soviet society will make considerable headway in building communism.
The main economic task of the next five years is to secure a further considerable growth of industry and high stable rates of agricultural development through the utmost utilisation of scientific and technical achievements, enhance the efficiency of all social production, achieve higher labour productivity and thereby substantially raise the standard of living and more fully satisfy the material and cultural requirements of all Soviet people.
The targets of the five-year plan have not been set arbitrarily. They are based on the sum total of experience gained in building the new society, and on a profound scientific analysis of the objective trends and requirements of the social and economic development of Soviet society today.
Soviet successes in planning and promoting economic development prove that Soviet society is still better applying the law of planned, proportionate development in practice.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. CLASS STRUCTURE OF THE U.S.S.R.Society without exploiters. Soviet society provides a striking example of friendly co-operation between workers, peasants and intellectuals, and of the entire nation's sociopolitical and ideological unity.
A new class structure has taken shape in the U.S.S.R. as a result of the economic and social reforms that were carried out in the period of transition from capitalism to socialism.
The exploiter classes, i.e., landowners, capitalists and kulaks, have been abolished. In 1913, the landowners, the urban bourgeoisie and the kulaks with their families comprised 16.3 per cent of the population, but in 1928 the 22 exploiters accounted for only 4.6 per cent and consisted mainly of kulaks, whose economic and political positions began to crumble when the peasants took the path of socialist development.
In some parts of the country the kulaks fiercely resisted collectivisation and organised acts of terrorism against collective-farm activists. The Soviet Government, therefore, had to take decisive measures to crush this resistance.
Mass collectivisation completely eliminated the kulaks as a class. This, of course, does not mean that they were physically exterminated. Collectivisation did away with the social and economic conditions that had permitted them to exploit the peasant poor and farm labourers.
Thus, in the course of the struggle for socialism a great social problem was solved, namely, an end was put to the exploiter classes and to the causes breeding exploitation.
Two friendly classes, the working class and the peasantry, remained in the U.S.S.R.
These far-reaching changes in the class structure of Soviet society were legislatively embodied in the 1936 Soviet Constitution, which declares (Article 1) that the U.S.S.R. is a socialist state of workers and peasants.
In the period of socialist construction these classes, too, underwent substantial changes.
In the U.S.S.R. the working class can no longer be called a proletariat in the content given to it in capitalist countries, where it is denied the instruments and means of production and bears the yoke of capitalist exploitation.
With the abolition of private capitalist ownership and exploitation, the Soviet working class became a totally new class, in fact, the first of its kind in history.
The peasants have likewise changed radically. They were freed from exploitation by landowners and kulaks, and individual labour was replaced by collective work at modern mechanised collective farms. Thanks to a community of features, the two forms of socialist ownership have brought the working class and the collective-farm peasantry closer together, consolidated their alliance and made their friendship indestructible.
A new, people's intelligentsia, utterly loyal to socialism, has emerged.
Present-day Soviet society consists exclusively of work--
__PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__
23
THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF THE POPULATION BEFORE AND
AFTER THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION
(per cent)
TSARIST RUSSIA-1913
U.S.S.R.-1939
(ejicjud.ing Western Ukraine and Western Byelorussia)
49,7
46 9
Individual peasants and handicraftsmen
Other sections of the population
[24]
__PARAGRAPH_CONT__
ing people engaged in various branches of economy and
culture. There is, therefore, every reason for saying that
the U.S.S.K. is a country which is ruled by the working
people.
The U.S.S.K. has completely, abolished the age old class hierarchy, i.e., the system under which one class dominated other classes.
All classes and social strata are equal in their relationship to the means of production, which no one can appropriate for the purpose of exploiting other people.
Likewise, there are no social or political privileges or restrictions for any section of the population.
Socialist society ensures the immutability of the principles of social equality and justice in all spheres of life.
In any bourgeois country it is enough for a person to be born into a banker's or an industrialist's family to occupy a high place in society without any effort on his part. On the other hand, with a few exceptions, it is almost impossible for a worker's or a small farmer's son to climb out of poverty.
Under socialism, a person's place in life is determined by his personal abilities, knowledge, industriousncss and education, and not by his social origin or standing.
Respect and fame, likewise, are not the monopoly of individual classes, for in the Soviet Union a person rises to fame only as a result of his work, his social origin or property status playing no role at all.
Soviet workers, peasants and intellectuals have the same vital interests and this is the foundation of their indestructible social, political and ideological unity.
Inasmuch as all classes and sections of the population in the U.S.S.R. consist of working people and are connected with socialist ownership of one and the same type, the relations between them arc completely free of antagonisms. Their interests coincide on all key issues. Socialist society has none of the class contrasts or antagonistic contradictions arising from the interests of exploiting and exploited classes and from the struggle between them.
The workers, peasants and intellectuals are equally interested in economic growth, consolidating the socialist system and promoting democracy and culture.
In this way, under socialism, the eternal struggle of the classes has given way to their solidarity and unity.
25The social, political and ideological unity of the whole Soviet people is one of the greatest gains of the Soviet Union.
This unity is a qualitatively new state of society in which not individuals but the whole people have set themselves a definite aim and are working to achieve it.
This aim is the building of communism.
The above, however, does not imply that all social and class distinctions have disappeared in the Soviet Union.
In order to make away with classes completely, Lenin said, it is imperative to abolish not only ``all private ownership of the means of production, it is necessary to abolish the distinctions between town and country, as well as the distinctions between manual workers and brain workers''.^^*^^
Classes---workers and collective-farm peasants---will continue to exist in the U.S.S.R. in the period of communist construction as well. These are friendly classes united by a single socialist system of economy and enjoying equal rights.
The distinctions between them are due to the existence of two forms of socialist ownership of the means of production and are manifested in the different organisation and remuneration of the labour of workers and peasants, in the different distribution and realisation of their production and in the different management of state enterprises and collective farms.
In the course of communist construction all distinctions between the working class and the peasantry, and between these two classes and the intelligentsia are being steadily erased. This is actively furthered by the policy of the socialist state.
The Soviet working class. In socialist society the leading role is played by the working class. The Soviet worker has inherited the finest qualities of the revolutionary proletariat. Profoundly devoted to the ideals of the Party, he is a politically-conscious fighter for the people's cause and the creator of the traditions in labour and life which bring us closer to communism. The workers building communism today are worthy successors of the proletarians who fought at the barricades in the Krasnaya Presnya District in _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 29, p. 421.
26 Moscow and stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd, and of the heroes of the first five-year plans from whom the present working class has taken over the baton of revolution. The Soviet working class is a new class in world history. Under capitalism the proletariat is a class of hired workers denied instruments and means of production and has to sell its labour power.In tsarist Russia the proletariat lived in particularly difficult conditions. It was mercilessly exploited and suffered life-long poverty. But as a result of the October Socialist Revolution, the working class together with the whole people became the owner of the instruments and means of production and assumed the leading role in society. This is manifested in all spheres of economic, political and cultural activity. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union, whose nucleus consists of workers, is the spokesman of the working class. The vanguard of the whole people, the C.P.S.U. unites in its ranks the foremost section of the working class, the peasants and the intelligentsia. But the Party's policy and ideology continue to express the stand of the working class which is the principal force in the building of a new world.
The leading role of the working class is determined by the fact that through its labour it is connected with the most advanced form of socialist ownership, i.e., public ownership.
The working class is also the principal exponent of communist ideology. Among workers there are incomparably fewer survivals of proprietory psychology and much stronger traditions of socialist mutual assistance and comradely solidarity. It is not accidental, therefore, that the working class initiates the most advanced movements with the purpose of promoting communist forms of labour, fulfilling plans ahead of schedule and furthering economic and cultural development.
However, the fact that the working class plays the leading role does not give it any privileges or advantages over the rest of the people. This leading role does not rest on exclusive rights acquired at the expense of other classes or social strata. It is based on the high moral and political prestige enjoyed by the working class, which is the most advanced and most highly organised force of Soviet 27 society. The working class will have fulfilled its role as leader of society when communism is built and when class distinctions are completely eradicated.
The Soviet working class is growing and its professional and cultural level is rising rapidly. By I960, the number of workers increased twofold as compared with the pre-war period.
This numerical growth is due to the steady influx of new workers---young men and women just out of school, the manpower released in the countryside as a result of mechanisation in agriculture, as well as housewives, members of collective-farm families working on subsidiary plots of land, and pensioners who are drawn into social production.
Statistics attest also to its unremitting qualitative and numerical growth. The number of industrial workers has increased 2.5 times as compared with the pre-war period. At the same time there has been a considerable rise in the number of building, transport and state-farm workers. More and more people are being drawn primarily into the engineering, mctalworking, iron and steel, and chemical and other key industries. The composition of the industrial workers in the U.S.S.R. mirrors an important aspect of Soviet economy, namely, the priority development of the leading heavy industries.
Most of the new workers, particularly young people, have either an eight-year or secondary polytechnical education. This enables them to master mechanised and automated production more rapidly. At present, about 50 per cent of the workers have an incomplete or complete secondary education. This figure is higher in the metallurgical, engineering, chemical, printing and publishing and many other industries. This is a great achievement, for it will be recalled that some 42 years ago, in 1926, only 1.5 per cent of the manual workers in industry had a secondary or incomplete secondary education.
There are industrial enterprises which arc virtually technical colleges that have become centres training engineers from among the workers. At these enterprises theoretical instruction alternates with practical training: while part of the students attend theoretical studies, others are engaged in practical work. A week later they switch 28 roles and this process continues until the study course is completed.
The Likhachev Auto Works in Moscow became a factorycollege in 1960 with two departments (automobile and mechanical-technological) having 10 chairs and a staff of more than 60 instructors. Future engineers are transferred three or four times from shop to shop during the 6-year course, depending on the subject they arc studying at the time.
When Vyacheslav Vclovin came lo the Likhachev Works he was given the opportunity to study and became first a foundryman and then a moulder-experimenter. After that he was promoted to foreman, and in 1966 he became a fullfledged research engineer.
The technical college at the Auto Works has more than 2,100 students. All of them receive 50 per cent of their monthly wages and 50 per cent of a scholarship grant, which is 15 per cent higher than the grants received by students at conventional institutions of higher learning.
S. I. Vorotnikov, leader of a composite team of miners in Lugansk, spoke of the rising cultural and technical level of the Soviet working class at the 23rd Congress of the C.P.S.U. He said:
``The life of the working man has become interesting and purposeful. More than ever before people have become eager to improve their knowledge and cultural level. In my team the average age is 36 and almost all of us are studying. Three of my comrades and I, for example, are second-course students at the evening department of a mining and metallurgical institute, ten others are studying at a mining technical school, and 45 at a school for young workers. Besides giving them a broader mental outlook and enabling them lo provide technically sound solutions to many production problems, this completely changes their way of life, gives them a greater sense of responsibility and makes them more exacting towards themselves.''
A characteristic feature of the Soviet working class is the constant growth of skilled workers and the gradual disappearance of unskilled and unmcchanised labour. By 1959, as compared with 1926, the number of instrument makers, moulders and mechanics increased 21--23 limes, while the total number of metalworkers 29 increased 9 times. In this period the number of lathe and automatic line operators and electricians rose almost 65 times. At the same time, many trades connected with unskilled labour have disappeared altogether. For instance, excavating machines have completely replaced navvies who had previously dug canals, foundation pits for buildings, and so forth.
Significant changes have also taken place in the territorial distribution of the working class. The Leninist nationalities policy has stimulated the rapid economic development of the backward non-Russian regions, which have built new factories, electric power stations, roads and railways, and new industries and are industrially exploiting their mineral wealth. All this, naturally, promoted the formation of the working class in these areas. By 1959, the total number of workers in the U.S.S.R. increased 81 per cent as compared with 1940, while in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Moldavia the corresponding increases were 200 per cent, 100 per cent and over 200 per cent respectively.
As a result, all the nationalities of the U.S.S.R. are broadly represented in the working class.
The changes in the numerical and professional composition of the working class, in its educational and cultural training as well as in its territorial distribution are greatly helping it to fulfil its role as the leading class of society and the decisive force in the building of communism.
Soviet peasantry. In pre-Revolution Russia the word village was a synonym of stagnation, ignorance and poverty. Russian literature vividly portrayed the bitter and hopeless lot of the peasants in the long years of tsarist autocracy and the rule of the landowners and capitalists. Being a class of small producers loosely connected with one another, the peasants dragged out a miserable existence on their tiny plots of land. Rural life bred extreme cultural backwardness.
Under Soviet rule, as a result of collectivisation and the cultural revolution, the countryside has changed beyond recognition and the peasants have become a totally new class, qualitatively differing from the pre-revolutionary peasantry.
For the first time in world practice the peasants in the U.S.S.R. broke with private property and bound up their 30 labour with public socialist property, with the collectivefarm system. The bulk of the peasants are farmers working collectively and employing large numbers of machines. Together with the working class and the working intelligentsia they are vigorously building communism.
In the Soviet Union the words ``collective farmer" are pronounced with deep respect. Solidly united with the working class, the collective farmers are a considerable political force in Soviet society.
Thanks to the advantages of the collective-farm system, the peasants' way of life has completely changed.
The traditional Russian thatched hut is now a thing of the past. Comfortable houses with modern conveniences, including electricity and running water, are built in all villages. Most families own radio receivers and TV sets. For collective farms architects have designed standard villages with large social centres, secondary schools, shops, cafes, and the like. Illiteracy has been wiped out in the countryside and the peasants' cultural level has risen tremendously.
In pre-Revolution Russia only three persons per 1,000 of the rural population had an education above the elementary school level. In 1965, the corresponding figure was 300. At present 31 per cent of the collective farmers have a secondary education. Previously there was one teacher in a rural district consisting of several villages. In the countryside today there are 400,000 specialists, including agronomists, veterinary surgeons, zootechnicians, engineers, bookkeepers, teachers and doctors.
Books and newspapers have become part and parcel of the life of the peasants, and the development of the TV system has brought Moscow with its theatres, picture galleries and other cultural facilities to many remote farming areas.
There is yet another factor of no small importance. Before collectivisation smiths were the only representatives of industrial labour in the countryside, and even they were artisans. The peasant had to perform all jobs himself. Now, every collective farm has dozens of its own specialists, and the important thing is that many of them have industrial trades.
31Many collective farmers have become tractor drivers and combine operators, mechanics, drivers and electricians and have mastered numerous industrial trades.
Sociological investigations conducted in a Stavropol Region collective farm disclosed that it had specialists in 60 fields. Moreover, of its 202 machine operators, 117 were experts in two or three allied trades, and 35 had four and even five trades.
The collective-farm system led to a rapid rise of the peasants' cultural level and considerably broadened their mental outlook. It drew them into active public life and gave them an incentive to work efficiently for the benefit of their own collective farm and the country as a whole.
Collectivisation helped the individual peasant to overcome his egoism and seclusiveness. These were the features that the literature of the past often described as being intrinsic in peasants.
The advantages of the collective-farm system may be illustrated on the example of the work and standard of living of the members of the Novy Shlyakh Collective Farm, Chernigov Region. Before the Revolution the peasants of a village aptly named Peski (Sands) situated in a wooded district lived in dire poverty. The sandy podzol soil, cultivated with primitive implements, yielded not more than three or four hundred kilograms of grain and 5 tons of potatoes per hectare.
After setting up a collective farm, the peasants of that village received farm machines and fertilisers which permitted them to go over to advanced farming methods. Today they can boast of rich harvests. In 1965, the per hectare yield at the collective farm was 2.87 tons of grain, 22.8 tons of potatoes and 0.6 tons of flax. The monthly income of the members averages 70 rubles, while the earnings of livestock-breeders average 140--150 rubles a month.
The collective farmers are well oil' and their cultural level has risen immeasurably. Before the Revolution the only literate person here was the village priest. Today it would be hard to find an illiterate person in the village, while 30 people have a higher education. The village itself has changed: 80 per cent of the farm members live in new houses and there are a palace of culture seating 500 and a museum of local lore.
32This village is by no means an exception. The Now Shlyakh Collective Farm is one of many prosperous collective farms in Chernigov Region. In other regions there arc many bigger and richer collective farms.
As we have already mentioned, industrial development in the U.S.S.R. leads to a rapid growth of the working class. In agriculture, however, the opposite is taking place. Although gross agricultural output is rising, the number of agricultural workers (particularly collective farmers) among the gainfully employed population of the country is diminishing.
The Soviet peasants master the latest machinery, raise labour productivity and improve their living and cultural standards. This is due primarily to the large-scale use of machines in agriculture and the employment of improved methods of work. Mechanisation makes it possible substantially to reduce the number of people engaged in farming, whose services are required in other branches of the economy.
People who are released from work in agriculture quickly find employment in industrial enterprises, building projects, and so forth. The working peasantry is a true and tested ally of the working class. With the completion of socialist construction this alliance, in which the leading role is played by the working class, has become still stronger. It has developed into a lasting friendship, for the relationship between these classes is founded on socialist production. The alliance of the working class and collective-farm peasantry, forged in their joint effort in the building of a new life, is a mighty force stimulating social progress.
The further development of Soviet society presupposes the all-round consolidation of this alliance which is of decisive political, social and economic importance for Unbuilding of communism in the U.S.S.R.
Soviet intellifjenlsia. The intelligentsia comprises a large section of socialist society.
It is neither part of the working class nor of the peasantry. Nor is it a special class, for it does not occupy an independent position in social production.
The Soviet intelligentsia is not a closed social stratum. It is a genuinely people's intelligentsia, flesh of the flesh of the workers and peasants. It serves the people and thus __PRINTERS_P_33_COMMENT__ 3---3173 33 not only raises the cultural standard of society as a whole but also spiritually enriches the work of the intellectuals themselves.
As soon as Soviet rule was established, a new intelligentsia began to be moulded by re-educating the old intellectuals and training new ones from among workers and peasants.
In 1926, when socialist industrialisation was starled, the Soviet Union had slightly more than 2,500,000 mental workers. In 1961 their number exceeded 27,000,000, i.e., more than 20 per cent of the gainfully employed population.
In contrast to capitalist countries, where intellectuals are primarily people from the privileged classes, such as the bourgeoisie, landowners, merchants, and so forth, the vast majority of the Soviet intelligentsia are people who have come from workers or collective farmers. Typical in this respect are the replies to the questionnaire circulated among the engineering and technical personnel at the Pervouralsk Tube Factory in 1966. They showed that 44.4 per cent of those questioned had come from workers' families, 25.6 per cent were of peasant stock, 24.3 per cent from families of non-specialist office employees and 5.7 per cent from the families of specialists.
A questionnaire conducted in the spring of 1966 among 100 leading members of the staff at the Urals Shoe Factory disclosed that 49 had come from workers' families, 41 from peasant families and 10 from the families of office employees.
The intelligentsia is growing faster than any other section of Soviet society due to the rapid technical progress and the rising cultural and technical level of the working people. In 1966 alone, the Soviet economy received over a million specialists, of whom 432,900 were university or college graduates and 685,000 had finished special secondary schools.
Today the Soviet Union trains more engineering and technical personnel than any other country in the world.
A huge number of young people are trained for scientific and cultural work, particularly for schools, medical institutions, libraries, children's institutions, and so on.
34Special mention should be made of the growth of scientific personnel. In 1914, tsarist Russia had a little more than 10,000 scientific workers, whereas today there are more than 712,000. Of course, the level of science in the U.S.S.R. cannot be measured exclusively by the number of scientists and scientific institutions in the country. It is determined primarily by the achievements of Soviet scientists, which are great indeed. The fact that Soviet science had ushered in a new epoch in the development of world civilisation, inaugurated the exploration of outer space, and vividly demonstrated the economic and technical might of the U.S.S.R., is common knowledge.
The 1966--70 five-year plan provides for a further growth of scientific and cultural personnel, particularly in the previously less developed regions---Siberia, the Soviet Far East, Kazakhstan and the Central Asian republics. Siberia is becoming major scientific centre and the Siberian Division of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences is functioning successfully in Novosibirsk.
The improvement of the territorial distribution of scientific institutions and higher educational establishments has further boosted scientific and technical development in all the Union Republics. Soviet scientists are concentrating on vital scientific problems, accelerating to the maximum scientific and technical progress, speeding up the introduction of scientific achievements into national economy and ensuring high rates of growth of labour productivity.
Communist construction gives the intellectuals wider scope for applying their knowledge and skill in designing new machines, the managing production, education and bringing up young builders of communist society, and promoting of culture, science, literature and art.
Growth of Soviet society's social homogeneity. All classes that had come to power at one time or another had tried to perpetuate their rule. The working class is the only class which does not pursue this goal. After winning power it guides the development of society towards the eradication of all class distinctions.
At a congress of transport workers in 1921, Lenin spoke of a poster with the words ``The workers and peasants will reign for ever''. The designers of the poster wanted to underline that the rule of workers and peasants was durable __PRINTERS_P_35_COMMENT__ 3* 35 and stable. But evidently they did not slop to think whether there would always be the classes of workers and peasants. Lenin explained that communism is a society which will have no classes or class distinctions and, consequently, it will have no working class.
Of course, the erasure of class and social distinctions is a gradual and long process though an inevitable one. Characteristic of Soviet society in present-day conditions is its growing social homogeneity. Indeed, in contrast to the capitalist countries, where the rift between the ruling circles and the rest of the people is deepening, the distinctions between the Soviet working class, the collective-farm peasantry and the intelligentsia are gradually being obliterated. In the U.S.S.R. the obliteration of class and social distinctions is proceeding along two principal lines. One is connected with the development and the drawing together of collective-farm and state property, with the changing character of agricultural work which is now highly mechanised and with the eradication of the distinctions between the living standard and working conditions of the collective-farm peasantry and industrial workers.
In this connection immense significance is attached to the gradual introduction of guaranteed monthly remuneration for labour at the collective farms and giving collective farmers equal pension rights with factory and office workers. The measures planned for 1966--70 will make it possible lo bring the standard of living of the rural and urban population closer to each other and at the same time to raise the general standard of living Ihroughout the country. The accent in this field is on housing programmes, town planning, the building of cultural establishments, the developmenl of public ulilities and large-scale electrification of the countryside.
Another contributing factor is the gradual obliteration of the distinctions between manual and menial labour. In olher words, as regards the nature of their labour, industrial workers and collective farmers are drawing closer to specialists and office workers. The chief aspect of this process is that industrial workers and collective farmers are rising lo Ihe level of engineers, economists, scientists, cultural workers and other intellectuals.
36Today there are many young workers in the Soviet Union who have fully mastered complex production techniques and, while continuing their studies, have reached the level of qualified engineers and technicians. The further growth of industrial efficiency, the introduction of comprehensive mechanisation and the installation of automatic lines and compulors will increase the number of young workers whose educational level is very close to that of engineers and technicians.
When we speak of the obliteration of social distinctions, we cannot by-pass the fact that in the Soviet Union very many working people are moving from one social stratum to another. It has become commonplace for the children of industrial workers and collective farmers to become scientists or specialists in various fields of knowledge.
To illustrate this point let us compare the social composition of students at institutions of higher learning in the U.S.S.R. and some capitalist countries.
In the U.S.S.R. 58 per cent of the university and college students are children of industrial workers or peasants, while in the U.S.A., the Federal Republic of Germany and France the corresponding figures are f> per cent, 5.1 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively.
These figures describe the situation so eloquently that no special comment is required. Moreover, they convincingly show that Soviet society neither has nor can have a privileged section. Afler graduating from an institute of higher learning children of industrial workers and peasants occupy leading posts in the state apparatus and in the economy.
It is easy for a Soviet citizen to change his social status, lie may be a rank-and-file worker or peasant today, and, after completing his education, an engineer, agronomist or scientist tomorrow.
Many families provide striking examples of Ihe growing social homogeneity of Soviet society. Quite often a family consists of working people of various social groups, including manual and mental workers.
The closer the workers, peasants, office workers and specialists draw together as regards the standard of living, education, way of life and public activity, the easier and more naturally they move from one social group to another.
37Progress and the drawing together of the material and cultural standards of the working people lead to a further merging of all social groups.
The consolidation of the political and ideological unity and social homogeneity of Soviet society is an essential and law-governed process.
Communism will be a classless society. The social, economic and cultural distinctions between town and country will disappear. Mental and manual labour will merge organically.
The intelligentsia will cease to be a special stratum and the cultural and professional level of the manual workers will rise to that of mental workers. All this will make it possible to put an end to the division of society into classes and secure complete social equality for all citizens.
``Communism,'' the Programme of the C.P.S.U. says, ``is a classless social system with one form of public ownership of the means of production and full social equality of all members of society; under it, the all-round development of people will be accompanied by the growth of the productive forces through continuous progress of science and technology; all the springs of co-operative wealth will flow more abundantly, and the great principle 'From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs' will be implemented.''^^*^^
Communist construction raises the co-operation of the classes and social groups of Soviet society to a new level. Working shoulder to shoulder they create the material basis of communism, improve social relations and consolidate the moral, political and ideological unity of the people.
_-_-_^^*^^ The Road to Communism, p. 509.
[38] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER II __ALPHA_LVL1__ THE NATIONAL STATE SYSTEM AS A FORMSocialist democracy has been most strikingly embodied in the solution of the national question, which is one of the most complex problems of social development.
In the Soviet Union there are more than 130 nations and nationalities, or more than in any other country, and, naturally, it was vital to find the correct solution to the national question.
On the eve of the Great October Socialist Revolution tsarist Russia had a population of a little over 159 million, of whom 43 per cent were Russians.
The peoples of Russia had reached different levels of development. The regions inhabited by non-Russian peoples were virtually colonies or semi-colonies. With the help of the army and the reactionary elements, particularly the feudal and tribal nobility, comprising the upper strata of the backward peoples, tsarism deliberately preserved patriarchal and feudal relations in these regions. For example, the Kirghiz, Kalmyks, Turkmen, the northern nationalities and many other peoples lived in patriarchally ruled clans and had no written language of their own. Forced to live in the steppes, tundra, forests and mountains far away from towns, many of these peoples were ruthlessly oppressed by traders, priests and tsarist officials, and were doomed to hunger, poverty, disease and gradual extinction.
The tsarist government stirred national strife, encouraging certain nations to enslave others. It forcibly Russified 39 the non-Russian peoples and smashed all rudiments of national statehood, crushing everything that was progressive and keeping the people in darkness and ignorance. Tsarist Russia i'ully deserved the name of the ``prison of peoples''.
Led by the Communist Party the working class denounced the tsarist autocracy's home policy of disuniting peoples and allowing one nation to oppress another, and raised the question of emancipating the non-Russian peoples and granting them equal rights.
The Party consistently upheld the well-known Marxist tenet that ``no nation can be free when it oppresses other nations''.^^*^^
On the national question, the demands of the proletariat and other working people were:
(1) the granting to all nations the right to self-- determination and independent state existence;
(2) abolition of all forms of coercion with regard to nationalities;
(3) recognition of the equality and sovereignly of the peoples in deciding their own future;
(4) recognition of the proposition that a stable union of peoples can be achieved only through co-operation and on a voluntary basis;
(5) proclamation of the fact that such a union can be achieved only through the overthrow of capitalist rule.
These demands played a revolutionising role as a factor leading to the establishment of a firm alliance between the workers and peasants of all nationalities for the overthrow of tsarism and capitalism.
On the question of the national states for the peoples of Russia, Leninism holds that every nation has to decide the question of its state existence in conformity with its specific tasks and interests and has the right to self-determination up to and including secession and the formation of an independent state.
This solution fully conformed to the principles of proletarian internationalism and international solidarity of the working people, for, as Lenin said, without freedom of secession there can be no freedom of accession, nor genuine unity between nations.
_-_-_^^*^^ K. Marx and F. Engels, Works, 2nd Russ. ed., Vol. 18, p. 509.
40Nations can exercise their right to self-determination in one or another way at any lime with due account for Ihe concrete conditions. Every nation itself has to decide its own destiny and choose its own stale system. Absolute freedom in making this choice underlies the principle of respect for the national independence and sovereignty of ever}' nation.
A nation has the right to become autonomous and thereby exercise state power within the framework of a given state and within the limits determined by that state; it has the right to establish its own national state and, preserving certain sovereign rights, enter into federal relations with other nations; finally, it has the right to secede and set up its own national sovereign state.
At the same lime Marxists have always clearly distinguished between the right of nations to self-determination and the advisability of secession at one time or another. The right to secession does not, of course, envisage that a nation must necessarily exercise this right and that secession is always advisable.
Lenin believed that the more democratic a republic is the mightier will be the force attracting other nations to join such a republic voluntarily, and that the more democracy a country enjoys the greater will be the freedom of the nationalities inhabiting il and the less will be Ihe danger of such a country disintegrating.^^*^^ To offset nationalism, which was sowing discord among nations, the proletariat guided by the Communist Party worked for self-determination for all nations in order to fuse the working people of those nations in the struggle against their common class enemy.
The October Revolution uprooted all forms of social and national oppression in Russia. It opened the road for the political and economic development of all nationalities and made the formerly downtrodden peoples genuinely free and equal.
Lenin's nationalities programme began to be implemented as soon as the October Revolution triumphed.
In its first acts---the Appeal to Workers, Soldiers and Peasants, and the Decree on Peace---adopted at the Second All-Russia Congress of Soviets on November 7 and 8, 1917, _-_-_
^^*^^ See Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 22, p. 146; Vol. 24, p. 73.
41 the Soviet Government declared that it was imperative for all the belligerents to conclude peace forthwith without the seizure of foreign land or forcible incorporation of foreign nations, and that it guaranteed ``all the nations inhabiting Russia the genuine right to self-determination''.^^*^^On December 19, 1917, the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree announcing its recognition of the state sovereignty of the Ukraine and on December 25, 1917, the All-Ukraine Congress of Soviets proclaimed the Ukraine a Soviet Socialist Republic. The Congress expressed the will of all workers and peasants in their republic by establishing a close union with Soviet Russia.
The independence of the Finnish Republic, which was part of tsarist Russia, and the free self-determination of Turkish Armenia, were proclaimed soon afterwards.
A week after the October armed uprising and the seizure of power by the Soviets, the first Soviet Government headed by Lenin published its Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia, which proclaimed the basic principles of the Soviet nationalities policy, namely, equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia; the right of the peoples of Russia to free self-determination, up to and including secession and the formation of independent states; the abolition of all forms of national and national-religious privileges and restrictions; and the free development of the national minorities and ethnic groups inhabiting Russia.
The Third All-Russia Congress of Soviets (January 23--31, 1918) summed up the initial results of the extensive work that had been carried out to form the Soviet state and passed the Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People, which was drawn up by Lenin. This Declaration pointed out that the Soviet Russian Republic was being founded on the basis of a free union of free nations, as a federation of Soviet national republics.
In an inspired speech at the Congress Lenin uttered the following prophetic words: ``I am profoundly convinced that more and more diverse federations of free nations will group themselves around revolutionary Russia. This _-_-_
^^*^^ Decrees of Soviet Government, Russ. eel., Moscow, 1957, Vol. 1, p. 8.
42 federation is invincible and will grow quite freely, without the help of lies or bayonets.''^^*^^But many factors prevented the immediate establishment of a federation of Soviet peoples.
With the victory of the October Revolution, Soviet power fulfilled the primary task of its nationalities policy by emancipating the peoples that had been oppressed by tsarism. Soon afterwards the Soviet republics were attacked by foreign interventionists and their whiteguard henchmen. But in hard-fought battles the Soviet state upheld the gains of the Revolution.
It also required time for the liberated nations, who were establishing independent states, to become convinced by their own experience of the necessity of forming such a political alliance within the framework of a single federal state, the first of its kind in history. Moreover, the working people of the different nationalities had to be educated in a spirit of friendship and fraternity. It was also essential to study and generalise the experience of state construction in all the national republics. That was why Lenin warned that it was impossible immediately to set up a federal state which would rest on a voluntary union and on complete trust of the peoples. Its formation has to be preceded by thorough and all-round preparations conducted with the greatest of patience and care.
As a result, five years, during which the necessary preparations were made, separate the establishment of Soviet rule from the formation of the U.S.S.R.
The world's first Soviet republic was the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Its establishment became a powerful factor stimulating the formation of other Soviet republics. After the R.S.F.S.R. there appeared the Ukrainian and Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republics and then the Soviet socialist republics in the Transcaucasus.
Cooperation among the Soviet socialist republics developed and grew stronger in the first years following the establishment of Soviet rule. During the Civil War and the foreign intervention they were united by the common cause of self-defence and under these circumstances their union took the form of a military alliance. In the period of _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 26, p. 481.
43 peace that followed the rout of (he interventionists and internal counter-revolutionaries, their primary task hecame to rchahilitate the economy and proceed with peaceful construction. The military alliance was supplemented by an economic alliance. Not only the military forces of the republics, but also their industrial, foreign trade, supply, transport, communications, financial and other bodies became united. This was a new step in the development of the relations between the republics, and it showed that they were drawing closer to each other.The union treaties that were concluded between them provided lor the complete equality of their peoples, the independence and sovereignly of all the republics concerned and the unification of their military and economic activity under the guidance of the higher organs of state power of the R.S.F.S.R. which included representatives from every republic. All the independent socialist republics had their representatives on the All-Russia Central Executive Committee of the R.S.F.S.R. and took part in the All-Russia Congresses of Soviets.
The Russian Federation became the guiding centre rallying and uniting all the equal Soviet socialist republics. This characterised the genuinely socialist nature of the emerging federative relations between the fraternal republics and disclosed the internationalist essence of Soviet rule.
But in the new conditions of the development of the Soviet republics, treaty relations proved to be inadequate. The people themselves took the initiative in raising the question of uniting their republics into a single federal state.
What made the Soviet republics take this step and what did the five-year existence of the Soviet state leach in this respect?
Firstly, that their union was dictated by economic considerations. It would have been impossible to rehabilitate the dislocated economy and ensure the welfare of the people without the formation of a close economic alliance of all the Soviet republics, the pooling of all economic resources, and the consolidation and development of the economic relations that had been established in the past between the different regions of the country.
Secondly, the Soviet republics had to form a close-knit 44 union in order to strengthen their defences against the hostile capitalist world. Singly, no Soviet republic would have been able to safeguard its independence and repel the armed attacks of the imperialist powers.
Thirdly, the very structure and Ihe class nature of the Soviet system also prompted the Soviet republics to unite. It is internationalist in substance and this draws nations together and serves as a foundation for their co-operation and mutual assistance.
Lenin played the leading role in theoretically substantiating the idea of a Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, in evolving the principles underlying this union, and also in translating these principles inlo life.
The central idea, which became the cornerstone of the union of Soviet republics, was formulated by Lenin in the following words: ``We want a voluntary union of nations--- a union which precludes any coercion of one nation by another---a union founded on complete confidence, on a clear recognition of brotherly unity, on absolutely voluntary consent.''^^*^^
This idea, taken up by the whole population, was mirrored in the decisions taken in the second half of 1922 in accordance with the free will expressed by the peoples of all these republics.
The Soviet socialist republics, including the R.S.F.S.R., Ihe Ukrainian S.S.R., Ihe Byelorussian S.S.R. and the Transcaucasian Soviet Federation, uniled into a single multinalional Soviet state---the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics---on December 30, 1922, at the First Congress of Soviets of the U.S.S.R., which unanimously endorsed the Declaration and the Union Treaty on the Formation of the U.S.S.R. and elected the Central Executive Committee of the U.S.S.R.
The formation of a single federal stale was an event of world-wide significance. It was a great victory for the nationalilies policy of Ihe Communist Party and a triumph of Lenin's ideas; it enormously facilitated the solulion of problems of economic and cultural development in the individual republics and in the country as a whole. It created the prerequisites for the economic and cultural _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 293.
45 upswing and the all-round growth of the creative abilities of each nation, and ensured the successful building of socialism.The Soviet Union continued to expand as new Soviet republics were established.
In May 1925, the Third Congress of Soviets of the U.S.S.R. legalised the accession of the Uzbek S.S.R. and the Turkmen S.S.R. to the U.S.S.R.
In December 1929, the Tajik Autonomous Republic became a Union Republic. In 1936, five more Union Republics were formed. They were the Georgian, Azerbaijan and Armenian republics, which had comprised the Transcaucasian Federation, and the Kazakh and Kirghiz Autonomous Republics, which became Union Republics.
When the new Constitution was adopted in 1936 the Soviet Union was a fully formed and consolidated multinational socialist state.
The freely expressed will of the peoples of Western Ukraine and Western Byelorussia to reunite with the Ukrainian and Byelorussian peoples was a fresh victory of the Soviet nationalities policy. In conformity with the law passed on November 1, 1939, by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., the Western Ukraine was incorporated in the Soviet Union and reunited with the Ukrainian S.S.R. On November 2, 1939, the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. passed a law admitting Western Byelorussia into the Soviet Union and reuniting it with the Byelorussian S.S.R.
Bessarabia forcibly severed from the Soviet Union in 1918 and Northern Bukovina inhabited by Ukrainians, were likewise reunited with the U.S.S.R. in 1940 as a result of the peaceful settlement of the conflict with the then boyarruled Rumania. Northern Bukovina and areas of Bessarabia, inhabited by Ukrainians, became part of the Ukrainian Republic. The greater part of Bessarabia, which was inhabited by Moldavians, was reunited with the Moldavian Autonomous Republic which was part of the Ukrainian S.S.R. In accordance with the law passed on August 2, 1940, the Moldavian Autonomous Republic became the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic.
In July 1940, the democratically elected Lithuanian and Latvian sejms and the Estonian State Duma expressing the __PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__ 46 CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF THE U.S.S.R. Karelo-Finnish S.S.R.*' Estonian S.S.R. Lithuanian S.S.R. Latvian S.S.R. Estonian S.S.R. Lithuanian S.S.R. Latvian S.S.R. Moldavian S.S.R. Moldavian S.S.R. Kirghiz S.S.R. Kirghiz S.S.R. Kirghiz S.S.R. Kaiakh S.S.R. Kazakh S.S.R. Kazakh S.S.R. Tajik S.S.R. Tajik S.S.R. Tajik S.S.R. Uzbek S.S.R. Uzbek S.S.R. Uzbek S.S.R. Tajik S.S.R. Turkmen S.S. R. Turkmen S.S.R. Turkmen S.S.R. Uzbek S.S.R. Uzbek S.S.R. Armenian S.S.R. Armenian S.S.R. Armenian S.S.R. Turkmen S.S.R. Turkmen S.S.R. Georgian S.S.R. Georgian S.S.R. Georgian S.S.R. Transcaucasian S.F.S.R. Transcaucasian S.F.S.R. Transcaucasian S.F.S.R Azerbaijan S.S.R. Azerbaijan S.S.R. Azerbaijan S.S.R. Byelorussian S.S.R. Byelorussian S.S.R. Byelorussian S.S.R. Byelorussian S.S.R. Byelorussian S.S.R. Byelorussian S.S.R. Ukrainian S. S. R. R.S. F.S. R. Ukrainian S.S.R. R.S.F.S.R. Ukrainian S.'S.R. R.S.F.S.R. Ukrainian S.S.R. RSFSR Ukrainian S.S.R. R.S.F.S.R. Ukrainian S.S.R. R.S.F.S.R. 1922 1925 1929 1936 1940 1967 * In 1965 in accordance with the wishes of the working people and because of the national composition of the population and the close economic and cultural ties between the Karelo-Finnish S.S.R. and the R.S.F.S.R it was decided that the Karelo-Finnish S.S.R. should be made part of the R.S.F.S.R. thus becoming the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. 47 __PARAGRAPH_CONT__ free will of their peoples proclaimed these countries Soviet republic's and requested Ihe Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.K. to admit them into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
In August 1940, this request was granted and the new Soviet Socialist Republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were admitted into the U.S.S.R.
The growth of the number of Union Republics strikingly showed the viability and attractive force of the great principles underlying the structure of Ihe multinational socialist state.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. THE U.S.S.R.---A FEDERAL STATEThe first multinational socialist slate in the world, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, is a federation of 15 sovereign Soviet republics: namely, the Russian Federation, the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia, Kirghizia, Tajikistan, Armenia, Turkmenia and Estonia.
Every Union Republic is a socialist stale, which means that the class structure and the political and economic foundations are identical in all the Union Republics. This is the source of the Soviet Union's inexhaustible strength and stability. The U.S.S.R. is also an integral federal state as regards its social and political structure.
The Leninist principles underlying the unity of the Soviet republics in a federal state were legislatively recorded first in the 1924 and then in the 1936 Constitution of the U.S.S.R.
Article 13 of the 1936 Constitution declares that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a federal stale, formed on the basis of voluntary union of equal Soviet socialist republics.
The Union Republics have entered this union on Ihcir own accord as a result of the free expression of the will of their people, the right to freely secede from Ihe U.S.S.R. being reserved to every Union Republic.
The equality of the Union Republics is manifested in the fact that all sovereign slales possess equal rights in all spheres of state activity. Irrespective of the size of its territory, the size of its population, its economic potential or the nationality of the people that had established it, 48 every Union Republic has equal rights with all the other Union Republics.
Take the Russian Federation and Estonia. They have identical rights in all spheres of life in spite of the fact that the population in the Russian Federation is nearly 100 times larger than in Estonia and territorially it is almost 400 times bigger.
Another manifestation of the equality of the Union Republics is that all of them enjoy equal jurisdiction, have their own republican citizenship and elect an equal number of deputies to the Soviet of Nationalities, one of the two chambers of the Soviet Parliament. All of them retain their sovereign rights and in equal measure limit them in favour of the U.S.S.R.; while exercising equal rights all fulfil the corresponding obligations as members of the Soviet Union.
The genuinely voluntary union of the Soviet republics and the equal rights enjoyed by them are the result of the Communist Party's consistent enforcement of the policy of equality of all peoples, their friendship and mutual respect and the free development of the nationalities inhabiting the Soviet Union.
As a federal state, the Soviet Union is, as represented by its higher organs of state power and state administration, a sovereign state, independent and full-fledged subject of international law.
The sovereignty of the U.S.S.R. embraces the territories of all states in it and extends to all Soviet citizens. The U.S.S.R. has its own Constitution, which expresses the will of the entire nation. The Constitution is adopted and amended by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., the highest organ of state power in the country. The U.S.S.R. has single all-Union organs of state power and state administration, all-Union legislation, a single economy, a single monetary system, a single system of taxes, a single army and a single Union citizenship.
As a federal state, it determines the extent of its jurisdiction and the fundamentals of the jurisdiction of the Union Republics, defines the competence of state organs and thus guides the functions of all the state organs in the U.S.S.R. towards the fulfilment of its goals.
The Soviet Union's state independence is vividly seen in its foreign policy. Charted by the Communist Party this __PRINTERS_P_49_COMMENT__ 4---3173 49 foreign policy immensely influences international affairs and enjoys unquestionable prestige in progressive democraticquarters of all countries. All the freedom-loving peoples justifiably regard the Soviet Union as the standard-bearer of the most advanced ideas and a mighty citadel in the struggle for democracy and socialism, for world peace and security.
The Soviet Union recognises the equality of all countries, big and small, and their right to self-determination, independent state existence and sovereignty, and consistently upholds this principle in all its international relations.
The sovereignty of the U.S.S.R., its paramountcy and independence within the country and outside it is expressed in its jurisdiction in accordance with Article 14 of the Constitution.
Under the Soviet federal system, jurisdiction is divided between the U.S.S.R. and the Union Republics in such a way as to guarantee the interests of the Soviet Union as a whole and all its components.
Accordingly, the U.S.S.R., as represented by its higher organs of state power and state administration, exercises the rights ensuring the unity of state administration in all key branches of economic, government, cultural, social and political activity, and the establishment of a single legislation founded on socialist democracy and the defence of the Soviet Union against imperialist aggression.
The jurisdiction of the U.S.S.R. is determined by the very nature of the socialist economy and the nature of the socialist relations of production which rest on public ownership of the instruments and means of production. The objective economic laws of socialism make it absolutely essential to plan the economy of the whole country. Socialism is inconceivable without centralised planned management, without strict discipline and subordination of local organs to the decisions handed down by the supreme authority in accordance with the principles of democratic centralism. Lenin said that the building of socialism ``means the building of a centralised economic system, an economic system directed from the centre''.^^*^^ This acquires still greater significance in the period of communist construction.
_-_-_^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 28, p. 400.
50Centralised management requires the enforcement of a uniform technical policy in the national economy, a uniform policy in economic planning, technical progress, capital investments, prices, finances and remuneration of labour.
All these requirements of the country's economic growth logically determine the need for a definite measure of centralisation of state power.
Specifically, centralised planned leadership means that the general problems of economic development connected with production, distribution, circulation and consumption are handled by the Union government. This ensures a single direction for the whole country, co-ordinates different branches of economy and determines its scope and rates of growth.
These factors predetermined the right of the U.S.S.R. to draw up the country's economic plans; approve the single state budget of the U.S.S.R. and report on its implementation; manage ail-Union banks, industrial, agricultural and trading institutions and enterprises; provide overall direction to industry and building under Union-republican jurisdiction; manage all-Union transport and means of communications; direct the monetary and credit system; contract and grant loans, and so forth.
Centralisation is also predetermined by the need to strengthen the unity of the U.S.S.R. as a state which is a subject of law, safeguard the gains of socialism and constantly enhance the country's defence capacity. Only a strong centralised state can successfully cope with political tasks of this magnitude. Therefore, the jurisdiction of the U.S.S.R., as represented by its higher organs of state power and state administration, also covers representation of the U.S.S.R. in international relations; the conclusion, ratification and denunciation of treaties signed by the U.S.S.R. with other countries; the establishment of general procedure governing relations of the Union Republics with foreign states; questions of war and peace; organisation of the defence of the U.S.S.R.; direction of all the Armed Forces of the U.S.S.R.; the establishment of the leading principles underlying the organisation of military formations in the Union Republics; foreign trade on the basis of state monopoly; and safeguarding state security.
Moreover, the jurisdiction of the U.S.S.R. stems from its __PRINTERS_P_50_COMMENT__ 4* 51 internal unity. Accordingly, it has the right, for example, to control the observance of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. and to ensure conformity of the constitutions of the Union Republics with the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.; accept new republics into the U.S.S.R. and approve changes of boundaries between the Union Republics, and so forth.
All-Union principles of legislation that correspond to the uniform tasks of socialist democracy and the building of communism operate throughout the territory of the U.S.S.R. This fully conforms to Lenin's dictum that ``the law must he unified'', that it is absolutely imperative to have ``laws uniformly established for the whole Federation....''^^*^^
This is essential and indispensable for the consistent observance of socialist law throughout the territory of the Soviet Union. In view of the fact that the entire system of laws of the U.S.S.R. has to rest on uniform principles permeated by a single idea and subordinated to the tasks of communist construction, the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. places within the province of the U.S.S.R. the definition of the fundamentals of legislation on the judicial system and procedure and the fundamentals of criminal and civil legislation; definition of the basic principles of land tenure and the use of mineral wealth, forests and waters; definition of the basic principles in the spheres of education and public health; definition of the fundamentals of legislation on labour, marriage and the family; legislation on Union citizenship and legislation on the rights of foreigners, and the promulgation of all-Union acts of amnesty.
All these rights show that the jurisdiction of the U.S.S.R. covers matters that concern the U.S.S.R. as a whole and cannot be decided by any single Union Republic.
The priority that the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. gives to all-Union laws over the laws of the individual Union Republics is a direct manifestation of the sovereignty of the U.S.S.R. in domestic affairs. The laws of the U.S.S.R. have the same force in every Union Republic (Article 19 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.), but in the event of a discrepancy between a law of a Union Republic and a law of the Union, the Union law prevails (Article 20 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.). These constitutional principles _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 33, p. 364.
52 show that a Union Republic is a component of the U.S.S.R. and that an all-Union law expresses the will of all the peoples inhabiting the Soviet Union.Thus, the jurisdiction of the U.S.S.R. embraces diverse spheres of stale, economic and cultural life. This ensures the interests of the U.S.S.R. and of every Union Republic and creates the conditions for combining centralised administration with socialist democracy and for the sue cessful building of communism.
The sovereignty of the U.S.S.R. is based on its economic and political might and its Armed Forces.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. A UNION REPUBLICOne of the most important features of Soviet federalism is that all the Union Republics are likewise sovereign.
The U.S.S.R. is a multinational state whose policy takes national distinctions and features into consideration and ensures the all-round economic and cultural development of all nations and nationalities in conformity with their inherent features. Hence, alongside the sovereign rights of the U.S.S.R. every Union Republic naturally retains the sovereign rights of an independent national socialist state. As part of the U.S.S.R. it contributes its share to the building of communism.
The constitutions of the Union Republics state that the given republic has united with equal Soviet socialist republics in the U.S.S.R. with the purpose of extending mutual economic, political and military assistance. Accordingly, the Union Republics ensure the sovereignty of the U.S.S.R. in the spheres defined in Article 14 of the Constitution. Outside these spheres, however, they exercise their state authority independently.
In furtherance of their own vital interests, the Union Republics have transferred part of their rights in the sphere of state administration to the U.S.S.R., but at the same time they have acquired rights guaranteeing them a decisive role in important matters connected with the entire state activity of the U.S.S.R. The fact that the Union Republics themselves approve the transfer of certain rights to the U.S.S.R. is yet another manifestation of the sovereignty of these republics.
53The strengthening of socialist centralism and the growing role of all-Union planning presuppose the increasing participation of the Union Republics and an extension of their rights in planning and financing economic development, in matters concerning labour, wages, and the like.
The sovereignty of the U.S.S.R. and that of the Union Republics are inseparable and make up an organic whole.
A Union Republic voluntarily accedes to the U.S.S.R. and has the right unilaterally to renounce its federal ties with the U.S.S.R.
The right freely to secede from the U.S.S.R. is guaranteed by Article 17 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.
In accordance with Article 15 of its Constitution, the U.S.S.R. protects the sovereign rights of the Union Republics. Their sovereignty is ensured by the entire economic, political and military might of the Soviet Union.
How the Soviet Union protects the sovereignty of the Union Republics was shown with particular force in the Second World War. It was obvious that singly none of the Soviet republics would have withstood the onslaught of the nazi invaders, but as members of the U.S.S.R. and backed by its economic, political and military might they held their own in the life-and-death struggle against nazi Germany and emerged victors. Today, too, during peaceful construction, the U.S.S.R. protects the sovereignty of the Union Republics just as effectively. As members of the U.S.S.R., they are ensured not only external security but also internal economic progress, freedom and national development.
Article 18 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R., which states that the territory of a Union Republic may not be altered without its consent, guarantees the sovereignty of a Union Republic over its territory. The Union Republics independently decide all questions of their administrative and territorial structure.
Uniform Union citizenship is established throughout the U.S.S.R. Every citizen of the U.S.S.R. is at the same time a citizen of the Union Republic in which he resides (Article 21 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.). The law on Soviet citizenship grants the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of every Union Republic the right to admit a person to citizenship of a given republic and thus to citizenship of the U.S.S.R.
54A Union Republic has the right to enter into direct relations with foreign states and to conclude agreements and exchange diplomatic and consular representatives with them (Article 18a of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.). In accordance with this right, two Union Republics, the Ukraine and Byelorussia, are members of the United Nations. All other republics participate in U.N. activities through their representatives in the U.S.S.R. delegation, annually appointed to the U.N. General Assembly. But this is not the limit of foreign policy activity of the Union Republics. They broadly implement their right to conclude agreements with foreign states. These agreements embrace such spheres as economic and cultural relations, communications, the International Labour Organisation and UNESCO.
A Union Republic has the right to set up its own military formations (Article 18b of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.).
A Union Republic enacts legislation within the limits determined by the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. and its own Constitution.
The sovereignty of a Union Republic as a member of the federation is also seen in its equal representation in the higher organs of state power and state administration of the U.S.S.R., namely, in the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. (the citizens of each Union Republic elect 32 deputies to the Soviet of Nationalities), the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. (there are 15 Vice-Presidents of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., that is, as many as there are Union Republics), in the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R., which includes the Chairmen of the Councils of Ministers of the Union Republics by virtue of their office, and in the Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R., which includes the Chairmen of the Supreme Courts of the Union Republics by virtue of their office.
An extraordinary session of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. may be convened at any time upon the demand of a Union Republic (Article 46 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.). This right is of great importance insofar as it makes it possible for any Union Republic to submit for discussion to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. any question within its jurisdiction.
55The Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. conducts a nationwide poll (referendum) upon the demand of one of the Union Republics (Article 49e of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.).
Laws passed by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. are published in the languages of the Union Republics.
Membership in the U.S.S.R. has enabled the Union Republics jointly and singly not only to put an end to the economic and cultural inequality inherited from the old system, but also to build up modern industries, a working class and an intelligentsia, and to promote their own culture which is national in form and socialist in content.
If we take the 1913 industrial output figure as equal to one, we shall find that in 1966 it reached 67 in the Russian Federation, 44 in the Ukraine, 64 in Byelorussia, 32 in Uzbekistan, 101 in Kazakhstan, 62 in Georgia, 25 in Azerbaijan, 51 in Lithuania, 99 in Moldavia, 18 in Latvia, 117 in Kirghizia, 63 in Tajikistan, 119 in Armenia, 33 in Turkmenia and 25 in Estonia.
The Eastern republics of the Soviet Union were ruled arbitrarily by feudal exploiters, their people were denied political rights and lived in ignorance and there were no industrial or cultural centres to speak of.
Pre-Revolution Uzbekistan, for example, had almost no industry with the exception of several dozen small factories. Even its cotton was processed thousands of kilometres away in Central Russia. Today Uzbekistan has over a hundred industries and more than 1,000 big plants. Its chemical, engineering, iron and steel, non-ferrous metallurgical, building materials and building industries are expanding rapidly and it has a substantial electric power base. Its exports go to 58 countries.
Old Tajikistan had only a few semi-primitive factories. Now the Tajik Republic has hundreds of large modern plants. The total volume of industrial output in the republic has increased almost 50-fold over the 1928 figure, and the per capita output of electricity is 1.5 times greater than in Greece, 11 times more than in Iran and 22.5 times as much as in Pakistan. With the completion of the 2,700,000 kw Nurek Hydropower Station, Tajikistan will be generating several times more electricity than was produced in the whole of tsarist Russia in 1913.
__MISSING__ Fold-out chart, STATE STRUCTURE OF THE U.S.S.R. 56There was virtually no industry in pre-Revolution Turkmenia, whereas today she has oil refineries, chemical, gas, building materials and other modern industries.
The material and technical basis of agriculture in the Central Asian republics has also expanded tremendously. Primitive ploughs and seeders have been replaced with tens of thousands of tractors, cotton-pickers and grain combines, lorries and other farm machines.
In the sphere of cultural development the achievements of the Union Republics are just as striking. The bulk of the population of tsarist Russia was illiterate, particularly in the border areas where only two per cent of the people could read and write. Today all Union Republics have their own universities and other institutions of higher learning training engineers, agronomists, teachers and other specialists.
Since the Revolution about 50 nations and nationalities have evolved written languages. By offering people education in all fields, the Union Republics have accomplished a gigantic leap forward and not only caught up with but in many respects surpassed the capitalist countries. Suffice it to say that the number of students per 1,000 of population in Soviet Kirghizia, whose people had no written language, is larger than in France, Belgium or Italy. As regards the achievements of Soviet Turkmenia in this sphere, she has overtaken not only the countries of the Middle East, but also Britain, France and the Federal Republic of Germany.
All the Union Republics have their own Academies of Sciences, hundreds of scientific and cultural institutions, and a large number of scientific and cultural workers; they have their own theatres and a broadly developed local language press.
Reporting to the 23rd Congress of the C.P.S.U., Leonid Brezhnev said: ``In recent years the political equality of the Union Republics and the friendship of the peoples of the U.S.S.R., achieved and steeled in the course of socialist construction, have been strengthened by economic equality. ... This is a vivid demonstration of the vitality of Lenin's nationalities policy which has shown the whole world that socialism opens up before the peoples reliable ways of overcoming economic and other backwardness and 57 of becoming advanced, highly industrial socialist nations.''^^*^^
Further all-round economic development in the Union Republics and the flexible combination of their interests with the interests of the Soviet Union as a whole form the cornerstone of the Soviet nationalities policy and underlie the main targets of the new five-year economic development plan. Under this plan the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan, for example, have to produce a large portion of the Soviet Union's oil, the Central Asian and Transcaucasian republics almost all the cotton, the Russian Federation, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan the bread, and so on. Each republic will develop industries for which it has the best raw material, technical and power resources. By boosting its economy and culture, each republic will make the maximum contribution towards the fulfilment of countrywide tasks.
The new five-year economic development plan envisages a further significant rise of the economy and culture of all the Union Republics. Thus, the Russian Federation, the Ukraine, Latvia and Estonia will increase industrial production by about 50 per cent, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kirghizia and Turkmenia by 60 per cent, Byelorussia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania and Moldavia by 70 per cent and Tajikistan and Armenia by 80 per cent.
The plan also calls for a further improvement in the siting of the productive forces, the comprehensive development and specialisation of the Union Republics and of the economic areas, fuller involvement of the able-bodied population in production, and the correct co-ordination of planning for each territorial division with the branch principle of managing the economy. It is planned to improve economic relations between areas and republics. For this purpose some sections of the trunk railways are to be extended, the Central Siberian Railway is to be completed and new lines are to be built to link Central Asia up with the European part of the Soviet Union. The Central Asia---Centre and Western Siberia---European part of the U.S.S.R. gas pipelines are to be built.
_-_-_^^*^^ 23rd Congress of the C.P.S.U., p. 67.
58All these facts mirror the Soviet peoples' community of vital interests which spring from the unity of the economic, political and ideological principles of the Soviet system.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 4. SOVIET AUTONOMYIn some Union Republics alongside the nation that forms the bulk of the population and from whom the republic concerned derives its name, there are other, less numerous peoples. Each of these peoples has its own specific features, such as way of life, culture and level of economic development.
In consistently implementing the idea of self-- determination, the government has granted these peoples the right to establish their own statehood systems in forms corresponding to their national and historical features. It was this policy that made autonomy vitally necessary in the Soviet Union and determined its purpose and tasks.
Soviet autonomy is called upon to promote and strengthen Soviet statehood in conformity with the national features and the way of life of the peoples concerned, to promote and consolidate their administration (which functions in the native language), their economic organisations and organs of state power, which consist mainly of people well acquainted with the life and psychology of the local population, to stimulate the development of the press, schools, theatres and cultural and educational institutions that function in the native language.
The Communist Party has always attached great significance to the creation of national states for the oppressed peoples of the old Russian empire.
There are two forms of autonomy in the U.S.S.R., namely: state-political and administrative-political. The first is an Autonomous Republic, the second is either an Autonomous Region or a National Area.
An Autonomous Republic is a Soviet socialist state incorporated in a Union Republic.
Each Autonomous Republic has its own Constitution which takes specific features into account and is drawn up in conformity with the constitutions of the U.S.S.R. and of the Union Republic to which it belongs. The Constitution of an Autonomous Republic is adopted by its Supreme Soviet 59 and approved by the Supreme Soviet of the Union Republic concerned. An Autonomous Republic has its own higher organs of state power and state administration, and its territory may not be altered without its consent.
It has its own citizenship. A citizen of an Autonomous Republic is a citizen of the Union Republic concerned and of the U.S.S.R. All citizens of the U.S.S.R. enjoy equal rights on the territory of an Autonomous Republic as do the citizens of the Autonomous Republic concerned. The Supreme Soviet of an Autonomous Republic exercises legislative power within the confines of its territory.
Irrespective of the size of its population every Autonomous Republic has 11 deputies in the Soviet of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.
The population of an Autonomous Republic elects its representatives to the Soviet of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. and to the Supreme Soviet of a Union Republic on the same footing as all citizens of the U.S.S.R., while in the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of a Union Republic an Autonomous Republic has one representative, who is a Vice-President of the Presidium. An Autonomous Republic thus has all the features of a state.
The jurisdiction of an Autonomous Republic is defined in its Constitution.
Altogether there are 20 Autonomous Republics in the U.S.S.R.
The Russian Federation includes the Rashkirian, Buryat, Daghestan, Kabardinian-Balkar, Kalmyk, Karelian, Komi, Mari, Mordovian, North Ossetian, Tatar, Tuva, Udmurt, Checheno-Ingush, Chuvash and Yakut Autonomous Republics; Georgia includes the Abkhazian and Ajarian Autonomous Republics; Azerbaijan includes the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic; and Uzbekistan includes the Karakalpak Autonomous Republic.
An Autonomous Region has a distinct national composition and its own way of life. It has a certain measure of economic integrity and forms part of a Union Republic or a territory as an autonomous administrative unit.
As a rule, it is named after the nationality which had elected to become autonomous. Irrespective of the size of its population it elects five representatives to the Soviet of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.
60Its organs of state power, slate administration and courts function in the native language.
The boundaries of an Autonomous Region may not be altered by higher organs without its consent.
The legal status of an Autonomous Region is defined by a corresponding statute which takes into account its national features. The Statute of an Autonomous Region is adopted by its Soviet of Working People's Deputies and approved by the Supreme Soviet of the Union Republic to which it belongs.
In the Russian Federation the Autonomous Regions are included in the composition of territories. But this in no way curtails their rights because as part of territories they receive all-round assistance from the administrativeterritorial divisions which are more advanced economically and culturally.
There are eight Autonomous Regions in the U.S.S.R.
The Adygei (Krasnodar Territory), Gorny Altai (Altai Territory), Jewish (Khabarovsk Territory), Karachai-- Cherkess (Stavropol Territory) and Khakass (Krasnoyarsk Territory) Autonomous Regions are in the Russian Federation; the South Ossetian Autonomous Region is in Georgia; the Nagorny Karabakh Autonomous Region is in Azerbaijan; and Gorny Badakhshan Autonomous Region is in Tajikistan.
A National Area is a form of national statehood formed by numerically small, formerly extremely backward nationalities living in the extreme North of the U.S.S.R. This form has the purpose of drawing these nationalities in socialist construction.
In tsarist Russia these were culturally backward and politically oppressed tribes who were split up into separate clans and patriarchal families. They were almost totally illiterate. They had no written language nor schools. There were no hospitals and even the most elementary medical assistance was lacking. As a result, the Northern peoples were gradually dying out.
National Areas were formed on territories inhabited by these peoples. This was further proof of the Soviet Government's concern for every, even the smallest nationality.
In the fraternal family of Soviet peoples the small Northern nationalities passed from the clan system and nomadic way of life to socialism and to advanced socialist culture.
61By their substance and the tasks which they are successfully carrying out, the National Areas fully conform to their historical role as a subject of Soviet autonomy, which is a form of resolving the national question. This is borne out by their state and legal institutions.
A National Area is a state formation within a region or territory and uniting one or several numerically small and historically and culturally kindred peoples. Its organ of state power is the Area Soviet of Working People's Deputies.
The organs of state power, state administration, schools, and public, political and educational institutions function in the language of the indigenous population.
A National Area elects one deputy to the Soviet of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.
There are 10 National Areas in the U.S.S.R. and all of them are in the R.S.F.S.R. They are the Agin Buryat (Chita Region), Komi-Permyak (Perm Region), Koryak ( Kamchatka Region), Chukotka (Magadan Region), Nenets (Archangelsk Region), Taimyr and Evenki (Krasnoyarsk Territory), Ust-Ordyn Buryat (Irkutsk Region), KhantyMansy and Yamalo-Nenets (Tyumen Region) Areas.
The rights and the interests of all nationalities, including small national groups, inhabiting the U.S.S.R. are thus fully ensured.
All the Autonomous Republics expanded their industries at a rapid pace. Thus, between 1913 and 1966 industrial output in Bashkiria rose 352 times, in Udmurtia 313 times, in Tataria 258 times, in the Chuvash Republic 192 times and in the Komi Republic 159 times.
As regards the scale of the changes in other Autonomous Republics, the years that have passed since the establishment of Soviet rule are equal to centuries. For instance, pre-Revolution Karakalpakia did not go beyond the level of feudal development; today the Karakalpak Autonomous Republic is building communism together with all the other peoples of the U.S.S.R. Any one of its modern plants turns out much more produce than was manufactured by all the semi-primitive factories that had functioned on its territory in 1913. In 1963, Karakalpakia's total industrial output was 150 times greater than in 1913. Cotton-growing, the principal branch of agriculture, has made gigantic headway. The economic growth of the republic is accompanied 62 by the growth of local personnel. Before the Revolution the population of Karakalpakia was almost 100 per cent illiterate. In 1964, it had 605 general education schools, six secondary special schools, a teacher's training institute and a branch of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences.
Once a poverty-stricken province of tsarist Russia, Bashkiria has become an important economic area and a major centre of the oil, chemical and engineering industries.
Like the other fraternal peoples, the people of North Ossetia was oppressed by tsarist rule and exploited by landowners and capitalists. Since the Revolution North Ossetia has made great strides in economic and cultural development. Today it has over 100 large modern plants and several branches of modern industry, including engineering, electrical engineering and instrument-making and electronics industries. Its Electrozinc Plant is one of the biggest non-ferrous metallurgical enterprises in the Soviet Union, and it has a number of electronic industries. The Beslan maize processing complex is the largest of its kind in Europe. North Ossetian goods are shipped to all parts of the U.S.S.R. and exported to 27 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The culture of the Ossetian people has come into full bloom since the establishment of Soviet rule. Illiteracy has been completely wiped out here. One in every three persons employed in the economy has either a secondary or a higher education. There are 269 students per 10,000 of population, which is twice as many as there are in the U.S.A., six times more than in Britain and 24 times more than in Iran.
These changes in the material and cultural life of formerly backward and oppressed peoples demonstrate the progressive role played by the Soviet autonomy as a powerful state and legal means of uniting the Soviet peoples.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 5. THE NATIONAL FACTOR IN THE PERIODThe establishment of national statehood in the postRevolution period has helped to bring about fundamental changes in the economic, political and cultural life of the peoples and to eradicate age-old antagonisms and mutual distrust.
63Having built socialism the Soviet peoples have laid a firm foundation for the further consolidation of their friendship and co-operation.
The Soviet Union has now entered the period of communist construction which, as the C.P.S.U. Programme points out, constitutes a new stage in the development of national relations, a stage in which the nations will draw still closer together until complete unity is achieved.
In the years following the 20th Party Congress, the Communist Party and the Soviet Government continued to pro mote the development and consolidation of the U.S.S.R. as a Union state, as well as of the Union Republics and all forms of Soviet autonomy.
Nevertheless, it would be wrong to think that the existing forms of national statehood have accomplished their historical mission and are no longer essential. In the same way, as the Soviet socialist state as a whole has not yet fulfilled all its tasks, so Soviet federalism has not exhausted itself. Soviet national statehood has much to accomplish in ensuring increasingly closer fraternal cooperation and mutual aid among all peoples on the basis of proletarian internationalism which is a major achievement of socialism.
The Soviet federation and autonomy must employ all their inherent capabilities to solve these tasks.
Lenin had repeatedly warned against undue haste, overindulgence in administrative measures and artificially accelerating the eradication of national statehood and national distinctions. He pointed out that this was a lengthy process and linked it up with the existence of state. Any attempt to shorten this process, he said, would only cause harm and resurrect nationalistic prejudices.
Therefore, in defining the tasks of the Party and the people in the sphere of national relations, the Programme of the C.P.S.U. underlines the need for making full use of and improving the forms of the national statehood of the peoples of the U.S.S.R.
These forms, however, do not remain unchanged. The present stage in the development of national relations is influencing and will continue decisively to influence the further development and improvement of the forms of national statehood.
64First and foremost, this is manifested in two objective and interconnected tendencies in the national question under socialism, namely, the further improvement of the national statehood of the peoples of the U.S.S.R. and the growing rapprochement and strengthening friendship and co-operation between them. Both these natural tendencies are developing intensively in present-day conditions.
All the forms of the national state organisation are developing all-sidedly. The powers of the Union and Autonomous Republics are being steadily extended and they are playing an increasingly more important role in state affairs and in the federal organs of slate power and administration. At the same time, the socialist nations are drawing closer together and furthering their mutual enrichment on the basis of proletarian internationalism.
The mobility of the population has increased immeasurably in the course of socialist and communist construction due to the rapid growth of the productive forces, the appearance of new industrial centres, the discovery and exploitation of natural wealth, the ploughing up of virgin lands and the development of all types of transport. In some cases the indigenous nationality of one or another republic would have been unable to cope with major economic tasks were it not for the help it received from dozens of different nationalities living in other Union Republics. The peoples of the Soviet Union have accumulated vast experience in jointly tackling important economic tasks. Fused into a single family, people of different nationalities have built giant power stations and industrial projects in Siberia and the Ukraine, they have developed virgin lands and constructed the Bukhara-Urals Oil Pipeline; they are building irrigation works and canals in the Hungry Steppe in Uzbekistan, and so on and so forth.
Thousands of factories and building projects employ people of many nationalities, who are united by their work in building communist society. When a foreign tourist visiting the Sharki Yulduz Collective Farm, Uzbekistan, learned that there were 15 nationalities among its members he asked how they managed to get along together. Thereupon he was reminded of an old legend which ran as follows: once three strangers, an Uzbek, an Arab, and a Tajik, met at a crossroads and decided to continue their travels __PRINTERS_P_65_COMMENT__ 5---3173 65 together. But soon they began to argue. The Uzbek was searching for izyum, the Arab wanted to find map, while the Tajik was looking for angur, and there is no knowing how their argument would have ended. Fortunately, they met a wise man who knew their languages. He took them to a garden and showed them a vine. They thanked him for settling their argument and he replied: ``The three of you were looking for one and the same thing, only you did not understand each other.'' That, the collective farmers told the tourist, was how in the past people looked for one and the same thing, only there was no concord between them, for they were divided. The Communist Party helped them to understand each other and establish close, comradely relations.
The multinational population of the republics grew, particularly where new industrial and agricultural centres sprang up. In ten of the 15 Union Republics the nonindigenous nationalities today comprise more than 25 per cent of the population. Moreover, this share is steadily rising in spite of the fact that the indigenous population is also growing.^^*^^
The giant projects in these republics attracted hundreds of thousands of people from the Urals, the Ukraine, the Caucasus and Siberia. Even the collective and state farms have become multinational. The Union Republics are also actively exchanging specialists.
These facts demonstrate the growing multinational character of the Soviet republics, which is of enormous significance in drawing nations ever closer to each other through joint labour.
The internationalist community of interests is beginning to prevail over national interests. This is manifested in particular in the fact that the boundaries between the Soviet republics are losing their former significance. Inasmuch as all nations are equal, they are building their life on a single socialist foundation, their material and spiritual requirements are satisfied to an equal extent, all of them are united _-_-_
^^*^^ According lo the 1926, 1939 and 1959 censuses, the indigenous population comprised 66, 65, and 62 per cent respectively of the entire population in Uzbekistan, 75, 60 and 53 per cent in Tajikistan, 65, 52 and 40.5 per cent in Kirghizia and 57, 38 and 30 per cent in Kazakhstan.
66 in a single family and they are jointly advancing towards communism, which is their common goal. This provides further proof that in the U.S.S.R. nations are developing not through the consolidation of national barriers or national aloofness, but by furthering fraternal mutual aid and expanding mutual contacts.New industrial centres, a single power grid in the European part of the U.S.S.R. (in the near future there will be a single power grid for the whole country), a single system of railway, water and air transport, giant gas and oil pipelines, canals, telegraph, telephone and radio and television communications, interlocking economic relations, factories and building projects make up the material and technical basis for the unhampered and comprehensive development of all socialist nations in the U.S.S.R.
Every step towards communism stimulates the exchange of material and spiritual values between the socialist nations. Thus, under socialism the burgeoning of nations and their consistent rapprochement are two aspects of a single interconnected process.
The growing social homogeneity of nations is accompanied by the eradication of distinctions in their economic and cultural levels due to historical, geographic and other causes. The Party is set on furthering the mutual enrichment and rapprochement of the cultures of the peoples of the U.S.S.R., and consolidating their internationalist basis, thereby promoting the formation of the future single culture of communist society.
``The Party and all the Communists,'' Leonid Brezhnev said in his report to the 23rd Congress of the C.P.S.U., ``irrespective of their nationality, will continue to work tirelessly for further consolidation of the friendship and fraternity of the peoples of the Soviet Union so that their economic, cultural and spiritual ties become closer and more varied.''^^*^^
_-_-_^^*^^ 23rd Congress of the C.P.S.U., pp. 150--51.
[67] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER III __ALPHA_LVL1__ DEMOCRATIC NATURE OF THE SOVIETThe Great October Socialist Revolution ushered in a new era in the history of mankind. It brought with it a totally new type of state---the Soviet socialist state.
This state became a pure dictatorship for the exploiter classes---the bourgeoisie and the landowners---and a real democracy for the working people who had been previously barred from political activity.
Having seized power, the workers and peasants whom the so-called privileged classes had viewed with such supercilious disdain showed themselves capable of setting up their own system of administration, and building a new society devoid of class exploitation and oppression, a society in which the working people themselyes are reaping the fruits of their labour.
The new system, as Lenin had foreseen, prevailed solely because it won the trust of the masses and because it gave them every opportunity to participate in the country's administration.
The young Soviet state drew its strength not from the bayonets of a handful of military, the police or the power of money, but from the support of the masses, of the workers and peasants.
The hammer and sickle figuring in its coat of arms symbolise the unbreakable worker-peasant alliance which is the foundation of the Soviet social and state system. True, when the coat of arms was first presented to the Soviet Government for approval in 1918 its design included a sword. But Lenin sharply opposed this. ``What does the 68 sword stand for?" he asked. ``We are not out for conquests. A policy of conquest is absolutely alien to us; we are not attacking but repelling internal and external enemies; we are fighting a defensive war and the sword cannot be our emblem.''
Thus, implements of peaceful labour, the hammer and sickle crossed as though in a firm and friendly handclasp betokening the strong and lasting alliance of the working class with the non-proletarian masses, particularly with the peasantry, became the emblem of the Soviet state. The Soviet socialist state is an absolutely new, higher type of state, radically differing from all the other states in history.
Briefly, these distinctions are as follows:
Firstly, it became the first state in the world where state power expresses the interests of the working people, i.e., of the bulk of the population. It granted genuine democracy to workers and peasants. Built by the masses, it is supported by them and serves them. In it the working people not only create the material values but, for the first time in history, hold the reins of government in their own hands and enjoy all the benefits of democracy.
Secondly, the masses play the decisive role not only in political life but also in economic development. This has become possible because the working people have taken all public wealth into their hands. They have the right to dispose of this wealth as they think fit and direct the development of production in order to satisfy the material and cultural requirements of all members of society. Thus, economic life has become a sphere of intensive public activity for millions of people.
Thirdly, the socialist state concentrates its chief efforts on economic and cultural construction. The state apparatus is wholly dedicated not to enforcing punitive or repressive measures but to administering the national economy, planning the organisation of production and steadily raising the level of education and culture.
The socialist state is the chief instrument in the building of socialism and communism.
Fourthly, the principal method of state administration is persuasion and education and not coercion or violence. The law established by the government protects the interests of the people. Consequently, persuasion and 69 education are the chief means of regulating the life of society.
The formation of the Soviet socialist state signified a complete break with all the features of a state or society consisting of antagonistic classes. The latter state expresses the interests of a small group of exploiters and is an instrument for subjugating the people.
This was true of the slave-owning system, where state power was in the hands of a handful of slave-owners.
This was true of feudal society in which the nobility could do as they pleased with the peasants, who were their serfs.
This was and is true of capitalist countries, where economic and political power is entirely in the hands of the bourgeoisie, while the state merely ensures and upholds their dominating positions.
Although the working classes make up the bulk of the population and the principal force of social progress, they were for many centuries nothing more than an object of exploitation and oppression. They were barred from political activity and denied even elementary political rights.
The revolutions of the past, even if they were accomplished by the masses, usually resulted in one exploiter class replacing another. But the state remained an instrument, a machine with whose help the minority oppressed the majority.
It is natural, therefore, that the radical transformation of the nature of the state as a result of socialist revolution and the consolidation of genuine democracy for the working people, should have made the political structure of Soviet society extremely durable and stable.
Support of the masses. A socialist state is not the master of the people but an organ of the people. It is fused with the masses and, therefore, is invincible.
At this juncture we have come up to a question which we should like to discuss in greater detail.
A socialist state and its political institutions do not remain unchangeable. They constantly develop, becoming ever more democratic due to the nature of the socialist system itself. We know that the development and consolidation of socialist society is accompanied by changes in its class structure, in the forms of ownership and in the culture and 70 way of life of the people. This progressive development, naturally, leaves its imprint on the development of the state and its political institutions.
Consequently, with the elimination of the exploiting classes and the victory of socialism in the U.S.S.R., the Soviet state entered a new period of its development.
It began expressing the will and the interests of the whole people, of all members of socialist society without exception. Alongside the growth of its economic potential, the Soviet Union expanded and strengthened its social base, and society became more united and monolithic than ever before.
Precisely this is the chief source of the strength of a socialist state.
Every worker, peasant and intellectual in the U.S.S.R. can say with confidence: ``We are the state.'' It is the common task of all the working people of the country to develop and strengthen their state and to protect it against all encroachments.
The powerful backing of the whole people and their unprecedented political and creative activity are the life-giving springs of the might of the Soviet social and state system.
The development of the socialist state was the natural and logical result of the radical changes which took place in the U.S.S.R. in the period of socialist construction.
Since the exploiting classes had disappeared and society consists solely of working people of town and country, there was no longer any need to suppress and dominate other classes.
Consequently, one of the functions of the Soviet state, that of putting down the resistance of the exploiting classes had also disappeared, and it could now concentrate on directing economic and social processes in the interests of the people, safeguarding the rights and freedoms of citizens and strengthening law and order.
With the victory of socialism the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat becomes a political organisation of the whole people under the leadership of the working class.
``The state of the whole people is a new stage in the development of socialist statehood into communist public self-government. It continues the cause of the dictatorship of the proletariat---the building of communism---and 71 together with other socialist states wages a class struggle against imperialism in the international arena.''^^*^^
New conditions promoted the further development of Soviet democracy. From a democracy for the bulk of the population, that is, for the working people, it grew into a socialist democracy for the whole people without exceptions or limitations.
In contemporary conditions the principal trend in the development of the socialist slate of the whole people is to further the all-round extension and perfection of democracy.
This means ensuring the active participation of all citizens in the administration of the state, in the management of the economy and in the promotion of culture, improvement of the work of the government apparatus, and more efficient control over its activity.
By its very nature the Soviet state, especially in the contemporary stage, is inseparable from the people, from mass organisations, from people's control from the bottom over the activity of all the links of the administrative apparatus. For the broader and more active is the participation of the citizens in the administration, the more powerful the socialist state becomes.
The Programme of the C.P.S.U. and the decisions of the 23rd Congress of the C.P.S.U., held in March-April 1966, are aimed at promoting the all-round development of democracy. Leonid Brezhnev, who delivered the report of the C.C. C.P.S.U. at this Congress, forcefully stressed that the Party considers itself duty bound to strengthen its bonds with the masses, promote socialist democracy and improve the work of government and mass organisations.
We are frequently asked why does the U.S.S.R. still preserve the socialist state if class antagonisms, the principal factor which had caused its appearance, have ceased to exist?
This is explained by the fact that there arc still many problems which can be solved only through the state.
The Soviet socialist state has to fulfil extremely important tasks of communist construction. It must organise the building up of the material and technical basis of communism, _-_-_
^^*^^ Fiftieth Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. Theses of the C.C. C.P.S.U., Moscow, 1967.
72 and transform socialist relations into communist relations, exercise control over the amount of work and the amount of consumption, promote the people's welfare, protect the rights and freedoms of Soviet citizens, socialist law and order and socialist property, and instil in the people conscious discipline and a communist attitude to labour.In the sphere of foreign policy the state has to ensure the defence and security of the U.S.S.R., develop fraternal co-operation with the socialist countries, consistently uphold world peace and maintain normal relations with all countries irrespective of their social and economic systems. It serves the great cause of communist construction and the triumph of the finest ideals of humanity. As an organ of state power of the whole people it expresses the unity and equality of workers, peasants and intellectuals, of all nationalities of the U.S.S.R., and embodies their striving for peace and friendship among all the peoples of the world.
The stale is essential for the Soviet people and, therefore, it will survive until the complete victory of communism. The stale will wilher away lo be replaced by communisl public self-adminislration only with the building of communist society and provided socialism triumphs and consolidates its positions in the international arena.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. SOVIETS AS ORGANS OF DEMOCRATIC RULEWe have repealedly used the words ``Soviet state" and ``Soviet power" in Ibis book. The U.S.S.R. is called a Soviet state because the Soviets are its central and local organs of slate power. The entire activity of the Soviets, which are elected by and are accountable to the people, expresses the will and the interests of the masses.
That was why Lenin said that ``the Soviets are the highest form of popular rule''.^^*^^
The democratic nature of Ihe Soviet state system has found its fullest embodiment in the Soviels, which, being organs of state power, are the biggest mass organisations of the working people. The lalter participale in Ihe administration of stale affairs and in promoling economic and cultural development primarily through the Soviets.
_-_-_^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, 5th Russ. ed., Vol. 36, p. 535.
73The world's first Soviets were formed during the first Russian revolution of 1905 as a result of the revolutionary activity of the people fighting against tsarism. Initially, the Soviets of Workers' Deputies appeared in Petrograd (now Leningrad), Moscow, Ivanovo-Voznesensk and other large industrial cities. Originally organs of the mass strike movement, the Soviets soon became organs of the revolutionary struggle against the tsarist government, and then developed into organs of insurrection. In some cities they took over some functions of state authority. In defiance of the laws and norms established by the tsarist government, the Soviets in 1905 on their own authority introduced an eight-hour working day at factories, seized printshops and enforced freedom of the press for the workers.
Already at that time Lenin viewed the Soviets as the embryo of the new revolutionary authority. ``It was an authority open to all,'' he wrote, ``it carried out all its functions before the eyes of the masses, was accessible to the masses, sprang directly from the masses, and was a direct and immediate instrument of the popular masses, of their will. Such was the new authority, or, to be exact, its embryo, for the victory of the old authority trampled down the shoots of this young plant very soon.''^^*^^
The first Russian revolution was crushed and the Soviets were disbanded by the tsarist reaction after a short-lived existence. But even the brief experience of 1905 played an immense role in the revolutionary struggle of the working class.
The idea of Soviets became firmly implanted in the minds of workers. That was why they set up Soviets in February 1917, when the second Russian revolution broke out and tsarism was overthrown. This time they arose not only in large industrial centres as in 1905, but throughout the country. Alongside the Soviets of Workers' Deputies there appeared Soviets of Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies.
Lenin rendered a great service to the world when he perspicaciously saw in the Soviets a new form of a socialist state and showed that the Soviets, which arose in the flames of revolutionary struggle, were a new and higher form of democracy.
_-_-_^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 24, p. 23.
74In his famous April Theses (1917) he called for the organisation of a Soviet republic as the most acceptable form of a socialist state for Russia. He wrote: ``Not a parliamentary republic---to return to a parliamentary republic from the Soviets of Workers' Deputies would be a retrograde step---but a republic of Soviets of Workers', Agricultural Labourers' and Peasants' Deputies throughout the country, from top to bottom.''^^*^^
This prevision was and still is of tremendous significance for the world revolutionary movement.
In October 1917, in alliance with the working peasants and under the leadership of the Communist Party, the Russian proletariat destroyed the hated state machinery of oppression and transferred all power to the Soviets.
On October 25 (November 7, new style), 1917, the Second All-Russia Congress of Soviets was convened in Petrograd. It was attended by 650 delegates representing the population of Russia and the bulk of the Soviets in cities, villages and military units.
Backed by the will of the vast majority of the workers, soldiers and peasants and by the victorious insurrection of the workers and soldiers of Petrograd, the Congress took power into its own hands.
It adopted a Proclamation ``To the Workers, Soldiers and Peasants" which said in part: ``All power in the localities is transferred to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, which must duly ensure genuine revolutionary order.''
The Congress approved the historical Decrees on Peace and Land and formed the first workers' and peasants' government---the Council of People's Commissars. Lenin was unanimously elected its Chairman.
In this way the slogan calling for the transfer of all power to the Soviets, which became the political foundation of the state, was translated into life.
A few days after the victory of the Revolution, the Council of People's Commissars published its Declaration ``To the Population" drawn up by its Chairman.
It said in part:
``Comrades, working people! Remember that now you _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 10, p. 245.
75 yourselves are at the helm of the state. No one will help you if you yourselves do not unite and take into your hands all affairs of the state. Your Soviets are from now on the organs of state authority, legislative bodies with full powers.``. . .Take all power into the hands of your Soviets. Be watchful and guard like the apple of your eye your land, grain, factories, equipment, products, transport---all that from now onwards will be entirely your property, public property.''^^*^^
From the very outset the Soviets showed that they were organs of genuinely popular rule.
Land, factories, banks and transport facilities were confiscated from the capitalists and landowners. They became the property of the state, i.e., the property of the whole people.
Soviet rule smashed the bourgeois-landowner state machinery of coercion, thwarted sabotage by the former officials and ensured the normal, uninterrupted work of the new state apparatus.
Very soon the Communist Party organised new organs to administer economic and cultural development, a new people's court, and the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army to defend the country.
Although the victorious workers and peasants had no previous experience in state administration or in building up a new society, they overcame the tremendous difficulties that confronted the young Soviet Republic.
From the midst of the people there emerged brilliant leaders of the Soviet state.
The entire organisation and activity of the Soviets very quickly demonstrated that they pursued no other goal than to defend the vital interests of the working people.
This, in particular, explains why the organs of Soviet power have always enjoyed the earnest support of the masses.
That was why even in the periods of severe trials such as the Civil War and foreign intervention and later the Second World War, the people willingly endured all hardships in order to safeguard their gains and their Soviet rule.
_-_-_^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 26, pp. 297--98.
76Wherein lies the strength of the Soviets? What are the advantages of the Soviets as a new form of political organisation? In what way are they superior to the bourgeois-parliamentary state? The answers to these questions have to take several factors into account. First, by their nature the Soviets are the most popular and all-embracing political organisation of the working people, which very successfully combines administrative and public activity.
As organs representing the bulk of the people and then the entire population, elected and completely controlled by the people, the Soviets express their will more directly and precisely. They embody the alliance between the working class and the peasantry, which is the foundation of foundations of the Soviet state.
Their entire activity is based on direct participation by the working people. The deputies in the Soviets are not professional politicians. They combine their duties as deputies with production activity.
At the same time, the Soviets are internationalist organs resting on the co-operation of people of all nationalities and facilitating their union into a single federal state.
With the transfer of power to the Soviets, national oppression and all the former national privileges and limitations were completely eradicated in Russia.
The Soviet system brought a new life to the once downtrodden peoples who were at different levels of development. Assisted by the more advanced nations, particularly by the Russian people, they have made remarkable headway in state, economic and cultural development.
Formed in 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has become a fraternal family of equal peoples, a land where all nations and nationalities flourish.
In the multinational Soviet state the common interests of the people of each nationality organically combine with the features and traditions of all the peoples of the U.S.S.R.
It is important to note that the Soviets, to quote Marx, are ``working corporations directing all economic and social processes taking place in society''.
They are free of the negative aspects of the traditional parliamentary system, where deputies stand aloof from the people and representative organs degenerate into 77 talking-shops behind whose facade the all-powerful bureaucratic state machine completely controls state affairs.
In the Soviets, by contrast, law-making and enforcement of laws have merged into a single function.
This means that the Soviets not only draw up normative acts but also organise the fulfilment of their decisions through their deputies, and direct and effectively control the activity of executive bodies.
``The Soviets,'' Lenin said, ``concentrate in their hands not only legislative power and control over the observance of laws, but also the direct enforcement of the laws through all the members of the Soviets for the purpose of gradually drawing all working people without exception into fulfilling legislative functions and administrating the state.''^^*^^
. All these features have been inherent in the Soviets throughout the period from the October Revolution to the present.
Nonetheless, we observe that in connection with the enormous changes that have taken place in the economy and in the class structure of society definite changes have also occurred in the system of Soviets. In particular, the elimination of the exploiter classes and the building of socialism in the U.S.S.R. had created conditions for the further development of Soviet democracy and the transformation of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies into Soviets of Working People's Deputies.
This took place in 1936 with the adoption of the new Constitution, which mirrored the fact that with the accomplishment of socialist construction Soviet society consists only of working classes, that in these conditions the Soviets have become organs of the whole Soviet people and that they represent the entire population of the country without any limitations or exceptions. Substantial changes have also taken place in the system of electing Soviets and in the forms of their activity.
Thus, the Soviets of Working People's Deputies are a higher stage in the development of socialist democracy insofar as they have become an all-embracing organisation of the people and embody their unity. Born in the flames of the struggle for power they are now organs expressing __PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__ _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, 5th Russ. ed., Vol. 36, p. 481. 78
78 THE SOVIETS-THE POLITICAL FOUNDATION OF THE U.S.S.R. SUPREME SOVIET OF THE U.S.S.R.
[79]
__CAPTION__
Baku, March 19, 1967. Dancing on election clay in the Azerbaijan
Under the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. all power in the country is vested in the working people of town and country as represented by the Soviets of Working People's Deputies.
This is quite understandable, for only the Soviets, which are elected in accordance with the most democratic principles, can mirror and express the will of the masses, sum up and generalise the interests of the whole society and embody the legal concepts of the people into obligatory acts. The Soviets occupy a dominating position in the entire system of state organs and make up the political foundation of the U.S.S.R. Thus no other organs in any measure whatever can set themselves oil' against the Soviets or rise above them. The executive and administrative apparatus set up by the Soviets functions in strict conformity with the law and other regulations authorised by representative organs.
The Soviets check and direct the activity of executive and administrative organs and hear the reports of their 80 chiefs. In other words, they are the permanent and only foundation of the entire slate apparatus.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union does its utmost to strengthen and develop the Soviets of Working People's Deputies.
The C.P.S.U. Programme stresses that the role of the Soviets will grow as communist construction progresses.
The enhancement of the role of Soviet representative organs is not a transient task, but the pivotal line of development. It follows, therefore, that in the process of communist construction the jurisdiction of the Soviets will steadily expand. That is why the 23rd Congress of the C.P.S.U. reiterated the necessity of enhancing the role of the Soviets in guiding economic and cultural development and in satisfying the requirements of the population. The Congress underlined that their activity must be improved on the basis of all-round democratisation.
Having described the Soviets in general outline we shall now examine their organisation and concrete functions.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. THE SOVIET ELECTORAL SYSTEMA key token of the democracy of any state is its electoral system and the way the elections are conducted. For this reason we shall lead off by describing how the Soviets are elected. The fundamental principles of the Soviet electoral system are given in the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.
The procedure of electing higher and local organs of power is described in detail in the corresponding electoral laws (called Regulations for Elections to the Soviets) adopted on the basis of the Constitution.
Elections in the U.S.S.R. take place in an atmosphere of mutual trust, friendship and co-operation, for there are no classes endeavouring to pressure the electors.
The Soviet electoral law imposes no restrictions on the electorate and does not divide citizens into privileged or underprivileged. Every person who has reached the age of 18 is free to participate in the political life of the country. The electoral system ensures the right of all citizens freely to express their will. Thanks to its genuinely democratic nature and as a result of the growth of the population and its increasing political activity, the number of people __PRINTERS_P_81_COMMENT__ 6---3173 81 taking part in elections has increased more than threefold since the establishment of Soviet rule.
In 1917, less then 37 million people took part in the elections to the Soviets; in 1937, this number rose to 91 million, and in 1966, more than 144 million electors went to polls.
Elections have become a truly nation-wide affair. Tens of millions of people and a large number of mass organisations and societies take part in preparing and conducting them. Important work is carried out by members of election commissions, authorised representatives, agitators and propagandists. The almost 100 per cent attendance at the polls convincingly proves that the election campaigns are genuinely popular. The overwhelming majority of the electors cast their votes for the candidates of the bloc of Communists and non-Parly people, thus strikingly demonstrating the community of interests of the Party and the people and the solidarity of Ihe masses in their support of the Communist Party.
It must be said that the electoral system did not remain unchanged throughout the 50 years that have passed since the Revolution. It evolved towards fuller democracy.
In the period when the exploiting classes were fiercely resisting the new Soviet system, when the peasantry was a multimillion mass of individual peasants, each working on his own plot of land and when the country was just beginning to tackle problems of socialist construction, the elections were conducted in such a way as to ensure the plentitude of power of the working people.
At that time the exploiters were disfranchised. Although this restriction applied to not more than two or three per cent of the population, the Soviet Government nonetheless repeatedly pointed out that it was a temporary measure aimed at countering the efforts of the reactionary classes to restore their rule at all costs. In this connection Lenin used to say that in other countries where the socialist revolution will be victorious it will not be necessary to deprive the exploiters of political rights, whereas in Russia this measure was dictated by the foreign intervention and the Civil War.
In those years elections to the Soviets were conducted in
such a manner as to secure a certain advantage for the
working class over the peasantry in the rates of
82
__CAPTION__
Kiev, June 12, 1966. Elections to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.
The family of Y. Linnik, a veteran worker of the Arsenal Plant, cast
their votes
representation. Only the local---village and town---Soviets were elected
by direct vote, whereas the higher organs of state power
were elected by several stages. At all elections, the deputies
were elected by a show of hands. After socialism had
triumphed in the U.S.S.R., the exploiting classes had been
abolished and the bulk of the peasants had joined collective
farms, the need for such restrictions disappeared
completely.
Principles of the Soviet electoral system. The 1936 Constitution of the U.S.S.R., reflecting the profound changes that had taken place in the class structure of Soviet society, further democratised the electoral system by introducing universal, equal and direct suffrage with secret ballot.
Elections of deputies are universal. This means that all citizens who have reached the age of 18, irrespective of race, nationality, sex, religion, education, domicile, social __PRINTERS_P_83_COMMENT__ 6* 83 origin, property status, or past political activity have the right to vote in the election of deputies, with the exception of persons who have been legally certified insane.
Every Soviet citizen who has reached the age of 18 is eligible for election to a local Soviet, a person who has reached the age of 21 is eligible for election to the Supreme Soviet of a Union or Autonomous Republic, while the minimum age for a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. is 23. The slightly higher minimum age for deputies to the Supreme Soviets is dictated by the need to elect to the higher legislative organs persons possessing adequate experience.
The universal character of the franchise in the U.S.S.R. is ensured by the way the elections are organised and conducted, namely, by holding elections on a non-working day, by compiling registers of voters, by the formation ol constituencies, by providing voting facilities for persons who are away from their permanent place of residence on polling day, by making it a crime to prevent citizens from exercising their electoral right. The establishment of universal suffrage and provision of guarantees ensuring its observance make it really possible for all Soviet citizens without exception to vote in the elections.
Indeed, Soviet citizens widely use their right to vote. Suffice it to cite the following figures: in the 1937 election to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. 96.8 per cent of the electorate went to the polls, in 1946, 99.2 per cent, in 1950, 99.7 per cent, in 1954, 99.8 per cent, in 1958, 99.7 per cent, in 1962, 99.95 per cent and in 1966, 99.94 per cent.
Elections of deputies are equal. This means that each citizen has only one vote and can be registered in only one register; all constituencies electing deputies to a given Soviet are equal; all citizens---men, women, Party members, nonParty people, citizens serving in the armed forces, people of any nationality, and so forth---participate in elections on an equal footing; no separate groups of the population, individual citizens, areas or regions enjoy privileges over other groups, individuals or areas. This is precluded by the way the elections are organised and conducted.
Elections of deputies are direct. This means that all Soviets, from the rural Soviets to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., are elected by the population by direct vote.
84The electors know whom they are electing and can themselves decide whether to vote for or against a candidate.
Direct vote makes for direct and closer contact between the electors and the candidates. It also facilitates electors' control over the activity of deputies and increases the latter's responsibility to the electorate. Practice has shown that the direct and personal election of deputies steadily improves the work of the representative organs.
All deputies are elected by secret ballot. Suffrage by secret ballot is guaranteed by the Regulations for Elections to the Soviets, which require electors' booths at polling stations, forbid the presence of any person, including members of the electoral commission in a booth occupied by an elector for the purpose of filling in his ballot-paper, and allow an elector who is unable to fill in his ballotpaper personally either because he is illiterate or physically handicapped, to invite any other elector into his booth.
Moreover, there are no markings on ballot-papers to ascertain for whom one or another elector had cast his vote.
Electoral procedure in the U.S.S.R. How are elections organised? In this connection, of primary importance are voters' registers, for if they are incorrectly drawn up a person may be accidentally prevented from taking part in the voting. Voters' registers include all people, with the exception of persons legally certified insane, who have reached the age of 18 and who are living (either permanently or temporarily) in a given constituency.
These registers are drawn up very carefully. In the rural districts they are compiled by the Executive Committees of village Soviets, in townships by township Soviets and in cities by city Soviets. Electors in military units and military formations are included in lists compiled and signed by the commanding officer.
Completed registers arc hung out for public scrutiny so that errors may be corrected in good time.
Every citizen has the right to lodge a complaint with the election commission should he discover an error in the electoral register concerning him personally or any other elector.
85An elector who leaves his permanent residence after the voters' registers have been drawn up is issued a Voting Right Certificate and a corresponding mark is made in the registers. With a Voting Right Certificate in his hands an elector has the right to be included in the electoral registers at the constituency where he takes up permanent or temporary residence.
The procedure for the compilation of electoral registers fully precludes any abuse of the election law and guarantees all electors the possibility of performing their civic duty and voting in the elections.
Elections to all Soviets are conducted in constituencies which are formed strictly in conformity with the rates of representation set down in the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. and in the Regulations for Elections to the Soviets, and embrace a definite section of the population equal in number to any other constituency.
Each constituency elects one deputy to a given Soviet. Ballots are cast and the votes are counted at polling stations (one for every 500-3,000 of population), established by the Executive Committees of city and district Soviets. A separate polling station is set up in villages or groups of villages numbering up to 500 but not less than 100 inhabitants.
In remote northern and eastern regions and in mountainous districts with their predominantly small settlements polling stations are set up in areas with not less than 50 inhabitants.
Polling stations are also established in military units and formations.
Besides, the law provides for the establishment of polling stations in hospitals, maternity homes, sanatoria, invalids' homes and in separate hospital buildings where the number of electors is not less than 50, and also in ships with not less than 20 electors aboard, which are at sea on polling day, in long-distance passenger trains, at large railway stations and airports at which electors holding a Voting Right Certificate can cast their ballots. The aged and the infirm arc taken to polling stations by car, while those who cannot come to the polls due to ill health drop their ballots into a sealed box brought to their bedside.
Election commissions (central, regional and district) are
formed for the purpose of organising elections and
__PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__
86
PROCEDURE FOR NOMINATING CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION TO SOVIETS
General meetings
General meetings
General
neetings
General
Organs of mass
of workers and
of workers and
of peasants on
meetings of
organisations,
other employees
other employees at
collective farms
servicemen in
from central
on state farms
factories and offices
and in v
illages
military units
to district
NOMINATE CANDIDATES
[87]
__PARAGRAPH_CONT__
instituting people's control over election canvassing and procedure.
All of them are made up of members of Communist, trade
union, co-operative and other mass organisations and
societies, as well as of people from different enterprises
elected at general meetings of industrial and office workers,
collective farmers, and so forth.
A particularly large number of election commissions with a total membership of several million are set up during elections to local organs of power. Suffice it to say that in the last elections to the local Soviets, which took place in 1967, 2,257,300 election commissions with nearly 9,000,000 members were formed throughout the country.
The right to nominate candidates is afforded mass organisations and societies, including Party, trade unions, co-operative and youth organisations and cultural societies, as well as general meetings of industrial and office workers of enterprises and institutions, servicemen of separate military units, general meetings of farmers at collective farms and villages, and workers at state farms.
In practice candidates are usually nominated at general meetings of working people, and mass organisations, as a rule, exercise their right to nominate candidates through these meetings.
Thus, all questions connected with the nomination of candidates are collectively settled by the working people. Each Soviet elector has the right to attend election meetings and voice his opinion of one or another candidate. The nomination of candidates is accompanied by popular and all-round discussion at meetings and in the press of their personal and business qualities so that the worthiest and most authoritative people are chosen.
All mass organisations or societies and general meetings of factory and office workers, peasants and servicemen have to register their candidates with the corresponding district election commission. A candidate is considered registered after the minutes of the meeting at which he has been nominated and his written consent to stand for elections at a given constituency are handed over to the district election commission.
The commission, for its part, registers all candidates in accordance with the established procedure, enters their names in the ballot-paper and publishes the results of the 88 registration of candidates within the period stipulated by law.
Every organisation, which has nominated a candidate and registered him with an election commission, and all citizens of the U.S.S.R. are guaranteed the right to campaign for this candidate at meetings, in the press and in other ways.
A candidate incurs no expenditures in connection with the elections. The stale finances the preparations for elections and the elections themselves. The working people and their organisations are given the free use of the best premises, palaces and houses of culture, theatres and clubs for canvassing and set up polling and canvassing stations at specially outfitted premises. Moreover, they are entitled to the free use of printers, stocks of paper, radio, television and other facilities for promoting the election campaign.
Elections to Soviets are always held on an off-day and all polling stations, whether in big cities, on mountain pastures, or in polar stations are open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. After the voting, the ballot boxes are opened by members of the election commission in the presence of representatives of mass organisations and societies and newspaper correspondents.
Election returns in a given constituency are considered valid if more than 50 per cent of its registered voters had cast their ballots.
A candidate is considered elected if he polls an absolute majority of votes, that is, when more than 50 per cent of the ballots are cast in a given constituency and acknowledged as valid.
Should less than 50 per cent of the electorate take part in the polling or if a candidate receives less than 50 per cent of the votes, new elections arc appointed not later than within a fortnight after the first elections.
Judging election returns in accordance with the absolute majority vote principle makes it possible to determine the extent to which the electors trust their deputies and creates conditions ensuring genuine popular representation.
After counting the votes and ascertaining that a deputy has been elected in conformity with the Regulations for Elections to the Soviets, the district election commission issues a corresponding certificate to the newly elected deputy.
89Such is the electoral procedure in the U.S.S.R. We have described it in detail inasmuch as all its aspects in large measure determine the results of the elections.
Often various ``details'' of the election law in capitalist countries conceal measures preventing a considerable sec tion of the population from participating in elections. For this purpose they widely implement various electoral qualifications and the so-called electoral geography, introduce diverse complicated systems of counting votes, impose restrictions on canvassing by working people and their organisations, and so forth.
The election procedure in the U.S.S.R. is not governed by diverse qualifications or restrictions, and no reservations or artful measures are employed in nominating candidates and compiling electoral rolls. It is extremely simple and convenient for the electorate and is controlled by the public.
This fact is of the utmost importance, for it allows more fully and correctly to ascertain the will of the voters and ensures the representation of all sections of society in the Soviets.
Then why is only one candidate registered in each constituency and does not this violate the freedom of election?
Answering this question, which is usually asked when the Soviet electoral system is under discussion, we must say that the Soviet electoral law does not in the least prohibit the registration of several candidates in each constituency. Moreover, electoral rolls and ballot-papers are designed for the running of several candidates.
In practice, however, the electorate do not use this right and it has become the established custom to register only one candidate in each constituency. This is due to the fact that in the U.S.S.R. there neither are nor can be any contending social forces or groups fighting for dominant positions in representative bodies during elections. All the candidates are nominated on behalf of the single bloc of Communists and non-Party people. This bloc unites the entire population. The Communists and the non-Party people do not stand separately in the elections, but all together, in close alliance and in a united front. They have a common political platform and the same candidates. In addition, it must be borne in mind that the working people and their 90 organisations have every possibility carefully to discuss all candidates and nominate the worthiest. Their personal qualities and all aspects of their activity are assessed at meetings of factory, office and collective-farm personnel and then at pre-election meetings of voters. In this way only those candidates are allowed to stand who will be able to meet the requirements of the electorate. Taking into consideration the solidarity and unity of the Soviet people this election procedure is most rational and does not in the least violate the citizens' right to express their will. In view of the fact that the procedure for nominating candidates and election canvassing, and the guaranteed secret ballot ensure genuine freedom for the electors to vote for the people whom they know and trust, the Soviet electorate consider it most natural to register only one candidate in each constituency.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 4. DEPUTIES AND ELECTORSA people's representative and statesman. The Soviets of Working People's Deputies with their more than 2,000,000 members represent all sections of Soviet society. Apart from everything else this huge number of deputies, who are scattered all over the Soviet Union, shows that through them the Soviets can carry out vastly important undertakings.
In contrast to bourgeois parliamentarism, the Soviet system does not turn deputies into a special caste of professional politicians. Deputies of Soviets combine their state duties with regular employment at factories, offices, collective farms or elsewhere. All this enables them to maintain close contact with the electors, constantly to be in the midst of the people and thoroughly ascertain their needs and requirements.
Their participation in production makes for direct knowledge of life and practice, which is indispensable for fulfilling any government assignment.
That is why no one in the U.S.S.R. ever raises the question whether it is permissible to combine deputy's functions with work at an enterprise. By its very substance work in a Soviet is inseparable from day-to-day work at an enterprise, for in socialist society the people run the economy and the state.
91
__CAPTION__
Moscow. The 1st Session of the Seventh Supreme Soviet. A
A deputy to a Soviet is both a people's representative and a statesman. Every deputy, therefore, must keep in touch with his electors, fulfil their mandates and realise their suggestions, consider their complaints and statements and see to it that their requests and proposals are met promptly, and also actively participate in the work of the Soviet to which he has been elected, and carry out the assignments given him by the Soviet or its standing or executive committees.
Deputies conduct extensive organisational work in their constituencies, help to strengthen state and labour discipline, draw people into active participation in the administration of economic and cultural development, systematically interpret to their electors the decisions of their Soviets and the laws and regulations adopted by higher organs, and help to carry them out.
Under the Soviet Constitution every deputy is duty bound to report to his electors on his own work and that of his Soviet, and the electors have the right to recall him 92 before his term of office expires if he has not justified their trust. These important principles defining the relations between deputies and the electorate have been further developed by the laws and regulations that have been adopted in the past several years. Let us take a look at the manner in which the constitutionally prescribed practice of deputies reporting to their electorate is carried out.
What are mandates? Mandates are adopted at electors' meetings which discuss the candidates or at meetings at which deputies report on their own work or on the work of the Soviet. Mandates are not requests which the Soviets can either carry out or not. They express the will of the electorate, their demands and their instructions to organs of power and have to be fulfilled by the Soviets and their Executive Committees. In effect they define the duties of the deputies and the activities of the representative organ. Hence, a deputy and the Soviet are fully responsible to the electors for the fulfilment of their mandates.
In their mandates the voters touch upon important questions connected with the improvement of cultural and welfare facilities, the construction of roads, improvement of transport and communications, the development of various local industries, and so forth.
__CAPTION__
S. Urun-Khojayev, Chairman of the Moskva Collective Farm
Here is an example illustrating this point. In the 1965 elections to the city and district Soviets of Moscow, 7,704 deputies were elected, including 1,104 to the Moscow City Soviet.
During the election campaign the deputies to the Moscow City Soviet received 380 mandates from their electors. ByMarch 1966, a large part of them had been fulfilled. At the close of March, the Moscow City Soviet held a session to discuss further measures to promote the role of deputies and members of standing committees and the activists in fulfilling the economic and cultural development plan. The speakers pointed out that in accordance with the instructions of the electors several new bus lines had been inaugurated, street lighting had been improved, new shops, schools and pharmacies had been opened, additional telephone booths had been set up in the streets, and so forth.
At the same time, Moscow's district Soviets accepted 1,029 mandates for implementation and by March 1966, over 75 per cent of them had been fulfilled.
Electors' mandates promote democracy, for each person has the right to offer his suggestions to be included in instructions to deputies and to participate in their discussion and approval.
Proposals submitted by individuals and approved at a meeting of electors are regarded as their jointly drawn up instructions. In view of the fact that the bulk of the suggestions forwarded by the electors concern economic development and improvement of cultural and welfare facilities, the adoption of mandates helps to draw citizens into the leadership of economic and cultural development.
Finally, constituents' mandates call for constant improvement of the work of all sections of the administrative apparatus.
The very fact that the deputies and the Soviets are responsible for the implementation of mandates makes the latter an important means by which rank-and-flle citizens directly control the work of the deputies, the Soviets and their executive and administrative bodies.
Electors' control. Under the Soviet state system the functions of electors are not restricted to voting. Constituents maintain contact with the deputies and control and 94 cll'ectiveiy influence their activity during the whole term of office of a given Soviet. This is the result of the consistent implementation of the principle of responsibility and accountability of the deputies to the electors, to the whole people.
First of all we have to mention the constitutional obligation of deputies to report to electors' meetings.
``It is the duty of every deputy,'' says Article 142 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R., ``to report to his electors on his work and on the work of his Soviet of Working People's Deputies.''
Deputies strictly fulfil this obligation and regularly report back to their electors.
The law of some Union Republics states that deputies to local Soviets have to report to their electors not less than once in six months.
But this does not mean that the electors have the right to hear deputies' reports only at definite periods. Reportback meetings are held whenever the electors demand them.
It has become customary for deputies regularly to report to their constituents, usually after each session of their Soviet, at meetings of deputies with the electorate.
At first glance, it might appear that deputies submit their reports solely at the request of the constituents. This is not quite true. Deputies report back also on their own initiative, or in conformity with the decisions of local Soviets, or at the recommendation of Executive Committees, mass organisations and the personnel of the factories, offices or collective farms that had nominated them.
As we have already said, each deputy is elected to a Soviet by the population of a given constituency. It is, therefore, his prime obligation to report back chiefly to his constituents.
Sometimes, however, meetings are organised at which a joint report covering the activity of deputies of various Soviets is submitted. The report is usually delivered by the leader of a group of deputies. Although such reportback meetings are useful, they cannot take the place of a personal report of a deputy to his electors.
In reporting on the work of the Soviet, a deputy usually dwells at length on matters directly related to his constituency. He tells the audience about the tasks next in line 95 and describes the prospects for the development of, say, not only the whole city, but also of his constituency.
In the section of his report dealing with his personal work, he speaks about the suggestions he had made to his Soviet, or to one of its standing committees, or to a group of deputies and what decisions had been taken and the assignments he had fulfilled. He never fails to inform the electors about the measures taken to meet their complaints and requests, the headway he had made in fulfilling their mandates, and on his contacts with mass organisations.
Electors display great interest in deputies' reports and sharply criticise shortcomings. The resolution, which is adopted after the deputy has submitted his report and the electors have made their statements, contains an assessment of the work of the deputy and the Soviet. After they are discussed and adopted the electors' mandates are entered into the minutes of the meeting.
The right of recall. The right of electors to recall their deputy before his term of office expires is a very important guarantee ensuring genuine responsibility of a deputy to his electorate. This right is set down in Article 142 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. which states that every deputy may be recalled at any time upon the decision of a majority of his electors in the manner established by law.
According to the law, a deputy may be recalled if he has not justified the trust of his electors or has committed acts unbefitting his office.
The right to move a recall is secured to working people's organisations and societies and to general meetings of working people, who inform the deputy concerned of the reasons for his recall. On his part, the deputy is entitled to present his case regarding the circumstances which have led to his recall. The question is discussed at a general meeting of the electors of a given constituency. A recall decision is taken by a show of hands.
Every mass organisation and every citizen has the right to unhindered agitation for or against the recall of a deputy.
A deputy is deemed relieved of his office if the majority of the electors of his constituency vote against him.
We still hear, though not very often, of deputies who commit unbefitting acts or are guilty of neglect of 96 duty. With regard lo such deputies the electors move for their recall. Suffice it to say that in 1965 alone the electors recalled more than 350 deputies of local Soviets. There have been cases when deputies to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., and Supreme Soviets of Union and Autonomous Republics were relieved of office.
Soviet law not only proclaims but guarantees that deputies are completely dependent on their electorate whose interests they must uphold in organs of state power.
In this way Soviet society implements Lenin's principle that any elective body can be considered really democratic and truly representative of the people's will only if it recognises and exercises the right of electors to recall their deputies.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 5. THE SYSTEM OF SOVIETS OF WORKINGThe central and local Soviets comprise a single system of representative organs ensuring the genuine rule by the working people.
This system is highly ramified because the Soviet Union is a federal state with an enormous territory inhabited by a huge population and consisting of the most diverse national and administrative and territorial divisions.
At present the system of Soviets, in conformity with the federal structure of the U.S.S.R. and the administrative and territorial organisation of its constituent republics, includes the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., 15 Supreme Soviets of the Union Republics, 20 Supreme Soviets of the Autonomous Republics, and 48,770 local Soviets (territory, regional, area, district, town, village and township).
Yet the centre has never and will never come into
opposition with the localities, and there neither are nor can
be differences between the higher and the local organs of
state power. The community of goals and tasks of all the
Soviets and the uniform principles underlying their
organisation and activity ensure a harmonious combination of
all their echelons. In this connection, we recall Lenin's
words that under the Soviet system the ``unity of essentials,
of fundamentals, of the substance, is not disturbed but
__PRINTERS_P_97_COMMENT__
7---3173
97
__CAPTION__
Moscow. 1st Session of the Seventh Supreme Soviet. Joint
Meeting of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of
Nationalities
ensured by variety in details, in specific local features, in
methods of approach, in methods of exercising control....''^^*^^
Let us now turn to facts illustrating the manner in which
the Supreme and local Soviets organise and conduct their
day-to-day activities.
The Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. The activities of this organ evoke great interest both in the Soviet Union and abroad. Every word pronounced from its rostrum is carefully studied and weighed, and every decision it passes elicits a broad response. The Soviet Parliament's enormous prestige is understandable and fully justified.
Being the supreme organ of state power in the country and embodying the sovereignty of the whole Soviet people, the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. represents the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a land which is building communism. It is a genuinely popular organ of power and _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 26, p. 413.
98 personifies the plentilude of power and the democratic character of the Soviet system. The activity of a parliament is determined by its social composition, by the classes and sections of the population it represents and whose interests it upholds. The Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. consists of representatives of all sections of Soviet society. Its deputies were voted in not by part of the electorate but by the entire adult population of the country, by more than 140 million citizens, or 99.9 per cent of the constituents.The composition of the Supreme Soviet mirrors the social structure of Soviet society and the friendship and genuine equality of all Soviet nations and nationalities. In spite of their different callings, age, education and nationality, all deputies are united in their dedication to the cause of the working people, the cause of communism.
After every election to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. a special book containing short biographies of all its deputies is published. It offers convincing proof that above everything else Soviet legislators are working people. All deputies, whether factory workers, statesmen, or gifted artists are esteemed for their work and for their contribution to the common cause. A deputy is elected to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. not as a result of pre-election intrigues or veiled machinations, but in recognition of his devoted and dedicated work for the common weal.
Let us consider, as a typical example, the biography of Supreme Soviet deputy Zoya Pukhova, a weaver from Ivanovo.
She was born in 1936 into the family of a collective farmer who was killed in the war. She cannot forget the day when her mother took out of the envelope a slip of paper notifying her of her husband's death, dropped weakly on a bench and clenching her head with her hands began to wail in lamentation.. . .
The widow was left with four small children on her hands. It was not easy to bring them up and give them an education. So after completing a seven-year school Zoya Pukhova went to live in Ivanovo, one of the oldest centres of Russia's textile industry. Here she learned the trade of weaver and very soon became an expert at the job, so much so that people justifiably say that she has golden hands.
__PRINTERS_P_99_COMMENT__ 2* 99 Emacs-File-stamp: "/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1968/SSD255/20070705/199.tx" __EMAIL__ webmaster@leninist.biz __OCR__ ABBYY 6 Professional (2007.07.05) __WHERE_PAGE_NUMBERS__ bottom __FOOTNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [*]+ __ENDNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [0-9]+Since 1952 she is working at the spinning and weaving mill named after the weaver-revolutionary Balashov. Zoya Pukhova, a modest woman and mother of two children, has won great prestige both at the mill with its 5,000 workers and in the city itself not only because of her high production indices or skill which amazes even specialists who are old hands at the job, but primarily because of the kindness and solicitude she displays towards the people. Having thoroughly mastered modern methods of production she shares her experience and professional ``secrets'' with other workers. She is also the initiator of socialist emulation among the weavers and thousands of workers are taking over her exceptionally conscientious and creative attitude to labour.
She successfully combines work at the mill and studies with public activity. Fulfilling her duties as deputy of the Ivanovo Regional Soviet she interceded on behalf of dozens of people with public health and educational bodies and organs engaged in the organisation of public services and amenities.
Many improvements have been carried out at the mill and in the city thanks to her persistent efforts and initiative.
Furthering the interests of the state and displaying concern for the common cause she has frequently spoken at Party and trade union meetings and at various conferences and approached state bodies, including ministries, requesting the adoption of measures to raise the productivity of labour and improve the welfare of the people.
As a member of the Committee of Soviet Women she has widely travelled abroad where she met prominent functionaries of the international women's movement.
In the spring of 1966 Zoya Pukhova was delegated to the 23rd Party Congress in Moscow where she spoke about measures to improve methods of production at textile mills, lighten the domestic work of women and create better cultural facilities for workers.
That same year the people of Ivanovo unanimously elected her deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.
The Seventh Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. elected her member of its Presidium, thus further broadening the range of her functions as deputy.
She obtained a more profound understanding of mailers 100 connected with the development of the country by participating in Supreme Soviet sessions and Presidium meetings, and concentrated still more on fulfilling the wishes of her electors. At times she perceives the common measures that have to be taken on a country-wide scale merely by studying separate cases or facts at her mill.
Now that she has become a prominent public figure, this ordinary Soviet woman is giving all of her talent and ability to serving the people and improving their lives.
More than 50 per cent of the Supreme Soviet members are prominent workers of town and country who, like Zoya Pukhova, have risen to the heights of state activity.
The Seventh Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. consists of 1,517 deputies, including 404 (26.6 per cent) workers and 294 (19.4 per cent) collective farmers. This is almost 50 per cent of the total. If we added to this number the statesmen, economic executives and specialists who began their working life as workers or peasants, these two categories would make up an overwhelming majority. The Supreme Soviet also includes 245 (16.2 per cent) intellectuals, among them scientists, technical specialists and workers in culture, art and literature. Among the deputies there are 376 (24.8 per cent) non-Party people.
Of the deputies in the Supreme Soviet 425 (28 per cent) are women. This is more than the total number of women in the parliaments of all the bourgeois countries taken together. These figures testify to the representative character of the supreme organ of power in the U.S.S.R.
Two chambers of the Supreme Soviet. In accordance with the Constitution, the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. consists of two chambers, the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities. This structure of the highest organ of state power in the best possible way reflects the multinational composition of the population.
Both chambers are elected on the basis of universal,
equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot for a period of
four years, but on a different basis of representation. The
Soviet of the Union is elected by citizens voting by
constituencies on the basis of one deputy for every 300,000
of population. The Soviet of Nationalities is elected by
citizens voting by Union and Autonomous Republics.
Autonomous Regions and National Areas on the basis of
__PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__
101
ELECTIONS TO THE SUPREME SOVIET OF THE U.S.S.R.
SUPREME SOVIET
OF THE U.S.S.R.
SOVIET OF
THE UNION
SOVIET OF
NATIONALITIES
One deputy
Thirty -two
Eleven
Five deputies
One deputy
for every
deputies from
deputies from
from each
from each
300 000 oMrw
each Union
each Autonomous
Autonomous
National
population
Republic
Republic
Region
Area
[102]
__PARAGRAPH_CONT__
32 deputies from each Union Republic, 11 from each
Autonomous Republic, five from each Autonomous Region and
one deputy from each National Area.
This system ensures adequate representation of all the nationalities of the U.S.S.R. and mirrors their national features and specific interests. The bicameral structure of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. provides ample possibilities for carefully heeding the needs and interests of the people, rendering them timely assistance and maintaining mutual trust and fraternal co-operation between all socialist nations. People of 57 nationalities of the U.S.S.R. work hand in hand in the highest representative organ of the country.
Both chambers enjoy equal rights and both can initiate legislation. A law is considered adopted only if passed by both chambers. Their structure is, on the whole, identical. Sessions of the two chambers begin and terminate simultaneously and they conduct their business and proceedings in an identical manner. According to agreement between the two chambers, they may conduct their sittings jointly or separately. Joint sittings are presided over alternately by the chairmen of the two chambers. The equality of the two chambers is also manifested in the fact that they have almost the same number of deputies.
Article 47 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. states that in the event of disagreement between the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities, the question is referred for settlement to a conciliation committee formed by the chambers on a parity basis. If the conciliation committee fails to arrive at an agreement or if its decision fails to satisfy one of the chambers, the question is considered for a second time by the chambers. Failing agreement between the two chambers, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. dissolves the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. and orders new elections. Thus, neither chamber has any advantages over the other. The decisions of both have equal strength, and the constitutionally established procedure for settling differences not only testifies to their equality but also guarantees it.
The bicameral structure of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. ensures the consistent implementation of the nationalities policy of the Communist Party. It can be safely 103 said that thanks lo its national composition the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. is a forum of plenipotentiaries of all Soviet nations and nationalities called upon to settle the most important affairs as members of a single federal state. Jurisdiction of the Supreme Soviet. As the highest representative organ, the Supreme Soviet is vested with broad powers covering all major issues of home and foreign policy. It adopts and amends the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. and passes all-Union laws.
Article 32 of the Constitution slates that the legislative power of the U.S.S.R. is exercised exclusively by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.
A law is an act of enormous social significance. It regulates social relations and problems connected with people's destinies. Soviet laws are the embodiment of the will of all the people. They are imbued with solicitude for the population and protect the Soviet social system and the interests and rights of Soviet citizens. It is quite natural therefore that in the U.S.S.R. laws are passed by the higher representative organ and that legislative functions cannot be transferred to executive organs.
Laws of the U.S.S.R. are obligatory for all Soviet republics. In addition to promulgating laws, the jurisdiction of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. covers admission of new republics into the Soviet Union, approval of the boundaries between Union Republics, establishment of the general procedure governing relations between Union Republics and foreign states, definition of the principles guiding the organisation of military formations of the Union Republics, and so forth.
When necessary the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. reorganises individual state organs or changes their structure and composition. In March 1946, for example, at its first session the Second Supreme Soviet changed the numerical composition of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., transformed the Council of People's Commissars into the Council of Ministers, and the people's commissariats into ministries, and renamed the Procurator of the U.S.S.R. into Procurator-General of the U.S.S.R.
In 1958, the Supreme Soviet amended the Constitution by introducing a clause stipulating that by virtue of their office the Presidents of the Presidiums of the Supreme 104 Soviets of the Union Republics were automatically VicePresidents of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. Simultaneously a new constitutional norm was established covering the inclusion in the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. of the Chairmen of the Councils of Ministers of the Union Republics.
Taking the changes in economic and cultural development into consideration, the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. approves the appropriate reorganisation of the ministries of the U.S.S.R., namely, merging, division, or formation of new ministries, or the transformation of all-Union ministries into Union-republican ministries. The Supreme Soviet sets up state committees of the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. such as the State Building Committee, the State Forestry Committee, and others.
Exercising state administration over political, economic and cultural life, the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. approves annual and long-term (five-year) economic plans and the State Budget and reports on their implementation. The budget and the economic development plans are very important acts which define the principal trends of the country's economic and cultural development.
The impressive five-year plan for 1966--70 envisages the further all-round economic growth of the country, and sets rapid rates of development for the heavy, light and food industries and agriculture. The plan provides for huge outlays for public education, sports, the training of personnel, scientific and cultural progress, public health, and state social insurance and social security.
In conformity with the Constitution, the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. forms other higher organs of state power. It elects the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., forms the Council of Ministers---the Government of the U.S.S.R.---elects the Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R. and appoints the Procurator-General of the U.S.S.R.
At the same time, it exercises supreme control over the activity of all state organs and officials. It safeguards the rights and freedoms of citizens and strengthens socialist law and order.
It lays down the principles guiding Soviet foreign policy and passes decisions on key international problems. Its acts are an expression of the peace-loving foreign policy of the 105 Soviet Union aimed at securing lasting peace in llie world. In recent years its foreign policy activity has expanded considerably. Supreme Soviet sessions regularly hear the government's reports on the international situation and the foreign policy of the U.S.S.R. and adopt decisions and declarations on foreign policy problems.
In conformity with the will of the peoples of the U.S.S.R.. the Supreme Soviet backed the Soviet Government's proposals on such major international issues as general and complete disarmament, the banning of rocket and nuclear weapons, the conclusion of a peace treaty with Germany and, on that basis, settling the problem of West Berlin, and the like.
The Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. consistently pursues its policy of promoting business relations with all countries and assisting the peoples fighting for liberation or struggling to uphold their independence against imperialist encroachments.
On February 9, 1959, it adopted a declaration on the possibility and desirability of establishing direct contacts with the parliaments of foreign countries by exchanging parliamentary delegations with them and by giving visiting parliamentarians the opportunity to address the parliaments of the host countries, and securing the growth of friendly relations and co-operation between the parliaments, governments and peoples of various countries irrespective of their social and economic system.
To promote inter-parliamentary contacts, the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. has set up a National Parliamentary Group, which has been a member of the Inter-- Parliamentary Union since 1955. About 40 parliamentary delegations have visited the Soviet Union in the past four years. About half of this number were delegations from the young independent states. In this period Supreme Soviet deputies have visited over 20 countries.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. Sessions of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. are convened twice a year.
In the interim between sessions it acts through its Presidium, the standing committees of its chambers and its deputies in the constituencies where they had been elected.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. is a collegiate higher organ of power formed exclusively of 106 deputies. It fulfills functions connected with the activities of the Supreme Soviet and its jurisdiction is defined in the Constitution. It consists of the President of the Presidium, 15 Vice-Presidents representing all the Union Republics, a Secretary and 20 members. Alongside prominent Party leaders and statesmen it includes workers, collective farmers, intellectuals and servicemen. Besides Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the C.C. C.P.S.U., and other prominent statesmen and Party workers of the U.S.S.R. and the Union Republics, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet elected in August 1966 at the first session of the Seventh Supreme Soviet includes Z. P. Pukhova, a weaver from Ivanovo, V. I. Bolshukhin, foreman at the Sredneuralsk Copper Works, M. Jalalov, leader of a tractor and field team at the 20th Party Congress Collective Farm in Uzbekistan, two collective-farm chairmen V. M. Kavun (Vinnitsa Region, the Ukraine) and A. I. Kasatkina (Gorky Region, Russian Federation), rector of Moscow University Academician I. G. Petrovsky, and A. D. Nutetegrineh, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Chukotka Area Soviet (Magadan Region, Russian Federation).
As part of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., the Presidium organises and holds elections to the Supreme Soviet, prepares and convenes its sessions, promulgates laws, and organises the work of the chambers, and the standing and temporary committees, and also of the deputies.
In the interim between sessions the Presidium's powers extend over certain matters lying within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Soviet. For example, it amends existing legislation, releases and appoints members of the government and of the Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R., approves changes in the boundaries between Union Republics, proclaims a state of war in the event of military attack on the U.S.S.R., or in fulfilment of international treaty obligations concerning mutual defence against aggression, and so forth. All decisions taken by the Presidium are subject to approval by the Supreme Soviet.
Finally, under the Constitution, the Presidium fulfils functions placed within its own jurisdiction. It issues decrees, interprets operating laws, institutes decorations (Orders and medals) and titles of honour and awards them, exercises the right of pardon, institutes military titles, __PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__ 107 THE SUPREME SOVIET OF THE U.S.S.R. SUPREME SOVIET Planning and Budgetary 1 ___ Committee | OF THE U.S.S.R. H Planning and Budgetary Committee Transport and ' 1 ----- Communications 1 SOVIET SOVIET OF Transport and Communications ICommiltee torConilructi-l on and the Building L H Committee for Construe -- lion and the Building 1 Materials Industry 1 Materials Induilrv Committee 1 Vice-Chairmen Viee-Chairmen H Committee for Agriculture [ " Erommitlee lor Public 1 ___ alth and Social Security] 14) 0 OJ ___ I Committee lor Public ~^^1^^ (Health and Social Security --- PRESIDIUM --- Committee 1 lor Public Education, ----- Science and Culture 1 E OF THE SUPREME SOVIET E E H Committee for Public Education Science and Culture E OF THE U.S.S.R. 0 Committee tor Trade 1 ___ and Public Amenities | o u President ol the Presidium, U H Committee lor Trade and Public Amenities en c Legislative Proposals | c 1 ------- ^^2^^°"""``be'' ollhe Presidium ------- 1 -D 1 Legislative Proposals C Committee 1 ___ , (or Foreign Affairs I as in H Committee for Foreign Affairs u> Credentials Commitlee ----- ----- Credentials Commitlee Ad Hoc Committee Conciliation Committee 1 __ (formed on a parity basil) f | u 0) -a t' -4 Inquiry Commitlee Other ad hoc Committee4 Auditing Committee [108] __PARAGRAPH_CONT__ diplomatic ranks and other special titles, appoints and removes the supreme command of the Armed Forces of the U.S.S.R.. orders general or partial mobilisation, and so forth.
It is accountable to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. for all its activities. One of the forms in which it fulfils this obligation is reports submitted by the Presidium's Secretary to the Supreme Soviet concerning the decrees passed by the Presidium and subject to approval by the Supreme Soviet. Approval of these decrees signifies approval of the Presidium's activities. The Supreme Soviet has the right to re-elect members of the Presidium or the entire Presidium.
Inasmuch as the Presidium is a collegiate organ, all major questions within its jurisdiction are subject to discussion and a vote.
In describing the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet menlion must be made of the role played by the standing committees of the two chambers of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. In accordance with the decision passed in August 1966 by the first session of the Seventh Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., each chamber has 10 standing committees, including credentials, planning and budgetary, legislation proposals, foreign affairs, as well as committees on various branches of economic and cultural development. About 50 per cent of the deputies of the Supreme Soviet are members of these committees and they include prominent specialists, scientists, musicians and artists, rank-and-filc workers and collective farmers, doctors and teachers, men and women of different nationalities, ages, education, and representing all the Union and Autonomous Republics.
When necessary, deputies who are members of standing committees are exempted from their day-to-day work for a definite period in order to enable them to carry out the assignments given them by their committees.
The committees scrupulously study all draft laws submitted to them and, as a rule, any amendments and considerations suggested by these committees are approved by the Supreme Soviet.
By previewing the drafts of important laws and presenting their conclusions, the committees help the Supreme Soviet thoroughly to examine the substance of these acts, correctly 109 assess them, and adopt decisions conforming most closely to the interests of the state and the people.
The standing committees have the power to initiate bills. Acting on their own accord they draw up and submit to the Supreme Soviet many bills. The committees for legislative proposals, for instance, prepared and referred to the Supreme Soviet draft Fundamentals of Criminal Legislation and Procedure and draft Fundamentals of Civil Law and Procedure in the U.S.S.R. and the Union Republics, and several other important state acts.
These bills are not drawn up in camera, a typical method of procedure for parliamentary committees in bourgeois countries. Members of the Supreme Soviet committees consult with the people and take their views into account. They frequently travel to the different republics for onthe-spot consultations with members of local government bodies, lawyers, economic executives, cultural workers, scientists, industrial workers and collective farmers. At onthe-spot conferences they hear the views of many hundreds and even thousands of people. It goes without saying that in this way they collect a wealth of important material for drafting new laws to stimulate social development.
Another important function of the standing committees is that they control the activity of the administrative bodies, i.e., ministries and departments, not only in connection with the approval of economic development plans, the State Budget and other acts. They regularly inspect the work of administrative bodies and make sure that they implement the laws passed by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. They have no administrative powers and cannot compel any organ to carry out one or another measure. But their practice of drawing up recommendations for administrative organs has fully justified itself in both theory and practice.
By virtue of the prestige enjoyed by them their recommendations are speedily implemented by the government, the ministries and other administrative organs to whom they are addressed.
The growing role of the standing committees and the large-scale participation of deputies and of representatives of mass organisations, scientists and specialists in these committees improves the work of the Supreme Soviet and 110 of its chambers and the Presidium, opens up new fields in which deputies can apply their experience with due consideration for the views of the electors they represent.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Supreme Soviets of the Union and Autonomous RepublicsSupreme Soviet of a Union Republic. All the Union Republics have higher organs of stale power---a unicameral Supreme Soviet---which implements their sovereign rights.
The national and slate interests of the Autonomous Republics, Autonomous Regions and Nalional Areas are represented, as we have already said, directly in the Soviet of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.
At the same time, thanks to the broad democratic representation, even the numerically small nationalities in the Union Republics---the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan---have their representatives in the Supreme Soviets of these republics.
In conformity with the Constitution, the Supreme Soviet of a Union Republic is elected by citizens on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot for a term of four years.
The basis of representation to the Supreme Soviets of the Union Republics is established by their Constitutions and depends on the numerical and national composition of the population, the historical features of the development of one or another republic, and its geographical conditions.
As in the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., the composition of the Supreme Soviets of the Union Republics makes them genuinely popular representative organs. Approximately a third of their deputies are women, over 40 per cent are workers or collective farmers and about 30 per cent are non-Parly people.
The Supreme Soviets elect standing commillees from
among their deputies. In recent years, in line with the
further development of Soviet democracy and extension of
the rights of the Union Republics, and the growing role of
their higher organs of power, the number of standing
commiltees and their membership have increased
considerably. In addition to committees for legislative proposals,
the budget, foreign affairs and credentials, the Supreme
Soviets of the Union Republics have set up industrial,
__PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__
111
HIGHER ORGANS OF STATE POWER AND ORGANS OF STATE
ADMINISTRATION IN A UNION REPUBLIC
SUPREME SOVIET
OF A UNION REPUBLIC
Chairman
and
Vice-Chairmen
PRESIDIUM
OF THE SUPREME SOVIET
OF A UNION REPUBLIC
President of the Presidium,
Vice-Presidenls, Secretary
and members of the Presidiun
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF A UNION REPUBLIC
Chair man, Vice-Chair men, Ministers,
Union-Republican Ministries
of a Union Republic
Chairmen of State Committees,
Commissions and other departments
as listed in the Constitution
Republican Ministries
of a Union Republic
Sfate Committees
Committees and Administration:
[112]
__PARAGRAPH_CONT__
agricultural, public education, public health and several
other committees. Standing committee members, relying on
their electors, help the Supreme Soviets to direct the
economy and to promote social and cultural development.
The number of standing committees in the Supreme Soviets
of the Union Republics varies, ranging i'rom 9 to 1C), and
they embrace i'rom 70 to 80 per cent oi' the deputies.
The main powers of the Supreme Soviet of a Union Republic are: the adoption of a Constitution and amendments to it; approval of the constitutions of the Autonomous Republics in the given Union Republic; adoption of republican laws; the setting up of higher organs of state power and the appointment of higher officials; the adoption of decisions on major problems of policy within the jurisdiction of the republic; approval of the republican economic development plan and budget; supreme control over the activity of republican state organs and officials.
The right to amend the Constitution and adopt the laws of the republic lies exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Soviet, for it is the sole legislative organ of a Union Republic.
As the custodian of the sovereign rights of a Union Republic, the Supreme Soviet elects its Presidium, forms the Council of Ministers, elects the Supreme Court and, when necessary, changes its composition.
It has the right to control all the higher slate organs of the republic. This right is exercised by hearing reports submitted by the organs accountable to it, through its standing and temporary committees, and by asking questions.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of a Union Republic consists of specific number of deputies determined by the Constitution of the republic.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of a Union Republic plays a similar role in the system of its state organs as that played by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. in the system of state organs of the Soviet Union. It is the highest standing organ of state power of a Union Republic. Its powers are defined by the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. and that of the Union Republic concerned, as well as by major legislative acts of the U.S.S.R. and the __PRINTERS_P_113_COMMENT__ 8---3173 113 Union Republic. It issues decrees and decisions on mailers lying within its jurisdiction.
Supreme Soviet of an Autonomous Republic. The highest organ of slalt: power in an Aulonomous Republic is its unicamcral Supreme Soviet, elected by its citizens on Ihe basis of universal, equal and direct sull'rage by secret ballot for a term of four years.
The basis of representation is established by the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic and ranges from 2,000 to 20,000 of population electing one deputy.
Numerically the Supreme Soviet consists of from 60 to 150 deputies, depending on the size of the republic's population and territory, and its national features. Socially it consists of front-rank industrial workers, collective farmers, Party functionaries, statesmen and civic leaders. Its structure resembles that of the Supreme Soviet of a Union Republic.
It has the right to adopt and amend the Constitution of the given Autonomous Republic and submit it for approval to the Supreme Soviet of the appropriate Union Republic; to pass the laws operating in the Autonomous Republic; form higher stale organs of the Autonomous Republic and appoint or release officials; decide importanl domestic issues lying within its jurisdiction; approve the economic plan and budget of the Aulonomous Republic; and exercise supreme control over the activily of ils slalc organs and officials.
The jurisdiction of Ihe Supreme Soviet of an Autonomous Republic naturally covers a somewhat narrower field than that of the Supreme Soviel of a Union Republic. Some importanl decisions of the Supreme Soviet of an Autonomous Republic, for example, the adoption and amendment of the Constitution, division of the territory into districts, demarcation of lown frontiers require the approval of the Supreme Soviet of the appropriate Union Republic. The Supreme Soviets of the Autonomous Republics elecl from 7 lo 17 standing committees.
All told the Supreme Soviets of the Autonomous Republics of Ihe 6th convocation sel up 173 slanding committees, consisting of 59.9 per cent of Ihe total number of deputies.
The Supreme Soviel of an Autonomous Republic, elects
__PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__
114
HIGHER ORGANS OF STATE POWER AND ORGANS OF STATE
ADMINISTRATION IN AN AUTONOMOUS REPUBLIC
SUPREME SOVIET
OF AN AUTONOMOUS REPUBLIC
Credentials
Commitlee
Chafitnan
and Vice-Chafrmen
Presidium of the Supreme
Soviet of an Autonomous
Republic
President of the Presidium,
Vice-Presidents, Secretary
and members of the Presidium
Council of Ministers of an Autonomous Republic
Ministries
Committees
Administrations
[115]
__PARAGRAPH_CONT__
its Presidium, forms the Council of Ministers and elects the
Supreme Court.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of an Autonomous Republic is a standing organ. It consists of a President, two Vice-Presiclcnts, a Secretary and members. Numerically it is smaller than the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of a Union Republic. It is fully accountable to the Supreme Soviet of the Autonomous Republic, and its powers are defined by the Constitution of the U.S.S.R., the Constitution of the Union Republic to which it belongs, and by the relevant laws of the Autonomous Republic.
__ALPHA_LVL3__ Local Organs of State PowerComposition of the local Soviets. The Soviets of Working People's Deputies are an integral part of a single system of the representative organs.
They exercise state power and independently decide matters lying within their jurisdiction in territories, regions, areas, towns, townships or villages.
All local Soviets are elected for a term of two years on the basis of representation defined by the Union Republics.
They direct the work of administrative organs subordinated to them, ensure the maintenance of law and order, the observance of laws and the protection of the rights of citizens, direct local economic and cultural affairs and draw up the local budget. They play a particularly important role in expanding trade and boosting consumer goods production, developing cultural and welfare facilities, building roads and promoting public services and amenities in towns and villages. As organs of power standing the closest to the population, they show daily concern for the people and ensure the fullest satisfaction of their requirements. At the same time, they can take part in discussing matters of state significance by submitting their suggestions to appropriate organs.
In March 1967, a total of 2,045,419 deputies were elected to more than 48,000 local Soviets.^^*^^ This is many __PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__ _-_-_
^^*^^ 129 territory, area and regional Soviets, 2,8!>8 district Soviets, 1,868 town Soviets, 41 li ward Soviets in large cities, 40,174 village Soviets and 3,325 township Soviets.
116 COMPOSITION OF THE DEPUTY BODY OF LOCAL SOVIETS ELECTED IN 1967 SEX: WORKING IN Men m?^m per(57.2 )cent industry, construction and transport perM9 9jcepf Women agriculture PARTY MEMBERSHIP : trade and catering Members and candidatemembers of the C.P.S.U. housing, communal and other public services. Non- Party people Science, culture, education and public health YCL members Soviets EDUCATION: Parly bodies Primary Trade unions and YCL Incomplete secondary other organisations Secondary AGE: Higher Up to 24 OCCUPATION: 25 to 29 Factory workers 30 to 39 Collective farmers 40 to 49 Office and professional workers %$&$***&?% '"''``'' "Xl 39 1 K^X/ 50 and over e;>^ V-i [117] __PARAGRAPH_CONT__ more than wore elected in the preceding elections. These figures strikingly testify to the growing trend towards greater representation of all sections of the people.In the Soviet multinational state it is very important for all nations and national groups to be represented in the Soviets. This representation is secured by the election of deputies from the more than 100 nations and nationalities inhabiting the U.S.S.R.
The principle of replacing deputies is consistently implemented in all elections. Suffice it to say that nearly half of the deputies in the present Soviets have been elected for the first time. This vividly demonstrates the fact that more and more millions of people are given the opportunity to work in the Soviets and in this way acquire experience of state administration and the political knowledge.
The Soviets play a very important role. They have extensive powers and an adequate financial and material basis for implementing these powers.
The considerable funds (the local budget) at their disposal increase from year to year. At the same time, in order to promote communist construction successfully it is imperative to enhance the role of the local Soviets still further and to grant them greater independence in all local problems.
Sessions of the local Soviets. The basic organisational form by means of which the Soviets carry out their functions are sessions or meetings of deputies at which problems lying within the jurisdiction of the Soviets arc discussed and the corresponding resolutions are passed in the presence of the deputies and invited persons. This ensures the Soviets with the necessary collegiality, publicity, and comprehensive examination of problems of state administration and economic and cultural development, and broad criticism of shortcomings in the work of various organisations. The sessions discuss reports submitted by executive bodies (Executive Committees, their departments and administrations) and deputies' questions, and control the activity of the administrative apparatus subordinated to the Soviets.
These sessions are convened periodically as prescribed by the Constitutions of the republics. They may also be held
118at the request of a higher Soviet or its Executive Committee or upon the demand of a group of deputies. A session can legally transact its business if a quorum of not less than two-thirds of the deputies is present.
DEPUTIES TO LOCAL SOVIETS 1939 y 1.277.091 ^ 1959 y 1.801.663 ^ 1961 y 1.822.049 ' 1963 y 1.958.565 1965 _> 2.010.303 v 1967 y 2.045.419The deputies elect a chairman of the session and a secretary.
At their sessions the local Soviets discuss a wide range of economic and cultural problems.
Many of the Soviets inform the population of a forthcoming session and its agenda, and also sponsor preliminary discussions of the draft decisions at meetings of. citizens held in auditoriums at factory level.
Noteworthy in this respect is the activity of the Novosibirsk City Soviet. Some 4.000 people took part in discussing the draft resolution of the city Soviet ``On the situation and further measures to strengthen socialist law and public order in Novosibirsk''. As a result of this all-sided preliminary discussion the draft resolution was substantially amended and became more viable, purposeful and in greater measure reflected the suggestions of the public.
Circuit sessions held directly at enterprises or collective farms are widely practised. As a rule, these sessions examine ways and means of improving cultural and welfare services, housing programmes, the organisation of public services and amenities in the various localities, and so forth.
These sessions are attended by workers, collective farmers and specialists well acquainted with local conditions. They advise the deputies and help them pass the best decisions.
In recent years it has become customary for deputies to organise meetings with their electors after each session of the Soviet in order to explain to the population the 119 decisions taken by the Soviet and secure active support for them. Such meetings also help to strengthen public control over the observance of these decisions.
Standing committees. All Soviets without exception form standing committees. In some Union Republics, not only deputies but also activists---workers, collective farmers and intellectuals---are members of these standing committees.
The local Soviets elected in 1967 set up at their first sessions over 300,000 standing committees consisting of a total of 1,666,513 deputies. Thus, the bulk of the deputies not only take part in the sittings of the Soviets but also in the day-to-day business of their standing committees. But even this figure does not give a full picture of the mass character of the standing committees. The fact is that without any remuneration over 2,500,000 activists devote their free time to helping the standing committees.
The law does not limit the number of standing committees a local Soviet may have.
Each Soviet takes into account the strength of the deputy bodj' and local conditions, and independently decides how many committees it requires.
A rural Soviet usually has from four to five standing committees---credentials, budget and finance, agriculture, and culture and welfare.
A district Soviet has from 10 to 12 standing committees supervising various branches of economy and culture.
Regional Soviets have from (> to 14 standing committees: budget, planning, industry and building, agriculture, municipal economy, housing and town planning, trade and public catering, education and culture, health services and social security, transport and communications, road building, socialist legality, the maintenance of law and order, and others.
The standing committees are auxiliary bodies of the local Soviets and perform a great deal of work.
They prepare the drafts of the decisions passed by the Soviets, submit co-reports at the sessions of Soviets and at meetings of their Executive Committees, and annually carry out hundreds of thousands of checks and inspections.
The powers of the local Soviet standing committees arc being further extended and an increasing number of questions now under the jurisdiction of the departments and 120 sections of the Executive Committees are referred to them for decision.
In some regions mailers such as placing children in kindergarlcns and creches, renovating apartmenls, and so on, have been referred to the standing committees for decision.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 6. DEVELOPMENT OF DIRECT DEMOCRACYForms of direct democracy. Thus far we have dealt wilh the work of Soviets as representative bodies of state power. But their many-sided and fruitful activity does not in the least exclude the developmenl of olher forms of democracy. Moreover, Ihe experience of the Soviet state proves the fact that socialism makes for a harmonious combinalion of representative and direct democracy. It is this combination that ensures the gradual formation of communist public self-administration.
Let us briefly examine what is meanl by direcl democracy and ils most widespread forms in the U.S.S.R.
In socialist society direct democracy is taken to mean public initiative in Ihe administration of the stale, the direct expression of the people's will in the decisions passed by the governmenl, and also Ihe people's direct participation in implementing and in controlling the fulfilment of these decisions.^^*^^ In our opinion, this definition best of all describes Ihe scope and diversity of direct democracy.
However, it would be incorrect to overestimate the significance of direct democracy or to follow in the foolsteps of some political thinkers and philosophers of the past in believing that it is the best or even the only means open to the people for exercising their sovereignty.
In modern society Ihe representative system obviously cannot be substituted by direct democracy. The latter can be implemented only in a small patriarchal state where Ihe entire population can be easily summoned to a meeting for direct participation in stale affairs.
It is all the more difficult to organise state power along the lines of direcl democracy in a large socialist state, _-_-_
^^*^^ Soo V. Kolnk, = Development of Direct Democracy in the Soviet Union (Kuss. cd.), Moscow, 1965.
121 where administration is founded primarily on scientific foresight and centralised planned development of the entire economy.Yet, as expressed by the direct participation of citizens in legislation and administration, direct democracy has its positive aspects. It makes it possible to draw the widest sections of the people into the administration of the state and society. For that reason the all-round development and consolidation of the Soviets is accompanied by the development of direct democracy, of which there are many forms in the Soviet Union.
These forms became widespread literally speaking in the very first days following the establishment of Soviet Government. In those days the people had just taken power into their own hands and expressed their revolutionary will at non-Party congresses and conferences, in referendums, electors' meetings and village rallies.
The present Constitution was discussed by the whole country in 1936.
In the post-war years there were nation-wide discussions of the draft state pension law, the further development of the collective-farm system, public education and other matters, including the drafts of the fundamentals of civil and criminal legislation and the civil and criminal codes of the Union Republics, matrimonial laws, legislation on guardianship, and labour, housing, business and administrative law.
In 1965, the whole country took part in discussing improvement of economic management and planning, and the provision of economic incentives in industrial production. The results of this discussion were incorporated in the Law on Changes in System of Industrial Management that was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. on October 2, 1965.
Nation-wide discussions played an important role in determining the targets of the seven-year economic development plan (1959--65) and the draft Directives for the Five-Year Economic Development Plan for 1966--70.
Millions of people submitted suggestions and recommendations during the nation-wide discussions of the most important bills in the post-war years. Many of these recommendations were included in the corresponding laws, and 122 others were referred to ministries, central departments and local government organs for implementation. At present more and more drafts of various decisions are being discussed locally. As we have already said, before holding their sessions the Executive Committees of many regional and town Soviets make public in the press and through other information media the drafts of decisions they intend to take. As a result, citizens are able to familiarise themselves beforehand with these drafts and submit their recommendations or suggestions.
The discussion by the people of bills and other decisions both of nation-wide and of local significance will subsequently become a system. The most important bills will be subject to popular vote, and this envisages not only discussion but also direct voting by the people for or against a given bill.
Congresses and conferences of working people are likewise a form of direct democracy. These are primarily allUnion and republican conferences of front-rank workers and specialists, and also branch congresses and conferences held in the centre or locally. Statistics show that in the period 1951--62 the number (320 with more than 400,000 participants) of such conferences held annually had increased sevenfold as compared with 1924--51.
Although these forums have no plenary powers, they are, nevertheless, of great importance, for through them Soviet state organs consult with the people and take into account their experience. Many key issues which were subsequently legislatively resolved were raised at these forums.
Meetings of citizens are another form of direct democracy. At present they are usually electors' and rural rallies.
Electors' meetings hear deputies' reports concerning the work of a given Soviet, draw up recommendations regarding the work of various state organs and, what is most important, issue mandates.
Rural rallies, which are general meetings of citizens living in rural localities, have fairly wide rights. They submit suggestions concerning decisions to be taken by higher organs, recommendations regarding the nomination of candidates to Soviets and people's courts, and the election of people's assessors. Moreover, they pass decisions whose observance is obligatory, as in the case of 123 self-taxation. Such decisions adopted at rural rallies are not subject to confirmation by any state organ and can be revoked only if they prove to be inadvisable.
The Soviet Government encourages the initiative of rural rallies, viewing them as an active form of drawing people into the administration of the state and society.
The existing forms of direct democracy promote the realisation of Lenin's proposition that every citizen should be afforded the opportunity to take part in discussing state legislation, in electing representatives and in executing laws.
Obviously, the further practice of state development will suggest new forms of popular participation in discussing and directly solving problems of communist construction and improving the Soviet apparatus and Soviet legislation.
Interaction of the representative system with direct democracy. As we have already mentioned, in socialist society popular representation does not clash with direct democracy. What we have in mind is their judicious combination or, to be precise, close interaction, which is a means of ensuring the sovereignty of the people.
Soviet representative organs are the fundamental, leading form of ascertaining and legislatively embodying the will of the people.
But a close scrutiny of the work of any Soviet immediately reveals that a representative organ is dependent on and widely uses various forms of direct democracy, of direct expression of the will of the citizens.
This fact is manifested already during the drawing up and adoption of state decisions, when the working people and their organisations display broad initiative and independent activity.
Individual citizens, workers' collectives and mass organisations raise questions requiring government decisions, and actively participate in discussing projected measures. In this way the people's legal concepts are brought to bear on law-making and a considerable element of self-administration is brought into state administration.
Interaction between representative and direct democracy is also observed in the enforcement of government decisions. What we have in view here are the many-sided initiatives of the Soviets' activists and mass organisations, 124 people's control bodies and other forms of direct democracy.
This interaction is one of the major advantages of the Soviet system, which makes it possible to combine the advantages of the representative system with the advantages of immediate and direct democracy. All the numerous forms of direct democracy merge, so to say, with popular representation, which is the principal instrument of people's rule. As a result, the elected representatives of the people, supported by the masses and with the direct participation of the people, can discharge both their legislative function and execute laws.
This, in the final count, tremendously consolidates the rule of the people and promotes the role of the masses in political and economic activity.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 7. DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES OF THE ORGANISATIONFunctions performed by administrative organs. We have mentioned earlier that as organisations of the working people the Soviets are the permanent and sole foundation of the entire state apparatus. Now we should like to discuss this important aspect in greater detail. It is obvious that the Soviets and their deputies cannot cope with the entire tremendous day-to-day work of administering the country. Precisely for this purpose there exists the state administrative apparatus, which carries into life the internal and foreign policy of the country and organises the observance of laws and the decisions of the Soviets.
State administrative organs are responsible for the direct management of industrial and agricultural enterprises, construction, transport, banks, trading establishments, everyday services, educational institutions, cultural organisations, and the like.
The following figures give a good idea of the scope of the work performed by the administrative organs.
In 1966, the U.S.S.R. had more than 200,000 state-owned industrial enterprises, 12,200 state farms, over 37,000 collective farms, tens of thousands of building organisations, 210,000 general education schools, 767 institutions of higher learning, hundreds of thousands of cultural establishments, hospitals, and so forth.
125More than 5,500 large industrial establishments have been commissioned during the past seven-year plan period (1959--65), and the fixed assets have increased 90 per cent. This huge number of enterprises, offices and educational institutions are directed by state administrative organs, which plan, guide and take into account their experience. The correct utilisation of all the resources of the country and the timely and constructive solution of questions dealing with the provision of cultural and welfare facilities for the people depend on the work of the state administrative apparatus.
A salaried administrative apparatus is still necessary in contemporary conditions to carry out state functions.
But it must be firmly borne in mind that government employees are not privileged officials who keep aloof from the people and who concentrate on playing up to their chiefs.
A government employee expresses and executes the will of the people and enjoys no privileges whatsoever. He works in full view of the people, with the people and under the control of the people.
Moreover, the salary of a government employee is usually not higher than the average wage of a skilled worker.^^*^^
Democratic principles of administration are steadily developing in the U.S.S.R., and even so much as a hint at bureaucracy or inattention to the needs of the people is severely censured, and more and more citizens are being enlisted into the work of Soviet government organs.
In his time Lenin said that the Soviet administrative apparatus must function accurately, honestly and swiftly, without unnecessary meetings or waste of time, that it had to concentrate its attention on organisational activity directed towards satisfying the material and cultural requirements of the people and the protection of their rights and interests. Since its establishment the Soviet Union has accumulated vast experience of the ways to improve the administrative apparatus and to reduce its maintenance costs.
_-_-_^^*^^ It is characteristic that the decision to reduce the salaries of higher officials in all slate, public and private offices and enterprises was adopted by the Soviet Government early in 1918, a few months after the establishment of Soviet rule.
126 SYSTEM OF STATE ORGANS OF THE U.S.S.R. ORGANS OF THE SOVIET STATE 1 Organs of State Power Organs of Sfafe Administration Judicial Organs Organs Supervising Observance of the Law ^^^^ ^//^^\ Higher Organs Local Organs Exercising general jurisdiction Exerc sing sectoral jurisdiction Soviet Judiciary Sov Procu Of let ator's ice Supreme Soviet Soviets of Working Coun il of Mfrmf ies SL prt me The PFOC uralor-- of the U.S.S.R. People's Deputies Ministers of Court of Gener 1 of Supreme Soviets of Telfltorres, the U.S.S.R. Committees (he U.S.S.R. (he 1) S S.R. of Union Republic* Regions, Nafiona Areas CoJnc Is of Admin (rations SL prt Procur a(ors Supreme So^jels of Autonomous Cities, Villages Ministers of Union Republics Depa ments a d Courts of Union Republics Republics Republics and Counc ilt nf Admini ra tmns Supr erne PrOCU stars Presidu/rn of tne Townsh ps Ministers of of the E ecu live-- C ou tsof of Autonomous Supreme Soviet of (he U.S.S.R. Republics Local S of Wo oviets king Republics Republics Procurators Presidiun s of the E*ecu tive Peopl Depui e's (Reg orial onal) of Ter Reg itories. Supreme Soviets Local Soviets Co rts Nationa 1 Area-, of Union Republics of Wo ting Presidiums of the People's Area Courts of D Strict! Supreme of Autonomous People' Courts and [owns Republics [127]On the basis of this experience new important measures to put administrative work on scientific lines and improve the structure and the activity of state administrative organs are being drawn up and successfully carried out. This is being done to meet the demand of the C.P.S.U. Programme that the Soviet government apparatus should be simple, qualified, cheap, efficient and free of red tape and bureaucracy.
It must be mentioned that organs of stale administration diil'er largely as regards their structure and organisation. This is quite understandable if we take into consideration the fact that the system of these organs is closely bound up with the federal structure of the Soviet Union, in which every republic and national state formation has its own organs of state administration. This system is also connected with the administrative and territorial division of the Union Republics. At the same time the system of state administration has various branch organisations such as ministries and administrations, as well as departments of the local Soviets' Executive Committees that guide a definite sphere of state activity.
Many administrative organs, as we shall see, are under dual subordination, that is, they are subordinate both to the organ that has elected them (horizontally) and also to a higher organ of the same name (vertically). This dual subordination ensures the necessary centralisation and strictest discipline coupled with all-round consideration for local conditions and full co-ordination of local and nationwide interests.
Those organs of administration arc directly bound up with economic activity and are, as a rule, run on a selfsupporting basis. Operating within the limits defined by the plan and the law, they independently conduct economic affairs. They have fixed and circulating assets and an account at the State Bank. They independently balance their budget and are entitled to bank credits and are free to conclude economic contracts.
The whole ramified system of state administrative organs is headed by the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R., which is the Government of the U.S.S.R. The Constitution of the U.S.S.R. says that the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. is the highest executive and administrative organ of stale 128 power in the Soviet Union. It is made up of more than 80 members, including the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Vice-Chairmen, ministers, chairmen of state committees as listed in the Constitution, and also the Chairmen of the Councils of Ministers of the Union Republics by virtue of their office.
Thus, members of the Soviet Government are heads of Union ministries and departments and heads of government of all the Union Republics. The profoundly democratic nature of the Soviet Government is determined first of all by its social and national composition. It consists of people with vast experience, prominent specialists in various branches of administration. People of different nationalities of the U.S.S.R., all of them have come from workers, collective farmers, or the working intelligentsia.
In comparison with other organs of state administration, the Soviet Government has the widest powers inasmuch as it unites, directs and co-ordinates the work of the entire administrative apparatus.
The Council of Ministers is a collective body and participation in its work is obligatory for all its members.
Its executive and administrative activity is based on a strict observance of Soviet laws. Its acts---decisions and orders---are issued on the basis and in pursuance of the laws of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. and decrees of its Presidium. The Constitution of the U.S.S.R. clearly defines the jurisdiction of the Council of Ministers and states that it~
co-ordinates and directs the work of the ministries of the U.S.S.R. and of other institutions under its jurisdiction;~
adopts measures to carry out the economic plan and the State Budget, and to strengthen the credit and monetary system;~
adopts measures for the maintenance of law and order, for the protection of the interests of the state and for the safeguarding of the rights of citizens;~
exercises general guidance in the sphere of relations with foreign states;~
fixes the annual contingent of citizens to be called up for military service and directs the general organisation of the armed forces of the country; and,~
sets up, whenever necessary, special committees and
__PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__
__PRINTERS_P_129_COMMENT__
9---3173
129
THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS-THE GOVERNMENT OF THE U.S.S.R.
All-Union
Ministries
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF THE U.S.S.R
Chairman of the Council of Ministers,
First Vice-Chair men, Vice-Chair men,
Ministers of the U.S.S.R. ,
Chairmen of State Committees,
Chairman of People's Control Committee,
Chairman of the Administrative Board of the State
Union-Republican
Ministries of the U.S.S.R.
State Commitees of the
Council of Ministers
of the U.S.S.R.
Bank of the U.S.S.R.,
Chief of the Central Statistical Board,
Chairmen of the Councils of Ministers of the
_______________Union Republics_______________
People's Conjrc
Commitfee
Committees, administrations
and boards under the Council of
Ministers of (he U.S.S.R.
State Bank of the U.S.S.R.
Centra! Statistical Board
of the U.S.S.R.
[Ail-Union Board for the .SaJ.e
of Farm Machinery, Spare
Parts, FuePand Fertilisers
[130]
__PARAGRAPH_CONT__
central boards under the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R.
for economic and cultural affairs and defence.
The broad powers enjoyed by the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. and its many-sided activities abundantly testify to the important place it occupies in the system of slate administration.
But, at the same time, we have to underline the profound democratic principles of its organisation and activity, that it has none of extraordinary or delegated powers granted bourgeois governments, and that it is responsible and accountable to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.
In the Union and Autonomous Republics the highest executive and administrative organs of state power are their Councils of Ministers, whose composition and juris diction are defined by their Constitutions. In recent years their powers have been considerably extended. The high level of economic and cultural development achieved by the various republics, and the availability of highly trained national personnel have created favourable conditions for granting their Councils of Ministers broader powers, particularly in the spheres of planning, finance, material and technical supplies, and so forth.
Key problems directly touching upon individual branches of administration, economic, socio-cultural development are settled by central sectoral organs of the state administration: ministries, state committees (such as the State Planning Committee of the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R., the Committee of Public Control, and others), as well as by special departments of the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. and the Councils of Ministers of the Union and Autonomous Republics.
Among all these organs special mention must be made of ministries whose powers and significance in guiding various branches of economy and culture are very great.
Ministries are set up both in the U.S.S.R. as a whole and in all the Union and Autonomous Republics.
Naturally, all branches of administration that are exclusively within the jurisdiction of the U.S.S.R., as for example foreign trade (which is a state monopoly), transport facilities of all-Union significance, industries under all-Union jurisdiction, and so on, are directed solely by all-Union __PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__ __PRINTERS_P_131_COMMENT__ 9* 131 TYPES OF SOVIET MINISTRIES MINISTRIES OF THE U.S.S.R. All-Union Ministries Union-Republic an Ministries of the U.S.S.R. Enterprises and Institutions direeJIy subordinate lo a Ministry of the U.S.S.R. MINISTRIES OF A UNION REPUBLIC Enterprises and Institutions Union-Republican Ministries of a Union Republic Enterprises and Institutions Republican Ministries Enterprises and Institutions [132] __PARAGRAPH_CONT__ ministries throughout the territory of the U.S.S.R. These include the Ministry of Foreign Trade, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Ministry of the Merchant Marine, the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of the Gas Industry and the Ministry of Tractor and Farm Machinery Building, etc. Other branches of economy coming within the joint jurisdiction of the U.S.S.R. and the Union Republics are directed by Union-republican ministries, that are set up both in the U.S.S.R. and in all Union Republics (for example, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and others).
As a rule, the Union-republican ministries direct the industries concerned through the Union Republics' ministries of the same name. Their direct management extends to a limited number of enterprises according to the list approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.
Finally, the Union Republics, within the limits of their jurisdiction, can set up their own republican ministries, whose number is determined by their Constitutions. These are the Ministries of Public Health, Social Security, Automobile Transport and Highways, and some others, which are formed in accordance with the specific features of the republics.
In view of the fact that some of the most important functions of the Soviet Government take in economic, organisational, cultural and educational activity, the absolute majority of the ministries of the U.S.S.R. and the Union Republics direct various branches of the economy or social and cultural affairs.
Suffice it to say that in 1967 of the 54 ministries of the
U.S.S.R. 45 were directing various industries, transport or
agriculture, six were directing trade, cultural development,
education or health services, and only three ministries (
Foreign Affairs, Defence and Public Law and Order) were
performing administrative-political functions. The ministries
directing economic development are responsible for the
corresponding branch of economy, for the maintenance of
a high technical level of production and the satisfaction
of the country's requirements in industrial and agricultural
products. The industrial ministries in particular have to
__PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__
133
TERRITORIAL (REGIONAL) SOVIET AND ITS EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANS
TERRITORIAL (REGIONAL)
SOVKT OF WORKING
PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF
THE TERRITORIAL (REGIONAL)
SOVIET OF WORKING
PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES
D e p a
m e n t s
II
o?
11
1°
5 ir
``c -9
D (0
0) Q
The above is a list of typical departments and administrations for Territorial (Regional) Soviets
[134]
__PARAGRAPH_CONT__
ensure the speediest introduction of scientific and technical
achievements into production, maintain business contacts
between industrial enterprises and scientific research and
designing organisations and secure the all-round
promotion of specialisation and co-operation of various branches
of industry.
The centralised sectoral administration of the economy in the U.S.S.R. is combined with the economic initiative and independent activity of enterprises and collective and state farms, and with greater material incentives for the workers.
Each ministry is headed by a minister who is a member of the government and is responsible for his activity to the Council of Ministers and the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. But one-man direction by the minister goes hand in hand with collective discussion and settlement of key problems related to the functions of a given ministry. This is achieved due to the fact that each ministry has a collegium, whose composition is approved by the government.
The collegium discusses the work of the ministerial apparatus and its subordinate enterprises and organisations, hears reports by leading officials and takes measures to eliminate shortcomings which are reported by the press or criticised at conferences, at meetings of workers' collectives, and so on.
Representatives of trade union bodies, foremost people in industry and agriculture and scientific workers are invited to attend meetings of the ministries' collegiums.
Ministries also set up technical, scientific, economic and other councils composed of representatives of the public which work out recommendations and submit them for approval to the ministerial leadership.
In order to utilise the experience and initiative of local workers, the ministries regularly hold branch conferences and meetings of activists who pool practical experience and criticise shortcomings in the work of a given ministry and its subordinate enterprises, institutions, research institutes and other organisations.
Thus far we have been dealing with the higher and central organs of state administration. But in all localities, in all administrative-territorial divisions (territories, areas, regions, cities, and so on), in all local Soviets there are __PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__ 135 DISTRICT SOVIET AND ITS EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANS DISTRICT SOVIET OF WORKING PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OT THE DISTRICT SOVIET OF WORKING PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES D e p a r I D e p The above is a list of typical departments for District Soviets [136] __PARAGRAPH_CONT__ executive and administrative organs which conduct extensive economic and cultural activity.
These organs are the Executive Committees which have vzirious departments and administrations.
These local organs of administration are directly engaged in the organisation of public services and amenities, construction and distribution of housing, organisation of trade, improvement of cultural and welfare facilities and numerous other matters whose constructive and timely settlement is of enormous importance to the population.
The Executive Committees elected by the Soviets from their deputy body consist of a Chairman, Vice-Chairmen, a Secretary and members.
These Executive Committees handle all the current executive and administrative work. They guide economic construction and social and cultural development in their territory, organise the fulfilment of economic plans and the local budget, and co-ordinate and direct the work of the organisations and enterprises subordinate to them. Moreover, they implement laws, decrees, and decisions adopted by higher organs and also the decisions of their Soviets, launch measures to further economic and cultural development, strengthen socialist legality, safeguard public property, maintain law and order and protect the rights and legitimate interests of Soviet citizens.
As a rule, they meet several times a month to discuss current affairs. Besides Executive Committee members, these meetings are attended by the deputies of the given Soviet, specialists, representatives of mass organisations and other invited persons.
To guide the work of various branches of economic and cultural development the Executive Committees of regional (territory), area and town Soviets set up departments or administrations for public health, public education, finance and local industries, planning commissions, and so on. These departments and administrations are listed in the Constitutions of Union and Autonomous Republics which determine which of these departments have to be set up by each Executive Committee and which are formed if the need for them is dictated by the specific features of the economy of a given territory, region, area, and so forth.
This makes it possible to take better account of local __PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__ 137 CITY SOVIET AND ITS EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANS Standing Committees CITY SOVIET OF WORKING PEOPLE'S DEPUTES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Of THE CITY SOVIET OF WORKING PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES D e p a t m e n t s D e p CTI E 11 u> o £U The above is a list ot typical departments lor City Soviets [138] __PARAGRAPH_CONT__ features and in conformity with them, to set up local sectoral organs of state administration. Through the media of its departments a local Soviet and its Executive Committee direct and control the work of institutions and enterprises in the different spheres of administration.
VILLAGE SOVIET AND ITS EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANS VILLAGE SOVIET OF WORKING PEOPLE'S DEPUTIES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE VILLAGE SOVIET OF WORKING PEOPLE'S DEPUTIESThe Executive Committees of local Soviets and their departments are under dual subordination. The Executive Committees are accountable to their Soviets and to the Executive Committees of higher Soviets, whereas departments and administrations are subordinate to their Executive Committee and to the higher department.
In their day-to-day activities the Executive Committees and their departments depend on the support of numerous activists from various mass organisations.
Such, in brief outline, is the system of organs of state administration set up by the Soviets in the U.S.S.R., in Union and Autonomous Republics, and in territories, regions, Autonomous Regions, National Areas, districts, towns and villages.
Electivity, responsibility and accountability of administrative organs. All organs of state administration in the U.S.S.R. are elected by the Soviets and are responsible and accountable to them.
Earlier we said that the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. and the Councils of Ministers of Union and 139 Autonomous Republics are appointed by their Supreme Soviets. The Executive Committees of local Soviets are elected by the Soviets from their deputy body.
As regards the heads of administrations and departments of the Executive Committees, their nomination is also approved at the sessions of the Soviets.
Thus, the chief administrative organs are directly elected while the leading officials are either elected or approved at sessions of the Soviets.
All executive and administrative organs are accountable and responsible to the Soviet that has elected them.
Exercising control over the work of the apparatus, a Soviet can replace any leading official who does not cope with his duties.
Organs of state administration conduct their work in public, under the control of the Soviets and with the participation of the people and their mass organisations.
Lenin said at the Second All-Russia Congress of Soviets: ``We want a government to be always under the supervi sion of the public opinion of its country.''^^*^^ As head of the government Lenin reported to almost all the All-Russia Congresses on the activity of the government. Today, too, higher representative organs broadly control the activity of the government.
In conformity with the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. and the Constitutions of Union and Autonomous Republics, the Councils of Ministers are responsible and accountable to the higher organs of state power that have elected them. In the interim between sessions of the Supreme Soviets, the governments or their individual members are responsible and accountable to the Presidiums of the corresponding Supreme Soviets.
For example, in the interim between sessions of the Supreme Soviets their Presidiums can release or appoint members of the governments. All changes in the composition of the government, however, are subject to confirmation at a regular session of the Supreme Soviet inasmuch as the formation of a government is the prerogative of the highest representative organ.
A widespread form of accountability to the Supreme _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 26, p. 254.
140 Soviets by Ihe Government of the U.S.S.R. and the Governments of the Union and Autonomous Republics are reports on their activities and the fulfilment of economic plans and budgets, which are submitted to the corresponding Supreme Soviets.Extensive collective discussion of these reports by the deputies is an effective means of enhancing the government's responsibility for its work and making this work conform to the interests and needs of the people.
All critical remarks and recommendations made by the deputies are duly considered. The government specially informs the deputies on the measures it has taken in line with their comments or suggestions.
Alongside reports, the accountability of the government is expressed in the right of one or another group of Supreme Soviet deputies to address a question to the government or to one of its members. In accordance with the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. a reply must be forthcoming at a Supreme Soviet meeting within a period not exceeding three days. A similar right is enjoyed by the deputies of republican Supreme Soviets and of local Soviets. A deputy who addresses a question to administrative organs has the right to demand and receive exhaustive information about the state of affairs in one or another sphere of political, economic or cultural activity. Depending on the content of the reply, a Soviet, when necessary, determines measures to eliminate the disclosed shortcomings.
The governments and the ministers, however, report not only to their Supreme Soviets, but directly to the people, too.
Reports delivered at congresses and meetings and at various conferences of activists by leading officials, their regular trips to localities in regions and districts, meetings with workers' collectives, and radio and TV appearances make it possible for chiefs of administrative organs to take a fuller account of the needs and the experience of the people.
The principle of electivity and accountability to representative organs is also consistently implemented in the work of the Executive Committees of the local Soviets and their departments and administrations.
Lately, besides reports by Executive Committees and 141 their departments to their Soviets, the practice of heads of their departments and administrations and the chiefs of various organisations and institutions reporting directly to the population at general meetings of citizens has become particularly widespread.
The principle of electivity, renewal and accountability of government officials is consistently enforced.
In order to draw a large number of capable people into leading bodies and rule out abuses of authority by individual officials, the composition of the leading bodies of the government apparatus is systematically renewed.
In future the principle of electivity and accountability to representative organs and to the electorate will be gradually extended to all the leading officials of state bodies.
Participation of the public in administration. As early as the first months following the October Revolution Lenin put forward the task of enlisting the masses into state administration.
He said that enlistment of the people into day-to-day state administration is a potent means for augmenting the might of the socialist state and greatly accelerating its progress.
Since the first days of its establishment the Soviet Government has been doing its utmost to expand to the maximum the voluntary participation of the people in the work of state organs and to draw more and more rankand-file workers and peasants into the direction of economic and cultural development.
The scale of the participation of the working people in the work of the administrative apparatus has now become especially great.
The promotion of the voluntary principles and the participation of ever more sections of the population in the work of administrative bodies are to be observed in all government bodies.
``On a voluntary basis, in off-work hours.'' These profoundly meaningful words in large measure characterise the psychology and conduct of activists who are participating in the work of state institutions without remuneration or mercenary aims.
Extensive and fruitful work is being conducted by 142 technical, scientific, artistic and other social councils sponsored by different ministries and by the departments of the Executive Committees of the local Soviets.
Many public-spirited specialists take part in the work of these councils. Although the councils have no administrative powers their suggestions considerably influence and improve the work of organs of state administration.
Industrial and office workers, collective farmers and engineers participate in the work of administrative organs as volunteer inspectors and instructors. Their functions include inspecting the work of various institutions and organisations, examining complaints and applications from citizens, drawing up draft decisions, and so forth.
All this promotes the organisational work of administrative organs and makes it more efficient.
At the same time, the Executive Committees of district and town Soviets have departments with no paid staffs. These volunteer departments, which help to promote trade, organisational work among the masses, culture and the like, have been widely acclaimed by the public and are run by more than 1,500,000 public-spirited activists without remuneration.
All organs of state administration without exception rely on activists in their day-to-day work.
Let us take the distribution of housing as an example. The provision of the urban population with apartments is one of the most difficult and troublesome functions of the Executive Committees of the local Soviets.
A housing shortage still exists despite the fact that annually millions of people receive apartments in new houses. Hence, it is most important to give every consideration to how new housing is distributed, to provide apartments first to those who need them most, and rule out abuse of power in this matter.
But however hard they might try, the small staff of the housing department of the Executive Committee of a town or district Soviet cannot unerringly determine what families are entitled to housing priority, and to weigh all the pros and cons. Hence, here, as in other spheres, the Executive Committees turn for assistance to activists who inspect the housing conditions of citizens and submit the corresponding recommendations.
143The public plays an important role in maintaining housing in good repair. Here the leading role is played by house committees which see to the correct utilisation of housing, control the observance of maintenance rules, and so on.
We could mention the role played by activists in the work of medical and cultural establishments, comrades' courts, volunteer law and order patrols, and so forth. But it is not our intention to list the various public commissions, inspection bodies, councils and similar organisations rendering day-to-day assistance to administrative organs.
Our purpose is to emphasise that the relatively small apparatus operating under the guidance and control of the Soviets can carry out all executive and administrative work and successfully cope with its functions only because in increasing measure it relies on its numerous activists, whose number has reached the colossal figure of 23,000,000 and continues to grow.
Previously activists were chiefly engaged in preparing materials for the Soviets and their organs, whereas now they are showing increasing initiative and have occupied firm positions in all spheres of economic, social and cultural life.
Problems that only recently were wholly within the jurisdiction of administrative organs arc now settled either with the participation of representatives of the public, or jointly with mass organisations, or directly by the public itself.
A good example in this respect is the participation of the public in fulfilling state functions in the maintenance of law and order.
In recent years, volunteer patrols which have won prestige are taking part in maintaining law and order alongside the militia. A big part in preventing law-breaking is also played by comrades' courts at enterprises, offices, collective farms and other enterprises and organisations.
Practice shows that after being tried by a comrades' court persons guilty of anti-social behaviour as a rule work honestly and conduct themselves in a befitting manner.
The large-scale participation of the people in the work of administrative organs and the further development of the voluntary principle acquire great significance for the fulfilment of the provision in the Programme of the C.P.S.U. 144 calling for a gradual reduction of salaried government .stall's so that ultimately work in the governmenl apparatus ceases to be a profession.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 8. THE COURT, THE PROCURATOR'S OFFICE ANDJudicial organs. Three persons are sitting at the judge's desk on high-backed armchairs bearing the arms of a Union Republic. They are judges administering justice in the name of the Soviet socialist state.
The people present in court listen to the sentence and in retrospect hear and see all that had taken place during the proceedings: the intricate human relations and at times tragic events, the manly behaviour of some people and the unseemly actions of others, and the emotions and intentions of the accused, the injured person and others involved in the case.
All this is now embodied in a clearly worded sentence pronounced by the chairman.
Who elects the judges and people's assessors? How do they exercise their powers? What is being done to make every citizen of the U.S.S.R. confident that his legitimate rights and interests are protected?
In order to answer these questions it is necessary, even if briefly, to describe the history of the judicial organs and the system safeguarding legality and the principles underlying their organisation and activity.
The Great October Socialist Revolution destroyed the old bourgeois-landowner government apparatus and also did away with the old judicial system, which was a subtle instrument for protecting the rights of wealthy people.
Under a screen of false impartiality the bureaucratic judicial machinery of tsarist Russia zealously stood guard over the interests of the ruling classes.
As soon as the Soviet state was formed the revolutionary workers and peasants began establishing a new court along the lines of genuine democracy. It was a court that did not defend the interests of a handful of exploiters but one that was called upon to safeguard the interests and rights of the victorious proletariat and millions of other working people.
__PRINTERS_P_145_COMMENT__ 10---3173 145The first Court Decree, adopted on November 24, 1917, abolished all the old judicial organs and replaced them with a genuinely people's court founded on democratic principles.
Since the establishment of the Soviet state, the socialist judiciary have been enhancing these democratic principles, consolidating the guarantees for the rights of the working people and defending their legitimate interests.
In administering justice the Soviet court protects the democratic system of social relations, the rights of the Soviet citizens guaranteed by the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. and the legitimate interests of enterprises, institutions and organisations.
At the same time, it has to ensure the full and undeviating execution of laws inasmuch as the entire activity of Soviet organs and large-scale participation of citizens in the administration of the state are based on a strict observance of the laws in operation.
In the U.S.S.R. justice is administered exclusively by the court. This constitutional provision precludes the possibility of extra-court handling of criminal cases and penalisation outside the statutory conditions which ensure a proper hearing of all judicial cases.
Sometimes the Soviet court is viewed as an organ whose sole function is to fight law-breakers and to penalise persons guilty of committing a crime. This is a one-sided conception. It has to be remembered that the court in the U.S.S.R. plays an extremely important educational role, that its entire activity is geared to educating Soviet citizens in the spirit of loyalty to their country and to the communist cause, in the spirit of undeviating execution of Soviet laws, diligent care of socialist property, observance of labour discipline, in the spirit of honest fulfilment of state and public duties, respect for the rights, honour and dignity of citizens and the rules of socialist society.
Moreover, by punishing people who have committed crimes, the court not only metes out justice on criminals but also pursues the aim of reforming and re-educating them.
The fundamental democratic principles of the organisation and activity of the Soviet court are defined in the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.
The Constitution of the U.S.S.R. and the relevant laws __PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__ 146 THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN THE U.S.S.R. SUPREME SOVIET OF THE U.S.S.R. ``--------- ----- ?c££i.nljblj lo Supreme Court Presidium of the Supreme Soviet ol the UlS.S.R. _£_«***£- '2----~^" ol Ihe U.S.S.R. 1 ---- " ------- fr" SUPREME SOVIET OF A UNION REPUBLIC elects for a ferm of fiVe years ^ Supreme Court of a Union Republic * ----- ------- _^?"ifafe,e l» Presidium of (he Supreme Soviet of a Union Republic accojin*»&'^- ------- ^ Supreme Soviet of an Autonomous Republic eleCls for a ferm of tiVe years Supreme Courl of an Autonomous Republic residium ol the Supreme Soviet of an Autonomous Republic Territorial, Regional and Area Soviets and fhe Soviets of an Autonomous Region elecls fora tewn of fiVe yeafs Territorial, Regional and Area Courls, and the Courl of an Autonorn/>us _________Region________ People's Judges are elecfed for a term of five years People's Assessors are elected for a terrp of two years [147] __PARAGRAPH_CONT__ governing the judicial system guarantee the declivity of all courts in Ihe U.S.S.K. '
Any Soviet citizen may be elected a judge providing he has reached Ihe age of 23 on eleclion day.
Candidales are nominated from among workers, collective farmers or intellectuals active in public affairs and possessing high moral qualities. An absolute majority of the judges have a special higher legal education. The electivity of the judges presupposes their responsibility and accountability to their electors or to the organs that have elected them.
The electors assess a judge by his work, by the extent lo which the court removes infringements of law and order and restores the injured rights of citizens, organisations or enterprises.
Judges or people's assessors may be deprived of authority only if they are recalled by their electors or by the organ that has elected them, and also on the strength of a court ruling.
All court cases are examined collectively. A court of the first instance is composed of a judge and two people's assessors.
The latter possess the same rights as Ihe judge and lake an active part in all matters during court examination and in presenting the substance of the case. People's assessors enjoy equal rights with the judge in determining the guilt of a person standing trial for a criminal oifence and the punishment he deserves.
A court decision is adopted by a majority vole. Moreover, the presiding judge, as is provided by law, voles last so as not to influence the opinion of the assessors.
While discharging the duty as people's assessors citizens receive wages from their places of regular employment.
People's assessors are a very important but not the only form of the participation of the public in the administration of justice. Under Soviet criminal law and criminal procedure, representalives of Ihe public can take parl in the examination of a case as prosecutors or defender; under certain circumstances, workers' collectives or mass organisations may request the custody of a law-breaker with the purpose of reforming or request that he should be given a suspended sentence; representatives of the 148 public also take parl in administering justice in civil cases and are given Ihe possibility of staling the opinion of the organisalions or collectives on whose behalf they are acting.
The Constitution of the U.S.S.R. declares that judges and assessors are independent and are subjecl only lo the law. This means Ihal neither slate nor mass organisations nor officials may interfere in court procedure, pressure the court or instruct it on how a case should be handled.
The court passes its sentences and decisions striclly in accordance wilh the law and in conformity with the inner conviction of the members of the court and their legal concepts in conditions precluding any external influence on the judges.
All judicial proceedings are conducted in the language of the native populalion. Persons nol knowing this language are guaranteed the opportunity of fully acquainting themselves with the material of the case through an interpreter and likewise the right to use their own language in court.
In all courts of fhe U.S.S.R. cases are heard in public. The law permits a deviation from this principle only in exceptional cases when a public hearing may divulge a state secret or the intimate life of the people involved in the case. But even in these exceptional cases, rulings are pronounced publicly.
Frequently, cases which might interest the public are heard directly at enterprises, collective or state farms, or in Ihe premises of house managements.
A public trial helps the court lo carry out its educational functions. At the same time, it places the whole work of the court under Ihe conlrol of Ihe people and enhances Ihe responsibilily of the judges in handing down a wellsubstantiated and just sentence or decision.
Soviet legislation consistently ensures the equality of all Soviet citizens before the law and the court irrespective of their property stalus or official posilion, race, nalionalily or religion. The equality of all citizens before a court of law is an inalienable feature of Soviet democracy.
Finally, under the Constitution, a person on trial is guaranteed the right of defence. The accused can exercise this right regardless of his family's material position. If an accused lacks the money to hire a defence lawyer the court provides him with one free of charge. An accused 149 has the right to invite a defence lawyer not only when he stands trial, but before his case has been brought before a court, from the moment he receives the material of the case from the investigating organs, and in some cases (for example, those involving minors) from the moment criminal proceedings are instituted.
The democratic fundamentals of Soviet justice make the courts accessible to the people and create the possibility of drawing the masses into the administration of justice.
Besides waging a relentless struggle against serious criminal offences, the courts are stepping up crime-prevention measures. They carry on large-scale explanatory work, substituting measures of state coercion with measures of a public, educational nature with regard to persons who have violated the law but do not present a serious threat to society.
The genuinely democratic nature of Soviet justice is manifested in the very structure of the judicial system. The principal link of this system is the district (town) people's court, which handles more than 90 per cent of all criminal and civil cases.
People's judges are elected by the citizens of a district (town) on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot for a term of five years.
People's assessors of these courts are elected at general meetings of industrial and office workers and peasants at their place of work or residence, and of servicemen in military units for a term of two years.
Altogether there are more than 500,000 people's assessors in the district (town) people's courts.
Regional (territory) courts supervise the work of the people's courts and are courts of the second instance for them.
The judges and people's assessors of these courts are elected by regional (territory) Soviets for a term of five years.
The Supreme Courts of the Union Republics, their highest judicial organs, are elected by their Supreme Soviets for a term of five years.
The Supreme Court of the U.S.S.R., the highest judicial organ in the country, is elected for a term of five years by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., and includes the Chairmen of the Supreme Courts of the Union Republics by virtue'of their office.
150This relatively simple pattern ensures the necessary close contact between the court and the people. It permits the court to wage an effective struggle against violations of the law, promote crime-prevention measures, educate citizens in the spirit of respect for the law and the principles of communist morality and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the people.
Procurator's supervision. We have already said that in Soviet society socialist democracy and legality are indissolubly bound up with one another.
The strengthening of legality has always been one of the most important tasks of the government and mass organisations.
Lenin considered it a criminal act even to think of violating the law, no matter what the motive. Once someone suggested that he should ``circumvent a decree" in an individual small matter of assigning a person to a post. Lenin replied with the following note: ``Decrees cannot be circumvented: people are indicted even for suggesting this.''^^*^^
He always demanded the strictest observance of the law, stressing that it was impermissible to deviate from the uniform law on the pretext of local conditions, political expediency, etc.^^**^^
It goes without saying that to strengthen legality it is necessary to wage a consistent and resolute struggle for the undeviating execution of laws, prevent crimes and enforce a wide range of measures ensuring the observance of the law by all state organs, officials and citizens.
In fulfilment of Lenin's instructions the Soviets, the courts and other organs and the public are constantly strengthening Soviet legality.
The Procurator's Office is an organ whose principal function is to safeguard socialist legality. It was set up in 1922, after the Civil War and the foreign intervention, when Soviet people began building socialism and promoting the all-round development of democratic forms of Soviet statehood.
On Lenin's recommendation the Procurator's Office was set up as a strictly centralised government body standing __PARAGRAPH_PAUSE__ _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin. Miscellany, Book XXXV, Russ. <?<!.. p. 60.
^^**^^ See Lenin, = Collected Works, Vol. 33, pp. 176 and 363--67.
151 PROCURATOR S OFFICE IN THE U.S.S.R. SUPREME SOVIET OF THE U.S.S.R.
Presidium
of the Supreme Soviet
of the U.S.S.R.
of A
Ptocur
tonorno
ators
js Republic*
Procurators
of Territories,Regions,
Autonomous Regions
Procurators
of Areas, Districts, Cities
[152]
__PARAGRAPH_CONT__
guard over the uniform legality and exercising supervision
to ensure that no decision of the local authorities
contravenes the law.
The Procurator's Office is a single centralised system headed by the Procurator-General, with subordination of the lower to the higher offices.
Under the Soviet Constitution the Procurator-General of the U.S.S.R. is appointed by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. for a term of seven years.
In his turn the Procurator-General of the U.S.S.R. appoints procurators of the Union and Autonomous Republics, territories and regions, and confirms the appointment of district and town procurators.
On the basis of Article 117 of the Constitution the organs of the Procurator's Office perform their functions independently of any local organs whatsoever, being subordinate only to the Procurator-General of the U.S.S.R.
This strictly centralised system is essential for supreme supervision over the execution of the laws.
The Procurator-General of the U.S.S.R. and his subordinate procurators fulfil their functions by~
exercising supervision over the execution of the laws by all ministries and departments, their subordinate institutions and enterprises, Executive Committees of local Soviets, officials and citizens of the U.S.S.R.;~
instituting criminal proceedings against persons guilty of criminal acts;~
exercising supervision to make sure that investigations of crimes are carried out in accordance with the law and that not a single citizen is illegally or unwarrantedly prosecuted, or has his legitimate rights curtailed in any other way;~
exercising supervision to ensure that sentences and decisions handed down by the courts are based on the law and are warranted by facts, and also that they are carried out in conformity with the law.
It is clear, therefore, that the Procurator's Office and the courts arc closely interlinked. At the same time, a procurator himself cannot directly make it obligatory for a state organ, an official or a citizen to perform a definite act.
Having ascertained that the law has been violated, the procurator takes measures to restore legality through the 153 court or other organs which have jurisdiction over the matter in question (for example, the Soviets, their Executive Committees, ministries, and others).
When a procurator sees that administrative organs are acting contrary to the law he files a protest with the higher organs. When he considers that a people's court has passed an illegal or unwarranted sentence, he files a protest with the regional (territory) court or the Supreme Court of a Union Republic, and so on.
The protests and presentations filed by the procurator with other organs have to be examined and acted upon within the period stipulated by law.
A procurator institutes criminal proceedings, files a protest against illegal acts of an official, defends the rights of citizens in court without waiting to be approached by interested persons. He does this on his own initiative on the basis of the material of the case at his disposal.
In their struggle against law-breakers the organs of the Procurator's Office do not restrict their functions to reinstating legality or instituting criminal proceedings against the guilty party. They take measures to prevent subsequent breaches of the law and submit recommendations to local government or Party organs on how best to eliminate the causes of such violations.
The entire activity of the Procurator's Office in investigating crimes and examining criminal and civil cases in court is strictly regulated by the law and carried out in strict conformity with the corresponding codes and legislative acts. In contemporary conditions a characteristic feature of the development of socialist democracy is the growing ties of the organs of the Procurator's Office with the local Soviets and mass organisations.
Reports submitted by the procurators on the state of legality in the country are discussed at regular sessions of Soviets. Many local Soviets have commissions on socialist legality working in close contact with courts and procurators. Mass organisations are increasing their participation in the work of the Procurator's Office itself and this is playing an important part in strengthening socialist legality, law and order in the country.
Public, control. An important manifestation of Soviet democracy is control by the people. This is an expression 154 of an absolutely new attitude of the working people to the state.
PEOPLE'S CONTROL BODIES People's Control Committee of »he U.S.S.R. People's Control Committee of a Union Republic People's Control Committee of a Territory, Region or an Autonomous Republic Area, City or Ward People's Control Committees Groups of People's Control at rural Soviets, enterprises, collective farms, offices, organisations arid military units_______Inspection by public control bodies is an effective means of drawing large sections of the people into the administration of the state and control over the strict observance of legality; it is a means of improving the government apparatus, eradicating bureaucracy and promptly acting on recommendations made by the people.
In line with Lenin's requirement that the masses should be drawn into the work of control organs, the U.S.S.R. has a comprehensive system of public control bodies.
The Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. has a Committee of Public Control and there are corresponding committees in all republics, territories, regions, towns and districts. Alongside Party workers they include representatives of trade union and Y.C.L. organisations, the press and frontrank industrial and office workers and collective farmers. Upon the recommendation of mass organisations, industrial and office workers and collective farmers take part in the work of all committees in the capacity of volunteer inspectors.
Public control groups consisting of front-rank workers
are elected at general meetings at industrial enterprises,
offices, building projects, collective and state farms and
house management committees. All told, about 6,000,000
people are taking part in the work of these groups. Millions
of young men and women are associated with the
Komsomolsky Prozhektor (Y.C.L. Searchlight) which co-operates
with public control bodies in helping to bring to light
155
__CAPTION__
Taisia Rabotkina, a doctor, is an active member of a public
control group. She is responsible for checking on sanitary
conditions and the health of the workers at the Vorone?h Tyre Plant
transgressions and shortcomings. Hundreds of thousands of
industrial and office workers are volunteer inspectors for
trade union organisations.
Public control is a very important means for improving the work of the government apparatus and an effective instrument for eradicating bureaucracy, mismanagement, abuse of authority and violations of legality and state discipline.
Public inspectors are active in all spheres of economic, administrative, social and cultural life. The public control bodies enjoy considerable rights. Upon their recommendation leading officials submit reports to the Executive Committees, at sessions of the Soviets, Party committee meetings and general meetings of workers. They can set the period in which shortcomings have to be rectified, refer cases to camrades' courts, cut short illegal activities of officials, demote or release them of their posts, impose fines and disciplinary punishment, and pass on incriminating 156 material to the Procurator's Office for Hie institution of criminal proceedings.
But their primary function is to prevent transgressions, educate people and see to it that there are no shortcomings or mistakes in their work, and help them correctly manage current affairs.
The following example illustrates how public control bodies operate. At the factories, building projects and institutions of Moscow's Kuibyshev District there are over 1,200 groups to which 7,000 persons have been delegated. Public inspectors inspect the quality of industrial output, and campaign for economy and thrift at industrial enterprises and for an improvement of state and labour discipline. Some 1,700 volunteer inspectors have helped to check up on the fulfilment of the government's decision to economise on electricity and fuel, and this has had a considerable impact.
The District Public Control Committee and its activists have inspected the work of municipal and other public services and not only disclosed shortcomings but also recommended measures to eradicate them in a short time and helped to improve the work of some enterprises.
It is important to note that there is only one salaried official in the District Public Control Committee---the Chairman. All the Committee's departments, commissions, its complaints bureau and the stall' of inspectors are unpaid, volunteer workers. Their activity is guided by 160 Communists and non-Party people. All are experts who devote their free time to Public Control Committee. It would be difficult to list all the functions of the public inspectors. But one thing is clear. The establishment of mass public control is a striking manifestation of people's rule, of socialist democracy in action.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 9. EVERY CITIZEN AS AN ADMINISTRATORFor many long years bourgeois philosophers and men of the legal profession have insisted that administration of state affairs is impossible without capitalists and landowners, that the working people could not do without `` privileged classes, without the caste of masters''.
Having accomplished a socialist revolution, Russia's 157 proletariat and other working people demonstrated that society could get along very well without landowners and capitalists.
The enemies of socialism began to argue that even it' the workers and peasants seized power they would be unable to hold it, for they had neither experienced statesmen nor the knowledge of state administration.
But life has fully disproved this ridiculous assertion, too. Those who had insisted that people coming from the ``lower'.' sections of society were incapable of independent creative activity had to eat their words.
The socialist revolution brought to the fore the latent talents of the workers and peasants, many of whom proved their worth in various spheres of government, economic management, military science and diplomacy. Having assumed power the working people began building a newlife and settling all problems of state administration. At first, the workers and peasants encountered great difficulties due to the cultural backwardness of the country and their lack of habits of state administration and the experience necessary to build a new society. But they persistently studied the art of state administration, a function which was once the monopoly of the ruling bourgeoisie and landowners.
Studying and scientifically synthesising the experience of the people in the building of a new life, Lenin repeatedly pointed out that it was extremely important for Soviet power to draw all the working people without exception into state administration. It is a vastly difficult task, he used to say, but a new society can be built only by tens of millions of people when they learn to do this themselves.
In accomplishing the greatest of all socialist revolutions and building socialist society the Soviet people acquired the necessary knowledge and experience in state administration and immeasurably raised their cultural level.
This brought them to a stage of social development when the active participation of the majority of the citizens, if not the entire population, in the management of state affairs became a reality.
At present, all the conditions exist for the practical realisation of the task advanced by Lenin, that of drawing the entire population into the administration of the state.
The new Programme of the C.P.S.U. underlines that all 158 citizens of the U.S.S.R. must actively participate in the administration of the state, in the management of economic and cultural development and in controlling the activity of the government apparatus, and that ever larger sections of the people must learn to take part in administration so as to ensure that the salaried government staffs are steadily reduced and that their work eventually ceases to be a profession.
The building of communism wholly depends on the most active and efficient participation of all people who are the masters of their country and are consciously building a new society for themselves.
As communism draws nearer society becomes ever more interested in drawing all its members into administration and thus assisting it not only by their work, but also by advice and new, fresh ideas.
Today the objective is that every person should take part in the administration of the country.
This means that each person not only can but has the right to take an active part in the affairs of his country. Hence, people will be playing an increasing part in public and state affairs. But the problem of drawing the entire population into public and state activity cannot be solved automatically. It requires constant attention and effort from society, the government and the Communist Party, and the combating of all false concepts, administrativebureaucratic tendencies and the disbelief of individual officials in the intelligence and strength of the masses.
What measures have to be taken to implement Lenin's slogan of drawing the entire population into state administration?
It is necessary first of all to further the material welfare and the cultural level of every citizen.
A sharp improvement in the standard of living, the further shortening of the working day and a rise of general and professional culture will create better conditions for furthering Soviet democracy and enable every citizen to devote much more time to public and state affairs.
It is also essential to improve the forms of popular representation and promote the democratic principles of the Soviet electoral system. This implies a drastic improvement of the organisational activity of the Soviets and 159 elaboration of new forms for drawing larger numbers of work ing people into the activity of the Soviets.
Promotion of the sovereignty of the people, the enhancement of the role played by the Soviets, voluntary participation by the people in the work of the administrative apparatus and other problems connected with representative and direct democracy are debated in the press and at discussions and scientific conferences. The working people arc enlisted into state administration not only through the Soviets and various forms of direct democracy, but also through the trade unions, the Y.C.L., co-operative societies and other mass organisations.
Consequently, it is also important to enhance the role of these organisations in social, political and economic affairs and gradually transfer to them some of the functions now being fulfilled by state organs.^^*^^
Another important factor is consistently to adhere to the principle of electivity, accountability and renewal of state organs. To enable all working people to learn to administer the state it is essential to give them an opportunity to participate in the work of the Soviets and other government and non-government organisations in rotation. Administrative functions cannot be carried out by part of society; they have to be performed in turn by all citizens. The systematic renewal of the Soviets and other elected bodies brings fresh millions of people into the administration of public and state affairs.
Such are the ways and means for practically solving the task set by the Communist Party of drawing all Soviet citizens without exception into administration. The C.P.S.U. is bringing to light fresh possibilities for promoting the initiative and activity of the masses. It is strengthening and improving the Soviet state, which Lenin had founded and whose principal objective law of development is the gradual promotion of democracy.
That is why every passing year brings to light new advantages of the Soviet system which has for ever freed the w-orking people from forced labour and guaranteed them broad rights and possibilities to administer all public and state affairs.
_-_-_^^*^^ See Chapter IV.
[160] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER IV __ALPHA_LVL1__ THE INDIVIDUAL IN SOVIET SOCIETY __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.] __NOTE__ There are LVL3 headings directly under the LVL1 heading on this page. Then, after about two (2) LVL3 headings, comes LVL2 heading starting "1. ...".As the course of historical development has proved, where there is no freedom of the individual there is no democracy either. Genuine democracy is possible only in a society where the individual is provided with decent living conditions and has the real opportunity of satisfying his physical, spiritual and cultural requirements, and where each person, to a greater or lesser degree, participates in government.
Throughout the ages mankind believed in the possibility of creating a society free of social injustice, class antagonisms and national discord, a society whose chief aim would be to create a happy and free life for man---the creator of earth's cultural and material values.
For centuries, however, this remained only a dream and all the numerous projects for setting up a just social order likewise came to nothing.
Prior to Marxism, the great thinkers and humanists of the past envisaged a happy future for mankind, but were unable to come to grips with the basic problem of the laws of development because they did not take into account the material conditions in which people lived, because they ignored the concrete historical approach to the development of society. They drew their conclusions from the supposedly changeless relations between man and society or from such abstract concepts as ``human reason" and the immutability of human ``nature''.
Marxism-Leninism evolved the first scientific theory for the deliverance of man from his spiritual, political and economic bondage. It paved the way for genuine freedom __PRINTERS_P_161_COMMENT__ 11---3173 161 of the individual and the all round development of his physical and spiritual abilities.
One of the major propositions of Marxism-Leninism is that the individual is not an abstract category, but is moulded in a given society and should be regarded from the concrete historical point of view.
Historically established social relations give rise to a specific type of individual belonging to a specific social group or class. Ultimately, it is a given set of social relations that determines the individual's views and ideas.
The achievements of mankind in the material and cultural field result from the development of society as a whole. If we leave aside mere eccentricities and concentrate on what actually determines the individual as a social phenomenon, we find that the individual is the sum total of social relations. This is borne out by the fact that man's essence, his way of life, his consciousness, his ideals and objectives change with every change in society, in his material and cultural existence.
The scientist cannot regard the individual as something removed from his socio-economic environment, unrelated to the time in which he moves and unattached to any group or class. In this connection Marx wrote: ``If man is shaped by his surroundings, his surroundings must be made human.''^^*^^
From the very outset, the founders of scientific communism ascertained that the main cause of the people's sufferings and distress, of all forms of inequality in a class society lies in the economic relations that cause social antagonisms, in private ownership of the means of production and the consequent division of society into propertied and propertyless. The once progressive slogans of liberty and equality advanced in the days of bourgeois revolution did not touch the basis of the old society. In other words, they did not do away with the dominance of private property and the exploitation of man by man. For this reason, they deteriorated into mere pompous declarations. The solution of the fundamental socio-economic problems comes as a result of the socialist revolution and _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The Holy Family Moscow 1956, p. 176.
162 the advent of the proletariat lo power. It has been proved by scientific communism and historical experience that only such a solution can give real and not imaginary freedom to the individual.Another important conclusion of Marxism-Leninism is that freedom of the individual is possible only if the masses are liberated from exploitation and oppression.
In 1894, Engels was requested to write an epigraph for the Italian magazine New Era about the new era to come as opposed lo the old one. Dante had defined the old era thus: ``Some people rule, others suffer.'' Engels answered the editor of the New Era with the prophetic words from the Communist Manifesto: ``In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.''^^*^^
The (ireat October Revolution ushered in a new era, the era of the struggle for the construction of a socialist society and the true emancipation of the individual. It abolished exploitation of man by man, class privileges and exclusiveness, inequality between nationalities, racial discrimination, inequality on account of sex and religion, and thus laid (he foundation for genuine democracy and freedom of all the working people. In so doing, it laid the foundation for the freedom of Hie individual.
The socialist revolution in Russia showed for the first time in practice that freedom of the individual can come only through liberation of the people, who are the decisive force in historical development. The building of socialism, the triumph of socialist relations in material and spiritual life, unfettered labour and confidence in the morrow are the basis of the actual freedom and all-round development of the individual in the Soviet Union.
Of all gigantic social and economic achievements scored by the U.S.S.R. over the past 50 years the most remarkable is the moulding of a new man, the creator and master of all material and spiritual wealth in society, a truly free personality. This is the chief value created by the October Revolution, bv Ihe Soviet social system.
_-_-_^^*^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 1, Moscow, 19G2, p. 54.
__PRINTERS_P_163_COMMENT__ 11* 163The Theses of the Central Committee of the C.P.S.U. on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution state: ``Economic and political transformations have entailed profound changes in social consciousness, bringing logical unity to Soviet society. Marxist-Leninist ideology has become a powerful motive force of social development, an important factor in rallying the Soviet people, and a stimulus to their socio-political and labour activity. New generations have been brought up in a spirit of whole-hearted loyalty to communist ideals, and convinced of the justice of our great cause. The character of Soviet man is that of a fighter, a revolutionary and a conscious worker for the good of society. Freedom of the individual in the U.S.S.R. is guaranteed first of all by the establishment of public ownership, which rules out exploitation of man by man.''
Freedom of the individual in the U.S.S.R. is expressed in the basic rights and duties of citizens laid down in the Constitution.
The rights and duties of citizens in Soviet society are not something static. They are an integral part of the development of society as a whole. The degree of freedom of citizens, their rights and duties at each given stage of the development of Soviet society depend on the extent to which they are practicable under given circumstances.
Naturally, the rights and freedoms enjoyed by the Soviet people today did not come all at once. They were preceded by long years of struggle and hard work. It was necessary to put down the resistance of the counter-revolutionary forces, overcome the economic and cultural backwardness inherited from capitalism, restore the ruined economy and create the economic basis of socialism.
As social relations improve, as the socialist system is consolidated and its material and spiritual wealth increases, the ways and means for the implementation of citizens' rights and freedoms likewise increase. In their turn, the extending rights and freedoms of citizens are given greater guarantees for their implementation on the basis of the steady development of the socialist society.
164 __ALPHA_LVL2__ The Gains of the Socialist RevolutionAs a result of the socialist revolution in Russia, millions of emancipated working people became active participants in political life and, as their political awareness increased, they began to take part in government administration.
The gains of the revolution in the field of democratic rights and liberties for the working people (freedom of conscience, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, street processions and demonstrations, the right to association, electoral rights, equality of citizens irrespective of their race, nationality, etc.) were legislatively consolidated in the Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People, in the 1918 Constitution of the R.S.F.S.R. and other constitutional acts.
However, the socialist revolution in Russia was not limited to the granting of political rights only. Freedom from exploitation and oppression is the highest manifestation of the individual freedom. It serves as the basis for all other freedoms and is far more important than equality in law, which, if there is private ownership of the means of production, leaves the way open for exploitation of the majority by a minority. It is these freedoms that guarantee genuine democracy ``not in political phrasemongering, but in economic reality''.^^*^^ And it was these freedoms that Soviet power guaranteed from its very inception.
The socialist revolution gave the people material wealth. Lands that had been concentrated in the hands of the landowners were transferred to the people for their free use. Heavy industry, banks, railways, means of communication, housing, etc., were nationalised. The shortest working day in the world was introduced. The working people were guaranteed annual holidays with full pay and the broad masses were drawn into cultural work and public education. The press, literature, art and all the achievements of science were made available to the people. Immediately after the victory of the socialist revolution steps _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, p. 57.
165 were taken to provide the material basis and real opportunities for the working people to make use of their rights. It would be naive, however, to think that the development of communist relations in Soviet society and the moulding of the new man were simple processes, unimpeded by obstacles and difficulties, that once big socialist gains had been won, the chief difficulties lay far behind and the Soviet people faced a straightforward path towards their goal. Life is much more complex.Having overcome the difficulties confronting them, the Soviet people have successfully fulfilled the Communist Party's plan for socialist industrialisation and the collectivisation of agriculture, the exploiter classes have been uprooted and socialism has finally prevailed.
One of the greatest acts of humanity, this victory led to the emancipation of the individual. Public ownership enables man to harness the forces of nature which for so long have been his master. The antithesis between town and country and the distinctions between physical and mental labour are gradually eliminated. So are national enmity and the elevation and enrichment oi one group of people at the expense of others. When public ownership predominates, the relations between people radically change. The misanthropic morality, founded on domination and submission, disappears and gives way to mutual relations based on comradely collaboration and on the exchange of experience and knowledge, which at the same time accelerates the progress of society as a whole and assures the conditions for the development of the individual.
Much was said about the harm that the elimination of private ownership would bring. Supposedly it would lead to the extinction of the personality and the diminishing of the individual's intellectual level. The individual's interests would be ``sacrificed to the collective and the state''. But such theories bear no relation to what actually happens. In reality collectivism and the state are not an end in themselves, but a means, an essential condition, for the all-round development of the individual.
Soviet reality has proved that socialism is built for the sake of man; it does not infringe upon the individual's interests. On the contrary, it ensures the full satisfaction 166 of these interests. Only under socialism, where economic and social oppression has been abolished, are the conditions created for the all-round development of every member of the society, for him to show initiative, extend his knowledge, improve his qualifications and participate in political, economic and cultural life.
The establishment of the socialist mode of production throughout the economy, the universal duty of all ablebodied citizens to work, payment for work in accordance with quantity and quality, economic planning, the conscious and purposeful utilisation of economic laws in the interests of society---these and other reforms, taken together, determine the fundamentally new relations between man and state. The new status of the individual in the society is most clearly demonstrated by the fact that the conditions of life, which once dominated over man, now fall increasingly under his control.
In the final analysis, freedom of the individual is measured by the degree of control over the objective laws and forces of nature, which people exert through their apprehension of the laws of development. This was what the founders of scientific communism had in mind when they spoke of mankind's leap from ``the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom''.^^*^^
The social system in the U.S.S.R. has established a simple, yet at once wise and fair rule. A person's status does not depend on wealth or privileges, nor even on his position at work, but on socially useful labour. As a result, labour has been converted from an instrument of enslavement into a means for the development of the individual. The Soviet system has drawn millions upon millions of people into active social and political life. It has brought out the abilities and constructive energies that have made possible the building of socialism and progress towards communism.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ Basic Rights of Soviet CitizensWith the complete triumph of socialism, Soviet democracy is transformed from a democracy of the majority into a democracy for all. This was reflected in the _-_-_
^^*^^ Frederick Engels, Anti-Diihriny, Moscow, 1962, p. 389.
167 Constitution of the U.S.S.R., passed in 1936, which removed all disabilities and restrictions on the rights and liberties of citizens. The sphere of constitutional rights was extended and additional means and facilities for guaranteeing the broad realisation and utilisation of the proclaimed rights and liberties became available.The Constitution of the U.S.S.R. lays down the basic rights and duties of all citizens. They are of great import both to the state and the citizen, inasmuch as they express the fundamental relations between the state, between society on the one hand, and the citizen, the individual, on the other.
All other rights and duties of citizens, stipulated by current legislation, concretise and further develop the basic rights and duties laid down in the Constitution.
The fundamental constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens can be classified in three groups: socio-economic rights; political rights and freedoms; personal liberties.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 1. Socio-Economic Rights of Soviet CitizensTrue freedom of the individual demands above all the creation of real conditions for the satisfaction of citizens' material and spiritual requirements. Socio-economic rights constitute the basis for all other rights and liberties.
The right to work, i.e., the right to have work and to be paid for it according to its quantity and quality, is one of the greatest achievements of the Soviet people. This is ensured by the socialist organisation of the economy, the steady growth of the productive forces, the elimination of all possibility of economic crises and the elimination of unemployment. This right comes from overall public ownership of the means of production, which gives all citizens equal access to work on the publicly-owned land, at the publicly-owned factories and other enterprises.
The right to work is the socio-economic right that is most directly connected with the socialist system, and it holds pride of place among the constitutional rights and freedoms enjoyed by the citizens of a socialist society.
168All citizens of the U.S.S.R. enjoy the right to work. It can be exercised in different ways. To workers and other employees, the right to work means the right to receive employment under a labour contract. To collective farmers the right to work is inseparably bound up with the right to socialist labour, land tenure and collective tillage of the land allotted to the given collective farm by the state, with collective ownership of livestock, agricultural machines, seeds and the whole output of the collective farm.
The legal guarantees of the exercise of the right to work are contained in the Rules of Labour Legislation. These Rules regulate the system of hiring and dismissing labour, and of transfer to other work, provide redress for any who may suffer from a violation of the right to work and place material, disciplinary and, in some cases, penal liability upon those who prevent citizens from exercising their rights by means of illegal dismissals and transfers. Soviet law forbids refusal of employment on grounds of social origin, previous conviction, the conviction of parents or relatives, and so on. Article 138 of the Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R., and the corresponding articles of the criminal codes of the other constituent republics, make it a criminal offence to dismiss someone from work out of personal motives or to ignore a court reinstatement order. Where labour relations concern women, the guarantees are even more definite, particularly in connection with the duties of motherhood. Each citizen can lodge an appeal in court against his management's decision on dismissal from work. An important guarantee of the right to work is contained in Article 10 of the Regulations on the Rights of Factory and Office Trade Union Committees, according to which workers and other employees cannot be discharged from an enterprise or establishment on the initiative of the administration without the consent of the factory or office trade union committee. Soviet law also protects the rights of the working people to receive wages in accordance with the quantity and quality of the work done, and to be provided with normal facilities for work.
The steady growth and improvement of socialist production offers endless opportunities to all citizens for the application of their labour. This is confirmed by the 169 conslant annual increase in the number of industrial, office and professional workers.
Full employment of all able-bodied members of society is a characteristic feature of socialism. The number of industrial, office and professional workers in the Soviet economy in 1966 totalled 79.7 million persons, an increase of more than 66 million in comparison to 1913. The economy of the U.S.S.R. provides work for all able-bodied citizens. Taking into account the contemplated growth of social production, the development of science and the expansion of services, the number of people employed in the economy in 1970 will be approximately 91 to 92 million.
The abolition of the exploiter classes, work for oneself, for a society that shares one's own interests has radically changed the character of labour in the U.S.S.R. and its socio-economic content. It is labour that has become the means for man's unlimited development. Labour constitutes the basis for the moulding of the new person. In the process of labour, man joins the collective, develops his creative abilities and intellect, becomes aware of his obligations in respect of society and acquires a sense of public duty.
The first years of Soviet power brought about a change in man's attitude to labour and participation in political and administrative affairs. Lenin saw this as the source of the working people's victories. At the Eighth All-Russia Congress of Soviets in 1920, Lenin stated that ``in the final analysis, the reason our revolution has left all other revolutions far behind is that, through the Soviet form of government, it has aroused tens of millions of people, formerly uninterested in state development, to take an active part in the work of building up the state.''^^*^^
Never before has man's interest in the development of the economy, in the introduction of new techniques and advanced methods of labour been so apparent as under socialism. What better proof is needed of the Soviet people's genuine creative freedom and all-round initiative if, in their midst, there have appeared millions of innovators and inventors who are making a valuable contribution to the improvement of the techniques of production? _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 498,
170 Organisations of innovators and inventors alone, working under the guidance of the trade unions, have a membership of more than 5 million. In the period covered by the sevenyear plan (1959--65) adoption of their proposals yielded a saving of more than 11,000 million rubles.A conscious attitude to work manifests itself in socialist emulation, in which more than 90 per cent of all the workers take part. Its direct continuation, the movement for a communist attitude to work, has assumed a mass scale. The initiators of this movement---30 young workers from the Moscow-Sortirovochny Depot---came forward with the following ``commandments'':
Our motto is maximum productivity of labour. Display initiative in your work. Think of the best way to do it. One for all and all for one.
One slacker disgraces the whole team; one absence throws a shadow on the reputation of all; one defective article spoils the work of the whole collective.
Don't keep your knowledge to yourself. If your neighbour lags, help him. If you cannot do the job yourself, don't be too proud to ask your mate.
If you have finished work, don't waste time. The technical school and the institute await you.
If you have a free minute, read. Study so that you can be of more use to your people.^^*^^
This is a somewhat straightforward, yet basically correct expression of the essence of this remarkable movement, which means a communist attitude to work, society and man. Later, many other workers were to follow their example.
Lenin's prophesy, made more than forty-five years ago, in May 1920, is coming true. He said: ``We shall work to do away with the accursed maxim: 'Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost,' the habit of looking upon work merely as a duty, and of considering rightful only that work which is paid for at certain rates. We shall work to inculcate in people's minds, turn into a habit, and _-_-_
^^*^^ See Sotsializnt i nqrodoulastiye, Moscow, 1965, p. 118.
171 bring into the day-to-day life of the masses, the rule: 'All for each and each for all'; the rule: 'From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs'; we shall work for the gradual but steady introduction of communist discipline and communist labour.''^^*^^Besides guaranteeing the right to work, the Soviet state also guarantees the right to leisure. The Soviet state has reduced the working week without cutting wages; in fact, it has actually increased them. The bulk of industrial workers have a 41-hour working week, or 18 hours less than in 1913. The transition to a five-day working week with two holidays was completed by the 50th anniversary of the Revolution. The new working week gives people better opportunities for satisfying their spiritual requirements, for raising their cultural and technical levels, for education and for improving their health.
The minimum paid annual holiday for industrial and office workers is at present two weeks, and some trades and professions have longer holidays. It will gradually be increased to three weeks and, ultimately, to one month. Paid holidays will gradually be extended to cover all collective farmers as well.
The Soviet state is giving more consideration to the organisation of holiday and health resorts. There are more than 4,500 sanatoriums, holiday homes and boarding houses. In 1966, about 9,000,000 people spent their holidays at health resorts in various parts of the country. Seven million of them were able to do so free of charge or at reduced rates thanks to state social insurance or factory funds.
In the first Soviet years, the words ``health resort" and ``sanatorium'' sounded strange to the common people, especially to many peasants. In one of his humoresques the Ukrainian writer Ostap Vishnya depicts a comic situation characteristic of those years. At one of the villages, an order arrived to send a person to the health resort. After many doubts, an old man decided to ``suffer for the _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 31, p. 124.
172 common good" and set out for the health resort. It was with a note of pride that the newspaper Krasnoye Znamya (Red Banner) wrote in 1924 that the poor of Chernigov Region were given nine places at health resorts in Sochi, Odessa, Berdyansk and other cities. Now thousands upon thousands of collective farmers, machine-operators and agricultural specialists go to health resorts for their holidays every year.The Programme of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union states: ``The socialist state is the only state which undertakes to protect and continuously improve the health of the whole population. This is provided for by a system of socio-economic and medical measures.'' Here is an example showing the government's concern for medical assistance to working people. Vladimir Sorokin, a young worker of Serpukhov garment factory, was hospitalised with a rheumatic heart disease. He was successfully operated on and after 64 days he left the hospital completely recovered. His treatment cost 1,715 rubles. Vladimir did not have to worry about this, for his expenses were paid by the state.
The good health and longevity of the Soviet people is the direct result of their improved living standard and the improvement of public health services. The new five-year plan provides for further improvement of medical aid in town and country.
The Soviet state spends large sums on a broad network of cultural and educational establishments, on the construction of clubs, recreation centres, museums, cinemas, theatres, libraries, stadiums. The amateur trade union art circles have a membership of seven million art lovers. There are 130 thousand recreation centres and clubs with a total seating capacity of 12 million people. These wellequipped buildings are used as cultural, educational and political centres. Most of them belong to the state enterprises or trade union organisations. In the smaller towns and rural areas there are recreation centres belonging to local Soviets. Their function is to popularise achievements in science, technology, literature and the arts, to encourage amateur art activities. They carry on out-of-school work with the children, hold lectures, talks, debates and literary conferences. They put on plays and organise gettogethers with distinguished people, and so forth.
173
__CAPTION__
Kemeri Sanatorium (Latvian S.S.R.) is one of many resorts whore
The popular Kirov House of Culture in Leningrad has Iwelve lecture and concert halls, a good library, sport and dance halls, various study rooms, photo laboratories, etc. Other popular recreation centres are the House of Culture of the Likhachev Auto Works in Moscow, the Railwaymen's House of Culture in Kharkov, the Shaumyan House of Culture in Baku, and others.
A new House of Arts was recently built in Tashkent. One of its halls seats 2,600 people. It organises get-- togethers of writers, artists, architects, film-makers, theatre workers, and so on.
Since the Revolution, the number of public libraries has increased ninefold and the number of books 117 times over. At present there are 100 million library subscribers in the U.S.S.R.
Many people go in for sports. Trade union sports societies have a membership of 19.5 million, which includes nearly 15 million schoolchildren. More than 150 thousand stadiums, sports grounds and gymnasiums have been placed at their disposal.
174The newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravdu recently published a survey on how people, mainly young people, spend their free time. More than 10 thousand readers and about 3 thousand specially interviewed people in 30 towns all over the country filled in the questionnaire. The results show that 81.6 per cent read the newspaper daily, 70.9 per cent listen to the radio, 69.6 per cent read books, and 37.5 watch TV. Three-quarters of those questioned are regular cinema-goers and nearly every other person goes to the theatre. This shows that recreation facilities arc available everywhere throughout the U.S.S.R.
The Soviet state takes care of all disabled citizens. Social security is ensured by state allocations for old age and disability pensions, sick benefits and seniority pensions. Families who have lost their breadwinner are given a pension and various allowances. There are various allowances for maternity and childbirth and also free accommodation for disabled persons at special homes. The state sees to it that invalids receive technical education and training and provides them with suitable work. There are many other forms of aid.
The right to maintenance in old age and also in case of sickness and disability is ensured by the extensive development of social insurance at state expense, free medical service and the provision of a wide network of health resorts (Article 120 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.).
Social insurance is obligatory in the Soviet Union. This is paid for entirely out of state funds without any deductions from wages.
Men are entitled to receive a pension at the age of 60 and women, at the age of 55. In the mining, chemical and metallurgical industries pension ages are 50 and 45 respectively. In the U.S.S.R., 34 million persons receive oldage and disability pensions. There has been an increase in sick benefits and in grants for children and considerable amounts are set aside to organise health care and recreation for industrial and office workers. Every year nearly 11,000 million rubles are spent on pensions alone.
175In 1965, the Supreme Soviet passed a law on Pensions and Allowances for Members of Collective Farms, giving them the right to receive pensions.
Pensions are granted to members of collective farms on the same terms as the workers: old age, disability and loss of the breadwinner. The number of pensioners covered by the Centralised Union Fund at the end of 1965 came to approximately 8 million.
In the period covered by the new five-year plan (1966-- 70), minimum old-age pension rates for industrial, office and professional workers and collective farmers will be raised. Some categories of industrial workers engaged in arduous work will be eligible for old-age pensions at the age of 50.
In 1967, the Soviet Government reduced, by five years,
the pension age for the collective farmers and women
workers employed on arduous jobs in textile industries and
increased disability pensions for invalids from among the
servicemen. Consequently, collective farmers are now on an
equal footing with other working people as regards the age
__CAPTION__
Camping grounds where hikers meet (Byelorussian S.S.R.)
[176]
__CAPTION__
A lesson at a mathematical secondary school (Gorky)
at which they qualify for a pension and the basis on which
it is calculated.
Every year the Soviet state increases expenditure on various forms of material security. The money is used for pensions and benefits for invalids and members of their families and Ihe upkeep of invalid homes; state pensions for temporarily disabled workers and other employees, for women before and after childbirth and during nursing; grants for mothers of large families and unmarried mothers; for the upkeep of hospitals, clinics, maternity homes, kindergartens, sanatoriums and other establishments; for grants to students; free medical care; free education, improvement of qualifications and other allowances and benefits.
Rapid progress in the field of culture has a striking
effect on the development of the individual under
socialism. In old Russia, the bulk of the working people were
illiterate. According to the all-Russia census of 1897, only
1,400,000 persons had an elementary education. This
included capitalists, landowners, civil servants, clergymen and
members of their families. In non-Russian areas, 98 per
__PRINTERS_P_177_COMMENT__
12---3173
177
__CAPTION__
Graduates of the Kaunas Medical Institute (Lithuanian S.S.R.)
cent of the people were illiterate. The census showed that
each year literacy increased by 0.5 per cent. At this rate
it would have taken Russia 150 years to wipe out
illiteracy. But today the U.S.S.R. has a higher general standard
of literacy than any other country in the world.
The U.S.S.R. has a powerful material and technical basis for the further development of education. We now have 210,000 general educational schools and 767 higher educational establishments.
In 1965, over 71 million persons were enrolled at various educational establishments. More than 48 million persons sludy in general educational schools.
The primary aim of education is to prepare the rising generation for useful labour, to instil a deep respect for the principles of socialist society.
A wide network of boarding schools has been set up by the state In 1965, 2.5 million children studied at such schools.
178Training at factories is also widely practised.
In 1965 alone, technical colleges and schools trained approximately one million skilled workers.
Higher education has become widespread in the U.S.S.R. In 1966, there were 4.1 million students at higher educational establishments and more than 3.9 million at technical schools, a total of over 8 million.
As Engels predicted: ``Communal production shall have been introduced throughout the whole society, and when, consequently, production will undergo a new evolution, different men will be needed to carry on the work of production, and indeed, different men will be engendered.''^^*^^
This has been confirmed in practice by the construction of socialism in the U.S.S.R.
In 1959, 43 per cent of the working population had a higher or secondary education. By the beginning of 1965, the proportion had risen to 52 per cent. In 1965 alone, the army of specialists increased by one million; 400,000 of them had a higher and 600,000 a secondary education.
Only in a socialist society can a person develop to his full stature, for the very nature of social development and the whole process of labour call for the continuous improvement and deepening of knowledge, for the widening of the outlook and awareness of the members of the society.
The five-year plan for the economic development of the U.S.S.R. for 1966--70 envisages further development of education and technical training. The introduction of universal secondary education for the young people will, in the main, be completed under this plan. Approximate!}' seven million specialists will be given a higher and specialised secondary education. The training of skilled workers for all branches of the economy will be extended.
The undivided supremacy and development of socialist ownership goes hand in hand with the development of individual ownership.
_-_-_^^*^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Works, Vol. 4, Russ. ed., p. 335.
__PRINTERS_P_179_COMMENT__ 12* 179Many lies were told about abolition of individual property under socialism. In the Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels observed that communism deprives no man ol' the power to acquire the products of society; all that it does is to deprive him of the power to subjugate the labour of others by such means.^^*^^
Accordingly, not only does the socialist state not deprive man of the right of individual ownership of articles of personal use, it guarantees full satisfaction of the personal requirements of all members of society.
Socialism does not mean the curtailment of individual requirements, but their expansion. It does not restrict or deny the satisfaction of these requirements, it sets out to satisfy them as fully as possible. The policy of the Soviet state is aimed at increasing the well-being of each person, promoting the development of his physical and spiritual capacities on the basis of the continuous development of social production and the growth of society's material and cultural wealth.
According to Article 10 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R., each citizen has the right to personal property, in other words, the right to earned incomes and savings, to a dwelling-house and subsidiary husbandry, to articles of domestic and personal use and convenience, as well as the right of citizens to inherit personal property.
In the Soviet Union, especially in small towns, settlements and in the countryside many citizens own houses. Citizens are permitted to build houses for themselves and, under certain conditions, to let them. The law lays down the various forms for the disposal of individual property by purchase and sale contracts, letting and subletting, and so on, and also by inheritance on the basis of a personal will or the law.
In conformity with the Constitution of the U.S.S.R., Soviet law safeguards citizens' rights to personal properly and strictly punishes those who encroach upon it.
All articles of personal property are meant for the satisfaction of personal requirements and on no account may they be used as a means for the exploitation of _-_-_
^^*^^ See Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 1, p. 49.
180 others. In a socialist society, no one can become a factory owner, a landowner or the owner of a department store because no one can acquire buildings, machines or raw material and use them as a means of extorting profit with the help of hired labour. Inasmuch as personal property in the U.S.S.R. is derived from socialist property and exists to satisfy the requirements of citizens, it cannot be used to the detriment of their interests. The material and cultural demands of the working people and their personal property increase with the growth of the socialist economy and labour productivity.A citizen's labour is the main source of his personal property in the U.S.S.R. Personal property consists of articles of personal use.
A special form of personal property under socialism is the collective farmer's individual ownership of a dwellinghouse, personal plot of land, outbuildings, livestock, poultry and small agricultural implements. Every peasant has his own home, orchard and kitchen garden. He may own a cow, pigs, goats, sheep and poultry and is permitted to sell the products of his own labour at the market. He may acquire manual agricultural implements and domestic equipment, but only for personal use and not for profit.
The Constitution of the U.S.S.R. (Article 9) also permits peasants or handicraftsmen to run small private undertakings based on their own labour and precluding the exploitation of the labour of others. In the individual private undertakings of peasants or handicraftsmen all the basic means of production (except for the land, which belongs to the state) are their own property. The source of the individual peasant's and handicraftsman's income is their work.
Citizens of the U.S.S.R. may hire a servant, a watchman or a gardener for their villa. It goes without saying that such an act does not bring profit as does the use of manpower in production under capitalism because in a socialist society everybody lives on his own wages.
In a socialist society, which forbids exploitation of the labour of others, small private undertakings cannot degenerate into capitalist private property.^^*^^
_-_-_^^*^^ In 1939, the share of the private sector in the economy was 2.6 per cent, in 1959, 0.3 per cent, and in 1965, nil.
181 __ALPHA_LVL2__ 2. POLITICAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMSPolitical rights or political freedoms in the MarxistLeninist sense imply the freedom of the people to take part in the administration of state affairs, directly influence political life in their country. This is ensured by freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly, the right to association, the franchise, and so on. In one of his early works Lenin wrote that ``the most urgent demand of the workers, the primary objective of the working-class influence on affairs of state must be the achievement of political freedom, i.e., the direct participation, guaranteed by law (by Constitution), of all citizens in the government of state, the guaranteed right of all citizens freely to assemble, discuss their affairs, influence affairs of state through their associations and the press''.^^*^^
The Soviet social system was the first in history to provide unlimited scope for all the people to take part in the production of material wealth and in cultural life, and also in all spheres of social and political activity. In the U.S.S.R. the people are not only the producers and owners of all material values; they also hold the reins of political life. This is encouraged in every possible way by the political rights and democratic freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. as well as by the Constitutions of the Union and Autonomous Republics.
In conformity with the interests of the working people, and in order to strengthen the socialist system, the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. and the Constitutions of the Union and Autonomous Republics guarantee Soviet citizens freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly, including the holding of mass meetings, street processions and demonstrations (Article 125 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.).
_-_-_^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 2, p. 118.
182These civil rights are ensured by placing at the disposal of the working people and their organisations printing presses, stocks of paper, public buildings, the streets, communications and other material requisites for exercising these rights.
Enjoying freedom of speech, Soviet citizens openly express their opinion on state and social problems, discuss draft laws, decisions of the Communist Party and the Soviet Government, submit proposals concerning the work of factories, offices and state and collective farms, and see to the implementation of these proposals. Criticism and self-criticism are among the main means of improving the work of all government and non-government organisations, and drawing the people into active participation in the building of communist society. The Communist Party encourages criticism, points out shortcomings and indicates ways of eradicating them, and urges the working people to be active in this field.
Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are closely connected. The press in the U.S.S.R. does its part in enlightening the people, giving them ideological and political education, and spreading Marxist-Leninist ideas. It boldly criticises the failings of institutions, enterprises or individual officials, and mobilises Soviet people for the work of building communism.
In the Soviet Union the propagation of national enmity and scorn is prohibited and punished by law.
It is also a criminal offence to advocate expansionist, aggressive policies. Desiring to live in peace with all nations, the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. on March 12, 1951, passed a law for the defence of peace, according to which war propaganda in any form is considered to undermine the cause of peace, and therefore becomes the gravest crime against humanity. Persons guilty of such propaganda are liable to be indicted and tried as criminals.
The Soviet press actively defends the cause of international peace and friendship, exposes the treacherous schemes of the instigators of a third world war, and works for unity among all democratic and freedom-loving peoples.
The U.S.S.R. issues more newspapers and magazines than any other country---a total of 7,967 newspapers and almost 183 4,342 magazines. They have a circulation of nearly 250 million. In the 50 Soviet years books have been published in 89 languages of the Soviet peoples and 54 languages of other peoples.
The Soviet trade unions have 11 newspapers and 23 magazines published in the capital. Every year Profizdat (the Trade Union Publishing House) issues over 300 titles of books and pamphlets running into seven million copies. The popular workers' newspaper Trud (Labour) plays a leading role in the trade union press. It deals with the problems of contemporary production, of organising work and living conditions for the workers, their cultural and professional progress. But it does not confine itself to matters of production. It also goes into moral questions, culture, health protection and improving the workers' standard of living.
The youth of the country has its own press: there are 115 Komsomol and 25 Young Pioneer newspapers published in various republics and regions with a total circulation of 24.7 million. There are also numerous youth and children's magazines.
The Soviet Union publishes more foreign literature in translation than any other country in the world. According to UNESCO bulletins, the Soviet Union issues 9 times more translated literature than Britain does, 4.5 more than Japan, and 4 times more than the U.S.A. In the last five years alone, 353 million copies of works by foreign authors came out in the Soviet Union.
Further development of publishing and printing is provided for in the new five-year plan. Book publication is to increase by 25 per cent, magazines by 50 per cent, and newspapers by 40 per cent.
The U.S.S.R. Constitution, proclaiming the basic freedoms already mentioned, puts special emphasis on the material guarantees which ensure the actual opportunity to enjoy them.
Soviet people make extensive use of the freedom of assembly and demonstration. Local, republican and allUnion congresses and conferences are often arranged by Party, trade union, Komsomol and other organisations to discuss various state and public activities. During nationwide celebrations and on polling days the streets in towns 184 and villages alike are full of people showing their attitude to the events taking place and their unity with the Party and the Soviet Government.
In conformity with the interests of the working people, and in order to develop the initiative and political activity of the masses, citizens of the U.S.S.R. are guaranteed the right to unite in mass organisations (Article 126 of the U.S.S.R. Constitution).
In this connection a prominent role is played by trade unions, which unite all industrial and office workers, cooperative societies, youth organisations, sports and defence organisations, cultural, technical, scientific and other workers' societies.
According to the Constitution, the most active and politically-conscious citizens in the ranks of the working class, peasants and intelligentsia voluntarily unite in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which is the vanguard of the working people in their struggle to build communist society and is the guiding element in all organisations of the working people, both government and non-government.
So the leading and guiding role of the Party, the only party in the country, is constitutionally consolidated. Communists are often blamed for having supposedly established the one-party system of government through the forcible liquidation of all parties after the victory of the October Revolution. However, the history of the Soviet state proves such reproaches to be without foundation.
While working for the victory of the socialist revolution, the Russian Communists never insisted that the socialist stale should necessarily have a one-party system. On the contrary, they considered the participation of petty-- bourgeois parties in the organs of state power possible, even desirable, providing, of course, they recognised the socialist revolution and did not fight against the Soviets.
Lenin time and again stressed that the Communist Party, following a principled class policy and defending the cause of socialism, always endeavoured to co-operate with other parties (including the bourgeois liberal ones) and to make any agreements or compromises that would be of some benefit to the working class. That was the policy of the Communists during and after the October Revolution. In November 1917 Lenin pointed out: ``We stand firmly by 185 the principle of Soviet power, i.e., the power of the majority obtained at the last Congress of Soviets. We agreed, and still agree, to share power with the minority in the Soviets, provided that minority loyally and honestly undertake to submit to the majority and carry out the programme, approved by the whole Second All-Russia Congress of Soviets, for gradual, but firm and undeviating steps towards socialism.''^^*^^
The first Soviet Government, headed by Lenin, was a coalition of the Bolsheviks and the petty-bourgeois party of Socialist-Revolutionaries.
Petty-bourgeois parties not only had the legal right to exist, but even had their representatives in some local Soviets for a number of years. The Communist Party showed great patience, trying to draw the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries into participation in socialist construction. But even the ``Left'' Socialist-Revolutionaries, who were in the Soviet Government at first, broke away on their own and annulled their political agreement with the Communists. During the Civil War the Socialist-- Revolutionaries and Mensheviks went over to the whiteguards and interventionists, violating the will and interests of the people. Finally, they lost the support of the people and disappeared from the political arena.
By 1922 there were almost no Socialist-Revolutionaries or Mensheviks in the Soviets, because they were simply not elected. Many of them, especially workers, joined the Communist Party.
So, throughout the revolution and the Civil War the Communist Party became the only party fighting for the socialist reorganisation of society, while all the other parties in Russia---from the monarchists to the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries---were on the side of counterrevolution, isolated from the people.
As a result, the one-party system established itself historically in the U.S.S.R. But this certainly does not mean that the one-party system is inherent in all socialist countries. In a number of socialist countries there are several political parties uniting their efforts in the building of the new social system.
_-_-_^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 26, p. 30V
186Hence, we may draw the conclusion that the one-party system in the U.S.S.R. is not the outcome of administrative measures, but was produced by certain specific features of the class struggle and the country's historical development.
``But how can there be democracy when there is only one party?" the reader may ask. However, it is not the number of political parties that gives genuine freedom and democracy. It all depends on what policy these parties pursue and whose interests they defend. It is true that the Communist Party is the sole party in this country, but it defends the interests of the working people, of the whole society.
The fact that there is only one party does not contradict the principles of democracy; on the contrary, it helps to realise them to the full.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 3. PERSONAL FREEDOMSApart from socio-economic and political rights and freedoms, much importance is attached to personal freedoms in the system of constitutional rights.
Inviolability of person is one of the principal rights of Soviet citizens guaranteed by the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. Article 127 states: ``Citizens of the U.S.S.R. are guaranteed inviolability of person. No person shall be placed under arrest except by decision of a court of law or with the sanction of a procurator.'' Inviolability of person is assured by penal laws, which stipulate severe punishment for crimes, such as murder, assault, rape, unlawful arrest, etc.
The investigating officer or inquiring body must inform the procurator about any detention within 24 hours, and the latter either sanctions the arrest after examining the facts, or frees the detained person. Any official who uses his powers to make an unlawful arrest is liable to prosecution for exceeding his authority (Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and corresponding articles of the criminal codes of the 187 other Union Republics). A person may he arrested only by decision of a court, or with the sanction of a procurator (Article 11 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the R.S.F.S.R.) and there should be enough facts to indicate that the arrested person may have committed a crime punishable by imprisonment. Arrest as a preventive measure can take place if other measures do not guarantee the appearance of the accused at the investigation department, or do not put a stop to his crimes, or if other measures would prevent the law from arriving at the truth of the case. Arrest is also legal when other measures do not ensure execution of a sentence. According to Article 18 of the Statute on the Supervisory Powers of the Procurator's Office in the U.S.S.R., the procurator sanctioning an arrest should first thoroughly examine all the facts giving grounds for the arrest, and if necessary he should personally question the accused. He should immediately free anybody who is illegally confined or kept in custody for a longer time than specified by law or by a court sentence (Article 11 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the R.S.F.S.R.).
The law lays down exactly what state bodies and officials have the power of detention, as well as the procedure for lodging complaints about groundless detention, any illegal actions by investigating officer or procurator.
Socialist society does not tolerate any unlawful arrest, the conviction of innocent people or groundless detention. Any such violation of socialist legality harms not only the injured party, but the whole of society, which is deeply concerned for the interests of each and every Soviet person, his honour, dignity and individual freedom.
The inviolability of the home and privacy of correspondence are protected by law (Article 128 of the U.S.S.R. Constitution), and are an essential feature in the legal status of Soviet citizens. Only authorised persons may enter the house of a citizen without permission, but only when that is necessary for state security or public order. Soviet legislation safeguards the privacy of all correspondence, be it by telegraph, radio-telegraph or by post. No one has 188 the right lo open, read or make public, the contents of someone else's correspondence. This may be done only by an investigating body on the authority of a court's or procurator's decision, for the purpose of detecting a crime and bringing the criminal to justice.
The right of an accused person to defence (Article 111 of the U.S.S.R. Constitution) is one of the most important democratic principles of socialist justice. It gives the accused the right and the opportunity to defend himself, lo dispute the charge, to adduce proofs and arguments showing his innocence or extenuating circumstance, as well as the right to have a counsel. What is more the defendant has the right to have a counsel not only at the time of trial, but as soon as the preliminary investigation is declared completed and, in some cases, as soon as he is charged.
While granting the accused the right to defence the Constitution makes it incumbent upon the investigator, the procurator and the court to see to it that the accused has a real opportunity of exercising his right to defence.
Any sentence passed by a court involving a violation of the right of the accused to defence is certain to be repealed by a higher court.
The new all-Union and republican legislation on criminal procedure and civil procedure in various ways effectively protects the Soviet citizens' honour, dignity and personal freedom. Its purpose is to strengthen socialist legality, so that every crime that is committed is justly punished and not a single innocent person is convicted or even brought to trial.
Article 7 of the Fundamentals of Civil Legislation of the U.S.S.R. and the Union Republics emphasises that any citizen, whose name has been defamed by scandal, can demand apology through the court. In case of libel the apology should appear in the press. Article 32 of the Criminal Code of the R.S.F.S.R. and the corresponding articles of the criminal codes of the other Union Republics demand public apology in case of scandal or libel, even though no material damage may be involved.
189An important guarantee of the personal freedoms of Soviet citizens is the fact that all officials are accountahle to the people, and that citizens have the right to lodge a complaint against the illegal action of any official. The Soviet state gives citizens the practical opportunity of appealing against the unlawful acts of officials or stale bodies and makes it incumbent on state bodies to accept all complaints and examine them on their merits within a fixed period.
In every possible way socialist law and procedure protect citizens' rights and freedoms, inviolability of person, and safeguard the personal and property rights of the working people. Persons infringing these rights are liable to strict punishment by the courts or administration according to the circumstances and the degree of their guilt.
The Constitution of the U.S.S.R. grants Soviet citizens freedom of conscience (Article 124). This means that every person has the right to reject religion, to be an atheist or carry on anti-religious propaganda, provided he does not offend the religious feelings of believers. A citizen may profess any religion and freely perform religious rites so long as this does not cause any breach of the peace or encroachment upon the rights, dignity and honour of others. This is a matter of one's own conscience and conviction. Freedom of conscience is guaranteed by the separation of the church from the state and the schools. The church and state do not interfere in each other's affairs.
The Soviet stale guarantees the aclual opportunity of exercising freedom of conscience. In the U.S.S.R. there are lens of thousands of functioning Orthodox churches, Polish Catholic churches, mosques, synagogues and other places of worship. Believers may tniile in religious societies, maintain and prepare ministers of religion. On Ihe territory of the U.S.S.R. there are functioning ecclesiastical academies and seminaries of Ihe Russian Orthodox church. Islamic medressehs, Roman-Catholic and Uniate seminaries, seminaries of Ihe Armenian church, etc. There are also functioning monasteries and convents. These include the 190 Troitse-Sergievsk, Kievo-Pechersk and Pochayevo monasteries, the Calholic nunnery at Aglon in the Latvian Republic, the Armyano-Grigoriansky monastery at Echmiadzin in ihe Armenian Republic, Buddhist monasteries in the Buryat Autonomous Republic, and Ihe Agin Buryat National Area of the Chita Region. The monasteries have their own land which the monks may farm. They may also engage in the handicrafts industry.
Religious socielies have the unrestricled right to hold congresses and conferences for clergy and congregation in individual republics and regions, as well as on a countrywide scale.
The chief demand that the law makes upon religious organisations is that they should do no more lhan fulfil Ihe religious needs of believers; they are forbidden by law, for example, to incite congregations to neglect their civic dulies, or to dissuade them from taking part in public and political activilies. The practice of fanatical rites harmful fo hcallh, and of frauds aimed al foslering superstition is also prohibited.
The government provides religious organisations with accommodation for holding divine services, wifh printing presses and stocks of paper for publishing religious books, calendars and periodicals, and with building materials for the repair and construction of churches.
The Soviet state does not support religion either by material means or by its aulhorily, and does nol in any way, eilher directly or indirectly, impose religion on its cilizens. In the U.S.S.R. no religion enjoys any privileges or receives any encouragement from Ihe government. No distinction between citizens due to their religious beliefs is toleraled. No record is kept of what religion a citizen may profess. He is nol obliged lo slale il in any official applicalion when enlering government service or educalional institutions. It is not mentioned in any official document or passport.
The bourgeois press sometimes spreads rumours that in the U.S.S.R. religious believers are suppressed and persecuted. Such claims are eilher sheer fabrications, or Ihe inlentional falsification of Soviet laws which merely demand thai legislation concerning religious activities be obeyed. It is true there is considerable atheistic propaganda 191 in the Soviet Union, and the law slates that religious activities should not disturb public order or infringe the rights of others. But this does not mean that religion is suppressed. In fact, any insult to the religious feelings of believers, or coercive, administrative forms of struggle against their beliefs are not tolerated. Such acts would contradict the Constitution of the U.S.S.R.
In 1943 a Council for the Russian Orthodox Church was formed under the U.S.S.R. Council of Ministers, and in 1944, a Council for Religious Cults came into being. In 1965 they merged into a single body, namely the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. The function of this council is to see that the laws and resolutions of the government concerning the church are correctly carried out, and to see how local government bodies and religious societies enforce legislation on cults. This body also deals with practical matters concerning religious organisations and maintains contact between them and the government.
From what has been said it does not follow that the Communist Party is indifferent to matters of religion. The Party does not conceal its disapproval of religion as an unscientific, reactionary world outlook. The forming of a genuinely communist ideology is impossible without a scientific, atheistic education and ideological struggle against religion. To quote the Programme of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union: ``It is necessary to conduct regularly broad atheistic propaganda on a scientific basis, to explain patiently the untenability of religious beliefs.''^^*^^
It would be a great mistake to think that freedom of conscience implies the freedom to perform religious rites only. It also includes the freedom to carry on atheistic propaganda, the propagation of a scientific world outlook. Religious prejudices and superstitions, which still poison the minds of a small part of the population, hinder their active participation in the building of communism.
In the U.S.S.R. public education is organised on a large scale. The Communist Party energetically fights against _-_-_
^^*^^ The Road to Communism, Moscow, 1961, p. 568.
192 religious prejudices using ideological means. In every possible way it encourages people to grasp the scientific, materialist conception of the development of society and nature, and thus helps them to overcome the residue of religious belief and superstition that narrows the mind and threatens the dignity of men. __ALPHA_LVL2__ 4. EQUALITY OF RIGHTS OF CITIZENS __NOTE__ No LVL3's under this LVL2.All the above-mentioned social, economic and political rights and personal freedoms are accorded to all citizens irrespective of their nationality or race (Article 123 of the U.S.S.R. Constitution). And there is no discrimination based on sex distinction. Article 122 gives an exact account of women's position: ``Women in the U.S.S.R. are accorded all rights on an equal footing with men in all spheres of economic, government, cultural, political and other social activity.''
The possibility of exercising these rights is ensured by women being accorded the same rights as men to work, payment for work, rest and leisure, social insurance and education, and also by state protection of the interests of mother and child, state aid to mothers, maternity leave with full pay, and the provision of a wide network of maternity homes, nursery schools and creches.
Nursery schools for children of various ages give them an all-round development, allowing mothers to work and take part in the cultural, social and political life of the country. These schools have an established routine and properly organised lessons; children are taught how to work, how to look after themselves, and great attention is paid to their health.
As an example, let us take one of the nursery schools situated near the Dnieper in the town of Zaporozhye on Khortitsa Island---a place that for hundreds of years belonged to the Dnieper Cossacks of the famous Zaporozhye Host, and where peasants fleeing from serfdom used to take refuge.
The nursery school in Khortitsa is called ``Ostrovok''. In 1965, 26,000 children enjoyed summer there in special country houses belonging to nursery schools. An army of teachers, nurses, doctors, cooks, etc., looks after the __PRINTERS_P_193_COMMENT__ 13--3173 193 childrcn. They are taken care of by qualified, kindly people, and are taught to mix with other boys and girls, and to be unselfish. This training prepares them for entering school.
Working parents do not have to worry about their children. It is also worth mentioning that at the most parents pay only one third of what it actually costs to keep their children at kindergartens.
This, of course, does not mean that the child is kept away from family influence. Soviet society has everything to gain from harmonious and healthy family life. It encourages the development of good family relations based on mutual affection and common interests, on the feeling of family duty, loyalty, family honour and dignity. Under communism family ties will continue to be an important human relation; but worry over daily household affairs and living conditions will disappear, for these will be fully satisfied by public amenities.
The life of women and conditions of their work are improving steadily. Every year the number of mother-- andchild health institutions and boarding schools increases, making it easier for mothers to bring up their children. The Soviet state gives mothers considerable material and moral support.
__CAPTION__
A kindergarten is a child's world
194
__CAPTION__
Drawing is a favourite pastime
Besides annual holidays, women are entitled to a maternity leave of 112 calendar days with pay. Nursing mothers have special privileges, and mothers of large families receive state allowances and are awarded orders and decorations for the noble feat of motherhood.
In the U.S.S.R. women play an active part in all spheres of public life. Of all industrial and office workers 49 per cent are women. Of the workers engaged in factories 47 per cent are women, in communications---66, in the health service---85, in public education---72, in science and allied fields---45, in the government and economic administration and in the management of co-operative societies and mass organisations---56 per cent.
L. A. Sysoeva, who works in the Zvenigorod State Farm (near Moscow), is a typical example of a woman of the people brought up under the Soviet system. She is the daughter of a milkmaid, and is a milkmaid herself. She was elected a deputy of the R.S.F.S.R. Supreme Soviet, __PRINTERS_P_195_COMMENT__ 13* 195 and was also a delegate to the 23rd Congress of the C.P.S.U. A part of her speech runs as follows: ``Could my life have followed this course if I had lived under another social system? After my father's death my mother was left with five little children. Would she, a simple milkmaid, have been able to bring all of them up without the Soviet system, without all the care and attention paid to her?.. . I am 25 years old. Recently I was awarded the Order of Lenin for my work. Judge for yourself, in such a large country like ours, where there are millions of people, my work was not only appreciated, but I was also honoured with the highest reward. But such cases are many.''
While recalling one of her meetings with American Senators, Sysoeva said that in the town of Syracuse a Mr. Lee asked her to show him her hands. ``Well, Mr. Lee, please yourself,'' she told him. ``Look, they are the ordinary hands of a worker.''
``But that was not all,'' Sysoeva continued her story. ``When we were on a visit at Mr. Lesher's farm, I was asked to show how we milk cows in Russia. And I did the evening milking successfully. Mr. Lesher had to admit that in the Soviet Union even Members of Parliament know how to milk cows.''
Quite a number of women are members of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. and the Supreme Soviet of the Union and Autonomous Republics. And many of them are leading workers and specialists in various branches of the economy. Women play an active part in numerous mass organisations. Hundreds of thousands of women in the U.S.S.R. are engaged in the important work of administering justice. We will mention only a few names.
Antonina Shevchuk has occupied the post of people's judge in the Lvov Region for twelve years now. What was she before that? On her arm one can still see the mark 40806, the number of a prisoner of the German concentration camp of Oswiecim, where she was imprisoned for three years as punishment for refusing to perform slave labour. However, neither torture nor humiliation could crush her dignity and ardent love for her motherland. When the camp was liberated she returned to a normal life. She worked and studied hard. In a few years' time she 196 received an education in law, and was elected people's Judge of the Turkov District in the Lvov Region. In the last election she was again returned to the same post.
Nina Gorsheneva is the assistant of the Procurator of the Russian Federation. She is in charge of legal supervision of criminal cases. Before that she was a people's investigator, worked in the department of judiciary law in one of the military higher educational institutions, and was then employed on the staff of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the R.S.F.S.R.
During one of its sessions a Moscow regional court was visited by some English barristers who were touring the U.S.S.R. Afterwards they had a long discussion and, before leaving, the head of the delegation told the chairman of the Regional Court of the discussion going on in Britain about whether women should be allowed to serve on the bench. Previously he had been neutral in his attitude, but, after seeing the work done by Mrs. Makarova, he would speak up in favour of women judges.
In her childhood Natalia Makarova never thought about becoming a lawyer. Her father and mother were telegraphists in Tashkent. Her mother, who had not finished even primary school, had always wanted her daughter to go to college. Twenty years later, with much hard study behind her, she left the small people's court in Tashkent where she tried her first case; and as a qualified and experienced legal expert, she became the Chairman of the Moscow Regional Court.
Another important manifestation of the equality of Soviet citizens is the equality of rights irrespective of nationality or race.
Every Soviet citizen, whatever his nationality or race may be, has an equal right to take part in all spheres of economic, government, cultural, political and other social activity. He may elect or be elected to any government body, hold any government or non-government post, acquire any profession, and address or apply to any state or mass organisation in his own language.
The Constitution of the U.S.S.R. states: ``Equality of rights of citizens of the U.S.S.R., irrespective of their nationality or race, in all spheres of economic, government, 197 cultural, political and other social activity, is an indefeasible law.
``Any direct or indirect restriction of the rights of, or, conversely, the establishment of any direct or indirect privileges for, citizens on account of their race or nationality, as well as any advocacy of racial or national exclusiveness or hatred and contempt, are punishable by law" (Art. 123).
The Constitution of the U.S.S.R. and the Constitutions of the Union and Autonomous Republics recognise the equality of national languages in all spheres of political and social activity. Laws passed by the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. are published in the languages of all the Union Republics (Article 40 of the U.S.S.R. Constitution). Instruction in schools is given in the native language (Article 121 of the U.S.S.R. Constitution). Persons not knowing the language in which judicial proceedings are conducted arc guaranteed the opportunity of fully acquainting themselves with the material of the case, and the right to address the court in their native language (Article 110 of the U.S.S.R. Constitution).
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 5. FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE FUNDAMENTALSoviet society's entry into the period of communist construction has opened up new prospects for further development of the fundamental rights and freedoms of Soviet citizens. As mentioned in the Programme of the C.P.S.U., ``the transition to communism means the fullest extension of personal freedom and the rights of Soviet citizens. Socialism has brought the working people the broadest guaranteed rights and freedoms. Communism will bring the working people further great rights and opportunities.''^^*^^
The new five-year plan for the development of the Soviet economy for 1966--70 is an important step in communist construction. The plan is based on the fact that the main purpose of socialist production is to satisfy the constantly rising material and cultural requirements of the people. It _-_-_
^^*^^ The Road to Communism, p. 552,
198 aims at achieving a steady rise in living standards through the expansion of labour productivity and material wealth, and by accelerating the rate of growth of national income.With the realisation of the five-year plan and the allround development of the material and technical basis of communism, the range of human rights and freedoms will become still wider, and they will be enriched by new material and legal guarantees, and greater opportunities for putting them into practice.
As legislation in recent years shows us, this process is characteristic of the Soviet state. Factories and offices have been transferred to a 5-day working week; pensions were sharply increased under the law of 1956. The Pension and Allowance Law of 1964 has benefited collective farmers (they are given an allowance in old age and in the event of illness or disability); educational opportunities have been widened still further, and so on.
Greater scope has been provided for enjoying such rights as the right to have a comfortable home, health services, and also nursery and boarding schools for children, etc. Many acts have been passed extending the Soviet citizen's property, personal and labour rights.
In September 1967, the Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee of the C.P.S.U. and a session of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. adopted new important decisions to raise the standard of living. These decisions affected over 50 million people.
Wage increases were granted to the factory and office workers in the lower bracket. In 1968 the workers operating machine-tools at the engineering and mctalworking plants in all industries received a 15 per cent addition to their wages.
In the five years (1966--70) the average monthly wages of factory and office workers will rise by not less than 20 per cent. Incomes received by collective farmers for work done on collective farms will rise by an average of 35 to 40 per cent. A guaranteed monthly wage is gradually being introduced for collective farmers; it conforms to the wage levels of state-farm workers for equivalent operations and equivalent quotas.
At the same time there will be an increase of at least 40 per cent in the public consumption fund, i.e., the sum 199 Emacs-File-stamp: "/home/ysverdlov/leninist.biz/en/1968/SSD255/20070705/255.tx" __EMAIL__ webmaster@leninist.biz __OCR__ ABBYY 6 Professional (2007.07.05) __WHERE_PAGE_NUMBERS__ bottom __FOOTNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [*]+ __ENDNOTE_MARKER_STYLE__ [0-9]+ total of material wealth going for consumption by the people, providing for social insurance, pensions, scholarships and other allowances, holidays with full pay, free education and health services, 1'ree or cheap accommodation in sanatoria and holiday homes, the maintenance of nurseries and kindergartens, and other public amenities. In 1965 alone, the consumption fund of the Soviet Union amounted to the vast sum of 41,500 million rubles.
The national income of the U.S.S.R. is also increasing in the direction of improved living standards, more opportunities for the exercise of basic rights. This income, which is the sum total of all production of material goods utilised for consumption and accumulation, will be increased by 38--41 per cent, and the real income per capita---by nearly 30 per cent.
Housing construction plays an important part in the welfare of the people. The Soviet Union is building houses faster and on a bigger scale than any other country in the world. Suffice it to say that every year some 11 million people move into new flats. Over the last 10 years, nearly one-half of the population have moved into new flats and houses or have improved their housing conditions.
In the five years housing construction will be increased by 30 per cent and its quality improved. Dwelling houses with a total floor space of about 400 million square metres will be built out of state investments and the funds of co-operative societies, special attention being paid to domestic building in rural areas.
Improvement in the medical services for the urban and rural population is also envisaged. Measures have been adopted to further improve health resort treatment, and provide better holidays for the people. Mass physical training and sports are being further popularised. Provision has been made to spread the network of institutions of general education, culture and science, and to develop all forms of cultural services for the people. The cardinal social problem to be dealt with is the erasing of the essential distinctions between town and country, and between mental and physical labour.
All this goes to show that with the development of communist construction and the accumulation and expansion of public wealth, the basic rights mentioned in the 200 Constitution become even more meaningful. This also applies to other rights that have already become part of Soviet life and are, indeed, essential to it, but have not yet been incorporated in the Constitution. This process is a manifestation of the natural development of nation-wide socialist democracy.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ 6. THE MAIN DUTIES OF SOVIET CITIZENSFrom what has been said it may be concluded that socialism gives Soviet citizens full rights to participate in socio-political, government, economic and cultural life.
But a citizen's legal status in society is determined not only by his rights but also by his duties. Constitutional rights and duties must, therefore, be examined as an integral whole.
The socialist system has made man the competent owner of his country. His position in society does not depend on his capital or noble birth, but on his work, initiative, intelligence and his participation in public affairs. Socialism has made history by offering man endless opportunities for his all-round development and the application of all his abilities, giving him real, and not sham freedom.
However, as we have seen, freedom in the MarxistLeninist sense has nothing to do with the so-called `` unlimited freedom'', which considers man's will to be free from any objective laws and directed exclusively by his subjective wishes. As is known, absolute, unlimited freedom has never existed in any country.
Lenin emphasised that ``this absolute freedom is a bourgeois or an anarchist phrase'', that ``one cannot live in society and be free from society''.^^*^^
Communism will be achieved not by freeing the individual from his duties, or from his obligation to observe the established law and order, but by increasing his responsibility to society.
Freedom to the Soviet man does not mean merely enjoying the rights given to him by society; it also implies the unfailing performance by him of his honourable social _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 10, p. 48.
201 duties. ``Not only society for the individual, but the individual for society as well,'' as the saying goes. This becomes obvious if one bears in mind that socialism is inconceivable without good organisation in all spheres of life, and without following certain norms of behaviour.Democracy without discipline would degenerate into anarchy and cause the disorganisation of society. The organic connection between socialist democracy and discipline is founded on the very nature of Soviet society: the broadening and perfection of socialist democracy demands a high sense of discipline of every member of society. In the report of the Party Central Committee to the 23rd C.P.S.U Congress Leonid Brezhnev said: ``The substance of socialist democracy lies in efficient socialist organisation of all society for the sake of every individual, and in the socialist discipline of every individual for the sake of all society.''^^*^^
This principle is made practicable by the fact that the duties with which Soviet citizens are entrusted are not a burden, as they might appear in a society with antagonistic classes. Soviet people, being the masters of their country, perform their tasks willingly because of the inner urge to do their duty by the community and their country. The age-long conflict between personal interests and the interests of society no longer exists. The fulfilment of duties to the state is becoming an inner necessity for more and more people.
The overwhelming majority of Soviet people have been doing their best to perform their revolutionary duty to society ever since the Soviets came to power. This is proved by what they have accomplished throughout the history of the Soviet state: during the Civil War when the fate of the first socialist state in the world hung by a thread and the working people defended it in incredible conditions against foreign imperialists and internal counter-revolu tion; in the period of socialist construction when great difficulties arose on this pioneer road; during the Great Patriotic War when the Soviet people accomplished an unparalleled feat by saving their motherland and all progressive mankind from fascist enslavement; and, finally, _-_-_
^^*^^ 23rd Congress of the C.P.S.U., p. 129.
202 in our own days when the huge, unprecedented task of communist construction is being accomplished.Over a hundred years ago Engels foresaw the creation of such a society in which community of interests ``becomes a fundamental principle, making common interests and the interests of the individual one and the same thing''.^^*^^
Indeed, any duty imposed on a Soviet citizen and fulfilled by him consciously must in the long run serve his own interests, as he is a member of society. It is clear to every Soviet citizen that only by performing his duties conscientiously can he make full use of his rights and freedoms. The further rise in the living standard of Soviet people directly depends on the rate of development of the productive forces of the whole country, increased labour productivity, and the creative energy and initiative of the Soviet people.
In safeguarding socialist property---the sacred and inviolable basis of the whole social system---Soviet people strengthen the source of public wealth, and, consequently, the source of well-being for every member of society.
So it is obvious that the wealth of socialist society is the people's wealth, the bedrock on which the prosperity of every individual is founded.
Service to public interests in these conditions fully corresponds to the vital interests of the individual. The changes in the nature and substance of citizens' duties that have occurred in the U.S.S.R. form the backbone of the Soviet social system. Here every person is judged as a member of the community; in such a society ``the common wealth must obviously be for everybody'', as Jean Jacques Rousseau far-sightedly remarked.
Under socialism the whole system of government and non-government organisations teaches the working people to perform their duties willingly and conscientiously.
However, there still exist some anti-social elements who take a purely formal attitude to their work and duties and to socialist property. And some people still have nationalist prejudices and other features of the old life and morals. Such people place their selfish interests above public _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Works. 2nd Russ. ed.. Vol. 2, p. 538.
203 interest. They try to get as much as they can from society, giving nothing in return.A resolute struggle is waged against these anti-social elements who ignore socialist laws and morals. Mass organisations try to reform them by persuasion and education. If that does not help, the coercive powers of the state are resorted to. According to Marxism-Leninism, democracy is a form of state that employs as well as persuasion--- its principal method---stronger measures against those who seek to disorganise the normal life of society, to undermine the social and state system established by the will of the people.
Now let us examine the fundamental duties of Soviet citizens in greater detail.
a) One of the most important duties of the Soviet citizen is to keep strictly to the U.S.S.R. Constitution---the Fundamental Law of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics---and to observe all the other Soviet laws as well. The laws express the will of the people and they maintain, strengthen and further develop the system which the people want and which works to their advantage. They are a powerful weapon in the struggle against criminal elements, and help to root out the survivals of capitalism from people's minds.
The unconditional and strict observance of laws by all government bodies, mass organisations and institutions, officials and individuals is one of the most important demands of socialist legality, and one of the most effective means of accomplishing communist construction;
b) the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. charges Soviet citizens to be conscientious in their work, and to observe working discipline. Work in the U.S.S.R. is the main requisite for the development and prosperity of socialist society, and the basis for the strengthening of economic and military power;
c) the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. charges every Soviet citizen to be honest in performing his public duty and to respect the rules of socialist community. These rules, coinciding with socialist morals as well, were born out of the revolutionary traditions of the working people. They demand, above all, a collectivist spirit and friendly mutual help, relations of humanity and mutual respect, honesty 204 and truthfulness, moral uprightness, modesty and unpretentiousness, care for the upbringing of one's children, and a refusal to tolerate any injustice, idleness, dishonesty, careerism and money-grabbing.
These principles have become normal human relations. Comrades' courts and people's voluntary public order squads play a big part in the struggle against those who infringe these principles and this gives greater weight to the moral factor, increasing the prestige and effectiveness of public opinion and influence;
d) one of the most important constitutional duties is to safeguard and fortify socialist public property.
Socialist property, belonging either to the state or to the collective farms, is the economic foundation of the Soviet system, the source of the country's wealth and power. Public property is the basis of all democratic rights and freedoms won through revolutionary struggle and socialist construction. The protection and defence of socialist property, therefore, imply the defence of the rights and prosperity of the Soviet man. This makes it incumbent on every citizen to take care of socialist property, to combat extravagance, squandering, and misuse of material wealth. Every Soviet person must make it a habit to treat national property as a Communist should;
e) to defend the country is the sacred duty of every citizen of the U.S.S.R.
Further strengthening of the might of the socialist state is essential to the security of the motherland. The Soviet Armed Forces must be equipped with the latest defence weapons. The most important function of the Soviet state is to ensure the defence potential of the country, to protect the peaceful labour of Soviet people.
Military service in the Armed Forces of the U.S.S.R. is the honourable duty of all male citizens of the Soviet Union, irrespective of race, nationality, religious belief, educational qualification, social origin or position.
Soviet citizens are obliged to defend their country in the event of aggression, and defend its interests under any conditions and at any price. Treason to the motherland--- violation of the oath of allegiance, desertion to the enemy, impairing the military power of the state, espionage---is 205 punishable with all the severity of the law as the most heinous of crimes.
All the fundamental rights and duties that have been mentioned apply to all citizens of the U.S.S.R. without exception.
As the socialist state develops into communist public self-administration, the norms regulating the basic duties undergo an evolution.
The Constitution of the U.S.S.R. expresses not only the legal duties of citizens, but the moral code as well.
The socialist period provides citizens with all the necessary prerequisites for carrying out all their voluntary and compulsory duties, and for a gradual merging of rights and duties into the ethics of the future communist society.
As society advances to communism and the moral code of the builder of communism is put into practice, law and morality tend to combine ever more closely, bringing about the integrated standards of behaviour of communist society that all the educational work done by government and non-government organisations seeks to promote. A high sense of morality and undeviating fulfilment of one's duty to the state are required to achieve this integration of rights and duties.
Such is the substance of the fundamental rights and duties of Soviet citizens. The following distinguishing features demonstrate their consistently democratic nature: their socialist character, their material guarantees, and the unity between rights and duties.
Let us now examine each of these features in greater detail.
Marxism-Leninism, rejecting the abstract conception of freedom, teaches us to examine democracy, and political rights and freedoms from the point of view of class interests. Which class benefits by them? Whose interests do they protect: those of the working people, or those of the exploiters?
Freedoms, like democracy in general, must be discussed 206 in specific terms. Their content is to be judged not by outward signs or declarations, but by finding out what class they serve.
The socialist character of the rights and duties of Soviet citizens lies in the fact that they protect and guarantee the interests of the working people; they promote the socialist way of society's development, ultimately leading to communism ; using them against the people's interests or against the strengthening of the socialist system would be a violation of the Soviet Constitution.
Abstract freedom outside a given socio-economic and political system has never existed and could never exist.
Lenin refuted all arguments favouring ``pure democracy" and equal freedom ``for all" in a society torn by antagonistic contradictions. He always stressed that when talking about freedom, equality and democracy, it should be specifically stated for whom they are intended. ``We say to the workers and peasants---tear the mask from these liars [supporters of freedom and equality in general---Authors.], open the eyes of the blind. Ask them:
Is there equality of the two sexes?
Which nation is the equal of which?
Which class is the equal of which?
Freedom from what yoke or from the yoke of which class? Freedom for which class?
``He who speaks about politics, democracy and freedom, about equality, about socialism, without posing these questions, without giving them priority, who does not fight against hushing them up, concealing and blunting them, is the worst enemy of the working people, a wolf in sheep's clothing, the rabid opponent of the workers and peasants, a lackey of the landowners, the tsars and the capitalists.''^^*^^
These views of Lenin's are embodied in all the Soviet Constitutions and in the entire socialist legal system.
The socialist character of democratic rights and freedoms was emphasised way back in the 1918 Constitution of the R.S.F.S.R. It pointed out that the R.S.F.S.R., guided by the interests of the working class, deprived certain individuals _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 30, pp. 121--22.
207 and groups of people of the rights they were employing to the detriment of the socialist revolution (Art. 23). The socialist essence of rights and freedoms is emphatically laid down in the present Soviet Constitutions as well.According to Articles 125 and 126 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R., all the democratic rights and freedoms--- freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, including the holding of mass meetings, freedom of street processions and demonstrations, or the right to unite in mass organisations---are guaranteed to citizens of the U.S.S.R. only ``in conformity with the interests of the working people, and in order to strengthen the socialist system. . .'', or, ``in order to develop the organisational initiative and political activity of the masses of the people. . . .'' This laconically expresses a vital Marxist-Leninist principle that reveals the special features of socialist rights and freedoms.
The state protects all rights and freedoms that serve the interests of the working people, and prohibits any acts that may serve to the contrary.
As we have seen, the propaganda of war and the advocacy of racial or national hatred are punishable by law. Films corrupting youth or extolling immorality, violence and immoral behaviour are prohibited.
It goes without saying that genuine freedom does not mean the liberty to infringe the interests of other people, of society as a whole, or of peace and democracy.
The fact that in the U.S.S.R. the state prohibits any activity harmful to other people does not mean that democracy is violated or limited. On the contrary, such restriction is in the interest of the people and protects their genuine, socialist democracy from encroachment.
Duties, too, are socialist in character in the U.S.S.R. They have not only a legal meaning, but ethical value as well, and give citizens the opportunity to take an active part in communist construction.
Rights and freedoms are genuine only if they are guaranteed and protected. ``On paper it is easy to proclaim a constitution,'' Marx pointed out, ``and also the right of 208 every citizen to education, employment, and above all to certain minimum means of subsistence. But putting all these generous wishes on paper is still far from what is really needed; the task of fertilising these liberal ideas with material and reasonable social institutions has yet to be accomplished.''^^*^^
Needless to say, the hardest part is to accomplish this task.
In the Soviet Union the rights and freedoms of citizens are not only proclaimed, but, what is more important, they are actually ensured by political, economical and legal guarantees.
The most important political guarantee is the social and state system of the U.S.S.R. and the power of the people, led by the Communist Party.
Care for the Soviet people's welfare and for the satisfaction of their constantly rising requirements is the supreme task of the Communist Party and the Soviet Government.
The principal economic guarantee is the socialist organisation of the economy and public ownership of the means of production.
Rights and freedoms accompanied by ever more guarantees for practising them steadily acquire broader scope as the economy and public wealth of the country grow. This has become an objective law in the development of socialist society.
By legal guarantees the Soviet state protects citizens' rights against encroachment. This is one of the basic functions of the socialist state, and the main object of socialist law.
In accordance with the Constitution of the U.S.S.R., a number of state bodies are appointed to see that citizens' rights and freedoms are well protected. One of the specific tasks of the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. is to adopt measures for the maintenance of law and order and for the safeguarding of citizens' rights (Article 68 of the U.S.S.R. Constitution). The respective state bodies in the Union and Autonomous Republics, centrally and locally, are also assigned the same task.
_-_-_^^*^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Works, 1st Russ. ed., Vol. 3, pp. 687--88.
__PRINTERS_P_209_COMMENT__ 14---3173 209Judicial bodies, too, have similar assignments. Article 2 of the Fundamentals of Legislation on the Judicial System of the U.S.S.R., the Union and Autonomous Republics, consolidates the protection of political, labour, housing and olher rights and interests of citizens from encroachment. The rights and interests of Soviet citizens are protected by civil, labour, administrative, financial and other laws. An effective legal guarantee is also the Procurator's supervision which ensures that all laws are correctly observed and carried out.
Another important legal guarantee is the accountability of all Soviet officials, and the citizen's right to lodge complaints about any unlawful act that may be committed by any official or institution.
Under socialism, the first phase of communism, the economic conditions have not yet been created for the achievement of full equality as regards the material wealth of all members of society. But material wealth in this society does not affect a person's status in socialist society.
All citizens of the U.S.S.R. are equal as far as their fundamental rights and duties are concerned, irrespective of their property status.
Equality in their relations to the means of production, equal rights to work, equal pay for equal work, equal opportunities for acquiring knowledge and for the constant improvement of one's qualifications---all these make people's position in socialist society radically different from what it is in a capitalist society, and signify a gigantic advance in the development of society. Marx's and Engels's vision of a society with equal rights and duties for all has been realised in the U.S.S.R.
Ever since society based on exploitation came into being, rights and duties have been opposed to each other; rights were mainly the privilege of the ruling classes, while duties were the lot of the exploited.
It should be added that unity between individual and public interests and their harmonious combination does 210 not imply the merging of the individual with society. The individual docs not and will never dissolve in society since people will always have individual features, needs and interests.
Socialism has put an end to this age-old evil for ever. Real unity of rights and duties was achieved for the first time in the land of the Soviets. Marx's vision of a society in which there are ``no rights without duties, no duties without rights"^^*^^ has come true.
The unity of rights and duties stems from the popular nature of the socialist state, which recognises no other interests but the people's.
Socialism is the system that combines the interests of the individual with those of the community. But enforcing the principle ``from each according to his ability, to each according to his work'', it cannot yet provide full economic equality for everyone, because individual abilities and qualifications, family make-up, etc., differ. Because of all this, some social distinctions still survive in socialist society, they include distinctions between classes, between town and country, between mental and physical labour, and differences in social and living conditions. For a variety of reasons society is not completely free of possible conflicts between personal and public interests. However, these conflicts are not irreconcilable or antagonistic; and they can be resolved not through class struggle, but through the co-operation of all classes and strata of society, all of which are equally interested in strengthening socialism and building communism.
The material well-being of every citizen improves with the development of socialist society, providing him with greater opportunities to display his abilities for the benefit of the common cause. And so it follows that the more vividly the individuality of a person manifests itself through his moral, spiritual and creative powers, the higher the cultural level attained by the whole of society to which he belongs. Through the collective the individual obtains satisfaction of his diverse material and cultural needs on the basis of the wealth at the disposal of society as a whole. _-_-_
^^*^^ Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Works, Vol. 1, p. 387.
__PRINTERS_P_211_COMMENT__ 14* 211 The prosperity of the individual is, therefore, based on the well-being of all. It is this fact that forms the basis for the unity of rights and duties of the citizens of the U.S.S.R. This is why the interests of the individual and those of the whole of socialist society coincide in all matters of fundamental importance. [212] __NUMERIC_LVL1__ CHAPTER V __ALPHA_LVL1__ MASS ORGANISATIONS __ALPHA_LVL2__ [introduction.]In dealing with Soviet socialist democracy, mention must be made of the role played by mass organisations. The chief thing about them is not so much their massive character as their contribution to the building of communism. They are major channels through which the masses display their inexhaustible creative initiative. They take an active part in the formation and current activities of the Soviets and other organs of the Soviet socialist state, and their co-operation with state bodies is growing increasingly versatile.
The mass organisations have a series of features in common. First and foremost it is necessary to emphasise that their concrete tasks conform not only to public interests as a whole but also to the views and aspirations of the members of the given organisation, and to their tastes, abilities and gifts.
Every Soviet citizen is free to make a choice between the various social organisations and become a member of it. We have already seen that the right of Soviet citizens to association is guaranteed by the Constitution and by the entire system of social relations.
While enabling people to satisfy their individual inclinations, mass organisations turn the energy and initiative of their members to the benefit of the whole of society.
This serves to demonstrate most vividly that there is a coincidence of the individual and the social, a feature inherent in society as a whole.
The combination of the individual and the social in tackling the tasks advanced by mass organisations is reflected 213 in the charters of these organisations and also in various legal acts dealing with their activities.
All the mass organisations in the U.S.S.R. apply only methods of education and persuasion, without recourse to administrative orders or coercive powers, customarily wielded by the state authorities, in respect oi' their members.
Organisationally, they are self-governing associations, which means that they are built on the basis of voluntary membership and of the members' actual participation in developing their material facilities (through payment of dues, the turning over of the instruments of production to collective farms, annual deductions from the cash incomes of collective farms possessing their own non-distributable assets, etc.) and in running all the affairs of the organisation, in electing its leading bodies and controlling their activities.
All this gives the mass organisations the features of a school of public self-administration.
The nature of a mass organisation depends on its activities. The main types of mass organisations in the Soviet Union are:~
trade unions as a school of management, as a school of communism for factory and office workers;~
the Communist Young League as an independent mass organisation, which helps the Communist Party educate young people in a spirit of communism, draw them into the building of the new society, bring up men and women who will live, work and administer social affairs under communism ;~
co-operatives (collective farms, consumer co-operatives, housing co-operatives, and others) as a form of enlisting the masses into communist construction, of educating them on the lines of communism and teaching them public selfadministration;~
scientific, technical and educational societies and organisations of production innovators and inventors;~
cultural, sports and other voluntary societies (the Society for Safeguarding Cultural Monuments, the Union of Sports Societies and Organisations of the U.S.S.R., etc.);~
creative associations of the people engaged in literature, the arts and journalism (the Union of Writers, the Union of 214 Composers, the Union of Architects, the Union of Artists, the Union of Journalists, etc.).
A special role is played by the Communist Party, which has political tasks and exercises leadership of society and the state.
Being the highest form of social organisation and the tried and tested vanguard of the people, the C.P.S.U. guides the activities of all non-government and government organisations.
One of the key laws governing the development of Soviet democracy is that mass organisations play a steadily growing role. This finds reflection in a series of developments.
First and foremost, it is essential to note that with every passing year the mass organisations face an increasing range of concrete problems. In this connection some of the functions of state organs are gradually transferred to them.
It is common knowledge that in addition to the functions they had taken over in recent years, the trade unions now run health and holiday homes. The U.S.S.R. Union of Sports Societies and Organisations has jurisdiction over all matters relating to physical culture and sports. The Ail-Union Znaniye (Knowledge) Society has taken over all oral propaganda from the Ministry of Culture.
The C.P.S.U. Programme points out specifically that it is necessary to extend the participation of mass organisations in running cultural and health protection establishments and social insurance bodies and to transfer to them, in the near future, the management of state-run libraries, clubs and other cultural establishments.
It stands to reason that this transfer of government jurisdiction should not be hasty and formal; it requires a great deal of preparatory work.
The assumption of government responsibilities by mass organisations is a complex and many-sided process. In particular, it makes high demands on these organisations. All vestiges of bureaucracy and formalism must be banished from their practical work, which must rest on the initiative of the working people and on the utmost development of democracy.
This process, therefore, is regarded as a component of the general problem of extending democracy and 215 promoting voluntary work in all spheres of economic, political and cultural life.
The improvement in the work of the mass organisations registered in recent years is also proof of their growing role.
Their material basis is being steadily expanded. Their members have become more active, this being illustrated by the growth of the number of activists in trade union and Komsomol organisations and in the different voluntary societies. The number of paid posts in mass organisations is systematically decreasing. At the same time, millions of activists are undertaking unpaid, voluntary work.
On this score the Rules of the Trade Unions of the U.S.S.R. state: ``The trade union committees and councils rely in their work on the broad active of trade-unionists organised by commissions on specific questions of union activities, on volunteer sections, groups of part-time instructors and inspectors functioning in off-hours, and apply other forms of enlisting the help of trade-unionists to work in trade unions on a voluntary, unpaid basis.''
These principles are common to all mass organisations, each of which has features of its own. These features stem from the activities of these organisations as well as from the forms and methods employed by them to draw the masses into the administration of government and nongovernment affairs.
In this connection it is worth while describing the different types of mass organisations in the Soviet Union.
It should not be forgotten that the social activities of Soviet citizens are not confined to the framework of these organisations. In the preceding chapters we have spoken of the people's participation in the work of various committees, commissions and voluntary councils operating under the auspices of the Executive Committees of Soviets and other state administrative organs, of clubs, libraries, etc. We may add that people set up many other associations either at general meetings or through the appointment of representatives by various mass organisations or collectives of working people. It is important to emphasise that these associations closely collaborate with mass organisations. Together with the latter they represent the roots of Soviet democracy.
216 __ALPHA_LVL2__ Trade UnionsThe trade unions, which have an aggregate membership of over 80 million, arc the largest organisations in the U.S.S.R.
In Russia they were first formed during the revolution of 1905--07 and were called upon to uphold working-class interests. They played a big role in rallying the working class before the October Revolution and helped the workers to fight for their legitimate rights and freedoms.
The Soviet trade unions gained in importance after the October Revolution. Lenin showed their role in building the Soviet state and in training new generations of the working class. He strongly emphasised their educational role when he said that they were schools of administration, economic management and communism. He said that at first they must be schools of industrial management and later schools of efficient farming and ultimately schools of social management in general.
Every Soviet factory and office worker seeks to become a member of a trade union, to join a mass organisation, which unites workers by virtue of their common labour. How is this desire to be explained? Let us, by way of illustration, cite statement made by a Ukrainian worker, Sorokin, at a meeting held to mark the 50th anniversary of the Soviet trade unions:
``The entire life of a worker is associated with his trade union. When a child is born, the factory committee helps to provide it with accommodation at a nursery. When children grow older, the local trade union organisation makes sure that there is a good nursery school for them. When a worker falls ill, the trade union comes to his aid. When a worker goes on his annual vacation his trade union provides him with accommodation at a health or holiday home. When something new is introduced, the trade union organisation hastens to spread it among all workers. In short, the trade union is our true friend and counsellor.''
Indeed, the entire working life of the Soviet citizen is bound up with the trade union activities.
217Today the trade unions have new and bigger tasks, and their role is being enhanced. In the period of communist construction this marks a noteworthy advance in the development of Soviet democracy.
As the Theses of the C.C. C.P.S.U. on the 50th Anniversary of the October Revolution state, Soviet trade unions are a great organising force promoting the country's productive forces, raising the productivity of labour and accelerating scientific and technical progress. They help to improve working and living conditions and organise holiday facilities for the people. The further consolidation of the trade unions and the enhancement of the role they are playing in the life of Soviet society constitute an important condition furthering the building of communism.
The trade unions formulated their tasks in the Rules, which were adopted at the 13th Congress of the Trade Unions in November 1963. ``The Soviet trade unions are a mass non-Party organisation,'' these Rules state, ``which unites, on a voluntary basis, workers and other employees of all occupations, irrespective of race, nationality, sex or religious beliefs.''
As the largest organisations of the working class the trade unions beneficially influence all aspects of the productive, cultural and social life of Soviet people. Their pivotal task is to mobilise the masses and enlist their aid in the building of the material and technical basis of communism, in the drive to consolidate the economic and defence might of the Soviet state and to improve the material and cultural welfare of the working people.
The trade unions mobilise the people for the fulfilment of economic and cultural development plans. Millions of factory and office workers pass through this school of industrial management and learn to perform government and social work. The Soviet trade unions help to further economic and technological progress and to boost labour productivity. They organise socialist emulation and mass technical innovation. They encourage factory and office workers to improve their qualifications and popularise the experience of innovators. As Soviet society advances to communism, ever new functions, previously discharged by 218 state bodies, are assumed by the trade unions. As far back as the 1930s, the Soviet Government transferred to the trade unions the responsibilities of the People's Commissariat for Labour in the sphere of labour protection and social insurance. Later, the trade unions took over the administration of health and holiday homes, the organisation of tourism and other functions linked up with services to the population.
Under Soviet law the trade unions are authorised to represent the workers' interests in state and economic bodies when living and cultural conditions are scrutinised. The Soviet Government does not pass a single important decision without preliminary consultations with the trade unions. Trade unions actively participate in the formation and functioning of state bodies by nominating candidates to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R., the Supreme Soviets of the Union and Autonomous Republics, and to local Soviets.
The participation of the trade unions in drafting bills and decisions concerning working conditions is of great importance. This is seen from the following facts. The trade unions were very active in drafting the pension laws, the regulations for the settlement of labour disputes, and the decisions concerning wage increases for low-paid workers. Jointly with the State Labour and Wages Committee of the U.S.S.R., the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions deals with major problems of labour remuneration.
Democratic centralism underlies the entire organisation of the Soviet trade unions. From top to bottom all trade union bodies are elective, being fully accountable to the membership which elected them. The lower bodies are subordinated to the higher bodies. All trade unions are democratic organisations: they hold meetings and conferences of the rank and file regularly, systematically report on their activities, hold elections to leading bodies within specified time-limits, and do their utmost to enlist their members into social activities.
They are organised according to the industrial principle. All workers employed in an enterprise or establishment are members of one and the same trade union. Every union 219 unites the factory and office workers employed in one or several related industries. This organisational principle has some advantages compared with the strictly professional or shop organisations. It helps to unite workers into a single labour collective, to rally them and settle more efficiently all questions pertaining to their labour and living conditions, conduct socialist emulation, etc. In this way all workers develop a sense of duty and responsibility for the work of their enterprise, their socialist consciousness being heightened in the process.
There are over 20 branch trade unions in the U.S.S.R. The largest ones, with a membership of over five million, are the Agricultural Workers' Union, the Railway Workers' Union, the Union of Workers of the Construction and Building Materials Industry, the Engineering Workers' Union, the Medical Workers' Union, Education Workers' Union and the Distribution Workers' Union.
The highest organ of the Soviet trade unions is the allUnion congress, which is convened once in four years. In the interval between congresses trade union activities are directed by the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions (A.U.C.C.T.U.).
A primary trade union organisation consists of members who are employed at a given enterprise or establishment. To discharge its everyday business, each primary organisation elects a factory or office committee. All the directing bodies of a union, from the factory or office committee to the Central Council, are elected by secret ballot.
Over 90 per cent of all the factory, office and professional workers in the U.S.S.R. are members of trade unions. Membership is absolutely voluntary. The members' rights and duties are stipulated in the Rules.
A member has several privileges as compared with a non-member: he receives a sick benefit from the state insurance fund; he is given priority in accommodation at a health or holiday home; his children receive priority accommodation at nurseries and nursery schools; when necessary he is provided with material aid from the union funds.
The membership of the trade unions is increasing, as the following table shows.
220 TRADE UNION MEMBERSHIP IN THE U.S.S.R. (mln) 80 74.8 69.6 63.0 40.4 25.0 10.9 1.5 1917 1928 1941 1954 1961 1963 1964 1967The rights enjoyed by factory and office committees have been of late extended thanks to the enhanced role played by the trade unions in political and economic development in the U.S.S.R. In particular, the new Regulations Governing the Rights of Local Trade Union Committees, endorsed by a decree passed by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. on July 15, 1958, has considerably enlarged the rights of the primary organisations.
The factory and office committees have the right to participate in drafting production and capital construction plans as well as plans covering the building and repair of dwellings and cultural and service establishments. They have the right to hear reports by managers of enterprises or heads of offices on the fulfilment of production plans and commitments undertaken under collective agreements, on the execution of measures to improve labour conditions, and on the provision of material and cultural services to personnel.
221Many of the questions concerning labour organisation and workers' welfare can be settled by the management only with the approval of a factory or office committee. When necessary, a trade union organisation may demand the removal or punishment of managers who have not fulfilled their commitments under a collective agreement or who have violated labour legislation. Appointments to administrative posts are made with the approval of a local committee.
The trade unions handle social insurance, supervise labour protection and the observance of labour laws, and check up on the work of communal and transport organisations.
They pursue these activities with the help of their activists. As a rule, they build their work on a voluntary, unpaid basis. Over 95 per cent of the primary organisations do not have a paid apparatus and all their work is conducted by activists without remuneration. At present, the number of activists engaged in social work on a voluntary basis exceeds 25 million.
The voluntary principle contributes to trade union democracy and stimulates the initiative of the union members. Activists are appointed to leading committees, direct various public commissions, organise socialist emulation, guide the work of permanent production conferences, and participate in the work of the Society of Inventors and Production Innovators, the Scientific and Technical Society and various creative associations.
The voluntary principle is gaining in importance in the leading trade union committees as well. There are public commissions and councils, and non-staff inspectors. At a plenary meeting which reviewed the development of the voluntary principle in trade union activity, the A.U.C.C.T.U. noted that the Engineering Workers' Union in Volgograd, the Textile Workers' Union in Tambov and the Electric Power Station Workers' Union in Lvov displayed a very interesting initiative by setting up regional committees and running them on a voluntary basis.
The Soviet trade unions have a great deal of experience of drawing workers into industrial management, constantly cultivating in factory and office workers a sense of responsibility for production results, and a thrifty attitude to 222 public property, and encourage them to show initiative. They organise socialist emulation movements for the fulfilment and overfulfilment of production plans, for boosting labour productivity, improving quality and reducing production costs.
A tried method of communist construction, socialist emulation is a genuine popular movement, which involves practically all industrial enterprises and building projects. The trade unions concentrate socialist emulation on accelerating economic growth, raising labour productivity and utilising untapped reserves.
Great importance is attached to the communist labour movement, which is the highest form of socialist movement. It has been joined by some 26 million factory and office workers throughout the country. As early as 1964, over 2,500 industrial enterprises, more than 50,000 factory shops, sections and farms and 408,000 work teams won the title of communist labour team. Nearly 3,000,000 workers were awarded the title of the communist labour shock worker. The chief feature of this kind of emulation is that it combines higher labour productivity through modern science and technology with the moulding of the new man. By fusing labour, knowledge and the people's welfare the communist labour movement greatly influences all aspects of life.
When the workers in one of the departments of the Zaporozhye Steelworks joined this movement, they adopted the following slogans:
``Back up everything that is new, advanced and beautiful.
``Hold aloft the banner of collectivism and prize the honour, glory and trust of your fellow workers.
``Believe that there is more good in man than bad.
``Do not be indifferent to the misfortunes of others.
``Do not look for an easy road in life, show courage and overcome all difficulties.
``Forget the words: 'I am an ordinary man and as such I can be forgiven anything.'
``We are builders of a new, communist world, therefore coarseness, vulgarity and ignorance are incompatible with our lofty ambitions.
223``Cultivate in yourself and in others the habit of speaking gracefully and unaffectedly. Your speech mirrors your mind and spirit.
``Love and protect Nature.''
These are only fragments from the document which was compiled collectively by the metalworkers of Zaporozhye, but they show their outlook and approach to the presentday problems of socialist emulation.
The trade unions support and disseminate the creative initiative displayed by innovators.
Soviet enterprises apply a flexible and diverse system of providing incentives for achieving the best results in emulation. This includes bonuses and honorary titles by profession (best fitter or steelmaker of a republic, etc.). The best collectives are put up on the Board of Honour or entered in the Book of Honour. The best enterprises are awarded challenge Red Banners of the Soviet Government and the Central Trade Union Council.
Industrial enterprises and individual workers engaged in leading trades participate in a country-wide socialist emulation within their own branch of industry. Under the new economic reform the object of emulation is to concentrate the attention of workers on fulfilling and overfulfilling production plans, introducing new technology, raising labour productivity, improving the quality of output, increasing accumulations, and disseminating advanced experience as widely as possible. This movement is resulting in greater efficiency in production, a better use of fixed assets, a quicker commissioning of new capacities, thrift and economy in the spending of financial, material and labour resources, and in stricter observance of economic agreements. The results are reviewed by the respective ministries and trade union central committees. The Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. and the A.U.C.C.T.U. have instituted 300 challenge Red Banners for the victors in the country-wide socialist emulation. Another 551 challenge Red Banners have been instituted for the same purpose by ministries and trade union central committees.
The award of a Red Banner is usually accompanied by a bonus as a kind of material stimulation, with smaller bonuses for the runners-up. Thus, bonuses may be received by 1,786 enterprises once every three months.
224Within industries emulation is also organised in each of the Union Republics.
The trade unions do their best to improve the organisation of emulation. The Ordinance of the State Socialist En terprise declares that the management and the local trade union committee are authorised to organise emulation and to provide moral and material incentives for foremost collectives and individual workers. This helps to improve the guidance of emulation in enterprises. Managers and trade union bodies draw up concrete commitments with the purpose of bringing to light and utilising production reserves, enhancing the responsibility of each collective and worker for production, and improving labour discipline.
Standing production conferences have proved to be an effective means of drawing workers into the management of production. These conferences are set up at factories, building projects and shops employing 100 or more workers. Their members are elected at general meetings of workers and other employees for the same term of office as the trade union committee. Every six months this conference reports on its work to the workers who had elected it.
Standing production conferences take part in drawing up and discussing production plans and suggestions to improve intra-factory planning. They have the right to demand reports from factory or shop managers on current activities and economic results, scrutinise problems pertaining to the organisation of labour and production, wages and technological rate setting, plans of organisational and technical measures, the introduction of new technology, comprehensive mechanisation and automation, and so on.
The factory management is obliged to facilitate the functioning of production conferences, eliminate shortcomings revealed by them and ensure the fulfilment of their recommendations and proposals. Reports on the implementation of the conference proposals are made at a routine conference meeting.
These conferences enable the management to decide key problems of production on the spot and remove shortcomings. In 1966 there were 125,000 factory and shop standing conferences with some five million front-rank workers, engineers and other employees elected to them. Every year these conferences examine hundreds of thousands of __PRINTERS_P_225_COMMENT__ 15---3173 225 questions concerning the organisation of labour and production, table numerous proposals with a view to bettering the utilisation of untapped production potentialities and improving labour productivity.
Another effective means of drawing workers into industrial management is the collective agreement. Every year such agreements are drawn up at all factories, building projects, transport enterprises, state trading establishments and the state farms. The collective agreement is a bilateral contract between the management and the trade union organisation that represents the interests of the workers. Both parties undertake mutual obligations to fulfil economic plans, ensure agreed labour conditions, and improve the workers' material and cultural well-being. A great number of proposals to perfect production and improve the workers' labour and living conditions are tabled during the discussion and conclusion of these collective agreements.
With the extension of the powers of enterprises, the improvement of planning, the economic stimulation of production and the introduction of greater material incentives, the role of the collective agreements has increased. On March 6, 1966, the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. and the A.U.C.C.T.U. adopted a decision which reflects the new conditions for management. Both parties now undertake commitments which more fully reflect the workers' growing initiative in tackling production matters, improving labour organisation, increasing wages and incentives, making better use of material encouragement funds, and so on. The collective agreements stipulate concrete normative provisions on labour and wages jointly worked out by the management and the trade union committee within their terms of reference.
The Soviet trade unions make active use of workers' meetings, which freely and openly discuss the results of the work of a factory or a shop and also other aspects of its day-to-day activities.
An important field of trade union work is the provision of adequate working and living conditions for the workers and the safeguarding of their interests.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Government and the trade unions show constant concern for the welfare of the working man. The Soviet 226 programmatic principle---everything for the sake of man, for the benefit of man---is being implemented throughout the country.
The Soviet trade unions are helping to raise wages and salaries primarily through better organisation of production and higher productivity of labour. The economic reform now under way in the Soviet Union gives effect to large-scale measures aimed at providing workers with more incentive to raise labour productivity.
Together with the government, the trade unions examine all matters connected with the remuneration of labour. Special wages commissions sponsored by factory trade union committees see to it that every worker knows his production quota, and how rates are set and wages calculated.
The material welfare of the Soviet people is determined not only by wages but also by allowances and benefits paid out of public consumption funds. These include social insurance allowances, various benefits, pensions, paid holidays, free education in all types of schools, free medical services, public maintenance of nurseries and nursery schools, etc. In 1966, the state allocated over 45,000 million rubles to complement the public consumption funds. In 1966--70 these funds will increase by 40 per cent. One-third of them is spent on social insurance. The trade unions use these funds to pay benefits and grant pensions, safeguard the health of workers and provide facilities for recreation.
At the same time much still remains for the trade unions to do to provide more cultural facilities, expand the network of cultural and educational establishments, and promote amateur art activities, physical culture and sports.
The trade unions play an important role in labour protection and securing efficient safety engineering. They have voluntary labour protection inspectors, who make sure that labour legislation is observed, that work and leisure alternate normally, that workers are supplied with protective outer garments and footwear, etc. The trade unions have several labour protection research institutes. One of these, the Leningrad Labour Protection Institute, which was set up as early as 1927, published in recent years a large number of scientific papers on various aspects of labour protection.
The Soviet trade unions are authorised to settle labour disputes. Here the procedure is that at first a labour dispute __PRINTERS_P_227_COMMENT__ 15* 227 is submitted to a special labour disputes commission, set up at an enterprise or establishment and consisting of an equal number of representatives of the trade union committee and the management. Its decisions are binding upon the two parties. If the commission fails to reach agreement, the worker concerned may, within 10 days, apply to the union committee with the request that the dispute be considered by it. And, finally, if the worker disagrees with the union committee decision---he may apply to a people's court in the manner provided for by law. It should be added that trade unions provide workers with free legal aid.
Special mention should be made of social insurance. It is built up on a democratic basis and is fully administered by the trade unions, whose local committees are assisted by over two million activists. The unions control the work of health-building centres and social insurance bodies and improve the organisation of the health-resort system. In the Soviet Union all kinds of medical assistance are free of charge to all citizens, large sums of money being spent on disease-prevention work. These large-scale health and protective measures are combined with the provision of better nourishment for workers employed on jobs with hazardous conditions and with the organisation of one-day treatment at local sanatoria for such workers. The trade unions greatly contribute to the improvement of the health-resort system. Every year health homes cater for over four million factory and office workers at the expense of state insurance funds.
The trade unions are tireless in their concern for working women. Maternity leaves have been lengthened. Nursing mothers receive extra leave of up to three months. Mothers of new-born babies can temporarily stop working, their uninterrupted service being preserved for a year. Expectant and nursing mothers may not be employed on night shifts or extra hours.
Boarding schools and more childrens' pre-school institutions have also greatly eased the position of working women. More than four million children go to nurseries and nursery schools. In 1965 alone, the number of places in the children's pre-school establishments increased by 540,000.
Trade unions help to distribute housing to workers and other employees. There is law which makes this obligatory. 228 In 1966 alone, close to 80 million square metres of housing space were built, over 11 million people were rehoused. The Soviet people pay the lowest rents in the world. The law provides for rent privileges for large groups of working people---for those who have more than four dependents, and for students. Doctors, teachers and some other specialists who reside in rural localities are provided with free housing.
The trade unions run numerous palaces of culture, clubs, libraries, recreation centres, parks, etc. They allocate huge sums of money for cultural and educational work. A great deal of attention is paid by them to the education of workers and the organisation of their rest and leisure.
Under the current five-year plan (1966--70) the state is building health homes for 45,000 places and holiday homes and tourist camps for 358,000 places. The number of factory medical centres and Young Pioneer camps is also being increased. This will enable health and holiday homes to cater for 23 million adults and children in 1970.
Soviet factory and office workers were recently transferred to a five-day working week with two days off. Enterprises transferred to a five-day week are working successfully. Moreover, the shorter working week gives people more time for studies, the upbringing of children and recreation. The trade unions are extending the facilities for recreation.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ Co-operative AssociationsThe co-operatives are the second largest social organisation in the Soviet Union. There are different kinds of cooperatives: producer co-operatives (collective farms, collective fisheries and industrial co-operatives), supply and marketing societies (consumer societies), and housing cooperatives.
Collective farms. The predominant type of co-operative is the collective farms. It is a profoundly democratic and independent organisation which develops through the initiative of the farmers who have decided to run their economy jointly. One of the basic principles underlying the organisation of collective farms is that they are managed collectively. The C.P.S.U. Programme states: ``The Party 229 sets the task of continuously improving and educating collective-farm personnel, of ensuring the further extension of collective-farm democracy and promoting the principle of collectivism in management.''^^*^^
Where the farmers feel they are the masters of their collective farm and understand their personal responsibility for the common enterprise they display initiative and work fruitfully. This gives rise to ever new forms of participation in collective-farm management.
The democratic principles underlying collective-farm management provide for the decision of important problems directly by the members, the electivity of the leading bodies, the collegial functioning of these leading bodies, their responsibility before those who elected them, and lastly, the right to recall, before the expiry of their term of office, those who fail to justify the trust of members.
The collective farms are thus self-governing social organisations. The common will of all members interested in better and more efficient management is strikingly mirrored in collective-farm democracy. This will, given shape democratically, expresses not only the subjective interest of every member but also the common, collective interest, which coincides with the interests of the entire nation, for Soviet people do not regard the collective farm as a kind of private latifundia of a group of peasants. Economic interest is closely combined with political interest, with interest that has a socialist content, since co-operative property is a socialist form of property and the Party regards the collective farms as schools of communism.
Collective-farm democracy improves thanks to the democratic development of Soviet society and to the further strengthening of the collective farms themselves. This democracy is being expanded through the extension of the democratic rights of collective farms and their members. Higher bodies have stopped needlessly interfering in the planning of agricultural production at the collective farms, for they only fettered the members' initiative. Many local problems are now being settled by the farmers themselves, who are being given increasing material incentives.
Former regulation by higher bodies embraced not only _-_-_
^^*^^ The Road to Communism, p. 529.
230 economic matters and the planning of production, but also internal relations at the collective farms; they also deter mined the forms of labour organisation and the system of its remuneration, even the powers of officials, etc. As a rule, their recommendations were uniform for all regions of the country. This practice was necessary during the early stage of collective-farm development, but subsequently it became a brake on their development. When the collective farms grew stronger they produced their own experienced leaders; the political consciousness of the members rose; and the regulation of their internal relations from above became unnecessary. That is why beginning with 1956 the property rights of the collective farms were considerably extended. Today they draw up their own production plans with the result that output is rising steadily.The economic growth of the collective farms, their enlargement through amalgamation and the diversification of their economies have made it necessary to improve the democratic forms of management. When the collective farms were small, all fundamental issues were decided by the general meeting of members. But with their enlargement (not infrequently they cover several villages) it became difficult to call general meetings of all members. This gave rise to a new form of democratic management---meetings of authorised representatives of members residing in different villages. More flexible and operational, this form has become widespread.
In the Soviet Union collective-farm democracy is ably combined with one-man management. This in no way mutilates the initiative of members: being large enterprises, the collective farms require personal responsibility alongside general democracy. The general meeting or the meeting of authorised representatives continues to be the main decision-making body, and freedom of discussion is fully guaranteed. But once a decision is adopted, it is implemented under the chairman's personal order.
As a social self-governing organisation every collective farm acts in accordance with its Rules. These are based on the Model Rules of the Agricultural Artel adopted at the Second Ail-Union Congress of Front-Rank Collective Farmers in 1935. In 1956 the Soviet Government passed a decision giving the collective farms the authority to make 231 certain amendments and additions to their own Rules in accordance with the laws in operation. This released the initiative of the collective farmers and helped to promote collective-farm democracy.
In view of the fact that the Model Rules, adopted more than thirty years ago, had become outdated and developments had confirmed the need for Rules covering general principles of collective-farm organisation, it has been decided to convene an all-Union congress of collective farmers for the purpose of drawing up new Model Rules. The general reeling in the countryside is that the new Model Rules will help to strengthen the collective farms organisationally and economically, promote the initiative of their members and ensure more active participation on the part of the members in the management of the collective farms. ``We hope,'' said Ukrainian collective-farm chairman A. Buznitsky at the 23rd Congress of the C.P.S.U., ``that new Rules will satisfy the present-day development level of the collective farms and protect the interests of the state, the collective farms and collective farmers.''
As the Theses of the C.C. C.P.S.U. on the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution state, ``the reorganisation of agriculture along socialist lines was the most complicated and difficult task after power was seized by the working class.... It took years of painstaking organisational and educational work to carry out this epoch-making task.... Collectivisation consolidated the gains of the October Revolution, took the countryside to the new, socialist road.''
In 1966, there were 37,000 collective farms in the Soviet Union. On the average, every collective farm united 417 peasant households and had 6,930 acres under crop, 1,072 heads of cattle and 41 tractors (in terms of 15 IIP).
The new Rules will be a further embodiment and development of the Leninist plan of agricultural co-operation, help to democratise the collective-farm system to a greater extent and draw broader sections of the peasantry into active participation in the country's economic, social and cultural life.
Consumer societies. These co-operatives are voluntary associations of working people, chiefly in rural districts. Their main purpose is to sell manufactured goods and food 232 products, but they also organise the extra-plan purchase of farm produce.
The work of the consumer societies is based on the enterprise and initiative of their members. Membership is strictly voluntary. A person who wants to join a society writes an application and acquires a stipulated share. All the assets of these societies belong to the shareholders collectively.
In Russia consumer societies were first set up before the October Revolution. On January 1, 1917, there were 23,000 small consumer societies with a total of 6,800,000 shareholders. Only 10 per cent of the total were workers' societies. Until 1935 there were consumer societies in the towns as well, but later they became principally a rural institution.
The number of consumer societies and shareholders is steadily growing. In 1959 there were 18,800 consumer societies with over 37 million shareholders. They had 290,000 retail shops and 36,000 public catering establishments ( cafes, dining rooms, etc.). In addition they had at their disposal numerous bakeries, tea rooms, repair shops, etc.
In 1966 the number of shareholders rose to over 53 million. In the past 15 years the retail turnover of the consumer societies has risen more than threefold and they have opened 122,000 trading establishments.
At present they run 76,000 bakeries, canteens, cafes, restaurants and 361,000 allied enterprises. Their purchases in the countryside have increased considerably. In the past 15 years they increased their purchases of eggs 5-- fold, of wool 2.7-fold, of pelts 2.5-fold, of fruit nearly 5-fold and vegetables 3.7-fold.
In addition to owning shares members have a say in the management of the affairs of their society. The scale of their participation in the management is shown by the following figures. Some 150,000 members sit on the boards of the consumer societies, 100,000 are on the auditing commissions, and more than 500.000 are on the shop and dining-room commissions.
The consumer co-operative organisation is a ramified system, consisting of rural consumer societies and their unions (district, regional, territory and republican). The economic and organising centre of this system is the Central Union of Consumer Societies (Centrosoyus). Every 233 link of this system has its own property. The Rules of the Consumer Society adopted in 1948 state that the Centrosoyus organises and directs the entire activity of the Soviet consumer societies and is guided by the national economic development plan. The consumer societies assist the state in providing the people with trade services and, in its turn, the state supplies them with stocks of goods which are sold at fixed prices. The state also renders them material aid by granting loans for the building of shops and warehouses and for the purchase of equipment. This contributes towards improving the supply of manufactured goods to the rural population. Since 1953 the consumer societies have been selling farm products on commission through shops in town and country.
All internal questions are decided by the shareholders or by authorised bodies. The local Soviets supervise local state and co-operative trading establishments. This does not fetter the initiative of the consumer societies because all the local Soviets do is control the functioning of the consumer societies and bring their interests in line with those of the state. The Soviets, Lenin said, should supervise the activity of the co-operative societies so that there would be no fraudulent practices, no concealment from the government and no abuses. Under no circumstances should the Soviets hamper the co-operative societies; their purpose is to help and promote them in every way.^^*^^ The co-ordination of the work of state trading establishments and the consumer co-operatives is bearing fruit.
Recent years have witnessed a considerable extension of the operation of democratic principles in the activity of the consumer societies. The Centrosoyus Board has now wider powers enabling it to decide questions that formerly were within the competence of the U.S.S.R. State Planning Committee and other government authorities. Local cooperatives have also extended their terms of reference, and their shareholders have begun to show more initiative.
The supreme body of the Soviet consumer societies is the Congress of Representatives. It regularly hears reports from the Centrosoyus and plans the development of the consumer co-operative organisation. The Fourth Congress _-_-_
^^*^^ See Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 32, p. 370.
234 of Representatives of the Soviet Consumer Societies, held in 1954, recommended revising the size of membership shares to conform to local conditions and attract more members. It also recommended that general meetings of shareholders or meetings of their representatives should be held at least twice a year and that these representatives should be elected by shareholders for a term of two years.The Seventh Congress of Soviet Consumer Societies, held in August 1966 at the Grand Kremlin Palace, heard a report from the Centrosoyus Board and drew up a concrete programme for the co-operative movement. The delegates were reminded that the Soviet consumer co-- operative system was an effective form of expanding and consolidating the economic links between town and country. The co-operators set the task of developing rural trade, improving services and fostering new and convenient forms and methods of trade. Public catering and baking, which play a major role in reshaping the everyday life of the rural population, receive particular attention.
The Congress called upon the co-operatives to further extend democracy by drawing more shareholders into the management and supervision of the activities of consumer societies.
Centrosoyus has been a member of the International Co-operative Alliance since 1921 and is active in promoting international contacts.
Housing co-operatives. Numerous housing co-operatives have been set up in recent years with the purpose of building houses on funds contributed by shareholders. The state grants them credit and a number of privileges.
These co-operatives are helping to solve the housing problem, which is still acute in the country. In 1965 alone, using state aid they built houses with a total of over 6 million square metres of floor space as against 1,8 million square metres in 1963.
__ALPHA_LVL2__ Young Communist LeagueThe All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (Komsomol) holds a place of pride among the mass organisations of working people in the Soviet Union. Its 235 main task is to help the Communist Party educate the younger generation in a communist spirit.
In its ranks it unites broad sections of the Soviet youth. The first revolutionary youth organisations appeared as early as 1917 during the period of preparations for the October Socialist Revolution. These were study circles and young workers' leagues that functioned under local Party organisations. In some cases they came into being spontaneously, reflecting the strivings of the young workers to organise themselves and fight for democratic rights and freedoms. The Communist Party attached great importance to the participation of young people in revolutionary battles. In his plan for the October armed uprising, Lenin recommended the formation of detachments of the most determined young workers and sailors and dispatching them to occupy key points in the capital and using them in all important military operations. The young people justified the Party's trust in them. During the insurrection in Petrograd they captured the railway stations, the bridges across the Neva River, the telephone exchange, and stormed the Winter Palace.
The First Congress of Russia's Youth Leagues was convened in October 1918. It was attended by 176 delegates, who represented 22,100 members. Today the Komsomol has over 23 million members.
At its First Congress the Komsomol stated that its task was to popularise the ideals of communism and draw young people into socialist construction. The formation of a single Communist youth organisation in Soviet Russia was an important landmark in the life of the rising generation and introduced a fundamentally new clement into the part played by young people in society. A speech made by Lenin at the Third Komsomol Congress in 1920 gave young people a guide to action. He called upon them to learn to live and work in a communist way and link up every step in their studies with participation in the common struggle against the forces of the old world.
The first serious test for the Komsomol was its participation in the defence of the gains of the October Revolution during the Civil War. In 1919--20 it systematically mobilised its members on a nation-wide scale and dispatched them to the front. All Y.C.L. members were 236 mobilised in the front-line provinces and upwards of 30 per cent in the rest of the country. More often than not the doors of the Y.C.L. committees bore notices reading: ``District Committee is closed. Everybody has gone to the front.'' In those years not less than 25,000 Komsomol members joined the army.
Y.C.L. members displayed unsurpassed energy and initiative during peaceful socialist construction. When socialist industrialisation was started, the Komsomol immediately joined in this vital work. On the initiative of young people shock-work brigades were formed as early as 1926. They responded to Lenin's call to start socialist emulation among the masses for the attainment of the best results in labour.
During the period of the first five-year plans Komsomol members helped to build such giants of Soviet industry as the Stalingrad Tractor Works, the Gorky Auto Works, the Zaporozhstal Works, the Dnieper Hydropower Station, the Magnitogorsk and Kuznetsk steel complexes, the Urals Machine-Building Plant and the Berezniki Chemical Combine. Young people built a new town in the taiga in the Soviet Far East and called it Komsomolsk-on-Amur. All in all, 350,000 Komsomol members worked on building projects during those years. In The Glorious Path of the Komsomol, Mikhail Kalinin, who was President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. for many years, wrote that Komsomol members won glory for themselves by their labour achievements across the length and breadth of the country. They built huge factories, rehabilitated the Donbas mines, developed taiga regions, goldfields in Siberia and harnessed the ice-bound expanses of the Arctic; in short, they were in the forefront of socialist construction.
The lofty morals of Komsomol members and all other young people were demonstrated during the war against the nazi invaders in 1941--45. The Komsomol geared all its activities to the defence of the country. As soon as the war broke out 900,000 Komsomol members joined the army. There were cases of entire Komsomol organisations going to the front. The Soviet young people displayed mass heroism at the front and behind the enemy's lines---in underground groups and partisan detachments. Soviet 237 people revere the memory of Alexander Matrosov, Yuri Smirnov, Nikolai Gastello, Marite Melnikaite, Manshuk Mametova and thousands upon thousands of other young heroes. The enemy was fought with peerless courage by such young underground groups as the Young Guard that operated behind the nazi lines in the mining town of Krasnodon, the Partisan Spark organisation in the village of Krymka (the Ukraine), and the underground Komsomol organisations in the town of Lyudinovo (Kaluga Region), in the small town of Obol (Byelorussia), in the town of Khotin (Bukovina), and other places.
Young people worked with dedication at factories and collective and state farms. They did all in their power to sustain an uninterrupted flow of supplies to the front. Many patriotic drives were initiated. Komsomol members undertook to work for themselves and for comrades fighting at the front. A movement to overfulfil production quotas 200--400 per cent was started by young workers. Youth ``front brigades" were formed and these worked like Trojans for the front.
When the war ended Komsomol members and other young people returned to front-rank sectors of peaceful construction, rehabilitating war-ravaged districts. Several thousand young people restored the Donbas coal mines, 25,000 the Dnieper Hydropower Station and 10,000 the Zaporozhstal Works. The Komsomol took over the restoration of 15 of Russia's oldest cities, including Smolensk, Orel, Pskov, Novgorod, Voronezh and Vyazma.
Spurred by their sense of civic duty, over 700,000 Komsomol members look jobs at new construction projects (factories, mines, hydropower stations) and helped to develop the north-eastern regions in the first post-war years.
During these years the initiative of young people manifested itself in many spheres. They popularised high-speed methods of work, started movements aimed at cutting down the expenditure of metal and set up Komsomol control groups to check the quality of output.
The main objective of the three million Komsomol members in the countryside was. in those years, to improve farming techniques and advance animal husbandry. Rural Komsomol organisations encouraged their members to learn 238 to handle and skilfully use modern farm machines. Many thousands of youth tractor teams joined the nation-wide socialist emulation movement. In the 1950s large contingents of the Komsomol members went to Siberia, Kazakhstan and the Trans-Volga region to develop virgin and disused lands.
Soon after the seven-year plan for economic development (1959--65) was adopted, 800,000 young people went to work at the new construction projects. In 1962 about three million young people worked at the building projects in the Polar region, Central Asia, the Baltic region and the Soviet Far East. In the period 1959--62 they helped to build 48 blast- and steel-smelling furnaces, 34 rolling and pipe mills, 95 chemical plants, 5,000 kilometres of gas and oil pipelines and 5,000 kilometres of electrified railways. The building of 154 major projects was supervised by the Komsomol.
Komsomol members starled an emulation movement aimed at achieving higher labour productivily, speeding up lechnological progress, improving the quality of output and encouraging young people in technical invenlions and production innovations.
In recent years agricullure, too, has been given Ihe utmost attention by the Komsomol. Over two million young people became stock-breeders, and thousands of Komsomol youlh livestock-breeding learns and deparlmenls were set up at the collective and state farms.
The labour enthusiasm of Komsomol members and olher young people al factories, construction projects and stale and collective farms broughl a large number of young innovators to the fore. Young people joined Ihe movemenl for communisl labour en masse.
One of Ihe major functions of the Komsomol is to organise educalional work among young people. The Komsomol helps Ihe Communisl Parly to educate the rising generation and give them a Marxist-Leninist world outlook. Soviet ideology is the ideology of a people building communist sociely. II fully reflects the pressing need for enlarging Soviet society's material basis and is a powerful source of inspiralion for the people. It is an ideology of comradely co-operation and social mutual assistance belween working people freed from exploilalion.
239The Komsomol organises its edueational activities in line with Lenin's injunctions. As Lenin emphasised, one can become a Communist only when he enriches his mind with a knowledge of all the wealth created by mankind. To learn steadfastly, to storm the stronghold of science, to enrich oneself with the achievements of human culture is the way to become an active builder of the new life. But to master Marxist-Leninist theory does not mean to assimilate only its truths; it is essential to learn to apply the conclusions of this revolutionary science in practice. Lenin taught Komsomol members to combine their studies with participation in the common labour of workers and peasants, with the practical solution of problems of labour, no matter how small or simple.
Political education occupies an important place in the Komsomol's educational activities. It has a balanced system of political studies. Hundred thousands of political circles and schools directed by experienced communist instructors function every year. In the Komsomol political education is voluntary. Every member must abide by the Komsomol Rules, which require that he improve his political knowledge systematically, but the choice of what study circle or school to attend is left to him.
Lectures, which are an effective means of ideological education, are delivered regularly by lecture groups organised by the Komsomol committees and the Znaniye Society. The greatest popularity is enjoyed by lectures that deal with the history and theory of the Communist Party, with economic problems, Soviet science, literature and art. Komsomol organisations make sure that these lectures are interesting. Moreover, they arrange theoretical conferences, talks and discussions on the most burning issues.
Great importance is attached to education through labour. The Komsomol educates young people in a spirit of conscious labour discipline, sternly criticising those who violate discipline and enlisting the help of public opinion in this matter. With this aim in view the Komsomol branches organise meetings of young people with frontrank workers and innovators, who speak of the glorious traditions of the Soviet working class and of the unbreakable unity between the Soviet workers and collective farmers.
240To bring home to young people the grandeur of the struggle waged by their fathers and elder brothers, Komsomol organisations educate them irr line with revolutionary and labour traditions of the Soviet people. They organise the collection of material about the partisan units and underground organisations that operated in 1941--45. In Byelorussia, for example, the collection of this material has led to the opening of over 2,500 museums and military glory centres. A republican museum of Komsomol military glory has been opened in the small town of Obol, where the large Komsomol underground organisation known as Young Avengers operated during the Second World War.
In Byelorussia young people often arrange excursions and marches along routes of military glory and perpetuate the memory of those who gave their lives for the people's cause. In 1964--65 they erected upwards of 2,300 monuments, obelisks and memorial plaques in places where Soviet troops and people's avengers fought the enemy. Young Pioneers hold rallies near heroes' monuments and at common graves. Frequently they meet war veterans at sites that were once used as camps by partisans.
In the course of a single year thousands of Komsomol members and Red Pathfinders took part in marches and excursions to places associated with Lenin's life and work in Ivanovo Region. This resulted in the establishment of some 80 Lenin centres.
The young people of Ivanovo Region revere the memory of their revolutionary heroes---Mikhail Frunze, Dmitry Furmanov, Gerasim Feigin, a soldier, poet and Komsomol organiser, the heroes of famed Ivanovo regiments, and many others. The city of Ivanovo has 70 enterprises and streets named after heroes of the October Revolution and the Civil War.
Soviet schools educate active builders of communism, graduating erudite and harmoniously developed people who use their knowledge for the benefit of the entire nation. The Komsomol helps the schools to carry out this important task.
Literature, works of art and music play a big role in shaping people's tastes and morals. Komsomol members arrange meetings with writers and artists, readers' __PRINTERS_P_241_COMMENT__ 16---3173 241 conferences, concerts and art exhibitions. They have helped to organise libraries at every collective farm.
The Soviet youth are brought up in a spirit of solidarity with and respect for other nations. The ideology of hatred and nationalist seclusion is alien to Soviet people, People of good will who visit the Soviet Union are accorded a cordial welcome by Soviet young men and women.
An Italian youth delegation that visited the U.S.S.R. spoke enthusiastically of Soviet hospitality and of the friendship of Soviet people for all the peoples of the world.
The Soviet Komsomol is a mass political youth organisation operating on democratic principles. The following figures show the numerical growth of the Komsomol:
YCL MEMBERSHIP (mln) 1918 0.02 ] On January 1, 1926 1.8 H On January 1, t936 4.0 m OnJarfuaryl, 1941 10.4 i On January 1, 1952 14.4 i On January i, 1959 17.8 i On January 1, 1961 18.4 i On January 1i 1965 22.1 i On January 1 1967 23.0 iThe Komsomol is steadily increasing its membership and improving the forms and methods of its work. Its Rules set forth its organisational principles and the nature of its activities.
According to the Rules, the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League is an independent mass organisation of front-rank Soviet young men and women.
242Organisationally, the Komsomol is founded on democratic centralism, presupposing the electivity of all leading bodies from bottom up, periodic accountability of the Y.C.L. bodies to their own organisations and to higher bodies, strict discipline, subordination of the minority to the majority, and unconditional fulfilment of the decisions of higher Y.C.L. bodies by lower bodies.
Collectivity is the supreme principle of the Y.C.L. leadership and an indispensable condition for the normal functioning of Komsomol organisations, the correct upbringing of cadres and the promotion of the activity and initiative of the members. Collective leadership, however, does not remove the personal responsibility of functionaries for the work assigned to them.
The All-Union Congress is the highest body of the Komsomol. Congresses are convened by the Central Committee not less than once in every four years. In the interim between congresses, the Central Committee elected by the regular congress directs all the activities of the Y.C.L. All the leading bodies, beginning with primary organisations and ending with the Central Committee, are elected by secret ballot. The principle of systematic renewal and succession of the leadership is observed at the elections of all Komsomol bodies.
Free and businesslike discussion of urgent problems is an inalienable right of each member and a major principle of inner-Komsomol democracy. The activity, initiative and enterprise of members are encouraged, and conscious Komsomol discipline strengthened on the basis of innerKomsomol democracy.
Komsomol branches utilise their right to broad initiative in taking to the relevant Communist Party organisations any question concerning the work of a factory, office, or collective or state farm. Most of the work in the Komsomol is voluntary and founded on the enterprise of its members. Primary organisations are the backbone of the Y.C.L. As a rule, the work of these organisations is conducted by voluntary activists.
The Rules concretely formulate the tasks of the primary organisations and define the rights and duties of members.
The Komsomol is an active and constructive force in Soviet society. The Communist Party takes great pride in __PRINTERS_P_243_COMMENT__ 16* 243 the fact that it has trained several generations of people in a spirit of selfless devotion to communist ideals. It regards the Komsomol as the militant vanguard of the Soviet youth and as its own reliable reserve. At all stages of the development of Soviet society the Y.C.L. has preserved its best traditions---to follow the Communist Party in everything and to be its loyal and true helper.
Komsomol members display a high sense of responsibility for the destiny of their people and country. The succession of generations and the powerful force of revolutionary traditions find their true reflection in the practical deeds of young people, in their lofty ideological aspirations. The labour exploits of young people---the building of giant hydropower stations, railways and new towns, the virgin land development and the exploration of outer space--- have opened stirring pages in the history of their country.
As the Theses of the C.C. C.P.S.U. on the 50th Annivers ary of the October Revolution say, ``The Komsomol is an active assistant and the reserve of the Party and organiser of the Soviet youth.... Komsomol members and all the other young people of the Soviet Union are following the road charted by their fathers and continuing the traditions of the October Revolution.''
__ALPHA_LVL2__ Other Mass OrganisationsIn addition to the trade unions, the co-operatives and the Young Communist League there are numerous voluntary societies, creative unions and other independent mass organisations. Every society and union functions in some definite sphere: there are scientific, cultural and educational, sports and defence associations.
Active participation in the work of mass organisations enriches the life of Soviet people, promotes their initiative and talents, teaches them to administer social affairs, and helps to mould the harmoniously developed man, the active builder of the new society.
An important role in advancing culture in Soviet society is played by creative organisations: unions of writers, artists, composers, architects, journalists, cinema workers and theatrical societies. All their work is conducted on a 244 voluntary basis, their aims and purposes being formulated in their rules.
The Union of Writers of the U.S.S.R., founded in 1932, is a voluntary association of Soviet writers and literary critics. Its first congress was held in 1934, under the chairmanship of Maxim Gorky. Today it has over 6,600 members.
The Union of Artists of the U.S.S.R. is a voluntary organisation of artists and sculptors. There have been Unions of Artists in the different republics since 1932, and the integrated Union of Artists of the U.S.S.R. has been in existence since 1957, when its foundation congress took place. It has more than 11,500 members.
The Union of Architects of the U.S.S.R. is a voluntary organisation of Soviet architects. Formed in 1932, its first congress was held in 1937. It has over 11,300 members.
The Union of Composers of the U.S.S.R. is a voluntary organisation of composers and music critics founded in 1932. Its first congress was held in 1948. It has over 1,580 members.
The Union of Journalists of the U.S.S.R. is a voluntary organisation of press, radio and television writers. It was founded in 1958 and its first congress was held in 1959. It has 44,000 members.
Theatrical Societies have been founded in the various Soviet republics. Some of them have a long history. The All-Russia Theatrical Society, for example, dates back to 1883.
There are many voluntary scientific and technical societies and cultural and educational mass organisations, which actively further technological progress. The biggest of these are:
The All-Union Znaniye Society, which disseminates knowledge in politics, science, technology, literature and art. It was founded in 1947 and in 1966 had over 1,600,000 members. The dominant form of its activity is the sponsoring of lectures. It also arranges thematic socials, conferences and meetings with scientists and innovators. It publishes books and pamphlets on various branches of knowledge. Moreover, it runs over 11,000 people's universities, which are vehicles for the advancement of general culture.
245The many scientific and technical societies are a powerful factor of technological progress. They unite engineers, technicians, scientific workers, farming specialists, experts in economics and planning and innovators of production. There are more than 20 of these societies and they function under the auspices of the trade unions.
In 1966 they had 2,800,000 members. There were 65,000 primary organisations at enterprises, building projects, and research and designing institutes. They have helped to set up about 160,000 specialised creative teams, design and technological offices, economic analysis groups, and technical information bureaus. All of them function on a voluntary, unpaid basis and help the state to advance the economy. Together with the ministries and sectoral state committees they put out 49 scientific and technical journals and operate over 20 large technological centres.
The Second Congress of these societies, held in 1964, defined the tasks of the members in the promotion of the country's scientific and technological progress.
The All-Union Society of Inventors and Rationalisers also plays an important part in stimulating creative initiative by the people. It was formed in 1958 on a territorial and industrial principle, and its main purpose is to provide inventors and rationalisers with technical and legal aid and to assist them in the utilisation of improvement proposals in the economy. In 1965 alone, about 2,800,000 improvement proposals and inventions were introduced in production and these saved huge funds.
In 1965 the society had 9,800,000 members and 45,000 primary branches. Well over 470,000 activists work in this society on a voluntary basis. The title of Merited Inventor or Rationaliser is awarded for outstanding inventions and innovations.
A large role is played in the country's social life by voluntary defence and sports organisations.
The Voluntary Society for the Promotion of the Army, Aviation and Navy is a mass patriotic organisation, whose purpose is to strengthen the country's defence potential. In its present form this society was founded in 1951, its predecessors being the Osoaviakhim Society and other societies, which were formed in the 1930s.
246Its main objective is to train young people for military service. Its branches run a large number of technical schools and courses and over 3,000 sports and technical clubs. In 1964 alone, the society trained over 1,500,000 car drivers, tractor drivers, pilots, motor-mechanics, divers, radio operators, electricians, etc. It also trained about a thousand masters of sports. Its sportsmen take part in many international contests, including contests in flying, cycling, underwater, radio and shooting. Many of the men and women who were decorated with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the Second World War were trained at the society's clubs. Prominent among them are the famous pilots Pokryshkin, Kozhedub and Maresyev and the sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko.
The Union of Sports Societies and Organisations of the U.S.S.R. is a mass organisation which promotes physical culture and sports. Most of its work is conducted on a voluntary basis. Of the numerous sports societies the most popular are Dynamo, Spartak, Lokomotiv, Burevestnik, Torpedo and Avangard. Many of them have been in existence for several decades. They are organised on a territorial and industrial basis and have their own statutes, and their activities are co-ordinated by the Union of Sports Societies and Organisations of the U.S.S.R.
The sports movement in the Soviet Union embraces over 46 million people. The sports societies have excellent facilities. In 1965 alone they built 3,200 stadiums and sport grounds and opened thousands of football fields. They have a large number of sports clubs, gymnasiums and swimming pools at their disposal.
Beside the above-mentioned sports societies there are the voluntary societies of hunters and anglers.
The Union of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is an integrated mass organisation which has been in existence since 1925. The Red Cross Societies function chiefly in the European part of the country, while the Red Crescent societies operate in Central Asia and the Transcaucasus. Their activities are co-ordinated by the Executive Committee of the Union.
In 1965 there were over 400,000 primary organisations of the Union with a membership of 63 million. Through its primary organisations the Union carries out 247 sanitation measures, gives the people a knowledge of the rudiments of first aid. It has first aid centres, trains nurses and assists the people suffering from natural calamities and military operations. The Union Executive Committee has an Enquiry Bureau for Soviet and foreign citizens who have lost their contact with relatives. The Union is affiliated to the International Red Cross Society. It champions the cause of peace and the conclusion of humane international conventions.
The Union of Soviet Societies of Friendship and Cultural Relations with Other Countries is a voluntary association of Soviet mass organisations which promote friendship and cultural co-operation between the Soviet peoples and the rest of the world. The Union was founded in 1958. Its highest body is the All-Union Conference, which elects an executive---the Union Council. At present the Union incorporates some 50 societies and associations of friendship and cultural ties with countries in all continents and coordinates the activities of republican societies and more than 10,000 collective members (factories, offices, collective farms, etc.). One of the Union's largest centres is the House of Friendship in Moscow.
There are many other mass organisations which promote the cultural, scientific, political and other relations with their counterparts in foreign countries. The most important of these are:~
The Soviet Peace Committee,~
The Soviet Asian and African Solidarity Committee,~
The Organisation of Soviet War Veterans,~
The Soviet Association of International Law,~
The Slav Committee of the U.S.S.R.,~
The Committee of Youth Organisations of the U.S.S.R.,~
The Soviet Women's Committee,~
Novosti Press Agency,~
The Soviet Philatelic Society.
Mention must also be made of local bodies whose purpose is to improve people's living conditions. These include street and block committees, groups of voluntary inspectors at the local Soviets, public control bodies, people's volunteer squads for the maintenance of law and order, comrades' courts, voluntary fire-fighting societies, parents' committees at schools, councils of pensioners, etc.
248 __ALPHA_LVL2__ Guiding and Directing Force of Soviet SocietyAll the processes involved in the development of Soviet democracy are guided by the Communist Party, which is the leading and directing force of the Soviet people and its tried and tested vanguard. Drawing on its knowledge of the laws of social development the Party scientifically charts the country's development, awakens immense energy in the masses and confidently leads them in carrying new tasks. Through its manifold organising and directing activity the C.P.S.U. ensures unity of action by all government and non-government bodies in the different localities and combines centralised leadership of communist construction with initiative of the people.
The C.P.S.U. is the highest socio-political organisation of the Soviet people. It was founded by Vladimir Lenin, who formulated its theoretical, organisational and tactical principles and upheld its ideological and organisational unity against various anti-Marxist trends.
By following the path indicated by Lenin, the Communist Party brought the people of Russia to the victory of the October Revolution and to the establishment of socialism. The Soviet people are now building communism under the leadership of the Communist Party.
The Party is strong because it is closely and inseparably linked up with the people. It justifies its mission as the leader and vanguard of the masses by most fully expressing their aspirations.
It should be mentioned that membership in the ruling party does not give a person privileges. Membership places him under the obligation of setting an example in labour, in socio-political activity and in everyday life.
The Party Rules require every Communist to set an example of a communist attitude towards labour, to be principled, irreconcilable to shortcomings, considerate and attentive to people, to be active in the political life of the country, in the administration of state affairs, and in economic and cultural development, and to set an example in developing and strengthening communist relations.
At present the C.P.S.U. has upwards of 12,800,000 members, which means that every fourteenth person in the Soviet Union is a Communist. This shows how closely the 249 Party is linked up with the masses. In the summer of 1917 the Party had only 240,000 members.
Fifty-four per cent of the members are workers or collective farmers. Also in the Party is a large number of specialists. Early in 1965, 72.4 per cent of the membership were engaged in material production and 27.6 per cent in the sphere of culture, science, public health and administration.
In its work of remaking society the Party is guided by Marxist-Leninist theory. This enables Communists to master the laws of social development and to find the answers to the crucial problems posed by practice. In 1961 the 22nd Party Congress adopted a new Programme, which scientifically formulated the Party's tasks in promoting social development and the transition to communism.
In line with the changes that took place in the Soviet Union, the 23rd Party Congress, which was held in 1966, emphasised the Party's enhanced role in social development and enriched Marxism-Leninism with a series of new important theoretical conclusions and generalisations.
The Communist Party does all in its power to promote democracy in Soviet life. The Programme of the C.P.S.U. makes provision for a further improvement of the work of the local Soviets, for an extension of their powers, and for drawing millions of working people into the administration of state affairs. The Party strives to improve the forms of popular representation and promote the democratic principles of the Soviet electoral system.
As the vanguard of the people, who are building communism, the Party moves forward in the organisation of inner-Party life as well, providing a model for the best forms of public self-administration.
The Party's organisational structure is based on democratic centralism, which signifies the electivity of all leading Party bodies, from the lowest to the highest; periodical reports of Party bodies to the Party organisations and to higher bodies; strict Party discipline and subordination of the minority to the majority; the decisions of higher bodies are obligatory for lower bodies.
The essence of Party democracy lies in the fact that all members are active in Party work, discuss the pressing 250 questions of its activities and control the execution of adopted decisions. The Party consistently implements the Leninist principle of collective leadership and secures a broad influx of fresh functionaries into the Party's leading bodies. These bodies are elected by secret ballot.
The supreme organ of the Communist Party is the Party congress. Congresses are convened at least once in four years. In the intervals between congresses the Party's work is directed by the Central Committee, which is elected by the congress. The plenary meeting of the Central Committee elects the Political Bureau, which is the key Party organ of collective leadership, the C.C. Secretariat to conduct current organisational work, and the General Secretary of the C.C., a post that was set up during Lenin's lifetime.
The natural question arises: in what forms does the C.P.S.U. exercise its leadership of the activity of all Soviet government and non-government organisations?
First and foremost it should be emphasised that Party leadership is based solely on persuasion, ideological influence and moral authority.
The C.P.S.U. has no administrative powers in respect of other mass organisations, its leadership having nothing in common with the issuing of orders, and it does not replace Soviets or mass organisations. Party leadership may be compared with the art of an experienced conductor who draws the best from his orchestra but naturally lets every musician play for himself. The Communist Party maps out the main political line of the state. Congresses and plenary meetings of the Central Committee discuss and review fundamental problems of communist construction.
The Party implements its policy through members who work in the state apparatus and in mass organisations.
The principles governing the relations between Party and state bodies were laid down by Lenin and formulated in Party congress decisions. In 1919 the Eighth Party Congress pointed out that ``it is impermissible to confuse the functions of Party bodies with those of state bodies, i.e., with those of the Soviets. . .. The Party must secure the adoption of decisions through the Soviets within the framework of the Soviet Constitution; the Party seeks to direct the activity of Soviets and not to supplant them.''
The C.P.S.U. adheres to this principle in its leadership 251 of mass organisations, making no allowance for the issuing of orders and petty tutelage.
The C.P.S.U. Rules, adopted at the 22nd Congress in 1961, emphasise that Party bodies do not replace government, trade union, co-operative and other mass organisations, do not allow for any confusion of the functions performed by Party and other bodies and for unnecessary parallelism.
The strengthening of Party leadership does not belittle the role and activity of other mass organisations.
Moreover, the more successfully the Party exercises its leadership, the greater is the mass initiative and the independent activity of the working people and their organisations. In this way the Party's leading role is harmoniously merged with the development of democracy, with the increased role played by the Soviets and the different mass organisations.
In directing the activities of the Soviets and mass organisations towards the successful solution of problems affecting the vital interests of the people and enhancing their political activity, the C.P.S.U. constantly strengthens its ties with them.
The Communist Party believes in the strength of the people. It expresses their vital interests and sees the meaning of its activity in serving the people.
[252] __ALPHA_LVL1__ CONCLUSIONBy placing all the means and instruments of production into the hands of the working people, the Soviet Government enabled them, for the first time in history, to run the state in their own interests.
Soviet socialist democracy is the greatest progressive gain of the Soviet peoples. It is a powerful vehicle accelerating the development of the Soviet Union and opening up vast possibilities for initiative and talent of all members of society, for their active and conscious participation in the advance of social production, culture and in state administration.
Socialist democracy influences all aspects of the everyday life of Soviet society, the manner in which all citizens enjoy their rights and freedoms, and the activity of state organs and mass organisations.
Especially great importance now attaches to the further comprehensive development of democracy in the U.S.S.R.
The C.P.S.U. undeviatingly deepens the Leninist democratic principles of state administration and economic management and enlists ever new sections of the working people in the administration of the country's political, economic and social affairs. This is not accidental, for the broadest democracy, the democracy of the highest type known in history, is not only possible but indispensable due to the objective conditions of social and economic development of the progress of society.
Democracy in the Soviet Union is not a forced concession on the part of the ruling Party, as is often the case under capitalism, but a key law of social development.
As Soviet society progresses, more social benefits are granted to people and they have more opportunities for 253 active participation in the country's political, economic and cultural life. This is the source of the deep desire of all Soviet people to contribute towards the prosperity and progress of society.
It is very important to see the prospects of socialist democracy, prospects associated with the successful building of communism.
As Lenin stated, ``the more the functions of state power are performed by the people as a whole, the less need there is for the existence of this power''.^^*^^ When people learn to administer social affairs, ``the door will be thrown wide open for the transition from the first phase of communist society to its higher phase, and with it to the complete withering away of the state''.^^**^^
This means that the development and improvement of democracy for the whole people leads directly to the gradual transformation of socialist statehood into communist social self-administration.
This process has already begun in the U.S.S.R., as the authors of this book have tried to demonstrate. Soviet democracy of the whole people is characterised by the methods and forms of administration which are the live shoots of the future communist social self-administration. First this is seen in the development of the voluntary principle in the state apparatus and the activity of mass organisations, in the gradual transformation of persuasion and education into the chief method of regulating Soviet life, in the steady diminishing of the sphere where state compulsion is applied and in the greater role of morality and measures of public influence.
The development of the voluntary principle and of persuasion and education paves the way for new, communist methods of administration. For under communism there will be no machinery of state administration and compulsion. The life in that society will be founded on a higher consciousness, an extremely high level of labour production and organisation of all people, on the voluntary and free participation of everybody in the running of social affairs. In these conditions social functions, which are similar to _-_-_
^^*^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 25, p. 420.
^^**^^ Ibid., p. 474.
254 those currently performed by state bodies in administering economy and culture, will be modified, gradually lose their political character and eventually turn into functions of communist public self-administration.It should, however, be noted that the withering away of the state and the development of public self-- administration is a very long and gradual process, which encompasses a whole historical epoch.
This process comes to an end only when communism is built, when there will be the internal (the emergence of a developed communist society) and external conditions (the victory and consolidation of socialism on a world scale).
The present period of the building of communism in the U.S.S.R. witnesses a comprehensive improvement of the existing forms of political and social life and the appearance of new forms of this life, all of which meet the tasks of transition to communist public self-administration.
The aim is not to replace state forms of leadership by social forms but to secure the intermingling of principles of state leadership and public self-administration, and the steady growth of the latter along with the improvement of the former. This means the development of democracy towards the supreme goal to be realised at a stage when as an apparatus of political power the state will be completely redundant and die away, giving place to communist public self-administration.
The C.P.S.U. Programme says: ``As socialist statehood develops, it will gradually become communist self-- administration of the people, which will embrace the Soviets, trade unions, co-operatives, and other mass organisations of the people. This process will represent a still greater development of democracy, ensuring the active participation of all members of society in the management of public affairs.''^^*^^
In describing the destiny of democracy in the course of historical progress, Lenin wrote: ``Communism alone is capable of providing really complete democracy, and the more complete it is, the sooner it will become unnecessary and wither away of its own accord.''^^**^^
_-_-_^^*^^ The Road to Communism, pp. 555--56.
^^**^^ Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 25, p. 463.
255This means that with the withering away of the state there will disappear the concept of democracy in the political sense, for democracy is a form of state, a form of political power. Under communism, democratic administration will lose its political character and hence will be transformed into communist public self-administration.
It stands to reason that future generations will create the most rational and purposeful forms of this self-- administration.
But if we are now able to get an insight of the future and conceive quite distinctly how people will live under communism this is because the future is already becoming part and parcel of the life of people in the Soviet Union. Their dedicated labour and stirring social achievements conclusively reflect the discernible features of the future communist society. Communism---a bright, just and most perfect mode of life---is already an immediate practical goal, a matter of the everyday labour of Soviet people.
``The Soviet Union has all it takes to build communism: highly trained personnel, a powerful industry and a developed agriculture, a modern science and technology, a progressive social system, tremendous natural resources. The Soviet people's energy and thoughts are directed to the solution of the great tasks of communist construction. These tasks will be successfully fulfilled by the people's creative effort under the leadership of the Party.''^^*^^
_-_-_^^*^^ Fiftieth Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. Theses of the C.C. C.P.S.U.
[256] __ALPHA_LVL0__ The End. [END]This book (races the development of Soviet socialist democracy at the present stage of communist construction.
Using numerous facts, it shows the popular nature of the Soviet social and state systems and the leading role played by the masses in political, economic and cultural life.
It describes the structure and functions of the Soviets, which are the political foundation of the U.S.S.R., and the activities of different mass organisations.
It gives a broad outline of the rights and duties of Soviet people and the relations between the citizen and society.
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