communism and postcommunism ch 9

communism

Set of political ideas about class and politics (founded by German philosopher Karl Marx)

 Provides an explanation for how society operates.

Includes theories about why economies grow, why people start revolutions, how economics and politics are linked

 An ideology about how society should function

central idea in marxism: 2 main groups in society

Working class, or “proletariat”

 People who produce value through labor

 Often exploited by capitalists

 Capitalists, or “bourgeoisie”

 People who own “capital” (factories, shops, large farms, etc.)

 Benefit from value created by worker

politics in a state happens at 2 levels

Base

 Relations between classes

 The technology of production

Superstructure

 Religion, government, nationalism

 Serves to justify the base

creates false consequences

base is where politics really happen, superstructure is a distraction

marxism is

dialectical materialism. culture, religion, and nationalism are irrelevant.

dialectic

Struggle between existing order and revolution

 Conflict between thesis and antithesis

 a process of resolving contradiction

materialism

The key to change is material factors.

 Who produces what? Who gets what?

revolutions dont happen naturally, they require

Revolutionary classes must gain consciousness.

 The people who stand to gain from revolution must first realize that

they stand to gain.

 Revolutionary vanguard leads revolt

 Elite members of the Communist Party must take steps to trigger

revolution

The party is the “Vanguard of the Proletariat” and leads the

revolution

Party organized by small segment of society

 After the revolution, party controls the country

 Nomenklatura: Party members in key posts

 State functions: military, police, courts

 Social functions: newspapers, school

Economy governed by central plans

State owns most factories, mines, and farms

 Moscow sets quotas for production

 Workers earn guaranteed wage

 Education, employment guaranteed

Economic problems from central planning

Economic problems from central planning

 Impossible for government to plan effectively

 No incentive for individuals to produce more

 Net result: corruption, shortages, inefficiency

agricultural collectivization

End private ownership of farms

 Farmers instead work on community farms

 Unintended result: lower food production

Repression of religion and other social institutions

Marxist theory: religion is part of the “superstructure”, creating false

consciousness

 Social institutions threaten party and state

culture

Communist USSR, China, and Cuba had large and active cinema

industries.

 Censorship of political themes

 Large state subsidies for historical dramas

perestroika 1986- soviet collapse, result of reforms unintended -

introduction of some market reforms in

agriculture and industry

 Struggled due to bureaucratic inflexibility

glasnost 1988- soviet collapse, result of reforms unintended -

bureaucratic reforms by making

management and administration open to public debate.

 State apparatus resistant to change

presidency- soviet collapse, result of reforms unintended -

proposed 1988, implemented 1990. Served to

reduce role of party

 Actual result was that Gorbachev lost control

economic changes

Since 1990, most former Communist states have seen economic

growth and development.

 Extent of economic growth depends on institutions and international

economic integration

social changes

Rising nationalism

 Parties freer to appeal to nationalist ideas

 Tragic consequences in Yugoslavia

religious freedom

End of formal repression

 Religious revival in some post-Communist states, but affiliation

generally declines in advanced democracies

poland after 1990

ended communism

adopted liberal democracy

russia after 1990

ended communism

adopted different form of authoritarianism

china after 1990

communist party still in power

economic reforms t modernize rule

Maria Snegovaya

“Why Russia’s Democracy Never Began” argument

Russia did not democratize in the 1990s. Instead: temporary authoritarian weakness. Old soviet elites stayed in power.

what a democratic transition is

• New rules and institutions

• Elite turnover

• Pluralism and competition

• Peaceful alternation of power 

what happened in Russia

• Lack of strong civil society 

• Support for predictable hierarchy rather than uncertainty of the 1990s 

• Dominance of Nomenclatura (support for those who have always been in power, belong to the elites/benefit from the system) 

• New elites were former regime insiders

• Informal soviet practices remained 

conclusion

• Russia's transition was never real

• Authoritarianism persisted beneath the surface 

• Putin restored- not reversed the old system 

• Russia is not backsliding, it is an authoritarian system 

Yuen Yuen Ang “How resilient is the CCP” argument

How the Chinese communist party of China stays resilient under Xi. Why Xi’s personalist rule changes the regime. 

Key question: is the CCP stronger or more fragile today?

sources of the CCP strength

High capacity bureaucracy 

Strong political control and surveillance 

Nationalist unity amongst U.S.- China tension 

Xi’s personalistic turn

• End of term limits 

• Centralization of decision making 

• Reduction of internal checks and balances 

news risks and vulnerabilities

• Succession uncertainty: weakening of authoritarian unity

• Policy rigidity 

• Fewer corrective mechanisms

• Greater awareness of and risk of weakness of leader 

conclusion

-CCP is resilient but more brittle 

- strength coexists with fragility

- performance of Xi=decides the future of CHinese regime 

- potential pathways to instability