Soviet Law and Soviet Society: Ethical Foundations of the Soviet Structure. Mechanism of the Planned Economy. Duties and Rights of Peasants and Workers. Rulers and Toilers. the Family and the State. Soviet Justice. National Minorities and Their Autonomy.

Soviet power rests on two main supports: the comp1ete economic dependence of the citizens upon the state and the unlimited politi­ cal control of the government over the economic, social and even cultural life. History knows various kinds of despotisms, dicta­ torships and regimentations of economic activity, but the U .S.S.R. represents a unique kind of dictatorship based on the one­ party system and integral planning with the specific goal of realization of communism. Mankind had never before known such a system. Even the best of possible comparisons, the ana­ logy with the period of Ptolemies in Egypt, is good only in so far as it concerns the regimentation of all kind of economic activity. There was in the past no ideology pretending to be adjusted to the needs of the toiling masses, no planning system on the same scale and no Communist party apparatus. As concerns the modern world the comparative method is necessary for giving the most graphical characterization of the differences between the Western democracies, with their ethical traditions, rule of law and the principle of the inviolability of individual rights, and, on the other hand, the Soviet monolithic state, with its unscrupulous policy, extremities of regimentations and drastic penalties. Front Matter....Pages I-XV Introduction A Legal Approach to the Study of Communism....Pages 1-7 Soviet Law and the Legacy of the Past....Pages 8-24 Soviet Ethics....Pages 24-36 Soviet Concept of Law and State....Pages 36-46 Law Does Not Wither Away in the Soviet Union....Pages 47-61 Four Stages in the Development of Soviet Law....Pages 61-69 Sources of Soviet Law....Pages 69-79 Legal Foundations of the Centralized Economy....Pages 80-85 The Sphere of Economic Freedom....Pages 86-100 Property Rights....Pages 101-111 Contracts....Pages 111-120 Inheritance Law....Pages 121-129 Kolkhozes....Pages 130-149 Soviet Labor Law....Pages 150-173 Penalties and Rewards as Incentives for Work....Pages 173-181 Foundations of Political Power in the U.S.S.R.....Pages 182-212 Soviet Centralism and National Problems....Pages 213-225 Elections....Pages 225-232 The Individual and the State....Pages 232-245 Democracy of ‘The Highest Type’....Pages 245-256 Social Stratification....Pages 257-270 Organization of Social Life....Pages 270-287 Family Law....Pages 287-305 Crime and Punishment....Pages 306-315 The Judicial Administration....Pages 315-325 Two Systems of International Law....Pages 326-346 Soviet Satellites....Pages 346-361 Conclusion....Pages 362-378 Back Matter....Pages 379-457