In this article you will learn about the salient Features of Communism in Political Science.
Features of Communism
Marxism as the ideological basis of Communism
The main ideas and theories which provide foundations to the ideology of Communism are:
- Dialectical Materialism - In this theory Marxism upholds that what is real is matter, i.e. material means of life. Matter in the form of material means, is living and is evolutionary. It develops by the laws of Dialectics - the law of transformation by imperceptible quantitative mutations; the law of unity of opposites and the law of negation of negations.
- Historical Materialism - It means the Marxian theory of history of society. It states that history is the evolution of material means of life. The soul and greatest fact of human life is “Man must eat to live”. Hunger is the reality which always leads to the human attempt to own material means of life. In acquiring new means of production men change their mode of production and in changing their mode of production and in changing their living, they change all their social relations. Marx recognises five stages of social evolution : The Communal Stage, the Slave Stage, the Feudal Stage, the Capitalist Stage and the Communist Stage.
- Economic Determinism - It holds that economic relations are the determinants of all social relations. Society is a two tier structure of relations i.e. the Fundamental structure and the Super structure. The fundamental structure is constituted by economic relations or relations of production which are in turn relations between two economic classes - the have and have-nots. The super structure is constituted by all other types of relations like social, political, cultural, religious, etc. Any change in the fundamental structure leads to change in the super structure of other relations.
- Class Struggle - Marx upholds the view that each society has been and still continues to be inhabited by two classes - the rich and the poor or the have and the have-nots. The haves own the means of production while the have-nots are the sellers of their labour. The former exploit the latter where the rich are the exploiters and the poor are the victims of exploitation. The former always try to perpetuate their system of exploitation, while the latter always try to get rid of their exploitation. Hence each class is adversary to the other and both are involved in struggle.
- Surplus Value - It is based on the labour theory of value which holds that labour is the real producer of value. A piece of brass when converted into a brass tap by the labour, creates a big value hike. The profit earned from selling it is the real share of the labour because it is the ‘surplus value’ created by him. Capitalism is a system of exploitation because in it capitalist retains this surplus value as his profit and exploits the fruits of the labour.
Capitalism is an inherently evil system
Communism is always against capitalism; meaning it is the enemy of capitalism. It regards capitalism as a system of exploitation based on inequality between rich and poor or among different classes of people. Economic inequalities between the capitalists and the workers are glaring and these keep on increasing in which the workers merely exist and they always face exploitation, hunger, starvation, disease, wretched conditions of work and even wretched existence. Its final end is destined and it will only come through a proletarian revolution.
Faith in Revolution
Communism has a deep faith in revolution. It holds that when the social evolution at a particular stage reaches its highest point a revolution comes to usher it into the next stage. Communism, as such advocates, accepts and seeks to prepare the workers for a revolution against capitalism. It is argued that since the end of capitalism is certain and it is to come through a revolution, the workers must prepare and stage the revolution and usher the social evolution towards its final destination i.e. the communist society.
Dictatorship of the Proletariat
Communism states that after the overthrow of capitalism by a workers revolution, the dictatorship of the Proletariat will be established. It will be used to remove all the features of capitalism. Under it the workers will work and own the means of production and they will use and direct the organised power of the state against the capitalists and other enemies of revolution. It will be under the dictatorship of the proletariat that the final march towards the establishment of a communist society will be successfully secured.
Objective of Communism
Communism stands for the establishment of a communist society - a classless and stateless society where each one will work according to one's capacity and each one will get according to one's needs.
Communism on State
Communism believes that the state is a class institution and not a social institution. State is the institution created and run by the class of the haves for exploiting the poor. State was born at a particular stage of class struggle and was not originally there before. The haves created the state an instrument of violence and force for dominating, suppressing and exploiting the have-nots. Therefore, communism stands for the overthrow of the state and for the establishment of a stateless society.
Communism on Property
Communism considers private property as the chief enemy of society. It is the hallmark of capitalism and has been the source of all evils - exploitation, inequalities and poverty of the masses. State and religion uphold private property and that is the reason they are considered evil institutions. However, communism permits personal property i.e. ownership of articles of daily use.
This article on Features of Communism in Political Science is contributed by Dipshikha Anand. If you like LawStudyPoint.com do follow us on our Twitter handle.