Critical appraisal of the withering away of state in communism
Keywords:
Marxism, Withering Away of State, Law, Permanent and World RevolutionAbstract
That the socialist system had come to a stand-still in the communist bloc or that it had ‘failed’ was no longer an issue that would excite serious intellectual debate. But what lessons were to be learnt from the theory and practice of the socialist system in the former USSR and what is now the way forward for such societies in a global system? What are the implications of the ‘failures’ for developing nations? This study adopted the doctrinal method. It closely reviewed the opinions of Marxists and their followers juxtaposing them with the views of their strongest critics in the period under study. It attempted an evaluation of the theoretical and practical validity of the concept of the withering away of the State and law. It came to the finding that Marxism is a universal doctrine that may not be subjected to the national feats and defeats that it had encountered in the current socialist countries which are now operating in a system of states. It concluded that the gains of Marxism and the usefulness of its postulations with regards to the concept of the withering away of the State and law are yet to be realized and that future historical data are still needed before the curtain can be drawn on the alleged failure of the proposition.
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