The Soviets were built up in Russia over a period of seven months before they seized power and became the new State. Clearly, during such a period, with continuous conflict between the workers and the employers, with periods of advance and periods of temporary defeat for the working people, it was not possible for anyone to sit down and theoretically work out, according to plan, the general form of organization into which the Soviets were evolving. But, in spite of this fact, we find that the actual form which developed was almost exactly similar to the form of other working-class organizations, in other parts of the world, even at the present time.
The structure of democratic working-class organizations is almost always on the same general lines. Members join branches which elect local committees. On territories which cover a number of branches, either delegate committees, or conferences which elect a coordinating committee, are the supreme authority. And, nationally, the supreme authority is usually a congress, with a committee elected at the congress taking its place as the supreme authority between congresses. This form of working-class organization is universal because it is the most satisfactory form for working-class purposes. By means of delegate congresses the supreme authority mainly represents the rank and file of the members, who give their delegates instructions. By means of a small executive committee elected at the congress the number of permanent officers is reduced to a minimum, so that most of the delegates can return to their regular jobs in their localities. Such a system will be more or less satisfactory according as the delegates really represent those who elect them. The Soviets, from their very origin, made all members of the Soviets subject to recall if they ceased to give their electors satisfaction. In this way the Soviets were more democratic than many democratic organizations of the working people in other countries even at the present time.
For the first months of its existence the new Soviet Government was occupied with passing legislation in the interests of the working people, the vast majority of the population. An immediate decision was passed on the necessity for concluding a “democratic peace, without indemnities or annexations,” and an appeal was broadcast to the peoples of the world to do likewise. In January 1918, at the Third Congress of Soviets, the Declaration of Rights already mentioned was adopted. In this declaration “Russia is declared a Republic of Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’, and Peasants’ Deputies. All central and local authority is vested in these Soviets. . . . The Russian Soviet Republic is established on the basis of a free union of free nations, as a federation of national Soviet Republics.” And, in order to ensure that this federation should be really voluntary, the Congress leaves “to the workers and peasants of each nationality the right to decide freely, at their own national Congress of Soviets, whether they desire to participate in the federal Government and in other federal Soviet institutions.” When Finland and Armenia declared their independence, this declaration was welcomed by the Congress of Soviets, together with the policy of the Soviet Government of withdrawing Russian troops from Persia.
Another of the first decrees of the Soviet Government was on the nationalization of the land. The local Soviets were empowered to confiscate the landed estates, and to distribute this land to the peasants according to their needs. A little later, in the towns, all housing accommodation was nationalized, and the towns Soviets were given authority to distribute this housing according to the needs of the population. This meant that workers from the most overcrowded quarters were brought to the centre of the town, the houses of the well-to-do were divided into flats, and, while the original owner was allowed one of these flats, the rest were put at the disposal of workers from the worst slums. Similarly, where houses were empty, workers were moved into them from the most overcrowded areas. From that day to this it has been impossible in Soviet territory to see what is such a common sight in Britain—houses standing empty, or partly used, while in basements in the same street whole families are living in one room.
Programmes of universal education, social insurance, and the nationalization of the banks and large-scale industry were decided on during the first months of Soviet rule. The eight-hour working day was introduced, and paid holidays of at least two weeks annually were granted to all workers.
In the Declaration of Rights the purpose of the Soviet State was described as the “fundamental aim of suppressing all exploitation of man by man, of abolishing the division, of society into classes . . . of bringing about the Socialist organization of society. . . .” With this end in view, “work useful to the community is made compulsory upon all.”
It was not, however, until the Fifth Congress of Soviets, in July 1918, that a Constitution was adopted for the first Soviet Republic. This Constitution was a composite document, including the Declaration of Rights, and adding to it a number of provisions to ensure democracy for the working population at the same time as it deprived the employing class of all political power. The Constitution also included a description of the organization of the Soviet State.
We have seen how the Press was turned over from private hands to the organizations of the workers, peasants, and soldiers. Similarly, with regard to the meeting-halls, measures were taken to ensure that all premises “suitable for public gatherings, together with lighting, heating, and furniture,” should be at the disposal of the working people. It is according to this original law of the Soviet Republic that the administration of the Soviet factory to-day is bound to allow the workers to use the factory buildings as a meeting-place out of working hours, and to allow accommodation there for the trade union offices. At the same time, with regard to freedom of association, the new State “lends to the workers all its material and moral assistance to help them unite and to organize themselves.” We have already seen how this attitude to trade unionism led to a phenomenal growth both in trade union membership and in the powers of the trade unions.
Particularly important were the early decrees of the Soviet Government on the question of military service. In one such decree it was stated that “one of the basic aims of Socialism is to liberate humanity from the burden of militarism and from the barbarism of sanguinary clashes between peoples. The objective of Socialism is general disarmament, perpetual peace, and brotherly co-operation of all the peoples which inhabit the earth.” But “in all countries the imperialist bourgeoisie is in power. Its policy is directed towards the suppression of the Communist Revolution and the enslavement of all weak peoples.” Therefore the Soviet Republic “must create its own powerful army.” But “to arm the bourgeoisie would mean the bringing of continual strife into the army and would therefore paralyse its strength in the struggle against foreign enemies.” Therefore “the parasitic and exploiting elements in society, which do not wish to assume equal rights and obligations with others, cannot be permitted to bear arms. The Workers’ and Peasants’ Government will seek out means to impose on the bourgeoisie in some form part of the burden of the defence of the Republic.”
We now come to the description, in the Constitution of 1918, of the structure of the Soviet State. For the first time in history universal suffrage was introduced for every citizen, from the age of eighteen upwards, irrespective of religion, sex, or nationality, and without residential or property qualifications. Every such person could vote at elections, and stand for election. But because, as has already been pointed out, the Soviet State was an organization of the working population for defending their interests against the property-owners, the latter had no political rights in the Soviet State. Universal suffrage was enjoyed by all who lived by their own labour, those who by performing domestic duties enabled others to carry on productive work, those working people who through invalidity were unable to work, and those who were in the army or navy defending the Soviet Republic. On the other hand, however, employee and those who lived on unearned income, agents and middlemen, monies and priests, agents of the former police, members of the former royal family, and the mentally deranged, were not allowed the right to participate in elections.
Some surprise may be felt that the priests and monks were deprived of the right to vote and to stand for election. It must be remembered, however, that the Church in Tsarist Russia was the largest single land-owner, and when the landed estates were confiscated the priests and monks, together with the other land-lords, almost without exception, joined forces with the armed counter-revolution. Religious freedom was guaranteed from the first days of the Revolution, and “freedom of religious and anti-religious propaganda” was assured to every citizen by the Constitution. At the same time, however, the Church was disestablished, and deprived of its income from land and industry, and the schools were completely taken over by the State. In this way religion became a private, as opposed to a State, concern; religious groups had now to pay their own priests without any form of State subsidy or unearned income from property.
Universal suffrage was established in 1918 for the vast majority of the population of Russia at a lower age than in any other country. At the same time, for a small minority the right to vote and to stand for election was not permitted. Writing in 1919, Lenin pointed out that this was a temporary measure, in the interest of the working people at a time when every means was being used by the property-owners, nationally and internationally, to overthrow the Soviet State. Here are his words:
“The Russian Communist Party must explain to the toiling masses, in order to avoid a wrong generalization from transient historical needs, that the disfranchisement of a section of citizens does not in the Soviet Republic affect, as was the case in the majority of bourgeois-democratic republics, a definite category of citizens disfranchised for life, but applies only to the exploiters, only to those who, in violation of the fundamental laws of the Socialist Soviet Republic, persist in defending their position as exploiters, in pre-serving capitalist relationships. Consequently, in the Soviet Republic, on the one hand, every day of added strength to Socialism and diminution in the number of those who have objective possibilities of remaining exploiters or of preserving capitalist relationships, automatically reduces the percentage of disfranchised persons. In Russia at the present time this percentage is hardly more than 2 or 3. On the other hand, in the not distant future, the cessation of foreign invasion and the completion of the expropriation of the expropriators may, under certain conditions, create a situation in which the proletarian State power will choose other methods of suppressing the resistance of the exploiters and will introduce universal suffrage without any restrictions.”
The structure of the Soviet State, as described in the Constitution of 1918, was not evolved by a group of politicians and lawyers sitting in conference and drawing up a Constitution. It was a description of the existing Soviet State as it had come into existence during the preceding year. The local Soviets, as we have seen, were simply councils of delegates, elected by the workers at their factory meetings, and by the peasants at meetings in the villages. At these meetings the workers and peasants discussed the merits of the various candidates proposed, and then voted in the simplest and most straightforward way, by show of hands.
So, in the Constitution itself, we find that the basic unit of the Soviet State is the town and village Soviet, directly elected by the whole working population of the age of eighteen and upwards. In the village, on the consent of the local authority, the voting age could be lowered to sixteen.
For areas larger than the town or village, such as counties, provinces, and national territories covering a number of towns and villages, the supreme authority was a Congress of Soviets for that area, to which delegates were sent from all the local Soviets. Such Congresses elected their own Executive Committees, which carried on the work of government between Congresses.
For the Russian Soviet Republic as a whole the supreme authority was an All-Russian Congress of Soviets. According to the Constitution, this “All-Russian Congress of Soviets is composed of representatives of town Soviets, on the basis of one deputy for every 25,000 electors, and representatives of provincial Congresses of Soviets, on the basis of one deputy for every 125,000 inhabitants.” At first sight this form of representation gave great over-representation to the town population, but this view is somewhat illusory.
It must be noted that the representation of the towns is stated in terms of the number of electors, of the provinces in terms of inhabitants. Now the electors were all working citizens over the age of eighteen whereas the number of inhabitants included the non-voters, whether employers of labour or juveniles. Therefore one representative for every 25,000 voters was not very much greater than one for every 125,000 inhabitants.
As against this, however, must be set the fact that in the provincial Congresses, the towns as well as the villages of the province were represented. Therefore in the election of the provincial delegates the representatives of the town workers also participated. In this respect there was a certain element of dual representation of the town electors. The citizens of Moscow sent delegates to the All-Russian Congress from the Moscow Soviet. But the Moscow Soviet was also represented at the Moscow Provincial Congress of Soviets. And this Congress also sent delegates to the All-Russian Congress. In this way the representation of the towns was definitely greater, in proportion to population, than the representation of the villages.
How did this inequality of representation arise? The answer is that the detailed structure of the Soviet State developed between February 1917 and the seizure of power in October, and between October 1917 and the adoption of the Constitution in June 1918, not as a result of a conscious and premeditated plan, but as a result of the direct political activity of the people. It has been mentioned already that until after the seizure of power in October 1917 the Peasants’ Congress met separately. While the first two Congresses of Soviets, representing the workers and soldiers, were attended by delegates elected in proportion to the number of voters, at the Peasants’ Congress the representation happened to be according to village population. When, after the Second Congress, the peasants joined the workers and soldiers in the Central Executive Committee, the dual system of election was continued.
It also happened that the most active section of the people in building up the Soviets was the working class of the towns. This led to a large representation of the town workers at the early Congresses. Similarly, in the provincial Congresses the workers played an active part. And in this way there evolved the system of dual representation which has been mentioned.
Now it would have been possible, at the Fifth Congress of Soviets, when the Constitution was adopted, to have eliminated the inequality in representation between town and country, but this was not done, and quite consciously. The reason was that the working class of Russia had so far played a leading part in the building up of the Soviets, and it was because of this practical leadership that its representation was large in proportion to its numbers. Was it desirable that the most active section of the community in the new State should be deprived of part of its representation in the name of an abstract “Equality”? Or, alternatively, was it desirable that the class which had shown the initiative in setting up the Soviet State should for the time being continued to enjoy greater representation than the other main class in society, which had proved less active? The Congress decided to preserve the predominance of working-class representation, of that leadership which had given rise to the Soviet State, the leadership of the class which had shown the greatest energy in defending the Soviets against attack.
Three outstanding features of the Soviet elections should here be mentioned. First, all delegates to the Soviets, to Congresses, and members of Executive Committees were made subject to recall if their electors were dissatisfied with their work. In this way the permanency of every official’s post depended on the agreement of his electors. Secondly, every elected delegate to any Soviet body was bound, not only to sit on the Soviet as a committee member, but also to participate in the day-to-day work of the Soviet. In this way every member not only passed laws, but was one of those responsible for carrying them out. There was thus no divorce between legislature and executive, between those who made the laws and those who enforced them.
Thirdly, a word must be said as to the nature of the elections. In the Soviet State, as in working-class organizations in this country to-day, the system of election was based on the desire to return to the organs of government those who were best suited to represent their fellows. At every election meeting a discussion took place on the work of the Soviet authorities, and general instructions were adopted as to the policy to be pursued in the future. Each delegate who was elected was instructed to pursue the policy agreed upon at the meeting. And at intervals he had to report back to the electors on how he was carrying out this policy on the Soviet. Members of the Soviets were delegates with a mandate from their electors, and subject to recall if they did not carry out this mandate to the satisfaction of their supporters. This system stands in sharp contrast to the parliamentary system, where candidates come forward with a cut-and-dried statement of policy, the electors choose the program which they think they prefer, and the candidate who is returned then proceeds to carry it out or not, as the spirit moves him. The system of election in the Soviet Union is only comparable with that which prevails in democratic working-class organizations in the capitalist world, with the right of recall making it even more democratic.
The All-Russian Congress of Soviets elected a Central Executive Committee. This Executive Committee was the supreme authority between Congresses. The Executive Committee was responsible for appointing the “Government,” or Council of People’s Commissars, which consisted of the heads of all the different State departments. The People’s Commissars were responsible to the Central Executive Committee for their work. The Council of People’s Commissars could meet together and issue decrees, and each Commissar, individually, could issue decrees in his own department. Any such decrees were subject to the approval of the Central Executive Committee.
In this way we see that the structure of the Soviet State combined the elective principle, through the Soviets, while at the same time, leadership and appointment, through the State departments. The Central Executive Committee was responsible to the Congress; the Congress consisted of delegates from the local Soviets, and these were responsible to the people. On the other hand, the Executive Committee appointed the People’s Commissars, who appointed their various departmental officials, who were responsible for appointing the workers in the various State organizations right down to the smallest State factory or workshop. But here again, side by side with the managers appointed from above, and who are ultimately responsible to the Commissar, sit the representatives of the workers, in the person of elected trade union officials. So that throughout the Soviet system there is a most intricate combination of election and appointment, responsibility to the rank and file and responsibility to a higher authority, the election and recall of representatives by the electors, and the appointment and dismissal of workers by the authorities. Every Soviet organization is controlled by representatives of the people. The factory manager is responsible to some trust, which is responsible to one of the State Commissariats. The Commissar is responsible to the Central Executive Committee, which, indirectly, is responsible to the electors. The trade union representative is responsible to the workers, who are also electors to the Soviets. It is this complex system of government, combining the maximum of rank-and-file responsibility with the elective principle, and with appointment by higher authorities of lower officials, that is responsible for the status of all Soviet citizens as masters as well as servants, as described in Part I.
It was this new kind of State, too, which inspired Lenin, in reply to Kautsky’s accusation that the Soviet Government was undemocratic, enthusiastically to exclaim:
“Is there a single country in the world, even among the most democratic bourgeois countries, in which the average rank-and-file worker, the average rank-and-file village labourer . . . enjoys anything approaching such liberty to hold meetings in the best buildings, such liberty to use the best printing works and the largest stocks of paper, to express his ideas and to protect his interests, such liberty to promote men and women of his own class to administer and to ‘run’ the State as in Soviet Russia?” (Proletarian Revolution, p. 31)