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The New Constitution of the Soviet Union

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Joseph R. Starr
Joseph R. Starr
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
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Extract

In 1934, the Soviet Union rounded out the first great cycle in its development. The fruition of the Five-Year Plan, the general collectivization of agriculture, the entry of the Soviet Union into the councils of the nations of the world—these and many other successes of the Communist régime were evidences of great achievement. Peace and order and economic progress had been attained at home; the stability of the government had been clearly demonstrated, and friends had been made abroad. The social and economic structure of the country had been completely transformed, and the Socialist community was now a going concern.

Type
Foreign Governments and Politics
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 30 , Issue 6 , December 1936 , pp. 1143 - 1152
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1936

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References

1 “A Congress Which has Begun a New Epoch of Soviet Democracy”, Communist International, Vol. 12, pp. 254–268 (June, 1935)Google Scholar, at p. 261.

2 New York Times, February 7, 8, July 8, 1935; Sidney, and Webb, Beatrice, Soviet Communism: A New Civilization? (London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1935), Vol. 1, pp. 84–87Google Scholar.

3 Associated Press dispatch, June 11, 1936; London Times, June 15, 1936; Le Temps, June 14, 1936.

4 The alteration of the fundamental principles of the constitution of 1923 is an exclusive power of the All-Union Congress. See Art. 2.

5 See an interesting account of the discussion of the new constitution by Russian eitizens in Brown, M., “The Toilers of the Soviet Union on the Draft of the New Constitution”, Communist International, Vol. 13, pp. 1041–1047 (August, 1936)Google Scholar. A precedent for the submission of the constitution to popular discussion was set in the nation-wide debate on the new marriage law in 1926. See S. and B. Webb, op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 447–448.

6 English translations of the full text of the draft for the new constitution have been published as follows: The New Soviet Constitution (New York, International Publishers, 1936, pp. 31)Google Scholar; New York Times, June 26, 1936; Daily Worker, June 29, 1936; Communist International, Vol. 13, No. 7 (July, 1936)Google Scholar; Soviet Russia Today, Vol. 5, No. 6 (August, 1936)Google Scholar.

7 Art. 12, Par. 2.

8 Art. 6.

9 Art. 7, Par. 1; Art. 8.

10 Art. 7, Par. 2; Arts. 9–10.

11 Arts. 13, 22–29.

12 Constitution of 1923, Art. 4; new constitution, Art. 17.

13 Constitution of 1923, Art. 6; new constitution, Art. 18.

14 New constitution, Art. 35; cf. Gronski, Paul P., “The Soviet System of Federalism”, in this Review, Vol. 23, pp. 159–167 (Feb. 1929), at p. 162Google Scholar.

15 Art. 19.

16 Art. 16.

17 Art. 46, Par. 2.

18 Art. 49, d.

19 Art. 14, h.

20 Art. 14, n. Insurance has for some time been a state monopoly under the control of the Union Commissariat of Finance. See S. and B. Webb, op. cit., Vol. 1, pp. 119–122.

21 Art. 14, r. This is likewise not a new activity of the Union. See S. and B. Webb, op. cit., Vol. 2, pp. 779–785.

22 Constitution of 1923, Art. 1, n, s, t, x.

23 New constitution, Art. 15.

24 Constitution of 1923, Art. 3.

25 New constitution, Art. 60; cf. constitution of 1923, Art. 69.

26 New constitution, Art. 77.

27 Art. 68, a.

28 Arts. 121 (17), 124 (13), 125 (14), 125 (15), 126 (16). The first citation refers to the new constitution; that in parenthesis to the soviet constitution of 1918.

29 Arts. 7, Par. 2; 10, 118, 119, 120, 125, a; 127,128.

30 Arts. 12, Par. 1; 130–133.

31 Arts. 134–138.

32 Art. 140.

33 Art. 142.

34 Art. 34.

35 Art. 35.

36 Arts. 57, 58, 89, 90, 94, 95, 96.

37 Arts. 41, 46.

38 Arts. 38, 39.

39 Art. 47.

40 Art. 32.

41 Arts. 49, b; 66, 68, b, c.

42 S. and B. Webb, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 423.

43 Art. 48.

44 Constitution of 1923, Art. 27; S. and B. Webb, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 91.

45 Art. 70.

46 Art. 68, d.

47 Art. 49, l, m. n.

48 Art. 68, e.

49 Art. 49, i, k.

50 Art. 64.

51 Art. 48, Par. 2.

52 Art. 65.

53 Art. 51.

54 Art. 71.

55 Art. 49, f.

56 Art. 126.

57 Ibid.

58 Art. 141, Par. 2.

59 Art. 109.

60 Art. 112.

61 Art. 110, 111.

62 Arts. 113–117.

63 Art. 78.

64 Art. 146.

65 See an argument to the effect that the dictatorship of the proletariat is unimpaired, in Communist International, Vol. 13, pp. 930–940 (August, 1936)Google Scholar, at pp. 939–940.