Six Characteristics of Socialist Law

A 2016 article suggests that socialist law, at least from the perspective of public law and constitutionalism, is a useful category. In the NYU Journal of International Law and Policy, William Partlett and Eric I argue that socialist law helps to understand the “Russian-Leninist grafts” that currently operate in China`s socialist legal system. This helps to understand the “distinct institutions and public approaches in China that have been ignored by many academics.” [5] Despite the resurgence of the popularity of socialist ideology, there is a lack of understanding of what exactly socialism is. The term has been abused and overused, to the point that it has almost lost its meaning. It is a socialist doctrine that believes that it is impossible to bring about peaceful social change. Revolutionary socialism believes that the transition from capitalism to socialism can only take place through revolution. In a socialist economy, basic needs – food, shelter, clothing, education, health and employment – are provided by the government without discrimination. This is one of the greatest advantages of socialism. You may be wondering how prices are regulated in an economy without competition in the marketplace.

In socialist economies, product prices are controlled and regulated by the state. So if the country adopts socialist ideology, you don`t have to worry about the state taking away your TV or book collection. These are personal items. Socialism emerged in reaction to the injustices of primitive capitalism. One of the first to defend socialism was a Welsh mill owner and idealist named Robert Owen, who used his wealth to create utopian communities based on socialist ideals. Unfortunately, his socialist experiments failed and cost him much of his fortune. Nevertheless, the idea of socialism is not dead. Instead, it became established in the mid-19th century, thanks to the rise of trade unions and the writings of a German philosopher named Karl Marx. Despite its many advantages, socialism is not only a virtue. Socialism also has its drawbacks, some of which eventually led to the downfall of some purely socialist economies. Some of the disadvantages of socialism are: From the beginning to the middle of the 20th century, socialism was all the rage. Several countries have adopted socialist ideas in one form or another.

Unfortunately, many countries that have experimented with socialism – Cuba, Cambodia, Chile, Hungary, North Korea, Venezuela, the Soviet Union and many others – have failed, leading to the demise of socialism. A socialist economy relies on the central planning authority for the distribution of wealth, rather than on market forces. As more and more people are drawn to the socialist ideal, let`s take a look at what exactly socialism is. In a capitalist economy, the cost of production and the subsequent price of products are determined by market forces. In socialist economies, on the other hand, market forces play no role. Since the means of production belong to the government, which also acts as the sole entrepreneur, the means of production have no market price. This creates a situation where there is no appropriate basis for calculating the cost of producing goods and services. Unlike a capitalist economy, a socialist economy is not guided by the laws of supply and demand. Instead, all economic activities—production, distribution, exchange, and consumption—are planned and coordinated by a central planning authority, usually the government. Through social ownership, socialism deprives people of the freedom to enter, which in turn deprives people of their free choice of profession. Unlike capitalist economies, where you can choose your profession freely, in a socialist economy, workers are assigned jobs by the planning authority. Workers cannot change jobs without the approval of the planning authority.

Many scholars argue that socialist law was not a separate legal classification. [3] Although the command economy approach of communist states meant that most types of property could not be owned, the Soviet Union always had a civil code, courts interpreting that civil code, and a civil law approach to legal reasoning (thus, legal procedure and legal reasoning were largely analogous to French or the German Civil Code). The legal systems of all socialist states have retained the formal criteria of civil law in Romano-Germanic civil law; for this reason, legal theorists in post-socialist states generally consider socialist law as a special case of Romano-Germanic civil law. Cases of the development of the common law in socialist law are unknown because of the incompatibility of the fundamental principles of these two systems (the common law presupposes an influential role of the courts in rule-making, while the courts of socialist states play a dependent role). [4] Socialism emerged as an opposition to the economic inequality caused by primitive capitalism. As such, it aims at an egalitarian society where there are no classes. Ideally, all people in a socialist economy should have economic equality. This term refers to anti-authoritarian socialist philosophies that believe that centralized state ownership and control of the economy are not necessary to achieve socialism.

In a socialist economy, there is no competition in the market, since the state is the only entrepreneur. The state focuses only on the provision of basic necessities, which limits consumer choice. Socialism also minimizes the risk of economic instability. Under capitalism, economies are often subject to fluctuations that can lead to wasted resources and high unemployment. This is very unlikely in a socialist economy. Since the economy is well planned and there is no private investment, economic fluctuations are rare in socialist economies. In a socialist economy, there is a central authority responsible for planning the use of resources and making rapid decisions. Resources are fully utilized and there is minimal waste. This led to rapid economic growth of socialist states. A good example of this is the development made by the USSR in its early years.