The CPSU and the Soviets

"Popular sovereignty in our country," we read in the Theses of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Fifty Years of the Great October Socialist Revolution, "is expressed above all in the soviets — representative bodies combining the features of state and civic organizations." The guidance given the soviets by the Communist Party is a vital factor in the Soviet system. This factor reflects the fundamental qualities of the political organization of socialist society. The entire course of the country's historical development has proved irrefutably that complete disclosure of the fundamental advantages of the Soviet organization of power and their utilization in the interests of socialism would be impossible in the absence of the leading role of the Party in the soviets. The relationship between the Party and the soviets in the system of socialist democracy provides the key to understanding the mechanism of popular sovereignty and reflects a fundamentally new interaction between the political leader, the state organization, and the masses of the people that is impossible under a system of exploitation. It is no accident that the apostles of anticommunism are particularly rabid in their attacks on the position of the Party in the republic of soviets, making it their primary target in their slanderous inventions and verbal attempts to subvert the principles of socialist society.     

Interrelations Between Local Soviets and Law Enforcement Agencies

The question of interrelations between local soviets and law enforcement agencies is of both general theoretical and practical importance for the intensification and development of the struggle against criminal and other antisocial phenomena. The Political Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the Twenty-seventh Party Congress voiced the demand "to steadfastly raise the responsibilty of law enforcement and other agencies, to strengthen state arbitration and the legal services in the soviets and in the national economy, and to improve the legal education of the population. The use of the entire force of Soviet laws in the struggle against crime and other legal infractions, so that people in every population center feel the concern of the state for their peace and inviolability, so that they be assured that not a single law breaker will escape the punishment he deserves, is an unceasing task."¹     

Coordination: Its Essence and Practice

At the present stage in our country's development, when major problems of the national economy are being resolved, particular significance attaches to Lenin's premise of proper combination of the interests of the country as a whole with those of local concern. "The lack, in the localities, of harmonized work among the various departments," wrote Vladimir Il'ich Lenin, "is one of the great evils interfering with economic development. An enormous amount of attention must be paid to this question" (Poln. sobr. soch. [Complete Works], vol. 43, p. 278). The timeliness of this instruction by Lenin is beyond question. It also pertains directly to the work of the local soviets, particularly their activity of coordination. As we know, the new laws on the local soviets have granted them the right, within the limits of their jurisdiction, to coordinate enterprises and organizations belonging to higher levels insofar as their efforts are directed toward the development of the economy within their geographic boundaries, and above all in the spheres having to do with services to the population.     

Soviet Sessions: Theory,Practice, and Problems

In the period leading up to the 27th Congress of the CPSU, a landmark in the life of our country, it is one of the important tasks of science and practice to undertake a thoroughgoing analysis of those positive changes that have emerged in recent years in the activity of the soviets of people's deputies, to endeavor a critical assessment of the work so far completed, to exchange opinions on ways to effect possible and necessary changes for the better in their activity and to enhance their role in the system of socialist democracy. The period between the 26th and 27th Party Congresses has seen a considerable rise in the level of leadership by the bodies of state power in respect to economic and sociocultural construction throughout the entire soviet system. The role of the soviets has broadened in all state activity, their influence on the growth of the economy has increased, there is now more coordination in economic and sociocultural construction and in providing consumer and other services to the population, and more attention is being devoted to securing legality and law and order, and protecting the rights and lawful interests of citizens. All these things have been furthered by the CPSU's unflagging observance of the constitutional foundations to the organization and activity of the soviets, by the broadening of their powers, and by strengthening the material and financial basis and the personnel resources of the bodies of state power and government.     

Enhancing the Role of the Local Soviets and Developing Civic Principles in Their Work

The decisions of the last few congresses of the CPSU have played a large role in improving the activity of the soviets. The measures envisaged in the Party Program to improve the work of the soviets, to develop their democratic foundations and civic [obshchestvennye] principles, are being implemented successfully in the local agencies of government and administration.     

On Improving the Legislation on Territorial and Regional Soviets of Working People's Deputies

The Report of the Central Committee of the CPSU to the Twenty-fifth Party Congress advanced the proposal of adopting laws to define the jurisdiction of territorial [krai], regional [oblast'], and area [okrug] soviets of working people's deputies. This proposal was adopted unanimously by the delegates to the congress. In the course of the work begun to draft these laws, which will define the content and form of activity at the present stage of the building of communism of such an important link in the system of soviets as the regional and territorial soviets, many questions have arisen demanding profound and comprehensive scientific study. In this connection the editors invite legal scholars and practical workers to share in the pages of the journal the results of their research and generalizations from the experience of the work of the soviets and from application of the prevailing legislation, and to express judgments, proposals, and recommendations on the paths to be followed in improving the legislation on territorial, regional, and area soviets.     

The Rights of an Urban Soviet Subordinate to Another Urban Soviet

As a consequence of the reorganization of the soviets in accordance with the production principle, many small towns have been detached from rural districts, and the soviets of these towns have been subordinated to those of larger cities that are directly subordinate to territories and regions. In individual cases, the soviets of the small towns have been placed under district soviets of cities which have district subdivisions. At present some 300 towns have thus been subordinated to others, including 230 in the RSFSR.     

The Budget and Finances

This is perhaps the most complex sphere of work of village [sel'skie] soviets. All their manifold activity is associated with it. Funds for economic and cultural development, and for maintenance of the institutions subordinate to the rural agency of power, are concentrated in the budget. The soviet's specific relationships with various enterprises and organizations on the territory within its jurisdiction take shape through it.     

Social entrepreneurs as change agents: a case study on power and authority in the water sector

In view of urgent social and environmental problems, it is important to understand the political dynamics that may promote sustainable development and to identify the agents that make changes in this direction happen. We examine the role and authority of a new type of actor that has recently emerged on the global stage—the social entrepreneur, who tackles social and ecological problems with entrepreneurial means. We consider them as agents that perform functions and provide services that have been considered to be the sole authority of states. For instance, the provision of water services has long been considered an exclusive task of the state. The water sector therefore serves as a good example to explore how these agents come up with their own missions and political agendas. Via an illustrative sample of social entrepreneurs from around the world, we explore their relation to water governance in general and the hydraulic mission in particular. We propose that their innovative potential serves as their main source of authority. Their local embeddedness along with their educational efforts, participatory goals, and accreditation as “social entrepreneur” provide additional sources of authority.     

The Federal/State Criminal Prosecution Nexus: A Case Study in Cooperation and Discretion

Contemporary studies of prosecutorial decision making at the state level are infrequent, and even fewer studies examine the discretionary decisions of federal prosecutors. In addition, virtually no scholarly literature examines the growing overlap between federal and state criminal jurisdiction. This paper advances both theoretical and empirical understandings of the organizational and political contexts in which prosecutorial discretion takes place by exploring the nexus between federal and state criminal jurisdictions. Drawing on interview research in a large urban area with several active federal/state cooperative prosecution programs, we suggest that these cooperative relations open new avenues of discretion for local and federal prosecutors; limit the authority of other court actors, including state judges; and erode the distinctions between federal and local criminal jurisdiction.     

An Ecological Study of Nonresidential Services for Battered Women Within a Comprehensive Community Protocol for Domestic Violence

This paper is an ecological study of services provided to 392 battered women under a comprehensive domestic violence protocol. It focuses on microsystemic interactions between battered women and battered women's services and legal systems. We examine the relationships between women's receipt of services from a battered women's agency, receipt of protective orders, and completion of prosecution of batterers. We also explore the associations between women's receipt of services and protective orders and their partners' subsequent arrests and police contacts. We use open-ended interviews with battered women and with staff of the battered women's agency to expand and illustrate the quantitative data. The analysis shows that when a woman received battered women's services or had a protective order, a completed court case was more likely and numbers of arrests rose. We found that these associations were strongest when women received both battered women's services and at least one protective order.     

Just 'Cause You're Smarter than Me Doesn't Give You a Right to Tell Me What to Do: Legitimate Authority and the Normal Justification Thesis

Joseph Raz's famous theory of authority is grounded in threeclaims about the nature and justification of authority. Accordingto the Preemption Thesis, authoritative directives purport toreplace the subject's judgments about what she should do. Accordingto the Dependence Thesis, authoritative directives should bebased on reasons that actually apply to the subjects of thedirective. According to the Normal Justification Thesis (NJT),authority is justified to the extent that subjects are morelikely to comply with right reason by following the authority'sdirectives than by following their own judgments about whatright reason requires.¹ In this article, I consider a number of ways in which NJT mightbe construed as a justification for authority. First, I evaluateNJT construed as a principle that would provide a practicaljustification for an individual to accept or recognize a particularperson or persons as a preemptive authority. Second, I evaluateNJT construed as a principle that describes the conditions underwhich a state or legal system is morally legitimate. I arguethat NJT is true under none of these interpretations.²     

A Study of the Effectiveness of Village and District Soviets in Belorussia

For the role of local soviets to rise requires an increase in the efficiency of the organizational and legal forms by which they function. Scientific studies making it possible to offer well-founded recommendations to improve both legislation and practical experience are called upon to play an important role in this. In particular, empirical research (the study of documents: minutes of sessions, meetings of standing committees, decisions of election commissions, the periodical press, etc.; statistical data, observations, interviews, etc.) make it possible to study such questions concerning the activity of soviets of working people's deputies as the level of deputies' activity at sessions, the establishment and functioning of standing committees, the degree to which the work of the soviets is conducted before the eyes of the public, and so forth.     

The Constitutional State in the Political Philosophy of Johannes Althusius

The central questions of this article are: a) Based on what arguments defended Johannes Althusius the distinction between the private and public life sphere? b) What kind of relationships exist between the state on the one hand, and private and other public associations on the other hand? c) Based on what arguments may the government restrict actions of citizens and private associations? Answering these questions leads to the conclusion that Althusius should be mentioned as one of the founding fathers of the liberal constitutional state.     

Alachua free‐net: Looking for the First Amendment at one outpost on the information highway*

Many communities are developing civic computer networks to provide citizens with free access to local information resources and the Internet. However, most networks restrict both commercial speech and any language deemed “objectionable.”; Whether such broad discretionary power violates the First Amendment depends on whether the networks are state actors. An examination of one such network, Alachua Free‐Net, reveals a close symbiotic relationship between the network and several local government entities. Symbiotic relationships between the state and a private party in other contexts have been held by the courts to constitute state action. Thus, Alachua Free‐Net appears to be a state actor and must conform its speech restrictions to the requirements of the First Amendment. Moreover, whether state actors or not, civic computer networks such as Alachua Free‐Net should commit themselves to providing full First Amendment freedoms to their users.     

A summary and analysis of warrantless arrest statutes for domestic violence in the United States

In the United States, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have enacted statutes that allow police officers to make warrantless arrests for domestic violence given probable cause; however, state laws differ from one another in multiple, important ways. Research on domestic violence warrantless arrest laws rarely describe them as anything more than discretionary, preferred, or mandatory, either within their analyses or within the texts of their publications; researchers, and their audiences, may not be aware of the vast and potentially important differences among these laws. In this article, we list the domestic violence warrantless arrest laws for each state, and discuss them in terms of five common elements: the phrasing of the arrest authority; whether additional factors to domestic violence are required to trigger the arrest authority; qualifications to the arrest authority; time limits for warrantless arrest to occur; and whether police officers are required to report why they made a dual or no arrest. We then analyze the common elements of the laws, paying particular attention to how they may encourage or discourage the arrest of alleged domestic violence perpetrators. It is critical that researchers, advocates, and policymakers are aware of these variations in state statutes when conducting or interpreting research or making policy recommendations.     

Oakeshott on the Authority of Law

Abstract. The author explains Michael Oakeshott's distinctive theory of law through an explanation of its notion of authority. He explains the view that modern states are ambiguous, consisting partly of civil associations and partly of enterprise associations . Authority is not a function of people's attitudes to those in power, but exists when a government's action is itself accepted as sufficient reason for unconditional obedience. Authority in this sense cannot exist in enterprise association, commitment to which must be contingent on the fulfillment of purposes common to all participants. But modern states are compulsory associations, different from each. Furthermore, authority could never be justified on a rational choice model, which must always be teleological in character. Because this means there can be no solution to the problem of political obligation, all philosophy can do is describe abstractly the Rule of Law state which does reconcile authority and liberty.     

The Alchemists' Search for the Philosophers' Stone: The Status of Registered Social Landlords under the Human Rights Act

Social housing in Great Britain is undergoing a radical transformation with the transfer of local authority housing to housing associations, more particularly registered social landlords (RSLs). While the former are clearly 'public authorities' for the purposes of the Human Rights Act (HRA), the status of the latter is less clear. The first part of this article addresses the increasingly important role played by housing associations in the provision of social housing, and the significant implications of the stock transfer process. It goes on to explore the meaning of 'public authority' for the purposes of claims under the HRA, taking into account available approaches to interpretation as well as the tests traditionally used to determine amenability to judicial review. It concludes that there is a strong case for acknowledging that RSLs are hybrid authorities for the purposes of the HRA, given in particular their 'publicness' and the fact that they are often carrying out the same functions as local authorities.     

Professional Divestiture: The Cession of Responsibility for Lawyer Discipline

Lawyer-discipline systems underwent substantial reorganization in a majority of states during the 1970s, with responsibility for their operation moving from the bar associations in which they had been located for almost a century to agencies of the state supreme courts. While this transfer of the locus of lawyer discipline resulted in a diminution of the power of the organized bar, it encouraged the professionalization of the process. In this paper the reasons for the willingness of the bar associations in Illinois to cede control over such a central component of professional regulation are examined and their implications for the sociology of the legal profession discussed. Unable to maintain the status quo in the face of extensive criticism, the Illinois bar associations chose not to meet the high costs of upgrading the discipline process but rather to divest themselves of a function that, although at one time central to their identity and authority, had become inconvenient and damaging to their image. It is suggested that the bar associations were willing to countenance such a divestiture because their positions as collective representatives of the profession in Illinois were secure and the major parameters of lawyer discipline well established. Whereas immediate control over self-regulation processes may be necessary during the developmental phase of professionalism, it is not so important once the profession has achieved a dominant market position.     

How Race,Sex, and Age Frame the Use of Authority by Local Government Officials

Thanks to the civil rights movement, women and racial and ethnic minorities increasingly hold positions of public authority—but they experience and exercise this authority differently from white men. Based on 162 narratives collected from 49 US local government officials (city administrators and police), I find that women, minorities, and younger officials in positions of authority face a paradox of rules. Because they have lower social status with the public and within their organizations, they must rely on formal and explicit rules as a key basis for their authority, but such reliance causes their very authority to be questioned. Social status based on implicit assumptions about social identities, including race or ethnicity, sex, and age, originates outside of organizations and has effects society wide. This study shows that social status continues to permeate US local government organizations in both subtle and explicit ways, even in bureaucratic settings that are formally committed to merit and professional norms.