1974 Jowitt

An Organizational Approach to the Study of Political Culture in Marxist-Leninist Systems
Author(s): Kenneth Jowitt

Source: The American Political Science Review, Vol. 68, No. 3 (Sep., 1974), pp. 1171-1191
Published by: American Political Science Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1959154
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An OrganizationalApproachto the Study of Political Culture
in Marxist-LeninistSystems*
KENNETH JOWITT
University of California, Berkeley
Considerations of a Theoretical count or neglect the role of culture, largely be-

and Methodological Order cause the relationship between regime and society
For at least some students of Marxist-Leninist was viewed simply as a pattern of domination-
regimes, political culture is becoming a salient subordination. Similarly, during the reign of the
analytic and research perspective.' There are sev- "end of ideology" thesis in the West, structural-
eral reasons for this development. First, there is functional models dominated the analytic field.
the question of intellectual and theoretical stance. Only with the recognition of diversity does the
Those students of revolutionary change who de- analytic focus tend to expand and include cultural
fine revolution as involving decisive but not abso- considerations.4 The particular expression of di-
lute change tend to be sensitive to the role of versity which has prompted consideration of foci
cultural elements in contributing to the character that are complementary to a systems-approach
of political systems. This understanding of revo- has to do with the visible and systematic impact
lutionary change is one which accepts the asser- society has on the character, quality, and style of
tion that revolution involves "fundamental and political life. One expression of this impact is the
even abrupt ruptures with the past in many areas systematic discrepancy that occurs between state-
of life . . . ," but that "for good or ill, revolutions ments about the ideal operation of a political sys-
never shut the door to the past."2 Political culture tem and its actual operation.
also recommends itself to those who approach the Third, political culture assumes greater salience
phenomenon of social change by focusing on per- as an analytic and research perspective as: (a)
sonality factors. Marxist-Leninist regimes themselves redefine their
Second, recognition of diversity seems to be task priorities from transformation and consoli-
closely related to an appreciation of political cul- dation to modernization, (b) the inter-regime
ture as a research focus. It is interesting to note community of ruling parties loses its cohesiveness
that during the period of Stalinism and the hege- and power as a membership group and identity
mony of the totalitarian thesis in the West, the referent,5 (c) the social composition of the parties
major analytic approach to Marxist-Leninist re-
article consciously builds on the work initiated in
gimes was a rather crude form of social-systems that volume.
analysis.3 Approaches of this order tended to dis- 'It is not surprising that the first formulations
of the political culture approach preserved the ex-
* The author wishes to thank the Romanian Acad- isting and rather crude paradigmatic distinctions
emy of Social and Political Science, IREX, the In- made between totalitarian and liberal-democratic re-
stitute of International Studies, and the Department gimes. Just as the "system theorists" responded to
of Political Science at the University of California, the changes after Stalin with the fallback concept of
Berkeley. "rational totalitarianism," so students of political cul-
1 I have in mind Frederick Barghoorn's Politics in ture came up with the distinction of pragmatic and
the USSR (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1966); ideological cultures. (See Brzezinski and Hunting-
Zbigniew Brzezinski and Samuel Huntington's chap- ton's, contrast of Soviet ideology and American
ter on "The Political System and the Individual," political beliefs; and S. Verba, "Conclusion: Com-
in Political Power: USA/USSR (New York: Viking parative Political Culture," in Political Culture and
Press, 1963); Richard Fagen's, The Transformation Political Development, ed., Lucian W. Pye' and Syd-
of Political Culture in Cuba (Stanford: Stanford ney Verba (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
University Press, 1969); Richard Solomon's, Mao's 1965), pp. 544-550. There are a number of prob-
Revolution and the Chinese Political Culture (Berke- lems connected with this type of distinction: (a) it
ley: University of California Press, 1971); Lucian is ethnocentric and obstructs through definition a
Pye's, The Spirit of Chinese Politics (Cambridge, concern with the complexities of all cultures; (b) it
Mass.: The M.I.T. Press, 1968); and Robert Tucker's is unnecessarily static (it might for example prove
"Culture, Political Culture, Communism" published more useful to consider both the United States in
in the Newsletter on Comparative Studies of Com- 1776 and the Soviet Union in 1917 as ideological
munism, 4 (May, 1971), 3-12. and both in 1972 as pragmatic); (c) it fails to sensi-
2 Benjamin I. Schwartz, "Continuity and Discon- tize the analyst adequately to comparison of differ-
tinuity in Contemporary China: Some Methodologi- ent ideological cultures, i.e., the U.S. in 1776 and
cal Questions," Bucknell Review, 19 (Spring, 1971), in 1948, the Soviet Union in 1917, 1928, and 1957.
115-124, at p. 121. 'On this point see Kenneth Jowitt, "Political In-
I An exception to this was the study by Bauer, tegration and Political Identity in Eastern Europe,"
Inkeles, and Kluckhohn, How the Soviet System in East Central Europe in the Seventies, ed. Sylvia
Works (New York: Vintage Books, 1956). In cer- Sinanian, Istvan Deak, and Peter C. Ludz (New
tain respects the argument to be presented in this York: Praeger Publishers, 1972), pp. 180-184.
1171
1172 The American Political Science Review Vol. 68
themselves changes, and (d) their posture towards In organization theory the reaction against this
the non-Marxist-Leninist world changes. structural, formal organization bias came with
For a variety of reasons, then, political culture Mayo's human relations school. Mayo shifted the
is currently becoming a salient analytic-research emphasis to an appreciation of human sentiment,
focus for certain students and a research-policy of the factory culture, and of the significance of
focus for certain Marxist-Leninist regimes.' informal groupings. In recognizing the signifi-
cance of the human factor, Mayo failed, however,
What is Political Culture and How to Study It. As to attend adequately to critical considerations
conceived in this study political culture is a com- such as the power structure of the factory. I would
plementary perspective, not a substitute for other argue that within the field of comparative com-
approaches or a single-factor explanation. This munism a development that parallels the Mayo
understanding of its role is related to the assump- school in organization theory is Solomon's work
tion that social reality is complex and that the on China. Solomon also emphasizes the cultural
function of theory is not to deny this complexity dimension at the expense of the structural dimen-
but to make it more intelligible. The definition of sion. At least two major costs are associated with
political culture used here ideally sensitizes the this failure. First, the terms of his analysis do not
observer to certain relationships between regime readily lend themselves to a discriminating com-
and society and allows him to approach these re- parative analysis of other Marxist-Leninist sys-
lationships in a way that contributes to our under- tems, largely because of his pursuit of the
standing of the multifaceted reality characterizing "unique" elements of Chinese political culture.
these social systems. Second, rather ironically much of what Solomon
Drawing an analogy with organizational theo- perceives as uniquely Chinese turns out to be
ries, one can note at least three ways of studying something else. For example, the "uniquely"
Marxist-Leninist social systems. Both in the study Chinese ambivalence toward authority and ten-
of American factories and in the study of the dency to avoid conflict are, according to Crozier,
Soviet Union the first major analytic statements distinctive and basic features of contemporary
were primarily structural. In the first case this took French political culture.7 The outcome of this
the form of Taylorism and in the second totali- "exceptionalist" approach to political culture may
tarianism. In each instance the range of phenom- very well create more obstacles in the way of com-
ena generated by structural relationships but not parative analysis and consequently in the way of
clearly consistent with them was perceived on the establishing what is truly distinctive about indi-
one hand by executives of Western business or- vidual Marxist-Leninist political structures and
ganizations as "anomalous," and on the other by cultures.
Leninist elites as "bourgeois remnants." Analysts A third approach to the study of organizations
viewed such phenomena as either inconsequential is that suggested by Michel Crozier. Crozier sug-
and humorous or, when it came to Soviet type gests that organizations should be analyzed in
regimes as indicative that the efforts to change terms of the interaction of formal structure and
these societies had been superficial. Whether in informal relationships. In his terms these two ele-
an American factory or a Soviet-type regime, the ments should not be opposed. "They interpene-
informal, cultural, and covert aspects of the sys- trate and complete each other. If one wants to
tem were inadequately integrated into the theory understand them, one must study them together
that was used to explain the unit's character. along with the system of power relationships that
6 In recent years the Romanian, Bulgarian, Chinese, helps integrate them."8 It is in this vein that I ap-
Hungarian, and Albanian regimes have all directed proach the study of political culture in Marxist-
their attention, in the form of Central Committee Leninist systems. Political culture will be studied
discussions and resolutions, to the realms of educa- in conjunction with political structure; structure
tion, ideology, and culture. The Chinese case is and culture will be viewed as establishing mutual,
clear to all in the form of the Great Proletarian Cul-
tural Revolution; for the Romanians see Scinteia though not necessarily equal, limits for one an-
July 7, 13, November 4, 1971; for Bulgaria see the other. Approaching the concept of political cul-
article by Marin V. Pundeff, "Bulgaria Under Zhiv- ture from this perspective allows us to (a) take
kov," and for Albania the article by Nicholas C.
explicit account of the cognitive element of politi-
Pano, "Albania in the Sixties," both in The Changing
Face of Communism in Eastern Europe, ed. Peter A. 'See Richard Solomon, Mao's Revolution, also
Toma (Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press, Solomon, "Mao's Effort to Reintegrate the Chinese
1970), pp. 89-121 and pp. 243-281. For Hungary Polity: Problems of Authority and Conflict in Chinese
see the comments of Barnabas Racz in "Political Social Processes," in Chinese Communist Politics in
Changes in Hungary After the Soviet Invasion of Action, ed. A. Doak Barnett, (Seattle: University
Czechoslovakia," Slavic Review, 29 (December 1970), of Washington Press, 1969), pp. 271-365; and Michel
638-639; and Bennett Kovrig, The Hungarian People's Crozier, The Bureaucratic Phenomenon (Chicago:
Republic (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1970), University of Chicago Press, 1964), chapters 8 and 9.
pp. 131-183. 'Crozier, Bureaucratic Phenomenon, p. 164.
1974 Study of Political Culture in Marxist-Leninist Systems 1173
cal culture and to see political culture largely as a political culture refers to the set of informal-
response to a regime with a given organizational adaptive (behavioral and attitudinal) postures
format,9 (b) avoid limiting the notion of political that emerge as a response to and consequence of
culture to the level of individual psychology as a given elite's identity-forming experiences. One
most students of the concept have done, (c) per- might for example analyze the Romanian and
ceive the systemic significance of what is currently Chinese elite political cultures in terms of the dif-
seen as either anomalous or unique in certain ference between a conspiratorial-prison experi-
Marxist-Leninist political cultures, and (d) gener- ence and a guerrilla-partisan experience.
ate hypotheses dealing with questions of conflict, Regime political culture refers to the set of in-
change, and system identity. In short, the attempt formal-adaptive (behavioral and attitudinal) pos-
here is to devise an analytic understanding of tures that emerge in response to the institutional
political culture that facilitates comparison of definition of social, economic, and political life.
Marxist-Leninist regimes in light of the interaction One would expect Marxist-Leninist regime cul-
between formal-structural and informal-cultural tures to vary according to whether a given regime
elements, thereby avoiding on the one hand the structure was predicated on a command or semi-
exceptionalist or uniqueness pitfall and on the market principle and whether it emphasized the
other the tendency to assert through definition participatory or command component of demo-
that structure alone is necessarily decisive in cratic centralism.
shaping the political character of Marxist- Communitypolitical culture refers to the set of
Leninist regimes. informal-adaptive (behavioral and attitudinal)
The relationship of political culture and politi- postures that emerge in response to the historical
cal structure may be compared to the relationship relationships between regime and community. For
that exists between the formal and informal or- example, one would expect very different com-
ganization of a factory. According to Barnard, munity political cultures to emerge from a society
"when formal organizations come into operation, in which organized religion stresses ritual and a
they create and require informal organizations ... mediated relation to God and one in which or-
they are interdependent aspects of the same phe- ganized religion minimizes ritual and argues for a
nomena-a society is structured by formal organi- direct relation to God; similarly, the community
zations, formal organizations are vitalized and political culture of a society in which state and
conditioned by informal organization ... there society are related on the basis of an effectively
cannot be one without the other."10 Barnard institutionalized citizen-role should differ con-
argues that informal organization may be "re- siderably from a society in which the mass of
garded as a shapeless mass of quite varied densi- society has been historically excluded from politi-
ties, the variations in density being a result . . . of cal recognition and participation.
formal purposes which bring [people] specially Having dealt with the basic orientations, con-
into contact for conscious joint accomplish- cerns, and definitions, I should outline the basic
ments.... Thus there is an informal organization analytic framework we shall employ to study
of a community, of a state."' It is the informal political culture in Marxist-Leninist regimes. Re-
organization of the state that we shall refer to as flecting the contention that the study of political
political culture. More precisely, political culture culture is most fruitful in connection with the
refers to the set of informal, adaptive postures- study of political structure, our two independent
behavioraland attitudinal-that emerge in response variables shall be structural. It is my thesis that
to and interact with the set offormal definitions- all Marxist-Leninist regimes are oriented to cer-
ideological, policy, and institutional-that charac- tain core tasks that are crucial in shaping the or-
terize a given level of society. ganizational character of the regime and its
Perceiving the different levels of society one can
differentiate three types of political culture: elite, elite and mass political cultures . . . up to now
they have paid a good deal less attention to the
regime, and community political culture.12 Elite beliefs of political elites." See Polyarchy (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1971), p. 167. For a
9With regard to (a) see the very important article perceptive analysis of elite culture, see Robert Put-
by Carole Pateman, "Political Culture, Political Struc- nam's "Studying Elite Political Cultute: The Case
ture and Political Change," in the British Journal of Ideology," in the American Political Science Re-
of Political Science, 1 (July, 1971), 291-305. view, 65 (September, 1971), 651-682. To date, how-
"?Chester Barnard,. The Functions of the Execu- ever, no one has argued for or analyzed a third
tive (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, arena, that of the regime in contrast to the elite
1962), p. 120. and community levels. Among system oriented studies
"Ibid., p. 115. there is of course Easton's differentiation of the
12 To date most studies of political culture have regime from the elite and community arenas. See
been made at the community level. Recently Robert David Easton, A Systems Analysis of Political Life
Dahl has commented that "although students of po- (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1965), pp.
litical culture call attention to differences between 154-247.
relationship to society.'3 These tasks include: on the core task, then, the regime will be struc-
(1) transformation-the attempt to alter decisively tured differently both internally and in relation to
or destroy values, structures, and behaviors which society. It is to be expected therefore that (a) the
a revolutionary elite perceives as comprising or character of political culture will vary with
contributing to the actual or potential existence changes in tasks or task-mixes and (b) the intro-
of alternative centers of political power ;14 (2) con- duction of a new task and regime structure will
solidation-the attempt to create the nucleus of a confront an already existing set (elite, regime, and
new political community in a setting that ideally community) of political cultures.
prevents existing social forces from exercising any The second independent variable we shall work
uncontrolled and undesired influence over the de- with is central ideological tenets. Briefly stated,
velopment and definition of the new community; all Marxist-Leninist regimes define themselves in
and (3) modernization-the regime's attempt to terms of their commitment to certain ideological
develop more empirical and less dogmatic defini- principles. We are interested in two: the dictator-
tions of problems and policy, a formal, procedural ship of the proletariat and democratic centralism.
approach rather than a substantive, arbitrary ap- These are of particular significance precisely be-
proach to the solution of problems, and an under- cause they have explicit and direct structural im-
standing of the executive function that stresses plications for the organizational definition of the
leadership rather than command competences.1" regime itself and for the organizational or struc-
Each of these tasks has organizational or structural relationship between regime and society.
tural corollaries. Transformation involves a con- Core task and central ideological tenets with their
frontation between the regime and the "unrecon- structural correlates provide the boundary condi-
structed" society. Consolidation yields a structure tions for the organizational definition of the re-
of domination as the politically defeated but gime and its relations with society. It is assumed
"hostile" society must be prevented from "con- that they directly contribute to the type of political
taminating" the nuclei of the new socialist society. culture that develops at the elite, regime, and
Modernization, however, requires a rather sig- community levels. The framework, however, is
nificant redefinition of the relationship between still not complete. Organizations do not occupy
regime and society from mutual hostility and vacuums but are defined in opposition to already
avoidance to the regime's selective recognition existing organizations that have themselves gener-
and managed acceptance of society.'6 Depending ated corresponding cultures. Consequently, the
"3An argument and analysis of changes in Marxist-
process of specifying and acting on the organiza-
Leninist systems based on different tasks is currently tional correlates of core tasks and ideological
being written by the author with the title "Stages of tenets is in part shaped by existing cultural pos-
Development in Marxist-Leninist Systems: A Com- tures. Furthermore, once a Marxist-Leninist re-
parative Analysis." gime has come to power and established itself
14 See Kenneth Jowitt, Revolutionary Break-
throughs and National Development: The Case of organizationally, the political cultures it generates
Romania, 1944-65 (Berkeley: University of Califor- assume a certain integrity of their own and begin
nia Press, 1971), pp. 8-9, 107-108. to reinforce the regime's structure. For both these
1Leadership competences refer to an elite's ideo- reasons it is useful to consider political culture in
logical acceptance of the political membership cre-
dentials of the mass of society. Nonparty members the terms suggested by Harry Eckstein, namely,
are considered bona fide participants rather than as an intervening variable."7In this formulation
unreconstructed inhabitants of the national com- political culture provides some substance for the
munity. Tenets such as "state of the whole people" "black box" between the stimuli (independent
and "party of the whole people" are illustrative of
this shift (which of course can be reversed or modi- variables) such as core task and central ideological
fied). Structurally, the shift from command to lead- tenet and the responses (dependent variables) such
ership competences involves the shift from coercive as the ease with which certain tasks are accom-
to manipulative skills from a pattern of regime ex- plished in contrast to others, the manner in which
clusivity to one of greater complementarity vis-a-vis
society. Such a shift is illustrated by the decreased
they are acted upon, and the ease or difficulty a
role of the secret police and the at least formal at-
tempts to upgrade party activists in comparison to
full time party functionaries (apparatchiks). Behav- tional autonomy in various organizational settings;
iorally, the shift in competence is reflected in new managed acceptance refers to the regime's organiza-
styles of leadership, greater emphasis on leadership tional pre-emption of social strata with recognition
visibility (i e., Khrushchev vs. Stalin, Gierek vs. Go- aspirations or demands. An instance of managed ac-
mulka, Dubcek vs. Novotny), direct contact with di- ceptance in Romania is the recently formed Front for
verse social constituencies, and attempts to elicit so- Socialist Unity, an instance of selective recognition
cial response to and confirmation of policy initia- is the emphasis on collegial decision making in fac-
tives before the latter are given official status by the tories.
party. 17 Harry Eckstein, "Memorandum to Participants
1" Selective recognition refers to the regime's will- in Conference on Political Culture and Communist
ingness to expand power by allowing greater func- Studies."
regime has in redefining its core task (i.e., from a "commanding heights" strategy, an approach
consolidation to modernization). to development that I choose to label "revolu-
We must now ascertain whether the Marxist- tionary laissez faire." In such a system the em-
Leninist international subsystem provides a recog- phasis is on controlling decisive points and sectors
nizable and widespread structural format for in a given social subsystem and on structuring a
dealing with the tasks of revolutionary transfor- society on the basis of tacit trade-offs or ex-
mation and political consolidation. Is there in the changes. In return for performance in priority
historical experience of some of these regimes a sectors, and with respect to priority items, mem-
shared definition, a similar formal-organizational bers of society are "allowed" to manipulate non-
approach to the tasks of transformation and con- priority sectors for their private benefit.'8 A
solidation ? And if there is, what are the elements variety of causal factors underlie this type of de-
that define the character of this format, what are velopment strategy; some, such as the inadequate
the consequences of this regime format for the number of cadres are historical while others, such
political culture of these systems, and what is the as the concern with rate of development," are
significance of the interaction of this culture with more ideological. Of interest here, however, is the
regime structure for political change ? type of regime organization and regime-society
relations produced by this "commanding heights"
System Building and Political Culture. Although or priority strategy. As Simon has noted, any
there are fourteen Marxist-Leninist or Communist formal organization "will always differ from the
states, it is an historical fact that the Soviet organization as it actually operates in several im-
Union's mode of development under Stalin has portant respects. First, there will be many omis-
usually been the authoritative model, especially sions in it."20 As Simon goes on to note, what is
for most East European regimes. In addition, for decisive is whether or not the formal organization
regimes such as the Cuban, Chinese, and Yugo- sets limits to the informal relations that develop
slav, the Stalinist model was either adopted and within it. Mobilization in a system-building re-
then later rejected or continues to be espoused as gime means that while all social areas are pro-
a model by certain elite members. The Stalinist vided with political limits, several areas do not
mode of transformation and consolidation may receive the kind of attention that characterizes
be termed a system-building approach. It is this priority areas. To emphasize the distinction, non-
approach that has shaped the overall character of priority areas are controlled rather than trans-
the Soviet regime and the majority of Marxist- formed. In this sense they are "omitted" by the
Leninist regimes. And it is the legacy of this ap- regime.
proach which these regimes must deal with in Third, system-building regimes are led by elites
their current efforts to modernize. with "production mentalities." The Stalinist ap-
System building contains three major related proach to socialist construction has been one of
components. First, the dictatorship of the prole- "walking on one leg,"-i.e., of defining success in
tariat becomes the defining relationship for inter- constructing socialism as a function of political,
actions both between regime and society and with- economic, and social breakthroughs while viewing
in the regime. One can specify three structurally cultural transformation as basically a derivative
significant aspects of this political principle: (a) accomplishment. The predominance of the pro-
the explicit and sustained policy of separating the duction mentality in system-building regimes
elite and regime sectors from and opposing them manifests itself in the following ways: (a) as an
to the rest of society, (b) the explicit utilization of "island-hopping strategy" whose premise is that
widespread coercion and violence and the sub- with the redefinition of the economic, political,
ordinate role of persuasion in the initial phases of and social domains the cultural domain can be
"constructing socialism," (c) the tendency of effectively circumscribed, transformed, and the
Leninist parties to monopolize the public sector few "remnants" of bourgeois origin gradually
through their assumption of comprehensive and
direct responsibility for social developments and "SFor a vivid description of this exchange rela-
the corresponding concentration of decision- tionship see Merle Fainsod, Smolensk Under Soviet
making powers within the Party. What is involved Rule (New York: Vintage Books, 1963), pp. 85 and
here is the denial of any integrity to the public 151. While there are variations in the format over
time and between countries the essentials of this
realm as distinct from the official realm. relationship persist in many Soviet-type systems.
Second, system-building regimes are concerned 19 See Kenneth Jowitt, "Time and Development
with the rapid development of their societies and Under Communism: The Case of the Soviet Union,"
the sustained mobilization of resources. What is in Temporal Dimensions of Development Adminis-
tration, ed. Dwight Waldo (Durham, North Caro-
structurally significant is that relations between lina: Duke University Press, 1970), pp. 233-264.
regime and society are organized along elite desig- 20 Herbert Simon, Administrative Behavior (New
nated priorities. In Marxist-Leninist terms this is York: The Macmillan Company, 1961), p. 148.
"mopped up,"; and (b) as an instrumental ap- The Dictatorship of the Proletariat and Political
proach to culture and individuals that attends to Culture. We have already stated that as a struc-
such areas when they directly affect the regime's tural or organizational principle the dictatorship
ability to act effectively on its priorities--social of the proletariat involves the separation of the
and economic change. elite and regime sectors from the rest of society.
The significance of these major aspects of the This separation has occurred in Romania and has
system-building approach is twofold. First, a also occurred in similar regimes. Its rationale was
system-building approach to the tasks of trans- twofold. Initially, it was predicated on the need
formation and consolidation unintentionally rein- to minimize regime commitments to a politically
forces certain features of the existing (non-Lenin- unreconstructed and hostile society. After the
ist) community political culture that are con- achievement of a decisive political breakthrough,
sidered negative by Marxist-Leninist parties. This the posture of avoidance was still maintained, ad-
reinforcement occurs largely because of the con- hering to the Soviet thesis that even after the
gruence between major elements in the ideological political defeat of the old regime, its influence still
and organizational format of system-building re- threatens the construction and consolidation of
gimes and major elements in the community po- new institutions, roles, and values.21
litical cultures of the various societies that have In at least two respects the separation or di-
become Marxist-Leninist. Second, as these so- chotomization of regime and society had a critical
cieties develop under Marxist-Leninist auspices, impact on the cultural orientation of both elite
they characteristically generate challenges to and non-elite segments of the Romanian popula-
existing structural and cultural definitions and tion towards the political realm. The first is the
postures at the elite, regime, and community reinforcement of a status ordering of regime and
levels. society. In an article signaling a campaign against
One implication of this analysis is that the cur- bakshish, its author noted that such a practice
rent challenges faced by most Soviet-type regimes properly belonged to a period in the past, to a
are not simply threats to power and efficiency. time when "our (Romanian) society experienced
Rather, the current crises in these systems involve domination by a stratum of rulers or boyars," and
the confrontation of different structural-cultural he asked how a practice associated with such a
sets, and what is at stake is not only power and political structure could survive in a socialist
efficiency but the character of political authority society.22 The answer to this question can be found
and social relations. This dimension of current de- in the structural similarity between the dictator-
velopments has not been adequately examined ship of the proletariat and the historic relation-
and the study of political culture can greatly en- ship of state and society in Romania. During the
hance our understanding of the complexity and period of the dictatorship of the proletariat,23 the
relatedness of developments within these regimes. Romanian Workers Party was in effect a corpo-
rate, privileged, status group that asserted its
The Paradoxical Character of System Building
identity and perquisites in opposition to the rest of
It is paradoxical that in their attempt to criti- society. Our purpose here is not to deny the sig-
cally redefine society, Marxist-Leninist regimes nificant social, economic, and cultural transfor-
simultaneously achieve basic, far-reaching, and mations initiated during the Gheorghiu-Dej pe-
decisive change in certain areas, allow for the riod, but rather to focus on a feature of this
maintenance of pre-revolutionary behavioral and period that has not been examined by Western
attitudinal political postures in others, and unin- scholars or understood by the Romanian party
tentionally strengthen many traditional postures itself.
in what for the regime are often priority areas. Given its goals of transformation and consoli-
How and why are the obvious questions. In order
to answer them, to deal with the substantive as 21
See J. V. Stalin, The Foundations of Leninism
well as formal dimensions of political culture in (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1965), pp. 42-
43. "The bourgeoisie has its grounds for making at-
Marxist-Leninist systems, an empirical referent is tempts at restoration, because for a long time after
required. For that purpose we shall focus pri- its overthrow it remains stronger than the proletariat
marily on a single political culture-that of the which has overthrown it." See also the passages from
Romanian Socialist Republic-and on the inter- Lenin that Stalin quotes.
22 Scinteia, July 23, 1971. The title of this article
action between its regime and society. The analytic
was, "Let us wipe out Bakshish: A practice incom-
results of this exercise should ideally be a greater patible with the ethical climate of our society."
appreciation of the partially contradictory charac- 23While the dictatorship of the proletariat is still
ter of Romanian development since 1948 and a an operative concept in Romania, the current re-
heightened appreciation of the character of devel- gime's structure and policy in many respects depart
from our working definition of this principle. When
opment and developmental problems in other I use the term dictatorship of the proletariat I am
system-building regimes. referring primarily to the time period 1948-1964.
dation and its perception of how to achieve those admitting only to the crime of not occupying a
goals, the Romanian elite created a political prominent enough position (suficient nivel).28
structure that in certain basic respects not only Another example of the understanding which elite
allowed for maintaining, but even reinforced, cer- members have of their position, perquisites, role,
tain traditional political attitudes and behavior and relation to political life is found in an article
within both elite and non-elite members of the that discusses the phenomenon of razgindirii or
population. Just as boiar (nobleman) and subject rethinking of a verdict.29 Although the reasons
had historically been mutually exclusive statuses, behind this phenomenon vary, depending on the
so cadre and citizen became mutually exclusive case, it appears that local party units often act
statuses rather than complementary roles. The much like other corporate-privileged groups in
structure of the regime made it possible for cadres trying to protect "their own."
to "consider a public office a source of personal It is significant that the tendency to dichoto-
income and those in their charge as serfs."24The mize elite and non-elite membership during the
nomenclatura25 became the equivalent of the legal dictatorship of the proletariat has reinforced the
underpinnings of nobility, an organizational political culture that existed prior to the rule of
statement that a certain category of the popula- the Communist party, a political culture in which
tion was (is) subject to special considerations. the elite sector was distinct in character and
Thus, Mihai Gere, a member of the Romanian prerogative, not simply in role. We have examined
party's secretariat, has noted that "sometimes some instances of this perspective at the elite level;
those (cadres) who damage (aduc prejudicii) our let us now turn again to the mass level.
society (i.e., through corrupt behavior) are shifted It is striking that system-building regimes based
to another position or even promoted instead of on the dictatorship of the proletariat have rein-
being removed from their work."26Such behavior forced many pre-Leninist political cultural dispo-
is not unnoticed by those who are lower in the sitions (attitudinal and behavioral) at the com-
political and social hierarchy. In contrast to the munity level. By responding adaptively to the
ideal regime criterion of worth based on social political reality of a status-based relationship be-
discipline, responsibility, and political maturity, tween regime and society, many members of
the popular understanding of what is actually the Romanian society continue to behave in partially
criterion of worth reflects the dichotomous status traditional modes. For example, it is often neces-
ordering of regime-society relations. Reporting on sary for the ordinary citizen to stimula atentia, or
an organization's failure to punish an accountant gain the attention of those with a regime position,
for proved offenses, a correspondent for the party a doctor, bureaucrat, or party cadre, and many
newspaper Scinteia concluded that the incident individuals with such positions demand mica
involved "the removal of our principle criteria for atentia, a little attention (i.e., money) before the
appreciating men and their deeds (and their re- performance of a public service.30 The terms
placement) with subjective criteria." What were themselves are revealing. In a society based on
these subjective criteria ? It seems that the prose- explicit and authoritative status differences it is
cution of offenders depended on whether or not rational for non-elite members to act on the prem-
the individuals involved were cei cu functie sau ises enforced by the elite sector. As one of the
farafunctie (those with official positions or those "mass," the ordinary citizen must distinguish
without), in short the effective criterion was mem- himself from other non-elite subjects if he is to
bership in the categorie de privilegiati (privileged get a response; he must "stimulate" the attention
category).27 of a superior. Doing this is simultaneously a
There is some evidence that the posture of non- means of gaining the superior's attention, recog-
elite members of society toward the political realm nizing the superior's elite status, and often a
is based on this dichotomous structure of privi- means of decreasing the uncertainty and anxiety
leged versus nonprivileged. In another report of the encounter.31
about the use of public resources for private ends, The widespread phenomenon of pile or "pull,"
the party correspondent noted that when the "connections," may also be viewed as a continua-
culprits were faced with their offenses without tion of pre-Leninist political culture and as an
exception they adopted a lamentable position, adaptive-informal response to a political structure
24Scinteia, July 23, 1971. 2S Scinteia, November 30, 1971.

25 The nomenclature is a party listing of politically 29 Scinteia, November 10, 1971.
critical posts and the personnel eligible for them. 3 Scinteia, November 17, 1971.
26 Scinteia, November 5, 1971. See in this connec- "In this connection see the arguments presented
tion the article by Steven J. Staats, "Corruption in by Robert Price in "The Social Basis of Administra-
the Soviet System," Problems of Communism, 21 tive Behavior in a Transitional Polity: The Case of
(Jan.-Feb. 1972), 40-48. Ghana" (doctoral dissertation, University of California,
27 Scinteia, November 13, 1971. Berkeley, 1971), particularly chapters 1 and 5.
that devalues adherence to legal-rational rules. economic, and natural universes-their total environ-
The dictatorship of the proletariat is, after all, de- ment-as one in which all of the desired things in life
fined by Lenin as the "rule-unrestricted by law such as . . . friendship . . . honor, respect, status,
and based on force-of the proletariat over the power, influence, security, and safety, exist in finite
quantity and are always in short supply . .. hence it
bourgeoisie.... 32 Pile at the community level
follows that an individual or a family can improve a
and in the interaction between community and position only at the expense of others34 [emphasis
regime is the informal, covert equivalent of the added].
nomenclature at the official level; both are mecha-
nisms for dealing with a structure based on status, In short, peasants tend to define relationships in
not on rule considerations. zero-sum terms and to conceive of values rigidly
The most important point, then, is that from and concretely. What is so striking in this instance
the perspective of the structural dichotomization is the high degree of congruence between the tra-
it generated, the dictatorship of the proletariat ditional cultural ethos of a peasant society and
supported certain pre-Leninist political cultural several Leninist-Stalinist precepts. Just as for the
dispositions at both the elite and non-elite level of peasant, social relationships are zero-sum, so for
the new Marxist-Leninist society. Ironically, these Lenin and Stalin many of the relationships be-
dispositions are essentially antithetical to the ap- tween the Party and society are also zero-sum.
pearance of a Marxist-Leninist nation-state in Examples include the basic political question
which legal-rational (though not necessarily raised by Leninists, kto-Kovo or who-whom-
liberal-democratic) norms and institutions have a which political force will triumph? The outcome
major role.33 is seen as precluding long-term sharing of power:
It was asserted earlier that in at least two ways that is, either the bourgeoisie or the proletariat
the dichotomous and oppositional relationship of gains power-not both.
regime and society contributes to the maintenance Similarly, the rigid Stalinist conception of the
of a pre-Leninist political culture. We have Party's leading role and of the unitary nature of
examined the first, the reinforcement of a status leadership has made those whose political identi-
ordering of regime and society. The second per- ties were formed during the Stalinist period fear-
tains to the basic cultural ethos of a peasant-tra- ful that a shift to collegial leadership would
ditional society, an ethos captured in Foster's "dilute" the Party's power, place, and effective-
brilliant notion of "limited good." According to ness. Finally, there is the Leninist-Stalinist aver-
Foster, sion to faction; differences of opinion are often
broad areas of peasantbehaviorare patternedin such seen as a threat, as "weakening" the regime's
fashion as to suggest that peasants view their social, unity.35 It is remarkable how formally compatible
these Leninist-Stalinist "limited good" interpreta-
Stalin, Foundations
tions of basic structural considerations have been
32 of Leninism, pp. 45-46.
3 One can of course argue that a Marxist-Leninist with the "limited good" interpretations of value
regime cannot simultaneously maintain its political and structural considerations in a peasant society.
identity and incorporate legal-rational norms and in- Consequently, it is not surprising that the "limited
stitutions. In fact this assertion is one of the "pro-
verbs" in the field of Communist studies. It may
good" conception of the dictatorship of the pro-
be a correct one but has not been demonstrated letariat held by Lenin, Stalin, and their emulators
convincingly. Arguments about the incompatibility of in Eastern Europe, could enhance the traditional
Marxism-Leninism and Modernity often fail to recog- cultural postures of a peasant society and in turn
nize that all modern political communities are to be reinforced by them. As in the case of the hierar-
varying degrees characterized by a conflict between
several of the imperatives associated with modernity chical status relationship between regime and
and the imperatives associated with the particular society, a major link between the regime's concep-
ideology of a given regime. Viewed in this light, Lib-
eral as well as Leninist communities are character-
ized by persistent conflict between ideological com- 34George M. Foster, "Peasant Society and the
mitments and commitment to a legal-rational ethos. Image of Limited Good," American Anthropologist,
One can identify one ideology (i.e., liberalism) with 65 (April, 1965), 293-315, see 296-297.
1
a particular ethos (modernity) and then conclude One index of the modification of a Marxist-
by definition that because Leninists aren't liberal they Leninist regime's character is its approach to inter-
cannot be modern, or can only be modern if they nal party criticism. It is significant that since assum-
become liberal; but it would be more productive ing power Ceausescu has repeatedly stated that criti-
analytically (a) to establish the range and type of cism is not tantamount to disloyalty; however, the
conflicts that are typical of modern or modernizing resistance to implementing this nondogmatic (though
societies with different ideologies, (b) to scrutinize authoritarian) and nonlimited good notion of criti-
more critically the varying dimensions of modernity cism is still widespread. See Nicolae Ceausescu,
and then attempt to establish what aspects of mod- "Adunarea activului de partid al municipiului Bu-
ernity different regimes are likely to stress and what curesti," in Romania Pe Drumul Desavirsirii Con-
institutional definitions of modernity they are likely structiei Socialiste, vol. 3 (Bucuresti: Editura Po-
to posit. litica, 1969), pp. 199-200.
tion and definition of its organizational character nism between the two, and the perception of the
and the society's response to it was that society's public arena as a threatening, hostile, and alien
social composition. Romania was approximately sector. The Marxist-Leninist regime's employ-
eighty per cent peasant in the late 1940s. Peasants ment of violence resulted in significant sectors of
not only provided the regime with its major con- the population adopting a split posture, one of
stituency but also with a large proportion of its public compliance on the one hand and private
membership. If one realizes that the urban popu- avoidance, skepticism, or rejection on the other.
lation of Romania, particularly the industrial A syndrome of this order is perfectly consistent
population, was basically peasants recently turned with social psychological studies that have demon-
workers, one can better appreciate how easy it strated, "if threatened punishment [for non-
was for the large numbers of party cadres drawn compliance] is very high, then compliance [public
from the ranks of the peasantry or peasant-worker dependent influence] will occur without private
stratum to understand, accept, and operate with acceptance. There is no dissonance since the high
the Party's "limited good" conception of its own ... punishment provides sufficient basis for the
identity, tasks, and prerogatives.36 Here was a inconsistency between private belief or attitude
classic instance of the Party partially defeating and public behavior.38
its own purposes and not recognizing it. In its ef- And, in fact, it seems that the manner in which
fort to recruit and socialize cadres, to create "new and the extent to which most Marxist-Leninist
men,' its very ideological images and organiza- regimes employed coercion reinforced a cultural
tional definitions acted in part to reinforce unin- disposition that was highly calculative toward the
tentionally the traditional view of the relation- political realm, a posture of complying publicly in
ship between regime and society, a view that order to protect and preserve one's private do-
stressed the antagonistic, zero-sum character of main. Scalapino, for example, in his recent com-
that relationship. Once again the Party's attempts prehensive study of North Korea notes that "a
at transformation and consolidation produced a number of persons appear to adjust to the de-
mixed set of outcomes. mands of an authoritarian state by developing a
Along with the separation or dichotomization series of external responses including an intricate
of regime and society, an integral part of the dic- series of participatory actions that differ from and
tatorship of the proletariat in Romania and else- provide some protection for internal or private
where has been the regime's explicit and persistent responses."39Unlike third-world regimes in which
use of coercion in relations between regime and coercion and rewards are too low to produce
society and within the regime sector itself. This compliance with modern norms, and unlike re-
coercion had a major impact on the type of politi- gimes such as the Chinese, which appear to have
cal culture that has developed within these employed coercion more judiciously,40 in their
systems. formative stages system-building regimes em-
In a very perceptive article Emanuel Turczynski ployed too much coercion and thereby reinforced
has pointed out the chasm that historically existed what in certain respects might be termed a ghetto
between state and society in Romania. The ab- political culture. Before pursuing this point let me
sence of an indigenous middle class, the "village emphasize that the dictatorship of the proletariat
oriented cultural and social structure," and the in Romania and elsewhere has done more than
experience with foreign domination all con- unintentionally reinforce and enhance pre-Lenin-
tributed to a sharp difference between the private ist political cultural postures that were and re-
and social realms on the one hand and the public main antithetical to several of a Marxist-Leninist
and official realms on the other. Turczynski sug- regime's basic goals. This will become clearer in
gests that this state of affairs was not conducive to the final section of the article. One cannot, how-
the appearance of any effective popular identifica- ever, understand the current crises facing these
tion with the state.37The coercive character of the
dictatorship of the proletariat in certain respects 33Barry E. Collins and Bertram H. Raven, "Group
(though not all) reinforced this separation of the Structure: Attraction, Coalitions, Communication, and
private and public sectors of society, the antago- Power," in The Handbook of Social Psychology, vol.
4, ed., Gardner Lindzey and Elliot Aronson (Read-
"See the recent article by Zygmunt Bauman, "So- ing, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1969),
cial Dissent in the East European Political System," p. 181.
in the European Journal of Sociology, 11 (1971), 25- "IRobert Scalapino, and Chong-Sik Lee, Commu-
52, for a much needed and very useful discussion of nism in Korea, vol. 2 (Berkeley: University of Cali-
the importance of the "peasant factor" in the de- fornia Press, 1972), p. 847.
velopment of Marxist-Leninist regimes. In this connection see Thomas Bernstein, "Lead-
M
"Emanuel Turczynski, "The Background of Ro- ership and Mass Mobilization in the Soviet and
manian Fascism," in Native Fascism in the Suc- Chinese Collectivisation Campaigns of 1929-1930 and
cessor States, 1918-1945, ed. Peter F. Sugar (Santa 1955-1956: A Comparison," The China Quarterly,
Barbara, Calif.: ABC Clio Inc.), p. 109 and passim. 31 (July-September 1967), 1-47.
regimes without analyzing the ways in which they 1948-1964) the Romanian regime partially re-
did reinforce and enhance such postures. inforced the alienated posture of large segments
Historically, the Romanian community politi- of the Romanian population. The use of coercion
cal culture appears to have stressed the antagonis- and the easily identifiable source of that coercion
tic relationship between public and private -easy precisely because of the dichotomy the
spheres. Experience with the basically coercive, Party created between itself and society and be-
extractive, and status-based rule of Turks, Rus- cause of the concentration of decision-making
sians, Austrians, Hungarians, native boiars, and power within its boundaries-in certain respects
native regimes stimulated the development of sustained and increased the community distrust of
what often resembled the political culture of a things official, public, and political, and created a
ghetto. As in the past and as in a ghetto, under major obstacle for the regime in its current at-
the dictatorship of the proletariat the regime or tempts to create a more positive relationship with
official sphere represented "trouble" in being society.
identified as the locus of demands and sanctions The third feature of the dictatorship of the
rather than of political support and recognition. proletariat component of system building is the
The result was the adoption of a calculative, in- marked tendency of such a regime to fuse the
strumental, and often dissimulative approach to official or elite sector with the public sectors of
the official or public sphere of life. In this respect society.
the similarity to ghetto culture is quite clear. In one of Petru Dumitriu's novels, Incognito,
Rather than identify with regime values, norms, there is a passage describing a party member's re-
and goals, such as disciplined work, the com- action to the criticism made of one of the higher
munity developed a set of postures that in many party cadres at a social gathering. In response to
instances were antithetical to the regime's ex- the news of this occurrence the party member
pectations. Certainly from the Romanian party's exclaimed, "I can't understand why it has been
point of view its social investigations have too allowed.""' Phrased more formally, system-build-
often discovered individuals whose highest value ing regimes have tended to monopolize political
is trai usor (the easy life) and who place too high a discretion, initiative, and responsibility. Events do
value on timp liber (free time).4" And yet, each not occur, decisions are not made, and facts are
of these postures is an instance of an informal- often not recognized as facts until they are al-
adaptive response to a political structure that has lowed to occur or to be recognized.
until very recently related to society in extractive For such regimes the absence of a public do-
and coercive terms, that failed to and in fact main with an integrity separate from that of the
feared to identify with its society-a fear that may official-elite domain and the private-social do-
well be rational during the initial stages of a revo- main has several consequences: Lacking any sub-
lution but that produces mixed, unanticipated, stantial control over their own definition and role,
and undesired consequences for a revolutionary public institutions in such a regime often fail to
elite. elicit identification from those who work within
Estrangement is the quality that unites the them. Given the absence of any autonomous pub-
various postures we have referred to-the calcu- lic domain, the Party's demands that individuals
lative, instrumental approach to social tasks and identify with the public interest rather than with
official priorities, the emphasis on free time and their private interest are unrealistic; the political
the easy life. If, as at least one student of the topic reality is that only two discernible interests exist:
has argued, alienation "refers to an enduring the regime's and the individual's. Without a dif-
sense of estrangement from salient objects in ferentiated public domain capable of eliciting
specified contexts," and denotes "the absence of identification from large sectors of society and
basic attachments to and identifications with with a regime that minimizes its commitments to
salient objects in a particular context,"42then it is society, it is not surprising to find so many in-
plausible to conclude that during the period of stances of theft, pilfering, and lack of involvement
the dictatorship of the proletariat (approximately with one's work. One could argue that given the
fusion of official and public sectors and the low
41
See the article by Alexandru Ivasiuc in Scinteia, popular identification with these sectors, the pub-
December 30, 1971, "Republica Muncii" (The Re- lic domain becomes the equivalent of a "treasure
public of Work); see also "Distractii inofensive care
afecteaza grave destinele unor tineri," Scinteia, Sep- find" in a traditional peasant society. In such so-
tember 18, 1971; "Parazitul cu blazon," Scinteia, cieties based on the notion of "limited good" one
September 13, 1971; and "Acolo unde educatia si can only afford to appear more prosperous by
echitatea erau doar teme de sedinta ...," Scinteia, attributing one's new wealth to a source outside
December 14, 1971.
42See Jack Citrin, "Political Disaffection in Amer- 43Petru Dumitriu, Incognito (New York: The Mac-
ica, 1958-1968," (doctoral dissertation, University of millan Company, 1964), p. 53. Stress in the origi-
California, Berkeley, 19L72),pp. 66 and 73. nal.
the local community-simply because in a society there is a corresponding tendency to emphasize

based on an ethos in which resources are fixed, if the prestige component of one's position. The fact
one person adds to his well-being, it means some- that historically the position of official was seen in
one else has become less well-off. Now, given the terms of status and power rather than functions
political structure of a system-building regime, and services has only made the bias towards the
specifically, its monopoly of all nonprivate do- prestige component easier to act on.
mains, the public domain (i.e., the commercial There is yet another reason, however, for the
sector of the economy) becomes for many the failure of many officials to act consistently with
equivalent of a "treasure find." Prevented from the formal definition of their position. In a system-
effectively identifying as participants by the struc- building regime based on the dictatorship of the
ture of the regime itself and often left to their own proletariat, where the Party places a premium on
devices to supplement their income, the incidence exercising a monopoly over politically relevant
of ciupeli marunte (petty pilfering) is understand- behavior and where the definition of politically
able. While regimes such as the Romanian still do relevant behavior is deliberately diffuse rather
not recognize the causes of such behavior, they than specific, an official who bases his behavior
seem to be aware of the ethos that informs such primarily on the formal role prescription of his
behavior. One indication is the idiom that is em- position is in effect posing a challenge to that
ployed when such practices are criticized. In a monopoly. For to base official behavior on the
recent attack on theft, pilfering, and lack of work formal role prescriptions of a given position is to
discipline the author of an article in Scinteia have as one's main referent a universalistic, imper-
argued that "illicit gains are not gifts of chance sonal set of action determinants. In the frame-
[i.e., a 'treasure find'], they are the fruit of re- work of the dictatorship of the proletariat, how-
peated violations of work discipline and of the ever, the Party does not accept the value of such
law."44Apparently certain elite members are sensi- impersonality or neutrality. In fact, the dictator-
tive to the persistence of semi-traditional orienta- ship of the proletariat is defined explicitly in sub-
tions to the public domain. stantive, not procedural terms. The discrepancy
A second consequence of the regime's monop- between the concern of regime officials with status
oly of the public domain, of its concentration of and their frequently poor performance in terms of
decision-making power, has been that those who the formal definition of their role is not primarily
have positions within the regime but not neces- due, as in third world settings, to the conflict and
sarily elite positions within the Party tend to incongruence between modern role prescriptions
separate the status and role components of their (i.e., treat all clients equally) and traditional cul-
position. In his recent work on the social basis of tural elements (i.e., favor one's relatives) but to
administrative behavior in Ghana, Price dis- the political penalities that often accompany at-
covered that Ghanaian bureaucrats tend to sepa- tention to role-prescriptions rather than to politi-
rate the status or prestige component from the cal cues. Because regimes interested in transform-
role or behavioral component of their positions. ing an existing society and consolidating the nu-
His explanation is that the role demands of posi- clei of a new one are committed to controlling and
tions in a modern organization are incongruent defining the premises and substance of politically
with fundamental elements of traditional African relevant behavior, any such behavior with a non-
culture and that consequently one would expect party premise as its major referent is a potential
this separation to persist as long as those tradi- challenge. What is routine behavior for an official
tionally prominent elements retain their impor- in a non-revolutionary context becomes an illegiti-
tance.45In Marxist-Leninist countries, particularly mate initiative for one in a revolutionary setting.
in the rural areas, one can find a tendency to sepa- The consequence is that in such a regime context
rate the prestige from the behavioral component one discovers that officials are reluctant to take
of official positions, and it is often related to the the formal definitions of their positions seriously.
Party's organizational weakness in such areas, In light of the structure of the regime and its
the low level of ideological sophistication among political-ideological orientation, this is a quite ra-
the cadres, and the claims made on them by tional stance to adopt. The net result of all of this
families and friends. Additional and distinctive is that in a third-world peasant society there are
factors, however, are at work in Marxist-Leninist societal forces working against the integration of
systems that lead officials to separate the prestige the status and role components of a position, and
and role components of their positions. Given the in a peasant society subject to the dictatorship of
sharp distinction made in the dictatorship of the the proletariat there are additional regime forces
proletariat between elite and non-elite positions, working in the same direction. Both forces work
4 Scinteia, September 15, 1971. against an effective appreciation of what role- and
4 Price, "The Social Basis of Administrative Be- rule-based behavior implies and support a politi-
havior," pp. 72-86. cal culture that views politically relevant behavior
as dependent on permission by and familiarity Mobilization and Political Culture. A second de-
with authoritative figures. fining feature of all Marxist-Leninist regimes is
A final consequence of the regime's monopoly their preoccupation with the rate of social de-
of the public domain is the premium that is often velopment. Communist governments emphasize
placed on withholding critical information from the fulfillment of potentiality. "Structurally, the
the purview of decision makers. Within system- political community is the means of translating
building regimes a particularly large number of potentiality into some sort of reality."47
events are hushed up (musamalizat). It was argued A major feature of this mobilization ethos and
earlier that intra-elite mutual protective behavior the corresponding relationship between regime
is partly a function of the Party's corporate group and society are the targets and priorities that are
attitude of protecting "its own." However, mutual authoritatively established by the elite and that
protection also occurs because the Party assumes are used to gauge both the regime's and society's
responsibility for so much. Given the scope of the performance. Berliner has analyzed the character
Party's responsibility, it is not surprising that and consequences of this political structure in the
cadres who were unaware of misdeeds in their Soviet regime's economic sectors. Berliner related
sectors often work to prevent such deeds from be- the existence of extremely ambitious targets, tight
coming widely known since exposure will result time constraints, scarce resources, and authorita-
in their own punishment. Such behavior could be tive sanctions ("the plan is law") to a series of
documented throughout Eastern Europe and the informal-adaptive responses that included search-
Soviet Union by a random search of party news- ing for a safety factor, hoarding, and dissimula-
papers. In his study of North Korea, Scalapino tion.48Though to date no study of this magnitude
has found a classic example of this phenomenon. has been undertaken for other system-building
There it was brought to the attention of a pro- regimes, one could in fact find similar informal-
vincial secretary that a "half-won business" was adaptive responses in most East European re-
operating. He was unfamiliar with this term and it gimes.49What is most significant about Berliner's
was explained that this referred to prostitution. findings is that they can be generalized to other
The secretary and several other cadres carried out sectors of society.
an investigation, identified the individuals in- In their effort to create an ethos of expanding
volved and concluded, "This was a serious prob- good-an ethos that views resources and values as
lem for us, because if we reported this matter to complementary and dynamic rather than mutually
higher offices of the Party, we would all be sub- exclusive and static-mobilization regimes often
ject to disciplinary treatment, including the kun unintentionally generate an understanding of re-
Party secretary and myself, because we had al- sources and values based on "limited good." For
lowed such a thing to develop. It was the season example, just as in traditional peasant societies
of the annual committee inspection and. . . we families jealously guard their own interests rather
did everything to prevent them from reaching the than cooperate extensively, so factory managers
hamlet . . . Later (we) called on those implicated in a mobilization system are judged by their sub-
... We could not implicate them in any case, ordinates according to how successfully they de-
however, or we would have been deeply in- fend their factory's interest in opposition to that of
volved."46 Paradoxically, then, the Party's as- the ministry or trust. As one of Berliner's respon-
sumption of total responsibility for the public dents commented: "We look to the director to
domain contributes in certain instances to col- promote our interests, to push through for us at
lusion between elite and nonelite actors regarding the ministry and to defend the interests of the
illegal behavior, and to the withholding of im- plant."50And just as a factory in such a system is
portant information since its release may result in always on the lookout for a safety factor and
negative sanctions against regime members. The prone to hoard resources, so individuals in such a
consequence of all of this is the development of a system tend to hoard "connections." Connections
regime political culture that is composed in part are as jealously guarded by individuals and
of dissimulation and complicity. Monopolization
of the public domain, the fusing of elite and public "David E. Apter, The Politics of Modernization
spheres, and the corresponding denial of institu- (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965), p. 31.
tional integrity to public institutions (economic, " Joseph S. Berliner, Factory and Manager in the
administrative, social, and political) has in some USSR (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
1957), pp. 318-329 and passion.
ways reinforced the traditional political culture 49 For a recent analysis which points out differences
which viewed all relationships in terms of their between the Romanian economic structure and the
hierarchical rather than their complementary Soviet economic structure see David Granick, "The
character and which defined responsibility as the Orthodox Model of the Soviet-Type Firm Versus Ro-
manian Experience," (International Development Re-
avoidance of public initiative.
search Center Working Paper, Indiana University,
1972).
4 Scalapino, Communism in Korea, vol. 2, p. 777. 5 Berliner, p. 230.
families as material resources are by factories, and policy . . . and we interest ourselves in other
for similar reasons. Both the ethos and the struc- things."54
ture of a mobilization regime are antagonistic to One could conclude that the changes in regime
the routinization of tasks and the authority of im- in Romania have been superficial and that al-
personal-stable rule. Striving to insure that the though the form changes, the substance (i.e., cul-
potential of the society is completely realized, the tural dispositions) remains. Such an argument
regime defines targets, goals, and priorities sub- would itself be superficial. The reality is more
stantively rather than procedurally, and rapidly complex and intriguing as the character of the
redefines them. Thus a premium is placed on in- industrial production process in system-building
formal adaptive mechanisms (signified by the regimes with a mobilization structure illustrates.
Russian term "blat"'' and the Romanian term A major characteristic of production in such a
"pile" or pull) that allow for some stability and setting is the phenomenon of "storming," an un-
certainty in response to what is often perceived as even attention to tasks, varying intensity of job
an arbitraryand threatening regime. Both blat and performance, and "campaign"-like resolution of
pile refer to relationships and dispositions that tasks. These characteristics are a function of the
obstruct the development of a political culture regime structure itself and are highly congruent
based on overt, public, cooperative, and rule- with traditional behavioral and attitudinal pos-
based relationships. Instead they reinforce the tures toward time and antithetical to modern
traditional community and regime political cul- notions of task performance based on scheduled
tures with their stress on covert, personalized, -i.e., measured, continuous-behavior. In this
hierarchical relationships involving complicity instance one has an example of a regime con-
rather than public agreements." cerned with and in some major respects succeeding
The ethos and structure of mobilization regimes in transforming the character of an entire social
influence the political culture of a society in a system and yet actually reinforcing certain cul-
number of other ways. Along with the generation tural postures that are antithetical to its basic goal.
and reinforcement of a "limited good" perspec- A third and highly significant consequence of
tive, mobilization regimes often unintentionally the mobilization structure and ethos of a system-
reinforce traditional conceptions of time. In an building regime is its connection with dissimula-
interesting book written in 1904, an insightful ob- tion as a modal behavioral posture in Marxist-
server of Romanian society noted that Romanians Leninist societies. Berliner discovered that man-
at all levels of society worked in an "unregulated agers who wish to maintain their positions sys-
rhythm," and oscillated between periods of hard tematically engage in the practice of dissimulation.
intense work and periods of prolonged inactivity. In Russian the term is ochkovtiratelstvo which
In Radulescu-Motru's words, "We [Romanians] literally refers to cheating at card playing by alter-
are capable of any virtue so long as it doesn't re- ing the character of a card. "In economic activity,
quire too great a persistence on our part.""3In it [ochkovtiratelstvo] signifies the simulation of a
1972, Nicolae Ceausescu, leader of a Marxist- successful performance by some deceptive manipu-
Leninist regime that has been in power for lation."55As with the case of hoarding, we should
twenty-five years, noted that policies initiated like to suggest that dissimulation is a general
several years ago (at the National Party Con- feature of a society and system based on a mobili-
ference in December 1967), "while leading to zation ethos and structure.
positive results are not being carried out con- Several things can be said about dissimulation
sistently." He continued, "As a matter of fact, as a form of behavior. To begin with, it should be
comrades, this [lack of measured persistence] is a differentiated from formalism, which refers to
habit of ours. We begin an action with a great deal strict adherence to external forms, usually to in-
of noise, obtain a series of results, but after a adequate and inflexible understanding of a role's
period of time we lose sight of segments of the meaning. As Price has suggested, formalism is
often fostered by the conflict between established
51 According to Berliner, blat "implies the use of
societal norms and official or regime norms.56
personal influence for obtaining certain favors to
which a firm or individual is not legally or formally
Dissimulation refers to something related but
entitled," p. 182. quite distinct. What is involved is not simply rigid
52A number of phrases in contemporary Romanian adherence to rules in order to reduce uncertainty,
parlance refer to different forms of complicity. Re- but also "deceptive manipulation," the conscious
cently in Scinteia an article dealing with certain il- adoption of false appearances. This posture does
legal practices in a factory found "un spirit de
'amabila," ingaduinto reciproca, de 'binevoitoare' tol- not arise as much from the conflict between estab-
eranta, de 'delicata' inchidere a ochilor" (November
30, 1971). All of these phrases refer to semilegal 54Scinteia, February 20, 1972, p. 2.
or illegal covert cooperation. 5 Berliner, Factory and Manager in the USSR,
53 C. Radulescu-Motru, Cultura Romana si Poli- p. 114.
ticianismul (Bucuresti: Cultura Nationala, 1904), 5 Price, "The Social Basis of Administrative Be-
p. 56. havior," pp. 72-86.
wished traditional norms and newly initiated member noted that "here in this cooperative we
modern norms as from (a) the perceived need to are neighbors and relatives. There are too many
deflect the regime's attention from possible or real relatives in the cooperative, and it isn't wise to get
under-fulfillment of tasks, and (b) from the gen- on the wrong side of them."57 In nonpriority
eral desire to minimize the scope of regime inter- arenas, such as the rural, given the scarcity of their
ference in one's private and social life. Dissimula- resources (i.e., time, cadres, goods) system-build-
tion is based on fear and avoidance. It is an adap- ing regimes have emphasized political control
tive response to a regime that, in its concern for more than cultural transformation. (b) Another
realizing the entire society's potential, periodically area consists of modern-industrial projects in
attempts to penetrate most areas within the so- urban settings. The likelihood is that in these in-
ciety. As a political posture, dissimulation is stances there has been a greater transformation of
hardly something foreign to the experience of the general and political culture reflecting the work-
Romanian population, which in its history has setting, nature of work, and the correlates of an
had to develop adaptive-informal postures in industrial milieu. (c) There is also an intermediate
order to maintain a private zone of unofficial, area that combines modern forms and traditional
covert attitudes and practices while publicly com- practices.58The commercial and service sectors in
plying with the coercive, extractive demands of system-building regimes provide a good deal of
alien rulers. The demands of a system-building evidence for the argument that there is no simple
regime have reinforced the Romanian popula- demarcation between traditional and modern po-
tion's tendency to separate sharply the public and litical cultures, between conceptions of authority
private arena, and to perceive them in antagonis- based on hierarchical, personalized, and com-
tic rather than complementary terms. Dissimula- mand considerations, and conceptions of au-
tion is the posture, response, and strategy that thority based on complementary, rule, and leader-
integrates the two arenas. In such a society one ship considerations. As the Romanian regime it-
often finds a highly calculative and selective recog- self has noted the commercial and service sectors
nition of regime authority. This stance takes the in urban as well as rural areas are major sites for
form not so much of political opposition as a the practice of bakshish. It is, in fact, noted that
strong antipolitical privatism in which family and many individuals attempt to get jobs in these areas
personal interests are emphasized at the expense precisely because they are so lucrative. The inci-
of regime and societal interests. dence of corruption (or "behavior which deviates
Finally, system-building regimes with a mobili- from the formal duties of a public role because of
zation ethos and structure are based on a "com- private-regarding [personal, close family, private
manding heights" principle that entails the at- clique] pecuniary or status gains . . . ")59 in the
tempted transformationof certain areas, roles, and service and commercial sectors provides another
values and the attempted control of nonpriority good example of regime and societal forces com-
areas, roles, and values. What differentiates a bining to produce behavior that is antithetical to
revolutionary Marxist-Leninist regime from a official values. It is not accidental that the com-
radical nationalist regime is not the Marxist- mercial and service realms are characterized by
Leninist's attempt substantively and simulta- widespread corruption. In a traditional society
neously to transform all areas of a social system services are not rendered on the basis of imper-
but its determination (a) to control and/or trans- sonal rules but on the basis of personal recogni-
form critical points at all levels of the social sys- tion; in the commercial and service realms (in
tem and (b) to prevent existing social forces from contrast to the industrial realm) personal, en-
defining their resentment and hostility in terms of counter is the basis of exchange and productivity.
political opposition at any point or level of the If, in addition one realizes that these are low
society. priority realms for system-building regimes, it is
This pattern of transformation and control, of not surprising that corruption is so pervasive
revolutionary laissez faire, contributes in the short within them. Actors within these realms, while
run at least to a highly heterogeneous and often complying with the externally imposed quotas or
incompatible set of political cultures. One can targets, concentrate on maximizing their personal,
distinguish at least three types of areas in system- private interests much as cooperative farmers re-
building regimes: (a) poor rural areas experiencing
more political control than cultural transforma- 5 Scinteia,
November 22, 1971.
tion. In such areas traditional-peasant political 5S In this "area" one can find many instances of
culture probably persists to a great extent. A what Fred Riggs has termed "prismatic behavior."
classic illustration is the investigation of a Ro- See Administration in Developing Countries (Boston:
Hou-hton Mifflin Co., 1964).
manian cooperative in which a number of illegal 59J. S. Nye, "Corruption and Political Develop-
practices were discovered. Asked about why such ment: A Cost-Benefit Analysis," American Political
practices were not criticized in the assembly, one Science Review, 61 (June, 1967), 417-427, see p. 419.
late organizational tasks to their interest in their that in Orthodoxy, "doctrine comes to be ad-
private plots. This propensity to deal instrumen- ministered in stereotyped formulas accompanied
tally and calculatively with official responsibilities by symbolic acts.... For ninety-nine per cent of
and ingeniously with personal interests character- these Christians, religion exists only as a cere-
izes many actors in all realms of the society but monious ritual, in which it is externalised."62At
given the low-priority status of the commercial the community level, then, a major defining ex-
and service sectors and their personal-encounter perience for the mass of the Romanian population
character, this propensity is less constrained here involved uncritical adherence to a belief system
and consequently flourishes. that was manifested in terms of symbol and ritual
and a private life that remained basically un-
Production-Mentality and Political Culture. The touched by the formal-ritualistic components of
third and final aspect of a system-building regime that same belief system. This separation of re-
to be considered here is its conception of tasks. ligious ritual from private life characterized not
We are particularly interested in the way in which only the mass of the population but also many of
system-building regimes approach the task of cul- the Orthodox clergy.63 Such a separation of spheres
tural transformation, a task that all Marxist- was not necessarily considered hypocritical, be-
Leninist regimes assert as a major goal. System- cause the integrity of religious belief tended to be
building regimes tend to see the resolution of this identified with the correct application of ritual.
task in derivative terms: it is assumed that as the In short, ritual was regarded as both substance
consequence of constructing a new political, eco- and form. It was out of this milieu that the faction
nomic, and social system a new and congruent cul- headed by Gheorghiu-Dej came to power and
ture will emerge. Marxist-Leninist leaders often established the dictatorship of the proletariat.
quote Lenin to the effect that "the transformation Under Dej the party belief system was in some
of all customs and practices . .. is a work of critical respects as dogmatic and externalized as
decades."60I am suggesting, however, something Orthodoxy's belief system had been.64This ten-
slightly more complex: the way in which certain dency to externalize and ritualize the structure and
Marxist-Leninist regimes deal with the task of cul- ethos of the new regime was not simply a function
tural transformation is often contradictory and in of Dej's socialization in an Orthodox milieu. One
part self-defeating. System-building regimes have must relate this socialization (Dej's as well as that
tended to neglect the cultural realm in favor of of his followers and major sectors of Romanian
other sectors of society and have been selective, society)to two other elements: the identity-defining
often formalistic, in their efforts at transforming experiences of the Romanian Communist Party
culture. The result has been an uneven and mixed (R. C. P.), and the adoption of a Stalinist ap-
developmental profile. The reasons behind this are proach to social transformation and political
varied and involve several elements: elements that consolidation.
are shared by certain elites (i.e., a Stalinist or neo- The Romanian party did not have a mass base
Stalinist conception and approach to the tasks of or following before assuming power and was
transformation and consolidation); elements spe- consequently highly concerned with identity ques-
cific to individual elites (i.e., their political tions. Its adoption of a very rigid interpretation of
identity-defining experiences); and elements spe- Marxism-Leninism was a response to its isolation
cific to individual community cultures (i.e., the during the interwar period from effective and
type -of religious belief and organization that sustained interaction with a mass following, inse-
characterizes a given society). An analysis of the curity over its "proletarian character" in the
Gheorghiu-Dej regime in Romania will illustrate midst of a peasant society, and conflicts with
this argument. parties whose ideology was primarily oriented to
Historically, formalism has been a noted and
criticized component of the relationship between 62 Adolf Harnack, "On Eastern and Western Chris-
Romanian institutions and Romanian society. In tianity," in Talcott Parsons et al., Theories of So-
ciety, vol. 2 (New York: The Free Press, 1961),
observing a major Romanian institution, the Or- pp. 1114-1115 and passion.
thodox Church, Radulescu-Motru noted that it 63 In novels such as Zaharia Stancu's Barefoot
differed from Protestant churches in the West in (New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc., 1971), one
being more oriented to ritual and formalistic can find very insightful portrayals of the clergy's place
in the community, and the community's perception
practices than to practical moral and political of the clergy.
lessons.6"In a similar vein, Adolph Harnack noted 64To suggest that Dej was influenced by the Ortho-
dox milieu of his society does not imply that he
0 See for example D. Mazilu, "Socialismul- was religious or accepted the substantive tenets of
orinduirea cinstei si dreptatii," Scinteia, September Orthodoxy; only that certain formal attributes of
3, 1971. Orthodoxy were important in shaping the way in
" Radulescu-Motru, Cultura Romana si Politi- which he approached and interpreted his own be-
cianismul, p. 97. liefs.
national culture and the peasantry. The Ro- pected changes in cultural dispositions have not
manian leadership lacked the historical experi- occurred as consistently or as widely as was
ence, political confidence, and consequently the hoped. Instead, traditional expectations of status
ideological sophistication that enabled a party defined as prestige have persisted in the face of
such as the Chinese to approach the basic social formalistic demands that they disappear.
force in a traditional society-the peasantry-in a The restrictive understanding that characterizes
flexible rather than dogmatic, repressive fashion. a production-mentality approach to cultural
As suggested, the third element behind the Ro- transformation appears to complement the selec-
manian party's formal and dogmatic approach to tive character of a "commanding heights" ap-
cultural transformation was its adoption of a proach to social change. Both the commanding
Stalinist strategy in dealing with the tasks of heights and the production-mentality orientations
transformation and consolidation. This strategy neglect critical elements in the units they are deal-
consists of "walking on one leg," of stressing the ing with. The commanding heights or "revolu-
organizational and instrumental components of tionary laissez faire" approach places a relatively
development at the expense of a direct concern low priority on the rural-agricultural areas and in
with multiple forms of political education and certain respects the private arenas of society as
participation. The interaction of these three ele- well; the production-mentality approach fails to
ments-a community culture shaped by Ortho- appreciate adequately or to come to terms with
doxy, a party whose historic experience made it the expressive dimension of human behavior. The
reluctant to engage rather than repress the combination of a commanding heights mobiliza-
peasantry and its culture, and a Stalinist conception effort and a production-mentality creates a
tion of its political tasks-contributed to a dog- milieu in societies and regimes such as the Ro-
matic, ritualistic, and formalistic approach to the manian in which individuals are in effect rewarded
task of cultural transformation. A striking illus- for attending simply to their own interests both at
tration of the uneven development that has re- work and in private settings. Within such a con-
sulted was discussed in the party paper, Scinteia. text those individuals who are pusi pe capatuiala
Under the heading, "Any work is clean, only (stimulated by the prospect of gain) and func-
laziness is dirty," the correspondents reported tionaries who nu-si vad decit interesele for (don't
that several high school graduates were demand- see anything but their own interest) are reacting
ing office positions and refusing skilled-labor po- rationally and predictably to the regime's struc-
sitions in a factory. Interviewing the family of one ture and ethos.
graduate, the correspondents quickly discovered Through their organization and ethos, then,
that the father and mother had successfully so- system-building regimes have stimulated a series
cialized their son in a highly traditional fashion. of informal-adaptive responses-behavioral and
Both they and their son were shocked to think attitudinal-that are in many respects consistent
that anyone who had been educated and who with and supportive of certain basic elements of
"spoke so beautifully" (Ce frumos vorbeste!) the traditional political culture in these societies.
could be considered for a laborer's position.66 This These elements in turn are antithetical to the ap-
is not an isolated incident. The Romanian (and pearance of a regime and society with an ethos
other) regimes are beginning to reap a harvest that and structure predicated on a complementary rela-
is plentiful but unexpected and certainly unde- tionship between the public and private realms,67
sired. While the regime has been quite successful on the viability of impersonal rules and norms,
in its attempts to increase the education and skill and on the value of egalitarianism expressed in
of many individuals, the corresponding and ex- the role of effective participant.
As the Romanian scholar Radulescu-Motru
''The Chinese model of transformation and con- noted, there is a major difference between a social
solidation differs from the Stalinist precisely in giv- conglomerate and a viable nation-state. According
ing lesser weight to the production mentality. Some to Motru, the basic condition for transforming
scholars in effect combine the Leninist-Stalinist mod-
els and view Chinese development as a deviant case. such a conglomerate into a nation is the creation
I would view both Stalin and Mao as Leninists who of a political formula that comes to terms with and
have emphasized and partially revised the major ele- reflects a conscious, sustained, and direct concern
ments of the Leninist political-ideological paradigm. with a society's cultural dimensions.68 Recently,
As these revisions have drawn on different elements
of the paradigm the resulting models do differ in
significant respects. One can still argue, however "II am currently working on a theoretical essay
(though for various reasons an argument of that that approaches and interprets the nation-building pro-
order is not feasible at this point) that both models cess from the perspective of the emergence of a
are in the political tradition of Lenin (just as Bendix public domain that is distinct in character from the
and Parsons with all their real differences may be state (or official), social and private domains.
said to be in the intellectual tradition of Weber). 68 C. Radulescu-Motru, Romanismul (Bucuresti:
66 Scinteia, September 29, 1971. Cultura Nationala, 1936). For students of con-
many Marxist-Leninist regimes have begun to ap- But it is incumbent on us to transform man at the
preciate his general point. There is for example same rate, so that he will be capable of mastering
the critical observation made in Scinteia that not new techniques ... and new ways of thinking."70
"all leadership elements, members of party com- Taken together, Ceausescu's proposals of early
mittees [or] basic party bureaus have extended July (1971), and his speech on November 3rd
their observation to see how men are working, make it quite clear that culture, ideology, and
how they are living, what preoccupies them, how education are now priority issues. There are two
they think. We have been content with the fact interesting and neglected aspects of this new focus.
that the plan is realized."69 Political culture has First, there is the continuing, if contradictory,7"
become a salient issue for Marxist-Leninist re- tendency to see the bourgeois past as the single
gimes, including the Romanian. It is to the origins source of a political culture that does not ade-
of this increased sensitivity, the type of responses quately approximate regime expectations. For ex-
offered by one regime, the Romanian, and the ample, in his November 3rd speech Ceausescu
political significance of these responses that we blamed the incidence of "parasitism" in Romania
shall now turn. on the mentality generated by the exploiting
classes, and he condemned the influence of bour-
The Conflict and Resolution of Opposing
geois customs for the indifferent, calculating ap-
Political Structure-CultureSets proach of Romanian workers towards socialist
During the last decade most Marxist-Leninist property.72This tendency to externalize the source
system-building regimes have indicated their of problems, a characteristic response of any or-
awareness of the growing complexity of their so- ganization concerned with minimizing the internal
cieties. The political significance of this complexity costs of structural and cultural redefinition, limits
lies not so much in the noted "structural differen- the regime's ability to see and act on the multiple
tiation" that attends the developmental process as and frequently regime-generated causes of such a
in the increase in the number of individuals and political culture.
groups perceiving themselves as relatively unrec- Second, there is the highly instrumental ra-
ognized politically, economically, socially and tionale behind the current appreciation of the
ideologically by the regime. Twenty-five years of cultural domain. Thus, in an authoritative article,
mobilization and industrialization have created a Presidium member Gh. Pana73 says that as the
varied set of social groups with different defining regime restructures its relations with Romanian
features (partially antagonistic, partially comple- society to allow for greater organizational recog-
mentary) and have confronted these regimes with nition of various social elements, a cultural "revo-
the major pressing problem of political integra- lution" is necessary to insure the correct interpre-
tion. The particular form this issue assumes and tation of what this new relationship implies, the
the particular response it elicits vary according to competent performance of complex tasks, and the
the leadership, international position, history, and harmonious integration of the regime's multiple
composition of individual communist parties and goals. Two aspects of Pana's argument warrant
according to the cultural and social character of attention: (a) culture has not become equal in
each society. What is common to all such regimes, status with industrialization and social change
however, is the growing salience of the integration but has become increasingly significant at this
issue as these regimes begin to come to terms with point in time since it affects the regime's ability to
the task of modernization and its imperative of enhance its capacity to direct the continued de-
regime-society complementarity rather than re- velopment of Romanian society and (b) at least
gime-society dichotomy. in Ceausescu and Pana's view the cultural revolu-
tion is not considered a retrograde neo-Stalinist
Recognition of the Problem. In a speech delivered
at a leading industrial center, the general secretary
70 Scinteia, December 4, 1971.
of the Romanian Communist Party pointed out 71 It is contradictory because on a number of
to the assembled workers that, "As you can see, occasions Ceausescu has explicitly argued that de-
we have had an easy time constructing factories. fects can no longer be blamed on the "bourgeois
past," i.e., Nicolae Ceausescu, Romcnia Pe Drumul
Construirii Societatii Socialiste Multilateral Dezvol-
tate, vol. 4 (Bucuresti: Editura Politica, 1970), p.
temporary Africa and Latin America with their in- 665.
terest in neocolonialism, linkage-politics, and frag- 72 Nicolae Ceausescu, "Expunerea cu privire la
mented societies, and for students of nation building Programul P.C.R. Ronania Literara, Novem-
in general, Motru's work and the debate that took ber 4, 1971, p. 6.
place in Romania in the latter part of the nineteenth 73 Gheorghe Pana, "Conducerea politica de catre
and early twentieth century are of real comparative P.C.R. a intregii activitati de faurire a societatii
value. socialist multilateral dezvoltate," Lupta de Clasa,
69 Scinteia, December 14, 1971. 12 (December 1971), pp. 3-15.
development but the condition for a new non- time challenged the very regime that produced
Stalinist relationship between regime and society.74 them.77 This dialectical process has been charac-
teristic of all system-building regimes and has
An Analytic Specification of the Conflict. Cur- generated political crises in both Novotny's
rently, the Romanian, along with other Com- Czechoslovakia and Gomulka's Poland. As a
munist parties, faces the politically complex task consequence of their mobilization and indus-
of reconciling two antagonistic constituencies; trialization policies, system-building regimes cre-
constituencies with a preference for opposing or- ate strata of skilled workers, educated peasants,
ganizational formats and with different ap- and professionals as well as urban-industrial and
proaches to authority. More simply, it is a conflict technological-scientific work settings.
between the Gheorghiu-Dej legacy and the re- These situational or societal developments ac-
formist Ceausescu posture. Between the years company changes in the social composition of the
1952 and 1964, the Dej regime was based on Party and an increasing attention within the Party
ritualistic, coercive, arbitrary, and personalistic to the task of modernization. As these skilled and
principles. It is important to note that this kind more articulate strata become more numerous
of regime was not entirely unfamiliar or alien to and as the Party becomes increasingly concerned
the experience and social composition of Roma- with modernization, the conflict between many of
nian society. In fact, one might hypothesize that the current regime's defining features and the type
the stability of Dej's regime was partially due to of structure-culture set linked to the task and
the congruence between the structure and ethos of ethos of modernization becomes increasingly
his rule and the historic experience, social com- manifest. The conflict may be viewed symboli-
position, and notion of authority held by large cally as one between rules and patrons at the elite
sectors of Romanian society.75One need not con- level, between contracts and blat (see footnote 51)
clude from this hypothesis that the regime was at the regime level, and between merit and pile
highly legitimate.7 One can, however, arrive at a (connections) at the community level. The conflict
more sophisticated understanding of the relation- is between those who wish to introduce modern-
ship that existed between regime and society. If formal, empirical, and leadership-premises into
indeed the formal organization of this regime regime-society relationships and those who wish to
generated a regime political culture that in many maintain or extend neo-traditional-substantive,
respects was congruent with and reinforced the dogmatic, and command-premises. It is a con-
traditional community political culture, then this flict between leaders capable of entertaining a
very congruence contributed to the regime's sta- wider range of solutions to problems and leaders
bility during a period of comprehensive and in- with a more restrictive political mentality, between
tense societal dislocation. those who wish to maintain a regime-society rela-
The Dej regime, however, did not merely rein- tionship based on domination and avoidance and
force traditional political culture postures. those who wish to establish a relationship based on
Through its policies of mobilization and indus- manipulation and selective recognition. Finally,
trialization it created new social groups and corre- it is a conflict between those who favor a regime-
sponding political and cultural postures that in society relationship that generates an "oblique"
"Of course there are some Stalinists in the party
political culture: one stressing the dichotomiza-
who do see the "cultural revolution" in Stalinist tion of public and private arenas and placing a
terms. More seriously, given the lack of an alter- premium on the private, covert presentation of
native political tradition in the party, any move demands (i.e., crypto-politics),78 and those who
away from the recent emphasis on modernization may
necessarily and somewhat unintentionally assume a "At another point in his recent work, Polyarchy,
neo-Stalinist cast. Dahl notes correctly that political culture studies
" For the analytic statement that this argument is have focused on "stable and persistent outlooks . . ."
based on see the excellent piece by Harry Eckstein and that "investigation of political cultures may
in his Division and Cohesion in Democracy (Prince- easily neglect sources of change . . ." pp. 166-167.
ton: Princeton University Press, 1966), pp. 225-289. In this article we are explicitly concerned with con-
76 In fact for many sectors of Romanian society, scious and partially successful efforts at creating a
and one may argue for many other societies ruled new political culture with the resulting conflict be-
by Marxist-Leninist parties, the question of legiti- tween cultures and the attempts to resolve this con-
macy defined as politically conscious consent was flict.
not a major question at all. Defined in this way " An illustration of this "oblique culture" is found
legitimacy presupposes the existence of a participa- in an article in Scinteia (November 14, 1971). While
tory constituency and tradition. The situation was being interviewed the director of a plant "was in-
quite different in peasant, patriarchal, and authori- terrupted by an associate who tried to whisper some-
tarian Romania. A situation of this order does not thing in his ear." "Speak clearly" the director said.
remove the issue of regime-society relations; but it But the associate attempted to find a favorable angle
should sensitize the analyst to the task of specify- to whisper in the director's ear. The director re-
ing the dimensions of such in light of a specific his- sponded, "What you say is of no interest, the law
toric reality. must be applied." The correspondent asked what all
favor a political culture stressing the complemen- As for the society, the percentage of peasants
tary character of private and public arenas and has decreased at least 20 per cent in the last
recognizing the usefulness of a framework that twenty years. More significant is the increase in
allows for something more than the private pre- the number of educated, skilled, and professional
sentation of demands and something less than the individuals. In a population of some twenty mil-
public presentation of demands. What is involved lion the number of nonmanual workers increased
then is the ethos and structure of the Romanian by almost 400,000 (from approximately 900,000
regime. to 1.3 million) between 1959 and 1969. In contrast
to 1959, when approximately half of these had
A Political Resolution of the Conflict. The leader- received higher or middle-level education, in 1969
ship of the R.C.P., specifically, Nicolae Ceausescu, close to three-quarters had done so. Furthermore,
is faced with the task of defining his regime in the rate at which such individuals are being edu-
terms that are at least partially acceptable to those cated and trained is increasing. In the eight year
(including himself) whose defining experiences, period 1960-1968, a greater number of individ-
political perspectives, and operating styles are to uals attended advanced study courses than during
varying degrees the product of the Gheorghiu-Dej the period 1945-1959. To return to the Party,
period: those whose political characters combine both at the center and in the provinces there is a
traditional peasant and Stalinist political postures. noticeable tendency under Ceausescu to place men
Simultaneously, Ceausescu and his supporters are within the age group forty to forty-five in leading
aware that in twenty-five years the regime has positions, and at the time of the Tenth Congress
created social groups whose aspirations for recog- in 1969, within the whole Romanian party, 60 per
nition require a political response, whose skills cent of the membership was under forty years of
require a restructuring of power relations, and age.8' While the data are insufficient in this area,
whose understanding of authority allows for and there are some grounds for assuming that the
requires new institutional formats and a corre- leading cadres are better educated than their older
sponding political-cultural ethos. comrades and differ importantly (although not
The leadership must come to -terms with a party completely) in their understanding of authority
and a society in some ways more homogeneous relations.
than before 1944 but in others more heteroge- These data are provided to illustrate two points.
neous.79 Within the Party itself, the number of Within Romanian society a relatively new, urban,
intellectuals has increased from 11 per cent professional, skilled, educated stratum is growing
(93,000) in 1960 to 23 per cent (437,000) in 1970, at a significant rate. This development is not oc-
while the percentage of workers has decreased curring within a vacuum, but rather affects and is
from 51 per cent to 46.5 per cent in 1972. In addi- affected by a society that is still more than half
tion, it is very likely that an increasing percentage
Press, 1972), pp. 297-318; Mervyn Matthews, Class
of these workers are recruited from the more and Society in Soviet Russia (New York: Walker
skilled stratum.80 & Co., 1972), pp. 213-255; George Kolankiewicz,
"The Working Class," in Social Groups in Polish
of that was about. The director responded, "Pile, Society, ed. David Lane and George Kolankiewicz
illegitimate pressure, to hire someone without re- (London: The Macmillan Press, Ltd., 1973), pp. 88-
gard to their merit." In a very real way the con- 152; Peter Ludz, The Changing Party Elite in East
flict of cultures in Romania today is between the Germany (Cambridge, Mass.: The M.I.T. Press,
"oblique" presentation of demands and the overt or 1973), pp. 187-325.
clear presentation of demands, between those who S"See respectively, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Arti-
view the public realm fearfully and try to find "the cles and Speeches: June 1960-December 1962 (Bucha-
right angle" to approach it from and those who rest: Meridiane Publishing House, 1963), p. 66
spune tare (speak clearly) who want the public do- and Gheorghe Pana, "Noua structure sociala a
main to develop a new type of integrity. In connec- Romaniei si cresterea rolului conducator al parti-
tion with the covert presentation of demands see the dului comunist," lupta de Clasa, 2 (February, 1971),
by now classic statement on crypto-politics in Soviet- 9; ibid., p. 8; Anuarul Statistic al Republicii So-
type regimes by T. H. Rigby, "Crypto-Politics," in cialiste Romania 1970 (Bucuresti: Directia Generala
Survey 50 (January, 1964), 183-194. de Statistica, 1970), Table 46, p. 122; Anuarul Statis-
T The Romanian party is quite attuned to the tic Al R.P.R. (Bucuresti: Directia Generala de
issue of social homogeneity-heterogeneity. See for ex- Statistica, 1960), Tables 42, 43, 50, 51, pp. 114-115,
ample the discussion in Lupta de Clasa, 7 (July 122-123; -Anuarul Statistic al Republicii Socialiste
1969), 55-79. Romania 1970 (Bucuresti: Directia Generala de
so In connection with the social composition of the Statistica, 1970), Tables 56, 58, 59, pp. 136-137;
Soviet and East European parties see the very val- Breviarul Statistic Al Republicii Socialiste Romania
uable contributions by Frank Parkin, "Class Stratifi- 1971 (Bucuresti: Directia Generala de Statistica,
cation in Socialist Societies," British Journal of 1971), Table 32, pp. 76-77; Virgil Trofin, "Raport
Sociology, 20 (December 1969), 355-374; Frank Cu Privire La Modificarile Ce Se Propun A Fi Aduse
Parkin, "Yugoslavia," in Contemporary Europe: Statutului Partidului Comunist Roman," Congresul
Class, Status and Power, ed., Margaret Scotford Al X-lea al Partidului Communist Roman (Bucu-
Archer and Salvador Giner (New York: St. Martin resti: Editura Politica, 1969), p. 128.
peasant, a party composed of a good number of direct concern with the economic welfare of the
old and young cadres with a Stalinist set of ex- social unit involved, personalized attention to
periences and dispositions, and a political com- solidarity issues, and emphasis on authoritarian
munity lacking any recent or past experiences and disciplinary behavior.85 Defined in these terms
with institutions based on effective legal-rational a "patriarchal" stance by the Party is consistent
norms. It is hardly an exaggeration, then, to argue with its assumption of authoritarian responsibility
that this regime and its leader are faced with an for the overall development of Romanian society.
extremely complicated task in responding to dis- It is also compatible with the Party's effort to re-
tinct and often antagonistic constituencies.82 spond to social dislocation and cleavage in a so-
What has been emerging (through 1972 at least) ciety that has experienced a prolonged period of
is a regime with a patriarchal-executive character, mobilization-industrialization and that has no
one based on what Eckstein has termed balanced significant experience with institutions based on
disparities.83This regime is attempting to manage impersonal instrumental norms. Finally, to the
constituencies whose preferences concerning in- extent that a "patriarchal" stance (in contrast to
stitutional formats and authority relationships the "patrimonial" or "sultanist" structure under
are, if not mutually exclusive, at least highly in- Gheorghiu-Dej) decreases the incidence of arbi-
congruent and often incompatible. One may look trary behavior, it is compatible with a modern or
at this regime in terms of Gerschenkron's concept "executive" structure. Similarly, a modern
of historical substitutions ;84 namely, as a response "executive" structure is compatible with a
to the universal imperatives of modernization "patriarchal" stance insofar as executive organi-
(rather than as in Gerschenkron's formulation, zations are authoritarian organizations.
industrialization) that reflects the historical legacy The Romanian leadership is in the process,
of Romanian society, the political character of then, of elaborating a structure and ethos de-
the Romanian party, and the social, economic, signed to elicit the approval of quite different con-
and cultural definition of contemporary Ro- stituencies within as well as outside the Party. The
manian society. Ceausescu leadership has attempted to build into
The patriarchal-executive regime is oriented to the regime a set of balanced disparities that are
three goals: authoritarian leadership, welfare, and congruent with the different expectations and
efficiency. The Plan in Romania is an important orientations of quite different groups of party
example of the merging of modern, Leninist, and members and social strata.
traditional premises in a far from harmonious but A good example of this blending or amalga-
thus far (1972) workable synthesis. Certainly, one mating process is the way in which Ceausescu's
cannot interpret the Party's apparently absolute role is defined. Ceausescu has defined the leader-
commitment to the Plan as simply an inevitable ship role as entailing respect for the corporate
Leninist stance; the Hungarian and Yugoslav identity and integrity of the Party as an institu-
attitudes contradict such a notion. Rather the in- tion, adherence to Party rules, and enhancement
tense commitment to the Plan reflects three par- of procedure in the workings of the party organi-
tially compatible and partially incompatible fac- zation. He is portrayed as self-disciplined, hard
tors: (a) the Leninist commitment to directed working, tolerant of debate and expert opinion;
mobilization, (b) the Party's "patriarchal" con- yet as a leader in touch with the people. But he is
cern (grija) for the population's well-being also the concerned father of his people visiting the
(bunastarii), and (c) the Party's increasing appreci- market places; Ceausescu, the proposed authori-
ation of managerial and technical expertise. tative model for the Romanian people presented
As a mode of leadership, patriarchalism has as a latter day Fat-Frumos, the mythical youthful
historically had several distinguishing features in- hero of the Romanians;8" Ceausescu, the focus of
cluding a stress on orderly rather than charismatic what is often referred to as a personality cult. This
(i.e., highly random and arbitrary) management,
S5 On patriarchalism see Max Weber, Economy and
Society, ed. Guenther Roth and Claus Wittich (New
I Ceausescu himself
may be viewed as an amalgam York: Bedminster Press, 1968), pp. 231, 240, 645,
leader, insofar as he not only represents and leads 1006-1010, 1112, 1118; Vera St. Erlich, Family in
distinct constituencies that are themselves charac- Transition (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
terized by conflict-accommodative patterns, but also 1966), pp. 31-60.
reflects in his own political personality these par- S6Pavel Apostol has written an excellent article
tially compatible, partially conflicting tendencies. dealing with Fat Frumos titled, "Fat-Frumos si
S3 Eckstein, Division and Cohesion in Democracy, tineretea ca dimensiune spirituala" in Trei Meditatii
pp. 262-269. Asupra Culturii (Cluj: Editura Dacia, 1970), pp.
S4 Alexander Gerschenkron, "Economic Backward- 19-51. While explicit parallels with Ceausescu are
ness in Historical Perspective," in Economic Back- not drawn they are not hard to find. Ceausescu him-
wardness in Historical Perspective: A Book of Es- self in some speeches has identified himself with
says, ed. Alexander Gerschenkron (Cambridge, Mass.: the youth, while certain of his associates have pre-
Harvard University Press, 1962), pp. 5-31. sented him as a "model" for Romanians to follow.
amalgamated image appears designed to elicit ap- there is no guarantee that he will successfully
proval from diverse constituencies: on the one provide for the consequences of his various
hand, the peasant, the apparatchik, and the "new policies. Nor is there any guarantee that he can
class," and on the other, the professional, and the continue to bridge the gap between his two con-
managerial-type party cadre. stituencies within and outside the Party. In short,
The political task of eliciting and managing I am not at all suggesting that Ceausescu and his
such approval, however, from what are basically supporters have developed a perfect regime-
antagonistic constituencies with different operat- amalgam or synthesis. The serious challenge he
ing styles is by no means easy. In the course of the received in the summer and fall of 1971 and the re-
last seven years the Party has adopted two dis- sulting changes in policy suggest that Ceausescu
tinct strategies for balancing constituencies with is still the manager and leader of a coalition (not
different cultural postures and structural pref- as yet the "patrimonial leader" of a political
erences. The first strategy was compartmentalism. retinue as Dej was) and that this coalition is com-
The strategy consisted of isolating opposing ele- posed of elements that are capable of conflict as
ments from one another by parceling out areas well as accommodation.
that were in effect equivalent to protected fiefs. One might hypothesize that as modernization
To call this pluralism would not be totally incor- progresses, the choices before the Romanian
rect, but it would be more misleading than useful Party may become more mutually exclusive, in
because of the incidence of conscious elite manip- which case the current patriarchal-executive
ulation and the absence of a public arena. For amalgam may fail.88 Noting all of this does not,
these reasons I prefer the term authoritarian com- however, minimize or underrate the significance
partmentalism.87This strategy has quite recently and innovativeness of the current Romanian
been supplemented and largely replaced by one leadership's attempts to reform the existing char-
that places a greater emphasis on combining rep- acter of the nation's political structure and ethos.
resentatives with competing orientations in the The patriarchal-executive regime embodies the
same institutions. We mention these strategies in Romanian attempt to move with control and sta-
order to highlight the crucial fact that the emer- bility from an established neotraditional/Stalinist
gence of a patriarchal-executive regime is not an political society to a modern Leninist political
ethereal process. Ceausescu's success will partially society.89
depend on the strategy (i.e., authoritarian com- 88
In the period since this article was written one
partmentalism or fusion) he chooses, and that striking development has occurred within Romania. Mo-
strategy will in turn reflect the opposition he en- bilization has become the defining emphasis. At the lead-
counters and his own ambivalence toward cul- ership level this is seen in the increasingly patrimonial
tural and structural change. Although he has character of Ceausescu's position. With respect to the
Weberian categories that have served as the basis for my
given many indications that he is sensitive to the characterization of the Romanian regime between 1970
importance of culture, diverse constituencies, and and 1972, the regime in the last year and a half (this is
the imperatives associated with modernizing, being written in August 1973) has moved from an
emphasis on neo-traditional (patriarchal) and legal-
87 This article was written before I came across relational (executive) considerations to a much greater
two recent articles that are of major significance in emphasis on the charismatic qualities of the party.
Communist studies. One is that by Jerry F. Hough, 89 I have attempted to deal with some of the ques-
whose notion of institutional pluralism is very con- tions connected with the compatibility of Leninism
gruent with what I am terming authoritarian com- and modernity in an article titled "Inclusion and
partmentalism (see "The Soviet System: Petrification Mobilization in Marxist-Leninist Systems," which will
or Pluralism?" Problems of Communism, 21 (March- be part of a volume edited by Mark Field titled
April, 1972), 25-46, and the already cited article by The Social Consequences of Modernization in So-
Zygmunt Bauman. cialist Countries.

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An Organizational Approach to the Study of Political Culture in Marxist-Leninist Systems

Author(s): Kenneth Jowitt

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Considerations of a Theoretical count or neglect the role of culture, largely be-

24Scinteia, July 23, 1971. 2S Scinteia, November 30, 1971.

the local community-simply because in a society there is a corresponding tendency to emphasize

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