General line of the party

In the terminology of communism, the general line of the party or simply the general line refers to the directives of the governing bodies of a party (usually a communist party) which define the party's politics. The term was in common use by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (since its early days under other names) and also adopted by many other communist parties around the world. The notion is rooted in the major principle of democratic centralism, which requires unconditional obedience to top level decisions at all party levels.

Soviet Union

The term has acquired a significant notoriety in the context of Soviet political repressions, where deviations from the general line have led to severe punishment. The introduction to a collection of documents from the Stalinist era^[1] says that general line statements produced by the Stalinist leadership were written with great care and exact phrasing in prescribed terminology and with established slogans.^[1]

The goal was to provide a means of political and social control. Once the Central Committee formulated a statement about the party line on a particular issue, it was republished in major newspapers, such as Pravda. Disagreements with the party line were treated as a political crime: anti-Soviet agitation.^[1]

References

1 2 3 "The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939" by J. Arch Getty and Oleg V. Naumov (eds.) 1999, ISBN 0-300-09403-5, pp. 1-22, "Introduction"

Marxist phraseology and terminology

Philosophy and politics (Marxist)	Barracks communism Base and superstructure Bourgeoisie Bourgeois democracy Bourgeois nationalism Bourgeois socialism Capitalist mode of production Class struggle Commodification Dialectics Socialist mode of production Pure communism Dictatorship of the proletariat Imperialism Liquidationism Lumpenproletariat Means of labor Metabolic rift Petite bourgeoisie Primitive accumulation of capital Proletarian internationalism Proletarian revolution Revolutionary spontaneity Revolutionary wave Scientific socialism Super-imperialism Historical materialism Theoretician Two Stage Theory Wage slavery Workers Council Workers Control World revolution

Economics and sociology (Marxian)	Capital Accumulation of capital Capitalist mode of production Crisis of capitalism Commodity Commodity production Dominant ideology Free association Materialism Means of production Mode of production Productive forces Relations of production Worker Cooperative Law of value Surplus value Use-value Exchange value Value Socially necessary labour time Socialization Production for use Socialist mode of production Ruling class Simple commodity production Commanding heights of the economy

Marxist-Leninist	Cadre Central Committee Democratic centralism Dual power Enemy of the people Foco General line of the party National liberation New class Politburo Political rehabilitation Popular front Revolutionary terror United front Vanguardism Social fascism Socialist accumulation Real socialism Revisionism Soviet democracy Socialism in one country Social imperialism People's democracy

Trotskyist	Deformed workers' state Degenerated workers' state Social revolution New class Permanent revolution Bureaucratic collectivism

Maoist	Marxism–Leninism–Maoism Antagonistic contradiction Capitalist roader Four Olds Mass line New Democracy People's war Revolutionary base area Struggle session Third Worldism

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/12/2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

General line of the party

Soviet Union

See also

References