p Some revisionists link the withering away of the state with the socialist phase in the development of society and with the victory of the socialist revolution. Socialism does not, however, create the objective conditions for the withering away of the state, since under socialism it is not yet possible to do without state interference in the life of society or without state coercion.

p me necessity of state administration of society under socialism is determined, first of all, by economic factors and, in particular, by the insufficiently high level of production development, which presupposes state control over the measure of labour and consumption.

p Without state administration, socialist society cannot solve the great tasks arising in the course of communist construction, requiring strict discipline, centralised planning and subordination to a single centre. Under socialism not all members 409 of society have acquired the habit of observing the established rules ot behaviour ot their own free ^vill, so state power is required to safeguard these Tiorms. Besides, the state must protect socialist gams against external enemies.

p The state can wither away only under communism, and this calls tor classes to be completely abolished and all class differences to be overcome. “The abrogation of the state,” Marx and Engels wrote, “has only one meaning for Communists-it is the necessary outcome of the abolition of classes, which involves the natural disappearance of the need for the organisational power of one class to retain its domination over the other classes.”  [409•1 

p It is the development of the production of material goods to help satisfy all people’s requirements and realise the principle “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”, that is essential for the complete abolition of the state.

p Finally, a major precondition for withering away of the state is the high cultural standards and consciousness of society’s members, implying that work for society’s benefit will become the prime necessity of every healthy person, that people would observe the rules of communal behaviour of their own free will and there would be no need for any coercion.

p Besides these internal conditions for the abolition of the state, there are certain external ones: 410 the elimination of capitalism in all countries and the triumph of socialism and communism on a world scale. Only then would the danger of military attack disappear, the danger that necessitates the maintenance of an army, state security organs and other state institutions related to the exercise of the external function.

The withering away of a socialist state will proceed gradually as the role of public bodies grows and the working people participate on an increasingly broad scale in administering society’s affairs, as public control is extended and the functions of state organisations are taken over by public bodies. During this process, the socialist state is transformed into a non-state administrative organisation-into communist public self- administration.