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p With the completion of socialist construction the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat turns into a state of the whole people—the political organisation of the whole people in which the leading role is played by the working class and its vanguard, the Communist Party.

p The main tasks of this state, says the Constitution of the USSR, are “to lay the material and technical foundation of communism, to perfect socialist social relations and transform them into communist relations, to mould the citizen of communist society, to raise the people’s living and cultural standards, to safeguard the country’s security, and to further the consolidation of peace and development of international co-operation”.  [298•* 

p A distinctive feature of the state of the whole people is that it does not have to perform the function of suppressing the exploiting classes because they have ceased to exist as a 299 result of the victory of socialism. This, however, does not mean that the working class has completely withdrawn from the class struggle: it wages its class struggle in close unity with the cooperated peasantry and the working intelligentsia against international imperialism and bourgeois and petty-bourgeois ideology. Furthermore, relying on the support of all working people, on their consciousness and organisation, it takes recourse to necessary measures of coercion with regard to persons who violate the laws, standards and principles of socialist society.

p Dictatorship of the proletariat and the state of the whole people are not qualitatively different types of state. In point of fact they are stages in the development of a socialist-type state. The state of the whole people continues the cause of the dictatorship of the proletariat and organises the building of communist society. Its’ social basis is the working class, the collective-farm peasantry and the intelligentsia, with the working class—the most advanced, organised and conscious force of socialist society—playing the leading role. The state of the whole people raises to a new height that what was the main content of proletarian dictatorship—proletarian, socialist democracy. It preserves and develops the basic functions of the dictatorship of the proletariat, with the exception, as we have noted, of the function of suppressing exploiters.

p It follows that the socialist state invariably safeguards people’s rights and freedoms and socialist law. The state is particularly concerned with safeguarding socialist property, the economic foundation of socialism, whose all-round development and consolidation is vital for successful communist construction. The protection of socialist property and of the rights and freedoms of Soviet citizens, and the maintenance of socialist law and order are important functions of the socialist state. Having emerged at the initial stage of its existence, these functions became fully developed under socialism.

p With the victory of socialism in the USSR the socialist state began to exercise its main functions, that of managing the economy and promoting culture and education, to the full.

Owing to rapid economic growth, the managerial function became much more complex and multiform. In the

300 transition period from capitalism to socialism this function of the state was designed to ensure the economic victory of the socialist forces over the capitalist forces in the country, whereas with the building of socialism its purpose is to build the material and technical base of communism, transform socialist relations into communist relations and further improve the wellbeing of the people. The state is coming to play an increasing role in controlling the measure of labour and the measure of consumption.

p With the completion of socialist construction a major change took place in the Soviet state’s cultural and educational function, for the higher the consciousness and culture of the people, the faster the transition to communism. The moulding of a new man unweighted by survivals of the past, a profoundly educated, conscious toiler for whom work for the benefit of the country is not an obligation but a vital requirement, the cause of his life—that is one of the main tasks of communist construction.

p The foreign policy function of the Soviet state broadens in the period of the gradual transition from socialism to communism in view of the serious changes in the international situation. The strengthening and development of the fraternal cooperation with the socialist countries—such is the new function of the Soviet state which it has to perform in view of the rise of the world socialist system. Another new function is to support the struggle of the peoples for liberation from colonial and neocolonial oppression. The Soviet state has preserved and broadened its function of working for universal peace and maintaining normal relations with all countries.

At the same time the state strengthens the country’s defensive capacity in every way because, as long as imperialism which is pregnant with the threat of aggressive wars exists, a socialist country cannot feel itself ensured against attack. Protection of the socialist homeland, the organisation of its reliable defence and security and the strengthening of the Soviet Armed Forces are important functions of the socialist state. At the same time the Soviet Union regards as its internationalist duty to ensure together with other socialist countries the security and defence of the entire socialist system.