The Shaping of Popular Consent: A Comparative Study of the Sovie ...

Thus, may we not conclude that, overall, conventional wisdom explains the difference between the United States and the Soviet Union as that between right and wrong? Even that between good and evil? In either case, the current orthodoxy certainly holds that the differences between American and Soviet politics, society, economy and ideology were not only polar but also plain and obvious. For example, it is generally argued that the American political system’s separation of powers between the executive, the legislative and the judiciary provided for a system of checks and balances and democratic accountability. Conversely, it is generally considered that Stalin ruled by decree, accountable to no one. Through participation in the democratic process it is generally thought that the people of the United States gave popular legitimacy to the system and had the power to select their leaders and to throw them out of office if they so wanted. Whereas in the Soviet Union, it is commonly held that the regime did not enjoy popular support and nobody in the USSR ever had the chance to vote for or against Stalin or any of his cronies. In the United States, citizens were guaranteed individual liberties such as the freedom of speech, assembly and a right to practise whatever religion they might choose. Indeed, Americans were free to worship whichever religion they chose in an environment of tolerance and respect. While the Stalin Constitution of 1936 promised the same rights, no one seriously believes that the Soviet people were ever actually allowed to enjoy them. Moreover, the common assumption has it that the communist regime actively sought to restrict freedom of speech and assembly and to crush religion and religious worship, which it loathed and saw as a direct threat to its powers. Common opinion has it that everybody in the United States was equal under the law and was guaranteed the right of due process, including habeas corpus, a right to a legal defence and the right to be judged by a jury of one’s peers. Whereas in the Soviet Union, most would argue that law was arbitrary; there was no due process. A person feared being dragged from his or her bed in the middle of the night and disappearing forever: either to be shot, exiled in frozen waste lands, or sentenced to hard labour in the gulag.