Communist State

Communist state, in popular usage, is a state with a form of government characterized by single-party rule or dominant-party rule of a communist party and a professed allegiance to a Leninist or Marxist–Leninist communist ideology as the guiding principle of the state. Theoretically, "communist state" is a contradictio in terminis as a communist society as defined by both Marxists and anarcho-communists is in principle stateless. From this perspective, Marxist–Leninist state is more appropriate and applicable.

Historically, a "communist state" referred to a system where public ownership of all or most means of production by the Communist party-run state is deemed necessary to further the interests of the working class; today, a communist state can also, for instance, refer to contemporary China and Vietnam, where a Communist Party-run state exists alongside a mixed economy. According to Marxist–Leninists, the state is a tool in the hands of the ruling class, which in a socialist society is the working class, so a socialist state is, according to Leninists, a state of the working class.

In practice, communist states do not refer to themselves as communist states. They do this not to disguise the fact that the ruling party is communist, but rather because they do not consider themselves to be a communist society at present. Instead, they constitutionally identify themselves as socialist states or workers' states. The primary goal of these states, which also explains their official name, is to guide their respective countries in the process of building socialism, ultimately leading to communism.

Communist states may have several legal political parties, but the communist party is usually granted a special or dominant role in government, often by statute or under the constitution. Consequently, the institutions of the state and of the communist party become intimately entwined, such as in the development of parallel institutions.

In the 20th century, most communist states adopted planned economies. However, there were exceptions: The Soviet Union during the 1920s and late 1980s and Yugoslavia after World War II allowed limited markets and a degree of worker self-management, while China, Vietnam and Laos introduced far-reaching market reforms after the 1980s. In the 21st century, China and Vietnam have allowed a mixed economy to develop.

The fundamental concepts of communist states often diverge from the original socio-economic ideologies from which they develop. As a result, many adherents of these ideologies often oppose the political systems commonly associated with these states. For example, dissenting communists such as Trotskyists were often opposed to the communist states of the 20th century, claiming either that they had nothing to do with "real" communism or that the ideology of such states had reached a point of irrevocable corruption.