Civilian control of the military in

communist state A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Comint ...

s have differed from country to country. There are typically three models of civilian control of the military: party-run, state-run, and hybrid. In all three models, the

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

has an internal organisation in the military.

Party-run

In the party-run model, the military is entirely run through the organ on military affairs of the

central committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the

. This was the case in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

from 1975 to 1983, when there existed no state counterpart to the Central Military Commission of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

(CCP). Since 1982, under the principle of " one institution with two names", a state counterpart with an identical name, personnel and organisation has existed alongside its party counterpart. The party's authority is stated in law, Article 19 of the " Law of the People's Republic of China on National Defence" states, "The armed forces of the People’s Republic of China is subject to the leadership of the Communist Party of China."

State-run

In the state-run model, the highest organ on military affairs is an organ of the

highest organ of state power The highest organ of state power is the representative organ in communist states that functions as the sole branch of government according to the principle of unified power. For example, the government of the Soviet Union was designated as the hig ...

, with no party counterpart. This model was practised by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, in which the

Council of Defence A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

, appointed by the Presidium of the

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet (russian: Верховный Совет, Verkhovny Sovet, Supreme Council) was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) ...

, led the

Soviet armed forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

. However, party leadership was ensured by the Soviet party leader, the

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

, serving ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

'' as chairman of the Council of Defence.

Hybrid

In the hybrid model, both the state and the party have organs on military affairs. This model is practised in Vietnam, in which the

Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of North ...

(CPV) has an internal organ on military affairs led by the

party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a political ...

and the highest organ of state power, the National Assembly of Vietnam, having a state counterpart led by the President of Vietnam. Despite this, the Vietnamese political system stresses that the Vietnamese armed forces are under the absolute leadership of the CPV.

Examples

People's Republic of China

* Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party (party) * Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China (state counterpart)

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

* Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (party) * National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (state counterpart)

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam The Central Military Commission (CMC, ) is the highest party organ in Vietnam on military policy. Its membership includes some members of the Politburo and military leaders. The CMC is headed by the current General Secretary of the Communist Party ...

(party) * Council for National Defense and Security (Vietnam) (state counterpart)

Party-run

State-run

Hybrid

Examples

People's Republic of China

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

References

Articles

Books

Journals

Footnotes