Journal of Democracy Fall 1990 [antikvár]

Pierre Hassner is research director at the CERI (Fondation Nationaledes Sciences Politiques), Paris. He is coeditor, with Guy Hermet andJacques Rupnik, of Totalitarismes (1984) and, with Pierre Gremion, ofVents d'Est (1990). An earlier version of this article appeared in Frenchin Revue Politique et Parlementaire (May-June 1990).Communism is dying, communism is dead! Nobody seems to deny thisfact any longer, not even communist parties themselves. Even when theywin elections, as in Romania and Bulgaria, or when they succeed inlimiting their decline, as in Italy, they hurry to change their names andto rally to the banners of their old historical rival, social democracy.It remains to be determined, however, what has really perished withthe demise of communism and what still survives under other labels. Itis also worth reflecting more broadly on what communism has carriedwith it to its grave, and what now has a chance to revive thanks to itsdemise.Three elements that seemed to constitute the strength of communismappear to be dead everywhere, at least in Europe.1 The first of these isMarxism-Leninism, both as an ideology claiming to hold the key tohistory and as a principle of political legitimacy. The second istotalitarian power, as a bid for total control based on ideology and terror.And the third is the power of the Soviet Union over its external empirein Eastern Europe and, to a great extent, over its internal empire in theSoviet republics as well.Three other elements, however, still survive from the period ofcommunist rule. The first is a diffuse but powerful ideological legacythat takes on particular importance when it is linked to national traditionsconcerning the attitudes of citizens toward the private and the publicrealms, toward property and the state. The survival and the progress ofcivil society do not necessarily entail the flourishing of the competitivespirit, the work ethic, or the spirit of citizenship. The state often