Fundamental Principles of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat

The Fundamental Principles of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat was ratified on 12 August, 1936.

History
Upon the putsch in Washington, the urban Soviets established during the Great Depression under the guidance of the Workers' Party assumed control of the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts. In early February a Congress of Soviets assembled in Chicago. In its first measure it established the basic rules of Soviet government in America.

Full Text
We the peoples of the North American Union of Socialist Council Republics, having succeeded in winning our initial liberation from class dictatorship, must resolve never to surrender the freedom we have won. In establishing our workers' republic, we recognize that our state is a transitional state, serving as a channel for popular democratic power and a guardian against counterrevolution at home and reaction abroad. With the final victory of the world revolution, when unity among all peoples is achieved, the barriers of nation-state, class, caste, and language are torn down, the workers' states shall too dissolve into a universal brotherhood of man.

But until that day, the victories of the Revolution shall not be surrendered. The political foundations of the dictatorship of the proletariat shall be an entrenched law, protected by the armed masses from threat of reaction or counterrevolution.

Article I

The political apparatus of the workers' republic shall always adhere to the principle of democratic centralism. Political power derives from the base. Each Soviet Congress shall only have power over matters that substantially affect the constituents it represents. Policies of broader scope must be decided, at least, by a plenum of all Soviet Congresses affected, or through the superior Soviet Congress.

Article II

There shall never be more than three degrees of separation between the masses and the All-Union Congress of Soviets.

Article III

Democratic self-rule requires openness. The dictatorship of the proletariat is an open society, and all functions of government must be accessible to the public all times. Information may only be held secret in a manner decided by law. Classification must be reviewed by revolutionary security juries selected from the general population. The workers' republic may punish for breaches of lawfully held secrets, but protection must be rendered to those who violate official secrets in the act of exposing malfeasance.

Article IV

The well-governed republic depends upon the creation of a better way of life than office-holding. The institutions of state, political parties and other political organizations must develop rules and procedures to limit careerism and the establishment of a new class.

Article V

The right of recall shall be protected for all elected political offices.

Article VI

Any patronage of substantial value is prohibited.

Article VII

Terms of office in the Soviets are limited to two years. The Soviets shall be working bodies, with dual legislative and executive functions.

Article VIII

Land, water, forests, minerals, and wildlife shall be common property. All private property in these areas is prohibited. Title shall be granted based on use, but all holders shall be protected from arbitrary revocation of this right.

Article IX

The International Workers' Solidarity Union shall be the backbone of the socialist-syndicalist economy. Solidarity shall be subject to the norms of democratic centralism. The right to form alternative trade unions is protected.

Article X

The planned economy shall operate under principles of democratic centralism. All enterprises shall be comprised of a free association of workers, who shall elect their leaders in a manner congruent with general law. All workers in state enterprises and critical industries shall be represented in the Council of the National Economy.

Article XI

The revolution shall be preserved by the arming of the masses. The propertied classes, counterrevolutionaries, parolees, and the insane shall be disarmed. The Soviets shall maintain arsenals to provide for the arming of the masses.  Article XII

The political and civil rights of the revolutionary armed forces shall be protected. Soldiers and sailors shall be represented by their duly elected soviets, and shall elect officers in a manner consistent with the needs of revolutionary defense.

Article XIII

The workers' republic is committed to the advancement of the world revolution, and the attainment of the higher stage of communism.

Article XIV

The attainment of communism is predicated on the reduction of toil, the development of productive forces, the end of man's alienation from his labor, his fellow men, and from nature. The workers' republic shall take affirmative action to bring about uniform international development.

Article XV

The workers' republic has the power to suppress groups hostile to the dictatorship of the proletariat and the free order and liberties it protects. All civil servants and elected officers must swear to defend the dictatorship of the proletariat. All people have the right to resistance against those who would abolish this constitutional order.