Book Reviews and Notices : Socialism. BY PAUL M. SWEEZY. (New York, Toronto, and London: Mc-Graw-Hill Book Company, Inc. 1949. Pp. xiii, 276. $3.50.)

• Date: 01 September 1949
• DOI: 10.1177/106591294900200322
• Author: Robert Hammer
• Published date: 01 September 1949
• Subject Matter: Articles

440
The book contains a comprehensive introduction into the dogmatic
foundations of Marxist-Leninist legal doctrine, and reference to &dquo;first
principles&dquo; is also frequently made in the chapters dealing with specific
institutions of Soviet public law. The Marxian view that law represents
the advantage of the ruling class is retained, but it is argued that in the
Soviet state the ruling class has come to embrace the large majority of
the people. No particular emphasis is given to the Marxian prophecy of
the &dquo;withering away&dquo; of the law in a classless society, and the possibility
of a realization of this vision during the period of &dquo;capitalist encircle-
ment&dquo; of the Soviet Union is discounted.
The foremost task of justice in the USSR, according to Mr. Vyshinsky,
is the defense of the social and state organization against encroachments
of every character, although the safeguarding of the legally guaranteed
rights and interests of citizens is declared to be a further aim of the ad-
ministration of justice. In a country where almost the entire productive
machinery is run by the state and where public power greatly overshad-
ows private rights, the defense of the state apparatus against internal
enemies, the protection of public property, and the maintenance of labor
discipline will necessarily constitute the major objectives of legal regu-
lation. In the United States, the traditional doctrine has regarded law
and justice primarily as bulwarks of individual rights and freedoms against
governmental encroachments; but recent trends seem to indicate that
the repression of activities deemed subversive of the existing political
and social order is claiming a more conspicuous place on the American
legal scene.
EDGAR BODENHEIMER.
University of Utah.
Socialism. BY PAUL M. SWEEZY. (New York, Toronto, and London: Mc-
Graw-Hill Book Company, Inc. 1949. Pp. xiii, 276. $3.50.)
Paul M. Sweezy presents a short survey of the history and theory of
socialism, as...