would collapse through its own internal contradictions had not held, and why,
as a result, the revolution could not be a spontaneous rising of the real
proletariat, but had to be managed and created by the vanguard party.
Leninism
Leninism is that part of the doctrine of Sovietcommunism, and to a lesser
extent part of the official ideology of Western communist parties, that altered
Marxismto fit the perceptions of organized communist movements. It
consists mainly of a justification for a strong, authoritarian and essentially
undemocratic party as necessary for socialist revolution. Leninism claims that
the ordinary industrial proletariat cannot of themselves become revolutionary,
cannot perceive their true interests, and must be led by intellectual revolu-
tionaries—thevanguard of the proletariat. WhileLeninhimself believed
this strongly, his position was relative to the historical conditions of Russia in
the early decades of this century, and to the period of massive imperial control
of theThird Worldby Western nations, and was probably never intended to
be a permanent doctrine. Nevertheless, communist and extreme left move-
ments today can be usefully characterized by whether they adopt a Leninist
version of Marxism (seeMarxist-Leninism), or some other. The two most
usual alternatives to Leninism areTrotskyismandMaoism.
Liberal Democracy
Liberal democracy, which is what most developed Western nations would
claim to practise, is actually a combination of two values which do not
necessarily go together logically. As far as the democracy aspect is concerned,
liberal democracy is a form ofrepresentative democracy. Thus the usual
system is the election by the whole electorate of a small number of represen-
tatives, probably organized in political parties, who form a legislative assembly.
The majority of this assembly makes the law, and may, in parliamentary systems
like those of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australasia, India and others
derived from the Westminster model select some among themselves to form
theexecutive. It is thus a rather indirect form of majority rule. The liberal
aspect refers to a set of traditional values, drawn from the basic stock ofcivil
rightsandnatural rights, which are seen as central to the political culture,
and may indeed be enshrined in a constitution and protected by the courts.
However, social research has often shown that a majority of the electorate of
Western democracies are, under certain conditions, hostile to certain of these
rights, for example aspects of thedue processof law. Thus the empirical will
of the majority may conflict with the vital system values. As a result liberal
democracy cannot be a full-blooded majoritarian system.
Liberal Democracy