landlords, the military officers and the rich peasants — have no right to the vote. They can neither elect nor be elected. On the other hand, the exercise of the franchise by the workers and the poor peasants is simple and easy. Moreover, every delegate to the soviet can be recalled by the electors, who can send another in his place. If the delegate fulfils his duties badly, if he turns his coat, etc., he can be recalled. This right of recall has nowhere been so extensively adopted as in the Soviet Republic.
In a bourgeois republic, parliament is a “talking shop”; the members do nothing but discuss and make speeches. The real work is done by officials, ministers of State, etc. Parliament passes laws; it “controls” the ministers by asking them various questions; it votes what the administration decides. In parliament is concentrated what is termed the legislative authority. But the executive authority is in the hands of the cabinet. Parliament, therefore, does nothing; parliament merely talks. In the soviet system, affairs are arranged quite differently. The highest and most important instrument of government is the Congress of Soviets. The constitution states: “The All-Russian Congress of Soviets is the supreme authority of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.” It must meet at least twice a year. Having reviewed the general situation, it makes suitable decisions, which become laws. The members of the congress are not professional talkers, but real workers, with something definite to do. In the intervals between the congresses the supreme authority is vested in the Central Executive Committee, elected by the congress. The Central Executive Committee exercises at one and the same time legislative and executive functions; that is to say, it not only passes laws, but conducts public affairs. Its departments are known as the People’s Commissariats, and its members work in these commissariats. Thus the Central Executive Committee is a real working committee.
Like the Central Executive Committee, the other soviet institutions are closely unified, and are based upon a whole series of organisations of the working masses. The soviet institutions are based on the Communist