Leninism

(noun)

In Marxist philosophy, Leninism is the body of political theory for the democratic organisation of a revolutionary vanguard party, and the achievement of a direct-democracy dictatorship of the proletariat, as political prelude to the establishment of socialism.

Related Terms

Examples of Leninism in the following topics:

  • Marxist-Leninism

  • Democratic Socialism

    • Specifically, it is a term used to distinguish between socialists who favor a grassroots-level, spontaneous revolution (referred to as gradualism) from those socialists who favor Leninism (organized revolution instigated and directed by an overarching vanguard party that operates on the basis of democratic centralism).
    • Leninism is based on the philosophy of Vladimir Lenin, who advocated organized revolution led by a vanguard party.

  • Charismatic Authority

    • Bolshevik political cartoon poster from 1920 depicting Lenin sweeping away monarchists and capitalists; the caption reads, "Comrade Lenin Cleanses the Earth of Filth."

  • Differences Between Centrally Planned and Market Economies

    • Lenin, is an example of a country that tried to establish a pure centrally planned economy.

  • The Act of Organizing: Constitutive Decisions

    • Likewise, the decisions by Lenin and his associates regarding the pre-revolutionary organization of the Communist Party continued to have important consequences as the Soviet Union approached the end of the twentieth century, more than 70 years later.

  • The Bolsheviks

    • The Bolsheviks, founded by Vladimir Lenin and Alexander Bogdanov, were by 1905 a mass organization consisting primarily of workers under a democratic internal hierarchy governed by the principle of democratic centralism, who considered themselves the leaders of the revolutionary working class of Russia.
    • Discontent and the weaknesses of the Provisional Government led to a rise in the popularity of the Bolshevik Party, led by Vladimir Lenin, which demanded an immediate end to the war.
    • The Bolshevik party, led by Vladimir Lenin, and the workers' Soviets, overthrew the Provisional Government in Petrograd.

  • The Socialist Presence

    • After Vladimir Lenin's success in Russia, he invited the Socialist Party to join the Communist Third International.
    • The debate over whether to align with Lenin caused a major rift in the American Socialist party.
    • A referendum to join Lenin's "Comintern" passed with 90% approval, but the moderates who were in charge of the Party expelled the extreme leftists before this could take place.

  • Protecting Citizens from Other Governments

    • In 1917 Russia was governed from February to October both by the Provisional Government under Alexander Kerensky and by the Petrograd Soviet, dominated by Lenin.

  • The Defense Buildup and the "Evil Empire"

    • In a famous address given on June 8, 1982 to the British Parliament in the Royal Gallery of the Palace of Westminster, Reagan said: "the forward march of freedom and democracy will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history."
    • Reagan, the first American president ever to address the British Parliament, predicted Marxism-Leninism would be left on the "ash-heap of history."

  • Red Scare

    • Founded by Vladimir Lenin and Alexander Bogdanov, by 1905 the Bolsheviks were a mass political organization in Russia consisting primarily of workers governed by the principle of democratic centralism.
    • In the second phase of the revolution, in October 1917, the Bolsheviks led by Lenin overthrew the Provisional Government and appointed themselves leaders of government ministries and seized control of the countryside.