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Competing Dreams in Communist Societies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2020

James W. Peterson*
Affiliation:
Western Maryland College

Extract

Focus Many courses on comparative communism traditionally make mention of artistic and political dissidents, but exclusive reliance on political science source materials often fails to demonstrate the variety of thought patterns within communist societies. A multi-disciplinary course which specifically draws attention to various “political dreams” can enable students to become more aware of the richness of thought patterns within communist societies.

A January term in which students took part in one course for four weeks provided an ideal setting for teaching such a course. Through daily reading assignments and discussions class members discovered four main categories of dissident political dreams. First, a number of writers challenged the system of one-party control by advocating an effective separation of powers among governmental institutions such as the legislature and the courts.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1982

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References

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