13. Public Good Morality in Europe: An Impact of Communist Rule?

Abstract

A large part of Europe's population is, influenced by the experience of living under communist rule. Starting in Russia in 1917, the communist regime expanded to Belarus, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova and the Baltic States, establishing together with five non-European countries the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), also known as the Soviet Union. In all of these countries, the Communist Party and its ideology of Marxism-Leninism were the main and only accepted source of collective moral authority. People lived under authoritarian regimes, which were 'all inclined to subjugate individual interests to those of the Communist Party'. This led to two types of reaction when it comes to public good morality. The first alternative is that individuals living under authoritarian regimes are more law abiding. The other alternative is that being severely suppressed by the state, people develop animosity to the dominant and repressive role of the communist regime. Keywords: communist rule; Europe; Marxism-Leninism; public good morality; Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)