Socialist Constitutional History

Abstract

This chapter examines constitutional history in the five socialist countries. Their constitutional history can be analytically divided into three periods: pre-socialist, Soviet-era, and transitional. During the pre-socialist period, the five countries had their own constitutional history, which was predominantly informed by traditional values (e.g. Confucianism in China, Vietnam, and Korea, and Buddhism in Laos) and liberal modern values, although some socialist ideas were also partially adopted in some cases, such as the 1946 Constitution of Vietnam. In the Soviet era, except for the belated constitution-making in Laos, the four other countries made, replaced, or amended the socialist constitutions which were predominantly informed by five elements of socialist constitutional identity. Immediately after the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the five countries adapted their socialist constitutional system in the early 1990s in a transition with three separate elements: independent states, economic reforms, and institutional adjustment. The examination of socialist constitutional history has implications for comparative constitutional history.