ABSTRACT
Since the Twelfth Chinese Community Party National Congress in September 1982, emphasis has been placed mainly on the "responsibility system," a feature distinct from the economic reforms in the Soviet Union and its East European satellites. This chapter examines the system and the problems faced by Communist countries after long years of Marxism. It deals with the general direction of their economic reforms. In the days when Mao Tse-tung was in power, mainland China adopted Stalin's line in economic affairs. A study of the economic reforms in the Soviet Union, its East European satellite, and mainland China affords convincing proof that all these countries sought reforms for about the same reasons and along largely the same lines. Some people contend that government work is different in nature from the work in the agricultural, industrial, and commercial fields and that therefore it might not be possible to institute the responsibility system in government organizations.
