ABSTRACT
The communist states of Soviet Russia and Eastern Europe have undergone significant, at times dramatic, political transformations within the last two decades; and since each of these systems has changed at its own pace and in its own direction, the universe of European communist systems by now is quite heterogeneous. Communist regimes come to power, not necessarily by revolution, but with the aim of carrying out a revolution, that is, a thorough change of the entire social, economic, and political system. This involves destruction of established institutions and the erection of new ones, a phrase written lightly, even though it implies gigantic efforts, conflicts, convulsions, and hardships. This chapter assesses the effectiveness of civil disobedience, that is, with some remarks about the place of civil disobedience in the communist societies of Russia and Eastern Europe. Christian Bay defines civil disobedience as an act of public defiance of a law or policy enforced by established government authority.
