- ''

CERPTS FROM THE KEYNOTE ADDRESS

OF THE CC LCY
June 1977

The 1974 C onstitution and the Associated Labour Act, as

well as other fund,a mental laws and similar soc-ial and
political measures and actions, have effected sweeping
- and I could even say ~evolutionary changes in our
socioeconomic and production relationships and those
within the federation, . een the republics and p rov-
inces, and even in the political system of socialist self-
management. Major steps have been taken .as regards the
furthe r consolidation of the workers' socioeconomic posi-
tion and social welfa:~-e, and ,also as regards the further
evolution of the m of socialist self-management as
a whole . .Once again, this new stage in the development
qt our soci~alist revolution has been ushered dn by the
League of Yugoslavia, together with all the other creative
forces of our society, following a thorough critical a naly-
sis o f the state of affairs in our society.
As a result, our society ~has acquired a much more
solid socioeconomic structure, arising from well elucidated
and consolida ted socialist self-management relation-
ships in the sphere of production. These relationships
are being further developed, both in a socialist and
democratic, and in .a functional and organ izational sense.
They en~able our society to ;d evelop freely and autono-
mously a long t lines, folla'Mng ~is own
inner laws, which ar e of :a n obJective .n ature. This is to
say tha t the further functioning of society will less and
less rely on the role of the state appa~ratus and will increas.
ingly ,d raw on the strength and initiative of the work-
ere aBSOeiated. along ent lines 8iild democ~-
ica1lly end of all people cund:ted m
a . Un~ty of free producers. In other words,
of . the role of the st&te and ~its appara~ust
.o1 tbe atatal forms of socialist production
a stronger accent will be placed on the
. ~ .. . . .. . . .
. . . . .
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 381

380
'foday, ~~eref~r~tem d.n -p artioula.r , have become iihe
self-manageme nt role o f the working man in -asso . the pohtical Y successful self-management develop-
labour and in other self-managing communit ies ca~la~d 9:nd 0 f our further since in certain respects our
0
to his interests, as well as in the democratic -del:rlng cru:Kt _ all the mor~e~ind and som.e of its institutions
d

mechanism of our society. gate

rne~tical system lag~utgrown at the present level of de-
Neither the state, nor the system, nor a PDliti po e a]ready b~~ . self-management. If allowed to
party can make m an happy. Happiness is somthing th~
h:Toprnent, ~tta~n ti~ could seriously ~mpede the rur-
only he can cre ate for himself. The vanguard forces af
social:is~ ~nd of socialist society can ~h~refore have on? ~onti1111le, tihfu1
dt::elopment and consolidation of our en-
one obJective to creat e, as far as 1t lS p ossible at th~ '
ther success f
tem o socla
. list self-management.
t has
giv:en mo~ent of history, _con~itions in which man will f
I
tire sys t' the n.ew Constitution, our soc1e Y
enJoy maxJ.mum freedom 1n h1s person al fulfilment and I
I By adop lnfhe socia list government system, and es-
creativeness, in which, using 'Socially-owned means of I rerno~ed from th assembly system, most of the rem-
production, he can work and create whatever will bring especlally fror;;our:eois state's political syste~, elements
him happiness. This is self-management. \
. nants of ~he. borrowed from that system 'ln the eazrly
i
Thls process of reinforcing the working man's role 1
I
which socl.ahsmd 10 pment The system of assemblies of
in self-management could not evolve freely and with the

I
t
s ag es of b come in principle, and s h ould b ecome
l ts eve
I
necessary speed if the political system as a whole failed ?elegates ~: b:cJt,bone of the entire political system of

to make a timely and quick adjustment to such socioeco- ln effect, ent in lif e and in the system of government.
nomic and production relationships. Our society is now
r ~~-~:~g=pects of the political system and mod~ of
faced with tasks concerning the further development of '
1
. b . alist forces have not yet heen brought mto
al.ctlonwith ~~~ new d emocratic political form o~ social
'
the system of socialist self-management democracy, which
are no less important than those in the sphere of socio- I me . f '1 re to persiSt the
economic and production relations which we have started
'
I self-management. If thlS aa ure we . ts !nitial
l
to work on, in line with the Constitution and the As- delegate system would find it hard to get .nd of lalllk. ds
l shortcomings and would also become subJect to ln
sociated Lalbour Act. The establishment of these socio- r'

economic and production relations provides, inasmuch

'
as they contribute to the stabilization of the soci~t ! l
seM-management system, the socioeconomic and matenal
base for the further development of our political sys~m
and for the further consolidation of democratic relations
among people in the socioeconomic system of socialist
self-management.
I they open up for the socialist society;
Since the problems of the further development of our
political system are of f.ar~aching importance for the
development of our socialist s elf-managing soci~. the
League of Communists of YugoslaVIia must formulate
cle&r-cut policies regarding the solution of these prdbler;:
mapping out how our political system of socialist se ld
management democracy should further evolve. W-e. co~ a
not tackle these problems before our society acquire d
genuine "s?cioeconomic psyche" I before it establdst~.
aoc\oeconom1c a nd production relations which a:re capa
ot functioning wiihout tb elna f'Upervised by the state
tpp~ttatua, o .
I of' distortio~, which would undoubtedly affect democra-
cy in our social life. .
l All these problems now set before us three prunary
tasks:
- first, we must critically consider the presen~ sta~e
I of our political system and take measures to adJUSt tt
'
I to the chang.es in the socioeconomic and self-managem:nt
structure of society, and to the general prospects whlch
- second, b y taking appropriate. measu~es ~e h~ve
to broaden and coosolidate democratic relationships~
the. ~emocratic practice of self-management and
declS1on-rnaking; and ..
- thi~ we must define in clea:rer and more spe~c
~rms the ~tioo, role, and mode of a~tion of ~Jo .:
lllg forces in socialist society, and espec1ally the d ~
1
011 and politi.cal leadership of the League of comm
of Yugoslavia.
'l'he l~lng factor ln socl.a:llst society is ~~
:~~only by the League of eommumss:.:H:t
t~~ oraa.niuJtiona, auch u tM I!
Am-ace of
 , ll
382
383
Working Peo le
F.e derati p ' the trade unions th t
These questions are of e xceptional importance for
which on, e~c., but also by all tho'
;

e . Socialist Y()uth i

h League of Communists of Yugoslavia, not only be-

exert 1nfluen se social org . 1
various ways . ha . ce on social relations an anl~ations t e e of general social interests but also because these
and the solving~~ :O~i:ifect on the social co~:~:~ in '. 1
c~us ges in our political system affect the position, role
the government organs ~ .Problems. I also include th ess
'
I ~n~functioning of the League. of Co~~~st~ and .of all
all . ~ther organized c~ea~:~~c~, profes~onai servicS =~
f,
) othr leading socialist. forces .w1th wh1ch. It Is 1nextncably
~olitical, professional, industri ~ctor:s ~ . the ideological, linked in socialist action. Th1s problem IS at the m~m~nt
fiel.ds. Last ~but not least the a S~Ientlfic, and cultural I robably the most significant one for the further bu1ld1ng
~f our political system.
SOCiet?" is ~a.Jso represen t~d b leading factor in socialist l
'

consciousness, initiative and Yt~he spontrun0us socialist

I

.'
es of the pe.o ple as a~ ex ac IC?n of the broadest mass- .
II
social aspirations of the worb'~SSio~ of the. fund~ental I
!
In other words, the leadin g man ~d h1~ expenence. I
emb odies th t . . g factor In socialist society Of course, our main aim is to continue the consoli-
e . en Ire ~Ociahst and democratic creattive J
f dation of the political system of socialist self-management.
energy of society wh1ch has to b e expressed freely and Our efforts should be exerted in two directions.
fully.
First, we must take all the necessary measures to
In building a democratic political system of socialist make the practical functioning of the system more ef-
self-management, our primary task is to provide fum I
I fective. There are a great many weak points in our
foundations for it. Provided the system as a whole is I

.
system. A whole range of shortcomings in the operation
stable and ~fficient, provided it maiptains the leadership l
!
of organizations and institutions in our political system
of the working class and .of the working man in general, i'

suggests that bureaucracy and technocracy are still very
and provided he has in his control the key positions in \
strong, that our admiiUstration is complicated and there-
society, our society will ,b e able speedily, boldly, and fore prone to bureaucracy, that certain organs and organ-
resolutely to evolve all the various forms of democratic izations are too independent, that there is much un-
practice which are :nece$ary for our society'_s fu~ctioning I productive and duplicated work, that democratic com-
I
and its further progressive development. ThiS Wl~l at the
J
' munication between self-management and government
same time expand democratic freedom in our SQCiety, not organs, and 'between them and the whole of the social
along the lines of bourgeois liberalism, but along the structure, is rudimentacy, that many of our meetings
lines of self-management democracy, are empty and useless, that the decisions they adopt are
often not competently prepared, that the citizen in seek-
Ther-efore our society in general, and the Lehague ing his rights frequently has to cross many administrative
' 1 . . articular will now ave
of Communists of Yugos aVIa an p . ' . d long- hurdles etc. Conditions should, therefore, be created in
to draw up as soon as possible a ~o~prehe:nve rsocialist Which our society will deal more successfully with such
Tange plan of developi~g the pol=~ s~ ~is olong-term shortcomings.
self-management. The unpleme~ tate of . our society's Second, we have to continue enriching our political
plan will depen;d on :the actua. s . and the balance sr.ste~ 1hy .building into it forms of democratic organiza-
economic ~base, its socia l consclousness tion m wh1ch the pluralism of self-management interests
of social forces. other -the interests of the working people in associated labour,
d tal laws and sorne If- in various forms of interest unions for different fields
The enactment of fll? am~n n the system of ~ of rocilal life, and iin. the delegate svstem of sociopol'itical
communiti5 can assert themselves through democrat-
..I de self-management decision-making as directly and as
managemen h measures to d.mplement t e . g it ]nto freely as possible. Socialist self-management cannot exist,
legal and ot er rt al system and ~brm hieV-
in the sphere of the po 1 ~c relationships and a~ . function and develop except as a democratic system. Its
. th the already establish~ d production. overall political results must be a constant expansion
line w1 . Wecononuc sphere an
ed results i ll the soc
 , . I
UQ4J:
:I "T"
1"1'\ {
"

of htun 385
and h u an fr.eedorn. Th
this or rna.n :freedoms s~ Problem of de 1 cannot eliminate all such short-
ist seif..:~;nterreiation ~~tw:~so be se:o~~atic rights The system ~t ~neconstantly affected by soci~al anta~g-
1 ccJllingS, because c~aft by the struggle between s~ciaHst
f~ction of t~ernent.. These righ~ democracy an~l1ns. of and espe f Y '=lnd those which operate 1n the
hl.S destiny fe h~orkmg man' . and freedotns soclal- 0 .-.kms
.~.~
self-rnanag~m .
ent orc.es Q., l't' l
, nd b s harp socia l an:<f . po 1 Ica
terrns of ' o Is Work s .rlght to be . a.r.e a
ability to ,:Jf~atlhity, derno~c ~~ intert;st.s i : s~~~ryol of Pp osite dlreot:on, a yld This is why socialist forces
o . t' n:s 1D the wor , . th
er work operation d , on contradic 10 .' 1 .al organs frequently reaot to em
In trying t 0 Ing People. ' an account- and r~po~lb ~ so~~ driffe~ent ways. It seems to me,
w e .h ave to conssee d th f
e utur.e in a I in sulbJeCt1ve and ryb 'ld up the political system we
between the pro~la~r What causes a ~e~~~r P~rspective, therefore, that asd:V~~ ~1 policy of the Le~gue of Com-
~ernoc:Mtic princip}.:ed dand constitutiona~? diScre~ancy mus~ alsoftYry gt~lavia and <>Ur socialist society gener~lly
bee. This discre . ..an . our social an Y .~tabhsh~ munJ.Sts o u t ible unity of action
aspects of that Panc:y lS sbll more or l d ~ohtlcai prac- which wou1d enssurehthe t~~~a~;oJ:Sassist the further
. thds sphere. uc ac 1 h'l t the
tive reasons fofr~~t~f~~~: are, no ~~u\~:U:!~~~J:~ d 1 pment o f socJJa.
ln . 1.1St s elf- management ' w I e a .
eve ot. mcreasing the ability of our democratic po-
depend on the subjective ; { good cmes which do not same une ' . 1 11 M-empts at destroy-
f.?r7e.s. These causes will c li. of the leadi.ng socialist litical system to fail eff.e cti v.e y a a,,.~,
limiting factor in our tte e rtalnly continue to be the ing it. . . d
?r.atic dbjectiV<es of
In ntind such factors as th
ou: 80 ~~~ tto acco~plish the demo-
1S revolution. I have here
We must, therefore, make a new cr1 ~~al '~al~s1s. an
assessment of the functioning of our pol'ltical Institutions.
revolution and societ; ;h e .~~el of devel?pment of -the What we need to do, in my opinion, :is not so much al~r
the 'b asic institutional solutions, as improve a~d ~~Iify
in~ensity of soci~ conflic~, th~~P~~t ~~~~o~~~c~t!_h~ them. O ur chief objective is to adjust all the 1.nsbtutions
orusms on our Intern~ social life, and the like. Je
1
of the political system to the socialist and self-manage-
must not, how.e ver, rS}gn ourselves to the effect of these ment character of production relationships and to the
:factors on our political system, but must s trive persistent- delegate system of .aSSmlblies.
ly for democ~atic ~ela tionships in our poli tica:l system Thus, we should reject in advance any dilemma as
which are indispensable for the functioning and develop- to the forms of the political system which run counter
m e nt of socialist self-management and which all'e already to socialist self-management a s the source and objective
feas:i!bl,e today. of our society's democratic poHtica1 system. I refer to
This dichotomy lbetwe en principles and practice is the :n eed to l'eject such dilemmas because even in the
frequently cavsed 'by the subjective r~haviour ?f various League of Communists illusions are occasionally har-
social factors and people, BuTeaucratic cenirallsm, tech- boured that the one-party syst-em or the political plural-
ism of the classical parliamentary system can provide
nocracy the scramlble for political contr~l Qf m~n, and a way out of the contradictions inherent i n socialist revo-
similar 'phenomena in the sphere. of so:1al ,relati~~_:..~.~: lution and in socialist society in the ~nitial stages of its
. . ~ 1 nisin ~exceSSl.ve relaance on
~~t~JJan1.1Sill, op:,rr.... "'.~~
i:lllJj.I.U:.I.!.J.J:

'lbitions and similar phenomena development.

istrat1ve means, se~~h am. ot , uite disappeared from If our political system is to he the expr~on of
~n ideology and polltlCS, ha~n 1.. ~ede the development soci-alist self-management, then it can be neither a one-
our social life, an~ t?ey, ' ~ ement. Ii is especially party nor .a multi-p8lrty system, nor can it be any Imnd
of democracy i~ so.ctahst self~~~~e ~entioned discrepapcy of political monopoly~ It is none of these thilngs already
against the subJectiv~ ca~es . 0 1 a pet1nanent srtr~g~le now, although it still contams features of both systems.
t hat We can and will fight. n ~,4. ~~ll"'d a ll other socNl~llst
...
But these a!r.e no longer distinguishing features of our
L ,cxf communi~~ ted prln- political system; they ~a~e only transitory and will wither
wtaged lby the ea~ rt application of the ado~ent sueh
a;uo

forces for a c
ciples of s~elf-mana~~
d~Lstortions and dev.J:artions
racy in society.
away :as the power of the state over society withers awary.
ent democracy ca~ pre derooc- This is, therefore, another sphere of social action where
and further retnforce we communists must not turn a blind eye to the realities
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of our t 387
for~.... bune, Which .,J
. 4~~, . Ut at . u.etnand a .
n1Ind our I the same t. succeSSion f and sociohistorical develooments in it, an.d. so
c ear lon nne we o tr~"'..: .
If w g-terrn ob ' . must alw ~Q:tional the world factors of social consciousness and creahvlty
party o e are to forrnui t Jectlve. ays bear in I on. All. these in one way or another, to a greater or lesser
r one-part ate an alt must figure, level and in every sphere of self-mana-
lS the conce y Political s ernative to th
the plural.- pt o~ seif-manaYstems, then the e ~u~ti- extent, at devery_ 1 mn ..... agement so that self-managers or
ment an socla h th .
intem-ated ~m of lnter.ests ofgemlent Plu.r.alisrnmosth~ltbng ge
cu'""
ment interest union can see w ere e1r
a In the del se f-rnana . ' w Ich is a sel~-manrestageli . the general progressive advancement
i gernent pluralism h eg~t:- system. This ~fg communities own 1nte es m .
n our society for as ~n evolvin a nd .of self-man- '
of society and contemporary manlnnd.
~elega te system. it h almost thr de~adnd gcuning ~und ;'
s ecial significaJlce in all this attaches to the role
lc organism and has become integrate~ now; Wlth the ! of th:
vanguard socialist forces . the ~~gue of ~o~u
of our social and as. ~~ecome the genu~:to a ~emocrat l
'
nists and other organized factors of soc1alist co_nsc1ousn~.
be directed t pohbcal syst em All mohve force ' To lose sight of the role of ~1 those factors 1n the da1.ly
just such an ~wtards further strengtheni~ugr efdfot'ts should \ practice and system of socialiSt self~mana_g~ent and to
m egral and dem . an developing ignore its democratic nature, espec1~y. 1n 1ts de1egate
ag~nt pluralism. Similar! ocrattc system of self-man- system is to render the system of soc1alist ~elf-manage
tutlons of our SOciet all . y, all the democratic insti- ment ~viable, to compromise it. and make 1t. vulner~ble
rights ~hould be .ai~ed afe;sonal :elatior:s and human to bureaucratic, conservative and other reactionary. ~en
developing the political s upporting, reinforcing and dencies. Hence I believe that the definition of the pos1tion,
democracy. ystem of self-management role. and social responsibility of all organized factors of
socialist consciousness, headed by the League of Com-
the This me~ -that in order to implement and protect munists is one of the most important tasks in the further
democr~t~c pluralism of self-management interests '
improv~nt of the political system of socialist self-
we must c~tic~ly analyze and consolidate the syste~ management.
of d~mocra1:1c nghts and human freedoms. We must This is neeessary because the League of Commurusts

proVIde all the necessary safeguards to protect these '
itself is sometimes hesitant as to how much social respon-
rights ernd freedoms from being v:iolated by teclmocratic, sibilitv it should assume. 1 would only like to recall our
monopolistic and similar encroachments, or from being hesitations and soul-searching over the introduction of
misused for purposes that are not in keeping with the sociopolitical . into the assembly system. This
system of socialist self-management and its democratic '
was partly why the socio-political elect:d at
precepts. the first elections failed to live up to our expectat.-ons.
For the same reasons we have to continue resota!:~ly There was indecision, too, as to whether th.e League of
opposing all forms of the so-called theory of spontl :r' Comm1mists should be represented in the Presidencv of
the SFRY and -m tile . of the republics . aod
Which claims that the working man can competentan!uslye ''
provinces. There was also opposition to th-e establishment
. . his social pro~ spon ~ ' '

dec~l~DS and foster di g to v.rhat is going on around of social councils such as the federal counei is for the
emprr1cally, -by r~pon n on the organized forces of social system, for economic development and economie
1
him, without _h avmg ~:~cialist creativHy. policy, etc.
socialist consciousness t democracy does .not ~ only ~ative to this kind of demoeratieally
The system of self-~ag~:eous initiatives, wo:k- responstble position of the League of Communists of
l f the citizens spon If agement lll-" Yugoslavia in society is for the League of Communists to
consist on. y o ordt rs' councils, se -man d the like, (
become divorced from the system, to become a social
ers' mee~, ; S:stem of gov~rnment ~ society, its
I'

organi~~ w~ch, without asstnning focnutl public

terest uruons, etal socialist consClOUSil~ scientific and responsrb~ty, Wlthout democratically cooperating with
but also of the.~ and political forces, Its sociopOlitical !Jle .working mas.s~ self-manag~ soci{)political organ-
driving ideologiC . tential and culture, Utical con- zations, and soc1alJSt forces in general, would control
professional crea~v~ ~ ideOlogical and :tude toward . the work of self-m t and go .t {)rgans by
and social or~~nl~ oof,social forces, the a
'
!
('

flicts, the equillbnum '

 388
=
,
llleans of . 389
Properl lllternai . ;
I
nists 1 Y -renounc~A dJrectives

ong ag '--u 'this and res 1 . titutions are involved, then, of course, the
-.:;,. :o. ro1e of th o Utions W
.s: lna]}b- I
unP<>rtan . J., Want t
e Le . e
ague of C qUite
. g3Jl5 ~d ~~~the autonomous .provinces ~hould take part
take all ce Which . o l'nention a onunu- reptlbliCS edure of democratic consultation, too.
th lS all noth in the proc
our estab} e necessa too often er task of .
Political lS.hea. insti~tanct Possi'bl neglected. ;rticuiar I
!
~ciall SYstem to f 10~ and e rn~asure.s e lllttst '
III
JUrisd.Ytiresponsi'bl..o. uncbon in . organlzations to. enable 1
lc on ~ lllann a free d 111 th I All this once again points to the need for defining
now, th and .Powe er, Withi , emocra . e

offi . e respons. b u .rs. As th. . n the litn. 4- - tic, and tus of the leading socialist forces and particularly
Clals in I 1 ties of .Is ls not 1 1~ of their ;
the sta apolitical organizations in our society. From a
~ertain caseso~~. Political sy~rne organs, fnr;~rs . the case I of soctstandpoint, these organizations used to occupy
. ons in self- ls lllay Serio rn a re not v utJons, and ~rroa;zne posi'tion as all other social organizations. In

I . management Usly affect d ery clear. In

that ththmdk .t~at the lllai and SOcial man!=ratic rela- ~~ce to be sure, it was not so, because all of them
. . e -e<!ISions hi n reason f ent.
, p 0re 0 ~ less exerted direct influence on t he governing
lllsb tution are t w ch should be or such a situa tio .
''
~ society, which is especially true of the League of
b e fonna ll aken above th m ade by an n 1s Communists of Yugoslavia. With the adoption of the new
. . . . y endorsed As
sp. onslhi1r etn and h or gan or
Constitution, however, these organizations have been
ties are no 1. a result real anded down to

VIOUSly, this hap pe beonger one and th and forrnal re- formally incorporated in th political system as a part
can still imp ns . caUSe in our .e same thing Ob- of the delegate system. As a result, some of the methods
the QUestion osef themselves as posociety narrow ~ups employed by sociopolitical organizations, and even the
liti o the status wer centres l-,.,. __ League of Communists, will have to be changed. This
P o ca l organizat and responsibilit ' ~use
the b est way T-h Ions_ has not a1 ways b Ies of socio- applies more particularly to democratic communication
organ ti . ' us, It often ha een resolved in between sociopolitical organizations and working people
~ ons Improperly inte P~ns that sociopolitical democratically organized in their self-managing and social
responsi ble self-man em rvene m decision-m alting b ''
' organizations.
gans and organizationsag enlset, gove rnment and social of-
by ' or e leave ,..J,..,. In these self communities, organizations
organs and organizatio . ~ISions to be taken
responsibility to society A ns t;:'hich have no democratic and soo1W organs, problems ~uld be dealt with demo-
.POI'tant, CatUSe of such j. no er,. maybe even more im- cra~can.y! i1n democratic and responsible :on with
agement and social IS that some self-man- S?CI?political organizations and other originators of so-
. Oigans, and especitaNy ~~ t ~Ialist creativeness. Alternatives a nd possible conflicts
executive organs and their tit t ~" ernmen
li~ely to ~ in t his democratic process should then be
lllS.

lit tl u 1ons, are too aloof too

e open. to normal and constant democratic influ~noe
~y t?e e ntire structure of creative socialist forces, result-
Ing 1ll an undemocratic meddl ing in their affairs from
the outside .
A detai led critical analysis of s uch causes should
suggest practical solutions for r e ducing the incidence of
these cases to a min imum. Our r ule he re must be. that
every organ and every institution should autonomously
take decis ions for which they are competent, and be made
fully accountable, both politically and mate~ally, for
these d ecisions which m1.15t :b e subject to pnor cons~
tations with all creative sociali~t f?rces, espe~iall:r .SOC1d
political and other social orgaruzamons and screntific an
professional institution. Where decisions by federal or-
~USSed m the leaderships of sociopolitical organizations
n a d~mocratic confrontation of views. This means that
no _maJor social issue can be raised before responsible
~OCial institutions in w hich t he League of Commlmjsts,
5d~[u~xample, should not be interest ed and involved in i_ts
on. .But the League of Communists should do so m
1
o::<><:ra~c cooperation with all social forces, or in a
tak ocrati~ confrontation wherever these decisions are
t sys~n. Tlus apJ?lies to all institutions of our delegate
'
rn~~, those m self-managing organizations and co~
Polir ~as well as those in the assembly system of socio-
lcaL communities.
the ;,n fact, such a method i6 already being practi~ in
ork of our sociopolitical organizations, and espectal-

390
0f the League of Communists. But there are
Jy in .thatd .bts and some departures fvom this method
r.ecurrlnkg ~~ democratic communications with other
of .wor '
1 tructur.es .are s t'll
r t . It Is
de f'lei-en pl'leciSely
for
SOC18 S Le f C . .....
that reason tha:t. the agu-e o. omm~nl'SIA:) lS required
t make its positions clear, to Improve Its own and help
i~prove other social factors' methods of work. The sam
more o r less applies to ~abher sooi:opolilititeta!l organizatione
and other organized forces of S'Ocialist consciousness T 8
consolidate our politi~al. system, i.t is now essential t~
have all forces of socialist creativity democratically or-
ganized around the delegate system as the foundation f
our entire political system.
In such can,d i tions, the organize d forces of soe1' 1 .
. a con-
sciousness cease "'~.o Wie
. 1,,J
u monopolistic political P
h . h . 'talbl . ower
w zc mew . Y gave rJSe to poLitical division into parties:
and emerge !nstead laB an expression of s pecific self-
manageme~t 1nterests. In other words, these forces shall
take Part 1n co?~rete fo:ms of self-management and
government. ~eClSI~-makm~.. This means that society is
n~ Io~ger ~lvt.~ded 1nto .a political majority and a political
nunor1ty, Into the rulmg party and the opposition. But
when concrete decisions are to b e taken, the self-manag-
in-g working people do split up into a majority and a
minority, and these keep changing for each question that
is !being decided on along self-management li.ne9. There-
fore, the ideological and political forces of the socialist
selif-managing society organize themselves not on the
basis of general politica1 divisions, but on the basis of
general social needs and se~.f-man.a~ement ~nterests that
Mise in everyday democratic decJSIOn-mB:kmg. In ot~:r
words, wo:rking people self-managers dec1de on ~ifdc
questions on the agenda of self-~anagement so01al de-
cision-m'B.king, mther than on candida,tes for a monopoly
in wielding power.
Our sociopolitical organizations are, therefo~, not
electoral bodies designed for a powe r struggle,. !1ke po;
litical parties in parliamentary syste~s,. tbut spec1f~ f~=is
of organizing workLng people and Cl tlz.ens. on t 1 an-
of their interests, in the areas where these 117~rests .mnce
ifest themsel'Ves in the form of id:ology, pohtlcsi scl; OU~
.g eneral pubLic interests, ~and the like. Such a roe 0 . ty
sociopolitical organizations in essentia~ ~~cause s:~ch
comprises not only a mu~titude o f parti.a l Int:ere~d cui-
directly affect man's 1ivu~.g, .wol'lklng, cr~v:n aintegral
tural conditions and aspirations, but a o
391
'
I
'
ideological, political, scientific, and cultural superstruc-
I ture.
To us, the concept of the League of Communists'
1 adershi:p i.n our social life has never 'been identical with
t~e concept of a political monopoly of government or
th the concept of the one-party system. As the ideo-
~~ical and political van~uard of the worki~g class, the
League of Communists IS only an .expression .of a set
I
of ideological and political interests of that class ~d of
r
I
all working people, and is consequently a constituent
part of the democratic ~l~ralism of self-m~agement
0
r
'
interests rather than a pobticai force above these 1.nter~ts.
i In performing its role, th-e .Leag.ue of Com~~ISts IS a
'
part of the majority of soc-tety 1n~far as. 1.t 1s capable
of having i ts ideological and practical po~1~1es endo~ed
. by the multitude of autonomous c~mmun1bes o.rgan1zed
I along the lines of self-management Interests, whtch form
the majority.
This is another way of saying tha.t we are not in
favour of minority rule, although the League of Com-
munists itself :is a minority. For that mat ter, it must ~be
one, for only as such can it be the van.g uard of soc~1
progress and guide socialist practice. But 1t does not foiSt
' upon society a monopolistic control of its own. It can ~e ~h
I
I
' leadi.ng ideological and political force of the maJorl ty
only in conjunction with working people in their dem-
ocratic interest unions in the political system of self-
management democracy, in the delegate system, in the
Socialist Alliance C)f Working People, ,etc.
This of course, calls for specific democratic methods
in the a~tivity of the League of Communists. It has to
be persistent and ~o~istent :in it:s~truggle ag&nst the
real enemies of soc1ahsm and soclal'lSt self-management,
and tn the struggle far -democratic relations among our
country's kee nl8/bions and 'l'llationalities. But irt; ra lso has
( to be prepared to retreat and make compromises in the
;
event of a conflict of interests in the sphere of seH-man-
ag.e ment democracy or ~henever the social c~:n~ciousness
of the working masses IS found to be def1c1ent. The
League of Coonmunists sh~ld persevere on its _'ideological
and political cours~ ~nd w1n the .self-m.a~agers an? sel!f-
managing commun1t1es over to 1ts pol~,ctes. ~~t 1t also
1
has to display its willingness to correct 1.ts .posltlOI_lS when
practice re futes them, or when the ex1st1ng soc.tal con-
: sciousness is not yet ready to accept them. I th1n.k that
I
I this democratic role of the League of Communtsts of
i
 ,..
)> . ..,
392
~~
._ t - 393
Yugoslavia .
ment of th IS a pre~ . .
racy e Politicaiequ:JSit-e for th of the historY of democracy a nd human freedom
syste e su
The . m of self-m ccessfui d th!J:dbe extremely conservati ~e. And yet s~ch co1_1cepts
of th social status anageme evelop. I
I VI k t Cropping up anew, Since the very mcepbon of
make our
e leading . , organi .
. socialist f zatlon and
nt dern
oc- ha~eal. etpp~actice ;in the ideological and political struggle
soclalist self-mana
d. e fen d.mg itself orces. m 'USt at lllOde
th of acti<J
soCl lS "'' '
waged in today's world.
Ideological an frc;>~ Pressurgmg soctet e same tintn Revolutions have always been denounced for a lack
want to imnn~ political forceses and atta~c7- capable <>ef ' of freedom, even though they were made precisely in
~~ on
ar
u;n :and hostile o~ society a o~e and ab thoae
at h n.'S by rder to abolish the lack of freedom. And counter-revo-
~CJJali.st self-man to Its producti P<>litical syste road that fution have always boasted of beiJllg "IibertaTian", al-
Is a condition agement. Society~n r elationshl m that is though fuey can be staged and maintained only by having
agement dem~of the further d s capability pst dand its
I
recourse to violence. Pursuing their reactionary aims,
""'Tacy Wh

In, democracy g
ti
.
oes out oere inst~b It
evelopm
1 1 Y of th
o o th
ent of <o_...,l.e
acu-man-
'lS I
I
both French and other 'E uropean oounter..,revolutionaries
blamed the French revolution for its aileged terror and
o~ In the system w . . nly sta'bili o e system sets
Ql

r~lmg class mak hwh safeguard J;':ff the key posi-

absnce of .freedom. But it was precisely that revolution,
together with other bourgeois-democratic revolutions in
SI'ble. es the development leadership of the
. democra<!y pos- Europe and America, ;that paved fue way for and even
created the forms of the self-"Same democracy that ibouT-
. ~velopl'ng this . I
geois politicians in Western Europe are so proud of today.
SOClaJtst practic rpo.Lnt further, we could
wielded by th e, too~ that only the dec . sa! of our C?ur own revolution has been attacked from its very
. . e working cia . l&Ve influence f1rst day from the same ~reactionary positions as :being
SO Clal'lSt forces occup , k . ss, V:~rking people, and all
system of self-mana~~en~y positions in. the democratic \
allegedly undemocratic and restricting human rights. In
special role in this 'i'espect 18 . ,~ ensure 1ts stability. A ord.er to counter these ideological campaigns, we must dis-
~ng played by the League somate ourselves from those political systems wh ich at-
1
of Communists f
. ~ . Yugos1ay:ta as the strong, leaddn tack ~ur social and political system. This is the reason
.revolutio~
ide 1 . ,
an 0 fical :md _P?li1li.(!al, cohesive force of the
.f o our po1ltical system of socialist and . democratic
wfhy m my paper The Foundations of the Political System
0 Socialist Self-Management Democracy distrtbuted to
sel -manag.ement pluralism. y~u, I devo~ considerable space to a critical analysis
~Jhost; polQtlcaJ. s~stems u~der whose aegis ideolo~~al
l
lf political campa1gns agrunst our system and social.i5t
IV sed -mdanagement have 'been conducted for more than three
eca ,es now.
In setting ourselves tasks of this kind, we have to
dissociate ourselves ideologically, theoretically and polit- polit"It ~s
qurte eVldent,
however, that the question of the
ically from the bourgeois society's political system !in be ~ca_t:f~tem, of party pluralism in particular, cannot
its one-par:ty or multiparty variants which_ ~s emulated state ea; m the same way in a parliamentacy bourgeois
in thewhere the workers' . movement rightly strives ~ith
by the sociaJoist state in the course of trallS'lt101_1al stages some s~te~ an~ defendmg that very system to achieve
.c socia'~sm We of course, do not mean to :reJect
O
~ J.'J. ' tart these
1 deolog- antago~cialist ObJectives, as in a country where social
systems out of .hand, nor do we want to s . an e harve social.isrusnu: were once extremely aggravated, where
ical campaign against them. On the contrary, ~ stems a returm triUmp_h~ throug~ armed revolu~on, and wh~re
to be very much aware of the . fact tha~;u;~o1;,
and would n t? political p1urahs~ of a parhament~ kind
have often had a very pr~gressive role ;uch a role in the mu~Vlve the old antagorusms. If we are cnbcal of
that even todaY they continue _to play. nddtions. It do not ~arty and .o~e-part! systems, it is because they
certain parts of the world and In ~er~;~~~ have been beca Slllt our somahst soc~ety of self-management, not
is also common k nowledge that ~:cal ~orm of very reac- I
tries~ :ve d:ny their progressive significance f?r co~
or ev avmg <hfferent systems of production relatiOnS~Ips,
\

and freque~t!Y are t~fY.:; ~f!s

creJ.ationships. On :~ en for WGrkers' mov,e ments which struggle to achieve
tionaiY political, soCia' . that these systems Ill
other hand, to accept .the vieW

394
socia-lism within such systems. We have never t .
export revolution o: socialist self-management lbried ~ ...
ther do we want to 1mport models which do not ut nel-
needs of a self-managing and democratic socar
1 meet the
The dogmatists who champion the olit. Ist society.
of the bourgeois state seem to think t~at t~l ~luralisrn
democracy has reached its culmination i the hiStory of
system of democracy, and that any othe f e bourgeois
system is contrary to democr acy Th r arm of political
that the .h istory of mankind h~ ey seem to forget
dem.o~racy, offering no less freedo~ other fonns of
parlramentary democracy. Fortunate! . :n the form of
are ~nd will be many systems m y, owever, there
than the !bourgeois parliamentary 8~~~ ~~e democratic
~orces. of ~umanity would become r e pro~essive
defeatjg'ffi If they b elieved that ~ ey to . I"act1onary
11
was the ultimate in human fr dpar amentary democr acy
e e om.
Of course, criticism of th r 1.t .
cr atic rights and h uman tr~6m ~tions of certajn demo-
and in current socialist practice~n In the world .at ~a_rge
for no country is without faults asec;:s:y and JUS~fied,
and freedoms Such .+.-: g ~ these Tights
h . . . Cr:J.~;J.ClSm Is progressive, especially
w ~I?- It lS directed against fascist and other reactionary
pol1.t1~al systems of the bourgeois state which deny :the
working man an~ citizen even those democratic rights
and freedoms wh1ch are available under the classical
parliamentary system. But w hen. the solution to :;the
prablem is sought f,n the grafting of the bourgeois state'~
political system onto the socialist one which came out
of the revolution, t'hen this is an unmistakably
reactionary political action. The creactionary nature
of such actions is 'disclosed when they try to force
themselves onto a democratic system such as our system
of socialist self-management. For that system does not
and cannot recognize anyone's right to e xploit :Wd swb-
jugate others, on the pretext of all~gedly e~ur1ng s~~~
k ind of abstract f.r eedom, nor can 1t recognize the ng f
of any one, two or several parties to hold mo~opoly S:
political pow,e r over people. It :does. not admtt of l ft
right which keeps man from ~~mng m . direct contr~ of
his life his work and the frurts of hllS J.abour, an the
society, as a whole. But precisely for. thi-s ~~a~ftizens,
system practically off~rs to a vast maJority democracy
that is, to all those who workt new areas 0
and human freedom. . tic riJht
After all, one can well ak what dem!ocr.a derno"
and what fNedOin could be a ubetitute tor thOH
395
.. ri ht.s and those freedoms whic.h e?able man, once
crat~ fr~~ the system of class explOitation a:nd political
free . on to the centraldzed state system, to decide on
subm~~ tions means, and f rui ts of his work and creation
0
J th~ ~n the sa~e token on the social conditions in which
an . ~ and works. Self-manag.e ment freedom of this
11
h~ d :1so ensures fre.edom of personal ownership, but
~h owners hip as stems from the ri\g ht of every citizen
~0 the fruits of his own labour an~ not .that of :othe~.
If the problem of f.reedo~ and rights IS. seen 1n :thJS
light then it becomoe s e VIdent that campaigns launched
for thoe so-called protection of human freedoms which
boil down to the imposition of the m ul tiparty or one-party
systems, wheth~r the campaigners are aware of it or not
_ tend not to promote but, o n the contrary, to impede
democracy, or reduc it to those political rights of citizens
I
that are recognized by bourgeois parliamentarism. And
l these rights, being the historical product of the struggle
to establish and maintain the domination of privately-
I owned captia1, are incompar.aJbly narrower than those
j enjoyed by our worker-self-.m anager and especially those
I
I
that the future development of socialist self-management
I
0
can offer him .
I
Criticism of the limitations of democratic rights in
I I
o.u r society, which comes from those who have deified
I
I bourgseois democracy or its political system, amounts to
'
r
'0
an .endeavour, intended or not' to impos-e on our socialist
'
soo1ety and self-management democracy a political sys-
tem. that would inevitably abolish the right io self -man-
I
i
agement and othe-r self-manage ment democratic rights and
J
freed~ms o f the working man. For if there is freedom
I : str1ve for the monopoly of political power, there can
I
I no fTeedom ol self-management. What this, obvicusly,
I
( ~o.~n:ts "to is an ideological and polritical struggle not
.I
for ~r against" democratic rights and human freedoms,
~ut !between socialist and anti.-socialist forces, ~tween
he supporters of socialist se lf-management and .1ts op-
P.on,ents. It is an attempt to pull the wool over .the eyes
of some Well-intentioned people, actually <imroted to the
cause of genu1ne freedom, who are at a loss when it
comes to understanding the socialhistorlcal import ~f
I
cur~t political developments As far aB we are conoerne t
.. thtare can be no further progress of democracy exce~
throu h lf odement
I . socialism and socialist se ...man"'tt eve
' ed bY
tb.ouah thia Ja stUl hJ..nderad and IWJ~train

396 .- ----------------
._, . d poJ.it1cal contradictions in our country and
SOCla..t 811
the wodd at large.
Irrespective of the social an:<~ his~orical significance
f aeological struggles, the question ar1ses whether there
i~ ~ problem .of. democratic rights .and human freedoms
in current soc1aliiSt practice. There 1s no doulbt that there
is one. Its existence can be e xplained by some social-
historical patterns, 'but a lso by the subjective ideological
and political orien~tion of the lea~ing sociaHst forces.
r think that there Is no ~eed to discuss them in any
detail here, for we have g1ven :b oth explanations a thor-
ough airing on several occasions. The fact remains though
that 1both have been [nstrumentai in the ~trogradatio~
of democratic aspects i n the development of current
socialist practice.
Soci~ist. an~ democratic critioism certainly has the
duty to 1nqu1re 1nto the real causes of this retrogression
and to blaze new paths and find new patterns for socialist
democracy which will really suit the needs and interests
of a free development .o f socialist and self-management
relationships in the sphere of production, primarily be-
cause any failure to develop democratic forms in socialist
practice results i:n resistance and coruflicts within the
socialist society. As a result of this slowdown in socialist
ideological and theoretical thinking, eurrent socialist
practice lags behind in finding original forms of socialist
democracy. The resistance and conflicts engendered by
that practice, apart from positive democratic tendencies,
also give rise to a kind of empiricist protest in the sh~pe
of various "dissidents" and other such phenomena, wh1ch
have no creative drive and are mostly reactionary in
nature since they seek solutions in the past rather than
in the future. Clearly, such an empiricist protest c.ann~t
be combatted by merely denying ~t ~d suppressln~ It
with administrative means, hut pnmanly by exe:tt!lg
creative efforts for a further development of the soc1ahst
and democratic political system.
Characteristically, such empiricist protests most often
find expression in demands for a kind of cross b~tween
socialist socioeconomi<! .r elationships and the par~1amen
tary political system of the bourgeois state. Thus, 1n fact, I
t owned means of production almost automatically 1mpos
they look for a solution to the problems that preoccupy
I
''
I
them where none can be found. Such protests hamper
t
rather than encourage the democrat~c development ~:
1
.
socialism, .because they set up a confllct between revoth
tion and counter-revolution, instead o f broaching e Production and socioeconotn!ic relationships, rather
897
blem of democracy in socialism. The best illustration
yro it is the so-called Czechoslovak crisis, !i n the course
~r empiri~t
which the playlng up of an and liheralist
0
. hJ. blocked the search for any genuinely democratic
C1lCd t:at the same t1me,
' 1' t
socta lS way out . U n derstandably
ano~gh a third force then appeared on the stage.
en The, concept OJ...t soc1"al'18m as a conm b'1nat1on
. of etatism
in socioeconomic relationships and parliamentarism of a
political-pluralist kind a ppeared long ago in the course
of the revolu-tion of socialist thought. Albeit unrealistic
and even reactionary, this idea is ~reappearing and gaining
some popularity and is .e ven becoming fashionable in
some circles of the so-called leftist intelligentsia, whose
members consider it to be a panacea for .both bourgeois
and socialist societies. In our country, too, this concept
enjoys some support, especially among those intellectuals
who Uke to descrihe themselves as "leftistsH while show-
ing no willingness to accept the system of self-manage-
ment democracy.
It is a sheer illusion. A m.e chanical grafting of the
parliamentary system onto socialist production relation-
r ships must lead to deformations in these relationships.
I
I
When, for example, a multiparty system in a centralist
{ state exercises a monopoly 'i n running the nationalized
industry, or the nationalized means of production, it
actually performs the same role as a one-party etatist
II system does under conditions of state ownership, even
.
' though in the former case di:f\.fe.rent political parties may
I
I succ.e ed one another in power. However frequent that
J
8?Ccession may be, the position of the worker in produ~
I
' ~on remains the same. And in order to change the pasi-
' tton of the working man, the political system itself must
I
I
also be changed.
People who harbour illusions of this kind are oblivious
~ the fact that any bureaucratic-technocratic m.onop?lY
~ the sphere of production or socioeconomic relati~~ps
t
!
18
a Priori antidemocratic in its orientation. Any politi~
system, be it a multiparty or a one-party one, whi
t e~trusts not the working class but the apparatus 0 ! ad-
f
t
lllinistrators with the function of managing the s.oClall~
such a monopoly.
.18 The historical task of socialist and democrat~is~::=
.
to search for and blaze new paths and ~to hanged
new fonns of democracy that will suit e c than
 -
I

398 399
building castles in the air rby trying to . and attacks against our democratic system of pluralism
that cannot be combined. It is impo 'hlcornbine t hings
set or accomp~~ this objective if it i~l!b e, however, to of self-management interests, there is actually only one
an abstract poll tical citizen, or on th ased_ on man as alternative to tha.t system. ~n~ that is the political
an abstract notion, .rather than on th e wo:-kln g class as system of bourgeoiS. st~te, e1her 1n 1~ multiparty or in its
from exploitation and subjection to e wor~ng man fred one-party form. Thts. IS t~e alternative which we reject.
monoP?ly, who is a direct exponent any kmd of political And since we are aga1nst 1t, we have to continue opposing
of particular and social interests. of a Whole complex all attempts, both at home and aJbroad, to impose on our
We willl not deny tJha't euttent la..
society either of the two forms by trying to intervene
criticism of the state of d..om o JWUt.evalnst all1id 'UJ!tna:r,...J-:>N... l in our internal development.
In socia 11st practice
. a.s ~
. sometimes
era .1c f1 t' aiUl"VCW,
. . a Ions and rights
however, in regard to only Just;fled. Ii is justified Komunist, Belgrade, 20 June 1977
that t~e leading forces of socr~~tof lts .aspects, namely:
much mfluenced by obsolete prac~ce are still very
the political system which o . ~nse~attve dog.m.as about
ism. These forces, just .as ~~:ated 1n ~he era of Stalin-
bourgeois political plur-alism whend:7atrc ch~pions of
are inclined to defend -certain fo a sys~m 1~ 1nyolved,
the one-part lit rms and Institutions of
nfli . Y po leal system that have long b
co . ct With what the democratic system of s~:u~~
SOCI7ty ~eally requires for its development. This state of
affm~s results ~rom ~and . is influenced b y technocratic .. ; :. ..
~d . bure~ucratic. tenden~tes tow~rd ~olitical monopolf ..:, r.~~
In governing society, which are m eVIdence in modemf :_ : ~ .., .
socialist as well as capitaBst societies. It is also .affected \ j. ~ 7

by the difficulties which a young socialist society encoun~ -,:.:.::;l !I

ters in its strug-gle against pressures exerted by anti- _,.~ .
socialist forces and in 1blazing historically new paths of f
socialist practice . In addition, socialist society frequently
suffers -from its economic limitations, which in turn make
the development of democratic relations more difficult.
Lastly this e volution is hampered by the present anta-
gonis~s in the world, particularly tb etween the two tb locs.
If such criticism may he ~usti~ed i~ ~gard _to t~~ }

actual state of democratic relations 1n soclal'lst soc!ety,.
. tif" d d rLl>~ctionary when :Jt trtes
becomes quite unJUS le an ~ . . . litical
foist on socialist society the c onventional . po ts
to . . . ty as a solution to 1
party plurald.sm .o~ :bo~rgeoiS so~r eois state's political
problems and difficulties. The .g nfll t with so-
system must sooner or lat~r come In~o 1co f cthese are
cialist socioeconomic relat~ons, . es~~cl~! r~ght of work-
conceived and fostered primarily k" g people to seDf-
ers, of the working class and all wor m '
management. . . nd despite the ap-
Taking everything Into account, a- f opposition to
parent ideological diversity of the forms o
'' .
'

CERPTS FROM JOSIP BROZ TITO'S

ELEVE CONGRESS
june 1978

. . .

In the period between the two congresses, our socialist

community successfully continued developing its material
base and fully a nd consistently promoting socialist self-
management. Thanks to the efforts of the working class
and workin g peasantry, and thanks to the activities of
the League of Commru.n jsts and other organized socialist
forces, we harve P een achieving important results from-
year to year, tb oth in material and in social development.
This prov.e s how right we have ~been to persevere along
our road of self-management sociaUsm.

PRINCIPAL RESULTS OF OUR DEVEWPMENT

BETWEEN THE TWO CONGRESSES

Industry as the basic and leading economic activity has

made sueceesful progress in our economic develop-
ment. It has continued to grow at a rapid rate. In the
last fouT yea~s, industrial production increased by one
third, so that today monthly output is higher than the
annual output of fifty years ago. 'this increase has bet n
con attended b y m odernization of techniques and
technology and by much more highly skilled work. We
are today manufacturing products of h igh quality and
great diversity, which are meeting the growing needs of
our citizens and pa11ly also the requirements of 1lhe world
market.
In agriculture, too, we have been aehieving excellent
results. Last year, on the basis of extremely high yields,
we had a record production of maize, sugar-beet and
sunflower, as well as a very high production of wheat.
Today our far1ners are able to produce enough staple
food to feed our population and also to provide con-
siderable quantities for export. Our country has an abun-

402
dance of the natural resources required for the advance-
ment of agriculture. We also have an adequate t;u.tn:ber
of able farmers and experts, good farm n:echan1za~on,
a wide use of f ertilizers and plant protection chem1cals
and other significant production capaci ti~ on .socially-
owned and privately-owned farms. All thiS, subJect to a
fur bher development of self-management ~oolations, pro-
vides a good rb ase for 'a n even faster development of agri-
culture and the countryside.
Good results have likewise been achieved in a num-
ber of other economic activities and public services, e.g.
in the construction industry, tourism, transport and com-
municationst education, h ealth, etc. Thanks to the efforts
and even sacrifices made by our . working people, new
schools, hospitals and other public facilities are being
completed, new r oads and railway lines are b eing built
or modernized, as are other productive utilities.
Owing to a continuous expansion of our material
base with the number of employed increasing 1by nearly
850,000 over the last four years our citizens are having
a better and more prosperous Hfe. Their purchasing power
has b een increased by nearly one quarter. The mass pro-
duction of goods and the well-supplied market increas-
ingly meet the needs .o f our citizens. In terms of t he
selection and quality of goods availatble in our stores,
we hardly lag behind the developed part of the world.
Our society has scored notable successes since the
last congress in raising the general level of skills and
expertise of our working people. Skilled workers and
experts, who today make up more than 60 per cent of
the work force, are playing an inereasingly important
role. Their knowledge and skills, com-bined with a greater
utilization of modern engineering practices and techno-
logy, are responsible in many of our collectivities for
resul~ such as are obtained in the developed economies.
In sc1ence and some other areas, our achievemen~ .rank
among the highest in the world. It is sufficient to :recall
~he . outstanding results achieved lby our agricultural
Institutes in producing new hybrids of wheat, maize and
sunflower, which are givng record yields hardly matched
anywhere else in the world. Notab le results have a lso
been atta~ned in building techniques and in some other
areas .. It .lS' thereaore, no coincidence that many of- our
org~1zat1ons are successfully competing for jobs abroad,
ca.r.ry1n~ out construction p rojects, improving agricultural
production, etc.
403
. This rapid development and all-round progress have
been recorded in all our republics and provinces. In the
less developed republics and in Kosovo, their development
has been speeded up thanks to the efforts made by the
'
working people of these regions and to the assistance
from the entire community.
We can also he happy about the implementation of
the basic tasks which we set ourselves art the Tenth Con-
I g~ess as regards the .rw.:ther development of socioeconon:nc
relatiens on the prmc1ples of self-management. MaJor
improvements have been achieved there. Now the work-
I
ers .in associated labour are fully enjoying their status
freely and on an.. equal footing oontrol1lillng ;fheir ~bowr
and the conditions and results of their labour. The
Constitution and the Associated Labour Act have 1become
a mighty weapon in their struggle against t~e o~posit~on
to the development of self-management that 1s still bemg
fel.t, against technocracy and bureaucracy and similrS.!
tendencies and against anything that runs counter to
self-management a nd public ownership. This oppositi~n
arid these tendencies are being countered more eastly
and successfully, while the status of ~orkers in self-
management
. .
is being continually strengthened.
.
;'llle one (fesult of 1fhis devel~t lhas 1been ,g reater
decisioil:rtlaking by workers in basic organizations of as-
sociated labour on the rights that are inalienably theirs.
Through direct voting and through their delegations and
delegates, they directly regulate their relations in work
and in vaaious forms of the pooling <>f l~bou~ and re-
sources. Income, as the basis of their:eoonomic well-being
and of their socioeconomic and other self-management
rights, is increasingly stimulating rational decisio":-m~
ing, the pooling of lalbour and resources and coordmation
I
of . work and development plans. Through a free exchange
I of labour between workers in production and t hose in
public senr.ices, the latter are i~creasingly becoming part :
of the uniform system of assoc1ated l&~bour. As a result,
1
!
there lS less a nd less govemment intervention in these
relationships.
There has also 'been a strong endorsement of self-
mana:g ement agreemenis. SD:d ~al. compa~ as forms
of the d emocratic coordination of dtfferent 1nterests, as
a form of joint and equitable decision-making. On- th~
basis, and particul&Tly by- consultatio~ .among the repub
lies and proVices, even the most d1ff1cult .qu~~ns of
common interest to all our nations and nationalities are

404
. h This strengthens their
being successfully dealt Wlt : d contrib utes to the
equality, brotherhood a~d. unlt)_ an aging community.
development of ow- soc1ahst se man t life on efficiency in decision-making and in reaching
The attained level of socialist self-managemen fre-
lations and p roductive forces has enabled us to moveti:-
ward even faster. We have every ch~ce to con
developing our socioeconomic and. poht1c~. system, to
build a modem economy and to raise the hv1ng standard
of our working people to higher levels.
This, of course, is not going to be easy. Selfless ef-
forts by all our working people will continue to be
required ~ well as a thorough commitment on the part
of the ' 8Dd aH otiher g uiding socialdst forces.
We shall continue bein~ confronted with various difficul-
ties and problems. How successfully we overcome them
will principally depend on ourselves. If we do everything
properly, success will be assured.
In this regard we must draw lessons from the preced-
ing period, because we have not quite fulfilled all the
tasks which we set ourselves at the Tenth Congress. We
have not done so because in this period, too, we had
setbacks and again made some errors, which were mos.tly
of a subjective character, even though we drew attention
to them many times. Some of the current economic prob-
lems, which we have to try and solve now, could have
been less acute and difficult had the~e been .n o short-
comings and repetition of mistakes.
HIGHER LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY TOP
PR10RI1'Y FOR FURTHER PROGRESS
,.
~~r.::.r.
..
Our society has every facility for a rapid increase. m
labour productivity, and yet in recent years this drtve
was slowed down, largely as a result of the weaknesses
which we could have avoided. A continual raising of
labour productivity is the only real basis for overall
econ~ic development, for the strengthening of the
matenal and social position of each individual, a-nd for
a successful solution of many essential problems in so-
ciety's ~evelopment. Our system of self-management,
the attained level of mechanization of labour, and our
skilled cadres every opportunity for achieving
greater ~ we failed to tak,e advan tag.e of it,
~nd '!e muet not allow tbl. to happen again. Any delay
m raralng labour produetivlty becomes a brake on our
overall development
405
I Obviously, labour productivity does not depend only
I
on the situation and relationships in work collectivities.
It also depends on the overall organization of economic
,.
agr~ments and compacts, and particularly on a consistent
implementation of what has been agreed on. In our
e everyday practice there is much slowness, failure to do
what has 'been decided, and many instances of unaccept-
able b ehaviour and work. Collective agreements and
. . .
I
compacts must have the force of law. This and full ac-
countability should become everybody's rule of conduct,
I
from workers in a basic organization to the organs of the
r
'
I federation.
In order to stimulate higher labour productivity, we
have the important duty to promote the system of re-
muneration according to work done, so that it becomes
.
the chief stimulus both to productivity and to successful
management and efficient business performance. Much
'
.I
is being done along these l~nes, but we ~ust. be more
energetic in overcoming opposition and elimtnating weak-
nesses. We must not tolei'ate any wage-levelling, just u
I
I. we must permit no unjustified differences that are not
' backed by corresponding work and that become privileges
at the expense of others. We must put a stop to such
tendencies. They cause justified discontent among the
\Vorkers and do us social and political harm.
Excellent opportunities for raising labour productiv-
ity may be found in pooliDg labour and resources, in
making use of the advantagee offered by the unity of
the Yugoslav market, and in fostering the syatent of
... ~
'
socialist self-management planning. Therefore, we
~
lutely oppose all kinds of autarky, whether it applies to
. ~mtions or to lower or thleber'
ioal All . to 1ile pooqof
and resources along self-managernent lines must be ener-
getically reloved. This m ust be our and
one of our principal tasks.
Plans and programmes of development must be
istic and economically justified, at;'d ~y must m
allowance for the interests of organ1zatios of
.'
labour sociopolitical communitiee and society a whole..
For uris
purpose work organizations and tociopolltlcal
Cmnmunities must coord~te their on a aeU-~::
agement baais strictly what Me
upon.
 ------- "" '' ''
406
. uing to invest a great . which is
we ~ cooun t is not good, however, lS that then!
gottd ~~~e in ~ which do not pro1nise good
sie UJ~ ~tber home or foreign maakets. An unnecesmry
res~,':: of capacity and other kinds of irrational in-
d~cens t usually happen when decisions are made without
\o"eS!}l ' .r... th b "11
G11Uinti in the worAers, ose w. o w m fact most
direCtlY feel . an! _untoward effects of such decisions. In
such. a situation 1t JS hardly any wonder why our capacities
are undetVtmaed, 'Wtly some
finding buyers for their products, why they have business
Jossos, pile up stocks, etc. All this n:Mfuces the producti'Vit
of overall social labour and the ~bllities for
overall p '
0:
In ~ to prevent ~ remove these and similar
m the sphere of mvestments. we must make
a greater use of self-management and social
com~cts on programmes of development and a division
of laoour at the national level.. It must be nunembel'@d
that .the structure of the economy can be su y countries are partly due to objective ctn~un ~
altered not only by bwilding new industries but also by
reconstructing, enlarging and modernizing the existing
ones. We must try to judge when it is preferable to fol...
low this line of action, and when it is to build
new faetories. In doing so w-e must not be motivated by
the y of a 1m0me:nrtlley boom.. We must ~'tiin-
ually . the lkinld of ttiheJt wiJl serure 1ihe
f~t possi!ble advancement f or our society and a better
life for our working man.
We must likewise persevere in our efforts to foster
a responsible attitude towards work and social pro~,
a better utilization of working hours, and an. econ~cal
ase of pu;bl!ie property in g eneral. It is particular~Y I.m-
portant to stimulate the ,a cquisition of skills, applica~on
of scientific and technical achievements, and the ~daption
of research and development work to ~e reql~trements
of th~ economy. We must encourage Jllnovat1on and
nationalization as much as possible. In our system they
can and 1nust lbe used to the full e~ent.
As we successfully carry out ~e tasks of increasin~
Iab our productivity and efficiency of management, it wi
be easier to deal with those problems that make ~ 0
economic position difficult. I have in mind a!bove a1;.::
exceptionally important current probt.ms: unfavou . ..,
trends in the d<>maJn of foreign trade and tbe slo.
efun.ination of some major ills that tbe
stability of economic at home.
TOWARD MORE STABLE AND
BALANCED ECONOMIC TRENDS
We have always devoted attention to promoting eco-
nomic relations witb foreign row.mtries and to sb'engtbening
the stability of our internal economic b~ in view of
their significance for our material and
development.. We have taken to pre!vent anv
negative tendencies in these relations and ha'V'e had some
success in doing so, but we have not done everydting
we should have done. This is w~ we have bad tbe
success in impJemeniting the of the Tenth
Congress.
P in our economic relations with foreign
to n ex factors. Aa a eounbyt
' are much in need of impons whieh are not ~t e
to pay for with profitable eJQ>Orts. This is why must
borrow abroad to a extent expect for some
time to have a deficit in our balance of pa)-mena 'lllis.
deficit, however, must remain within certain limits On
the other hand~ tendencies in our foreign trade~ partic-
ularly in the last year and this year,. have not been
favourable. U we do .n ot eurb them,. "We can expect to
have a lot of new diffteu.lti~ whieh are liable to slow
down our development considerably..
The causes of this situation are partly to be fou.nd
in a slowdown in economic activity abroad, the raising
of J)rotectionist barriers b y certain countries. manipula-
tion with exchange rates and similar trendst all of \Vhich
makes it harder for us to export, and expensive for us
to import. But, as I have already said, some causes also
lie in our own weaknesses, which we must eliminate
more energetically.
Some of the weaknesses in the. system of economic
relations with foreign countries have already been iden-
' tified, and this is why we 'have providetia in a series of
new laws, for new solutions which should help to remove
these weaknesses. The essence of the new poliey consists
in transferring considerable duties and responsjbilities
from the government administration to the organizations
 408
of associated labour, in securing their collective and
properly organized access to foreign mark~ts, and in
inoreaSi'IlJg 11he resrporus.iJbillities of iftle oc-ept11bluos ood prov-
inces for the oort'ional lblalllaalce of paymenlts. This wiH
be an important means of removing weaknesses in this
system.
Of course, this 1s not all that Temains to he done
because many difficulties and problems in this spher~
also ra.zUse for Qther re~. For example, we are relying
far ~ much on production which depends on exports and
foreign technology, and so are importing even what we
oouLlJd .eoono:miiJOalll y pr!Oldfuoe ou~sel'Ves. We deo:irled, prur.tly
for th1s reason, to change our structure of production but
we have 'been moving all too slowly in the realiazti~n of
these decisi~ns. In this r~pect we must make a resolute
ab~t~turn. m ~u~ production and investment orientation.
It 1s likewiSe Indispensable to stimulate and develop our
own technology.
This certainly does not mean that we should insulate
ourselves from the world market. On the contrary we
mu.s~ ~a~e ~ of all the .advantages offered to us our
participation m the international division of labour. It is
an esse~tial condition of our development. But, in this
connection, we m ust mak e a thorough study of our fo-
reign trade policies for each market in turn, and in the
lig~t of the policies of othercountries. At present the
maJor part of our foreign trade is directed to the western
m-a rkets. We do not always encounter sufficient under-
standing from our major pavtners, and our deficit with
that area is almost intoleralb1e. We must look after our
own long-term interests and must look for markets where
we can pay with our expol'ts for the major portion of
?ur imports. We must devote special attention to foster-
mg economic cooperation with the developing countries,
'Yhere opportunities a re still far from being properly uti-
l'lzed.
In order to successfully compete in any foreign mar-
~~ we mu:t, of course, be c-ompetitive. To be competitive,
~t JS. albove aH, cto keep mising ~holm- productW-
1~ m order to catch up with the more developed econo-
~tues, so as to reduce the outward flow of a portion of our
mcome .. ~ome of our enterprises have reached a level of
prod.uc~1v1ty t~at has made possible their successful access
to the International market. This example should be emu-
lated by more and more of our 'business enterprises.
409
We could b7 considera1bly more competitive abroad
even. on ~he ?asLS of our present labour productivity if
r~la.ho~hlp~ In our ec~omy were better balanced. Many
d~f1c~l~ties tn our . foreign. trad~, particularly in exports,
,, arJ.Se ~~cause, owing to 1nflat1on, our production costs
'
I
' keep rJSing, because some of our capacity is idle 1because
our economy is overlburdened with taxation, bedause our
'
'' g~eneral ~d collective co?-~umpt.ion i~ far too high. Exag-
'
''
.
gerated Investment ambitions likewiSe affect prices and
I the balance of payments. We must take energetic steps to
combat all this.
I Cer~in e:c~er~al factors have also 'b een responsi)ble
for the Instability In our economy. Yet, the internal rea-
sons are of overriding importance. These can lbe seen :in
~he holdovers. of anachronistic relationships in our system,
1n. the b.eh_avtoUT' of many people which is incompatible
l' Wlt? soc1a~t self-management. There are still many cases
of JUst pay:Ing to 1fule esbalblliShment -of IIlleW re-
latio~hips. ~a~ .decisions, particularly concerning the
earn_u~g a~d divlSlon of incom-e, are often taken without
by I'
parti~Ipatlon of w_or.kers in the basic organizations, or by
secur1ng only their formal agreement without informing
them properly about the true significance and consequen-
' ces of :these d~. llll lfftris manner, dec1sion-mallcing is
' sep~ated from d1rect economic responsibility for the
deClSlons taken, for the interrelation ;b etween decision-
~~ng and accountability is actually the -k ey to the ef-
fiCiency of the system of self-management. Hence there is
excessive consumption at the expense of the economy's
viabil~ty, excess~ve reliance on loans, the passing of -b usi-
ness risks onto society as a whole, and other causes of in-
flation and spiralling prices.
In conditions of inflation, for example, the -income of
ogranizations of associated labour is more vulnera ble to
ihe uncontrolled fluctuation of prices and the measuree
taken .b y sociopolitical communities, than it is sensitive to
the productivity of la1bour and a correct business policy.
This discourages workers from having an interest in earn-
ing their income on the basis of remuneration according
to wor:k done, and stimulates tende~ies of wege-level-
ling. In such conditions there can be no long-range .p lan-
ning.. Decisions which dbjectively have a long-term effect
are frequently taken on ttihe 'bAsis of expendiency .and mo-
.
mentary situations. This is why inflation is a great evil
.
~
which must be resolutely combatted, or at least reduced
to a measure which permits pubHc control over the basic

410
. Struggle against inflation,
struggle for economic sta ~1IZa 1. . .
trends of social rep~ucbti~~ fon in general, must be a
part of all our socioecononuc actlvitles. .ed
We have not allowed ourselves to be carrl away y
inflation. Measures and actions have b~n taken, an<i
these have produced positive effects. Despite many pres-
sures on prices, we have managed to keep our growth
within limits. Thanks mainly to self-mana~e~ent f?r~es
in associated labour and action by the gwding soc1alist
forces, and thanks to the measures of economic policy,
there has been no major chain reaction of negative ten-
dencias generated 1b y inf~ation. The Assoc~a:ted L~bour
Act has given a special stunulus to -the pos1t1ve orienta-
tion of workers.
Thus the practice of self-management has shown that
the strengthening of the worker's status as self-managers
and the development of the system of socialist relations
as a whole are the only true solution which does not only
eliminate the outward signs of disturbed relations, but
also removes their basic causes.
It is clear that the ills that adversely affect staJbility
cannot :be remedied overmght. Wlhat shouJd be changed i s
material relationships, which requires time and effort.
Our basic bask is, tbherefore, to make the position of
the worker in self-management such as we determined in
the Constitution and the Associated Labour Act, to make
it the underpinning of our entire system of socialist self-
management. Its implementation and a resolute curbing
of all opposition should be done by the workers them-
selves, while the communists should be in the forefront of
that struggle.
Workers in b asic organizations must esta,b lish a gen-
uine control over the entire income. Thls implies their
~ns1ble attitude towards income as public property
and the negotiation of selif~anagement agreements with
the workers of other basic organizations concerning com-
mon criteria for earning and distri-buting income. Here, in
the interest of the entire working class, an important role
is incumbent on the trade unions as the sponsor of and
participant in these ~ems and as t he exponent of
class policy in this sphere.
Workers in basic organizations must also, in their
own and in the public interest, pool thir labour and . re-
sources with the labour and resources of other organtza-
tions. However, decision-making on collective work ~d
pooled resources must remain in their hands. Here agaln
411
, .r it is indispensable for them to regula~, on the basis of
se.H-management~ ~eir mu~a:l rights, obligations andre-
sponsibilities. This 1.s essential for a successful evolvement
b of the process of production on an extended scale, and for
I worker control <>ver this entire process. We must, there-
fore, resolutely de~? a consiste~t implementation of
the constitutional pnnc1ples concenung past labour.
In this connection, radical changes are needed in the
I
sphere of the credit, banking and monetary system, which
I
still keeps the worker out of decision-making on income
. and on public resources in general. These changes can no
, i
I
longer rbe delayed.
Establishment of worker control over the entire in-
come means that t1re earmarking of a portion of the in-
come for meeting collective and general social needs must
be under their control. It is true that the Constitution has
authorized sociopoldticel 0011vnmli1lies to make a levy for
collective and general social needs, but this was on con-
dition that they should not interfere with the role of as-
sociated labour as the basic agent of reproduction on an
' extended scale. This condition, however, is not being suf-
I
' ficiently observed and the economy is being burdened
7
with various levies in excess of the limits laid down by
, the Constitution. In the future we must see to i t that per-
sonal, collective and general consumption should remain
within the limits of what we can afford, that they should
not be at the expense of the economy's reproductive paw-
~ This wiH. be all the more easily as
t the growth of income becomes a function of 1cre 11.
labour productivity.
As with the problem of foreign trade, here again in-
creased labour productivity constitutes an essential pre
requisite for striking a proper balance in sooie:l reprodoc-
ti{)n. This important task should become the o uw~g
concern of all.
We must by all means devote due attention to the
question of employment, too. In this respect, tbe basic
tasks which we set ourselves at the Tenth Congtess have
been ~Itzed. N meaa1ployment contimJ.eS to be
an important economic, social and political proble'!',
which we must deal with in an o and systematiC
manner. There are poosibilities of doing so, but these pos-
sibilities must primarily be used for the employment of
production workers and not for s.welling the nu rober of
'. the admjnistrative personnel which has been too be-
quently the case in recent times. Special atte1tion should

412
be devoted to providing jobs for young skilled workers
and experts. 1... .... ~
In recent years 60 80,000 workers tbave ~~ COl1Will
back every year from their temporary emplo~ent ab-
road It is a good thing that our workers are coming home.
This is what we want. However, we must make greater
efforts to find jobs for them so as to make use of the
knowledge and experience which they gained in modern
factories abroad. It is likewise essential to create condi-
tions for our workers to invest the savings which they
earned over there through hard work. This is where our
sociopolitical communities, particularly the communes
have a great interest and responsibility. Through joint
action in this domain, particularly through the pooling of
resources, some of the problems of development in under-
developed communes can also be efficiently resolved.
In the future we must also try to create conditions
for ~ d~e~opm~nt of. small crafts and other types of
serv1~es actlvztles, m whtch we are lacking at the moment.
In domg_so, we must be above the notions which see in
every pnvate work a danger for socialism. Obviously we
must. curb any negative behaviour that may arise in' this
domain.
While on the subject of enlareing the opportunities
of employment, we must bear in mind the possibilities of-
fered. b! a proper policy of transforn1ing agriculture. Our
overr1<ting task must be to promote large-scale high-yield
production on socially-owned farms. But we ~ust at the
same. ti~~ create conditions for improving production in
the mdtVIdual sector, principally through cooperatives
and coproduction. It is necessary to build in rua1 settle-
ments small factories, artisan shops, tourist resorts and so
fo~ All this wiJl have a positive effect by increasing
euploymnt of the rural population and reducing pres-
sure on employment in the cities.
. The so~ution of ~he current problems to which I have
given special attentwn and the implementation of all
othe~ tasks .in. 00: material and social development must
be given pno~ty m all spheres. It is of the utmost impor-
~c~ to consistently implement the policy of accelerated
tev~ opment of the underdeveloped republics an~ in par-
v~l~ arthof the province of Kosovo. In our efforts to de-
rialt ese regi~ns, we have created an important mate-
~ Infrastructure, industries and other pro-
ductivase
is a e capactty, ~ a large pool of skilled cadres. 'this
guarantee that m the next period, through the eflort4
413
of the working people from these regions and with the as-
sistance of the entire community ... - and particularly
through association and collab oration between the devel-
oped economies atnd the economies of these regions
further successes will be achieved in their development.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF SOCIALIST
SELF-MANAGEMENT
Since the Tenth Congress, the League of Communists of
Yugoslavia has devoted great attention to the practical
functioning and improvement of our sociopolitical system,
of our socialist self-management democracy. F irst of all,
I want to say that in this period we have s uccessfully
transfortned our political system to ~bring it into line with
the progress made in self-management production rela-
tions. We initiated this process in 1971 with the adoption
of the constitutional amendments. The Constitution of the
SFRY introduced new fonns of political decision-making,
which are in keeping with our revolutionary goals and
achievements. The Associated Labour Act and other fun-
damental laws have, provided the broadest possible scope
f?r the working class and working people to make prac-
tiCa11JSe of their ruling position in social reproduction, in
exercising authority and in administering other public
affairs.
THE DELEGATE SYSTEM THE BASIS
OF DIRECT SOCIALIST DEMOCRACY
The direct participation of working people and citizens in
taking decisions on all public affairs lies at the heart of
our socialist self-management democracy. This participa-
tion is secured, in the first place, through the delegate
system. This system makes it possible for the initiative of
millions of people to become a creative social force. The
fact that almost two and a half mi11ion citizens were
elected to delegations at recent elections gives an idea
of the extent to which the working people take a direct
part in decision-making on public affairs under the dele-
gate system. If we also count -the members of self-manage-
.,
ment organs in organizations of associated labour and in
work communities, then more than three miHion wozking
. people are part ol our delegate s:~stem, while practically
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414 0
0
all working people and citizens ha~e .opportunities to .ex-
~ their pei'S01'l.6ll pre~erence. '!'his ~s. an example Wlrth-
out precedent in tilie !histnry of pol!iticaJ. systems. Reti
conditions have been created t?. do awa1. once ~d for all
with man's alienation from pohtlcal dec1s1.on-making; con-
ditions have !been created to enable every working man
truly to govern society.
The political system of self-management democracy
allows the expression of a multitude of diverse needs and
interests of man as an individual, of his immediate com-
m'Uil!Lty, and of society as a wthole which are the result
of the social division of labour, of different conditions of
work and other objective circumstances. At the same
time, this system allows self-management interests to be
democratically reconciled on a general socialist principle
and to be reflected in the optimal way in the decisions
that are adopted. The necessary integration in society is
thus carried out in a democratic manner and on the prin-
ciple of self-management, through the delegate system.
Man's posiifdon a-n relations anrl tihe del-
egebe system !has fundaanen~y changed lhds sooiQ:J. role
and consciousness. In socialist self-management democ-
racy, the working man becomes the prime mover in so-
ciety. He evaluates his material and other capabilities and
sets himself realistic targets and tasks that are commen-
surate with his needs a-nd interes1s, with material, cultural
and overall social development~ These targets, therefore,
are not set according to the profit motive, nor according
to administrative-technocratic "higher purposes", 'but are
motivated by genuine human wants. The working man
becomes conscious of his decisive role in all public affairs
and in the overall development of society. Genuine human
rights and liberties are exerciaed and expressed on this
basis.
In building a socialist self-managing society, we do
not seek to achieve some unattaina~ble, imaginary goals
and tasks; rather we want man to secure for himself the
living conditions that correspood to the level of hls social
and material development, to develop his all-round crea-
tive abiliiy, to live truly as a human being.
Of course, we do not claim that everything in our
system is functioning faultlessly, or that where matters
have been regulated by the Constitution, all problems
halve been l'ESOlved in practi.ce. Wlhen the nand
~iarted Labour Act were and on other occar
sions, I 98dd tfdmt the [ega~ of relations m eooie-
415
t does not of iiself provide ready solutions. We were
~are that the process of implementing the Constitution
:nd Act would not~ e~y, ~ from diffic~ties an~ e~en
position. The diff1culties ;res.tde notably m the still m-
~~ficiently developed ~ateri~ base of society, in the lack
f experience and the lingenng on of old ways, but also
? an ideological :b ackwardness of a section of the working
~ple and even of communis~. Various. anti-6elf-man-
agement forces are also still putting up resJstance.
In the first place, bureaucratic-technocratic forces are
tenaciously hanging on to their positions. Often even in
the new conditions they try to preserve for themselves
their old nlling positions or create new ones as they go
through the formality of readjusting organizational forms
to comply with rthe principles of the self-management dem-
ocratic system. cy and teohnocmcy are a ve:y
stubborn and deep-seated ailment of contemporary socle-
ty, whose germs li.e both in the objective .con~tions ~f. ex-
pansion of productive forces and in su?Jecbv~. am~1t1ons
to main tain a privileged and monopolist pos1tion m so-
ciety. It is, therefore, no coincidence at. all that the cia~
enemy and various nationalistic, dogmatic and other anti-
self-management forces are lurking in the background.
We must fight them. Our stronge~t .weapon is the con-
sistent implementation of our soc1al1st self-~anagement
demoor~y in all its forms and contents. This does not
mean that we shall not also make use of administrative
measures wherever the opponents of self-management act
as 'Organized enemies of our self-managing development.
Of course, we must not tolerate our own weaknesses . .
and mistakes either. We must try to keep the~ to a miru-
mum and surmount them as quickly as poss1-ble. In fact,
the system of self-management often suffers from weak-
nesses which arise ;b ecause we have -not put th~ system
into effect consistently. These ~eaknesc;es can ~ best re-
moved through the creative action of all working people.
f
The delegate system is both the way and th~ means f?r
'I
,
l
achieving such a goal. It has already proven Its wor~li:
!
1 the pernormance of our dele~ons and delegate assem
!'
' during their first term of off1ce. - - . .
i
We must also not lose sight of some short~om1ngs m
'
the past functioning of the delegat~ system. Fu-st of. ~,
the delegations of associated labour m delegate assemblies
I did not have enough .i:nfl~e. The work of some ~em:
blies has become a formality. for the process of d~on
'
I
~
I
making has been reduced to a mere adoption of decisions.
!
J
I!
0
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0
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i
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416
I shall cite just one example. The allocation of funds for
certain public services is continuing to grow beyond our
real means in spite of all warnings. This fact indicates
that associated labour still does not have the decisive
voice, particularly in assemblies of the self-manage1nent
interest unions.
When the delegate system was introduced it was
feared that the delegations and delegates might ~uccumb
to the pressure of particular and local interests. In cannot
be d~nied that there have been such cases. However,
practn~ 1has shown ~fibart; pall"biouJar dnterests do not predom-
.inate wrbere~er the delegate systern truly .functions. Gen-
erally speaktng, the delegations and delegates have dis-
played. a full appreciation of the need to reconcile dif-
ferent Interests when taking decisions.
'Tfhe successful n of th.e self enlt del-
~ate system postulates close and pennanent ca-
tion !>etween delegati~D: members and delegates and the
~orking peop~e and Cltlzens with whom they work and
live, an~ particul~rly cooperation between the delegates
and their de!egabon. The first-hand knowledge gained
from these .direct. co~tacts provides the delegations and
del~ Wirth g.wdellines for 1ihe posiltions they~ take in
assemblies and other sel!-management bodies, and they
are t~us truly able to voice the will and interests of the
working people who have elected them. However dele-
ga~ o~ do not maintain such communicatio~ with
the1r c?nstltuencies, and some delegates de facto act only
on their own behalf and :behave as in a representative
system.
The constant communication 'between delegations and
delegaU:S and the working people and citizens should be
the 'basiS for monitorin~ the actions ot delegations and
delegates, for eval'US.tinrg their work and responsibility
and for evaluating the ~ork and responsibility of self~
t~anaget;lent ~d. execut1ve organs in adoptin~ and im-
P ementin g declBtons. There have been cases when the
~dtotped decisions did not correspond to the real needs a.n d
~~ erests o! 11he ~rlmng . people, l8!tld even more ~ruently
in:ta~~~d decJstons were not put into effect. In these
gans shoulth the delegates and the sel,f -management or-
tabilit be called to account. The question of accoun-
of th/di~e~e~eral ls on~ of the linchpins in the operation
not !be cond ~ysNtem. Instances ot irresponsi'biH ty can-
8
But thil cri~ 0 one can be exempt from criticism.
must, of coutwe, be well tound.ed and
417
fair. It must not be used to d~ame . lities or the
work and results of self-mana~ng communities. Every~
nrust bear irus share of , and even appropri-
ate social sanctionst in with his duties and
powers.
The fostering of democratic relationships in the local
community and commune is essential to the development
of socialist self-management democracy and t he delegate
system in particular. By introducing various mechanisms
for direct consultation, negotiation and decision-making,
the local community should become the basic self-manag-
ing community of citizens in which they decide on a
number of matters concerning their day-to-day life and
work. Such a local community, which is increasingly com-
ing into its own, and the basic organization of associated
la'b our represent the coxnersrone of the entire system of
socialist self-management democracy. Therefore the fur-
ther development of local communities must be one of the
top priorities of sociopolitical organizations.
tn exercising their self-management in the local com-
munity, working people and citizens, via their delegations
and delegates, cooperate with working people of local
and other self-managing communities, and identify and
coorrunaie collective needs and interests, first of all in the
~M/>."l/I."'U"''e attld then dn 1ftle sociopolitical ties at
higher levels.
So far there has not been enough of this cooperation
~~een various self-management entities in the commune,
and as a re9ll'lt the commune has not sufficiently develop ..
ed into a self-contained self-managing community. In this
respect it is particularly important for the basic organiza-
tions of associated labour to start taking part in the sel!-
managem.e nt life of the commune. If they, as the genera-
tors of income, interested in the widest-ranging coopera-
tion in the process of reproduction, have a corresponding
influence on the politics of the commune, they will .be
countering the still prevalent local insularity. By becom-
ing the plaoe where relations aTe regulated and all the
vital problems in the life and work of working people and
citizens pertaining to production, community life, wel-
fare, cultu:re, .etc. are dealt with, the commune will
grow into the kind of human community which Marx
described as the at last discovered polltlcal form for th~
economic emancipation of labour. When fully developed,
the commune represen~ the b est form and basis lor the
ln08t r.ornpl'ehenaive Hlf t democratic cooper-
 418
ation of working people in dealing with ma~rs of col-
lective and general social interest, which can only and
indeed must according to the Constitution in the prov-
inces, republics and federation.
The self-management rights and status of the work-
ing people and citizns and the equality of the nations and
nationalities provide the terms of reference for the func-
tioning of the goverment agencies. Accordingly, the status
and role of the government and its agencies are altered
under the systei"? of self-management. By virtue of the
d~legate. assemblies and the growing practice of dealing
w1th vanous matters previously regulated by law through
self-~anagement agreem.ents and social compacts of
work1ng people and the1r self-managing communities
what we call the withering away of the state is taking
place. Wherever a decision by government organs is nec-
essary. tantd sudh decisions w ill still be needed for a
l?ng time to regulate general working and living condi-
tions such a d ecision in fact reflects the needs and in-
terests of associated labour and society as a whole. In this
way the go':'ernment becomes an instrum-e nt in the hands
of the wo:rking people in exercising socialist self-manage-
m<ent.
The gov~nment administreative agencies, and partic-
u!arly _.executive org&ns, not only should be under the
d1rect Influence and control of the d elegate assemblies-
as guaranteed under the Constitution but even m ore
than .he~etafore must become receptive to the direct dem-
o~~abc mfluenc~ and control of the working people and
~1t1zens and their social and political organizations. This
1s at th~ s~e time t.he best safeguard against their ~b u
re~ucrat1zat1on. Certainly, when dealing with current af-
falrs, these organs themselves must take the ne cessary
steps to remedy cases of a bureaucratic treatment of cit i-
zens.
Self: management democracy ca,n not be complete
unless eqUitable and democra.tfc r elations are estab llshed
among the nations and nationalities, unless each nation
and nat ionality has the right to a free and autonomous
cultural, ~co.nomic ~d political development. Therefore
any nati~h.stie egolSm or attempt at domination in the
t~rm of etther un itarianism or separatism, is contrary to
d th n~tional equality and the system of self-management
i:t~~clacy. Self-managem~t has introduced new features
ntercomrnunal rel~tions and into the very concept of
419
national equality. It. gives a new and different socioeco-
nomic and democratic substance to these relations.
The republics and provinces, economically and polit-
ically equal, engage in mutual cooperation not only as
state communities but also as self-managing entities. Their
mutual relations are increasingly being characterized by
precisely those features that form th~ co~ of self-manage-
menJt tin general freedom, equality, mterdependence,
responsib ility and solidarity. For this reason our nations
and nationalities are t oday more united, and the cohesion
of our federal community is stronger than ever ,before.
We need only recall t he recent past, when nationalistic
forces tried to undermine intercommunal relations and to
deflect the course of our development from self-manage-
ment which they regarded as the greatest obstacle to
their purposes towards 'b ourgeois nationalism, separa-
tism or bureaucratic centralism. We energetically dealt
with these threats to the self-mana;g eme nt develop~nt
of our federal community, and further consolid ated the
equality, brotherhood and unity of our nations and na-
tionalities. Of course, this does not mean that there is no
room for i mprovement and further development in this
area.
Consultation among the republic and provinces has
t eliminated many previous misunderstandings and con-
I'
>
flicts in the sphere of economic and political relations.
'. However, further eff orts are needed for the republics and
provinces t o carry out consultations and reach agreements
efficiently, without wasting time. Every postponement of
urgent decisions is harmful. We m ust strive to improve
and perf-ect methods of m ut ual consullt81ti.on and agree-
ment so that interests can be coor dinated succes)fully.
'
!
I should like to emphasize that we must not relax
our vigilance against all instances of the revival of b u-
reaucratic centraliStn, both in the federation and in the
republic-s and provinces, as well as against tendencies of
local insularity. Such tendencies play into the hands of
various nationalistic ideologies. And nationalism is a screen
concealing the activities of the class enemy and other re-
actiona.r y and anti-self-management. forc&s. !he ..m?St ef-
fective weapon in this struggle aga1nst nabonahsbc and
other forces which are pulling us back is greater coopera-
t ion cons,tltatiGn and agreement among the repub.lins and
pro~inces. It is pat. ticularly important to promo~ . all
forms of seltmanagement cooperat lon among orgatna~
tions of associated labour and other self-n\anagcment t'l'lt t-
 ' .
420
ties from different republics and provinces in tackling
matters of common interest. .
Our socialist self-management democracy dertves
from socialist production relations, based on self-m~g~
ment. The socioeconomic status of the woflkers ~ . as-
sociated labour his right to make sovereign declSlOns
on the means conditions and results of his labour
the basic pre~ise and prerequisite for democratic rela-
tions -in self-management. And, conversely, the delegate
self-management system promotes socialist self-manage-
ment production relations. The socioeconomic position of
man and the delegate system of decision-making on pub-
lic affairs are two sides of the same coin, two inseparable
aspects of the status, rights and freedoms of man. It is in
the nature of our social system that people, as producers
and self-managers, should consult with one another and
come to agreed terms in dealing with personal, collective
and general social issues, on the tbasis of equality and mu-
tual responsi-bility. Only in this way will they 'b e able to
exercise and promote human freedoms. There is no abso-
lute Hberty distinct from human interdependence. Our
views of civil liberty and rights and our practice of dem-
ocratic relationships in society are based on recognition
of this fact. .
Eleventh Congress of the
. . League of Communists of Y ugoslavia,
STP, Socwhst Tho14-ght and Practice, Belgrade, 197 8
~ ..... .
-
EXCERPTS FROM THE RESOLUTION OF TifE
ELEVENTII LCY CONGRESS
june 1978
is
The Eleventh Congress recognizes the need for the League of
Communists to make an active oommitment to
- the further consistent implementation and effective
functioning of a comprehensive system of socialist self...manage-
ment production relations, which requires a creative ap-
proach and strict Cf>mpliance with t.he Constitution, the As-
sociated Labour Act and all other baste laws;
- creating conditions for workers in basic organizations
of associated labour and other forms of associated labour to
make direct and sovereign decisions on income and its dist~
bution and on social reproduction as a whole, and on th1s
o!
basis to expand the material base. socialist self-mana~ement,
to strengthen the social producttvtty of labour and 1ncrease
earntngs;
- achieving a dynamic growth of the economy an~ pub-
lic services in stable conditions, accelerating changes 1n the
structure of the economy and strengthening national technol-
ogy and promoting a steady rise in productive employment
and' the further all-round and effective participation of the
Yugoslav economy in the international d.ivis~o? of labour; .
_a further sustained improvement 1n hvtng and workxng
. ~ conditions and a rise in the living standard ~f work~ng. people
. as a function of increased income and a consiStent dxst~butlon
of personal incomes according to the results of work, w1t~ due
regard for the need to apply the principle of socialist solidar-
,.
.'
ity; -strengthening the material base and other conditions
!
for the e uality and all-round material and cultural. devel?p-
i.
..' ment andq free affirmation of all the nations and ~attonalities,
.
' re ublics and provinces of the socialist self-tna?aglng commu-
nif and in this context reducing differences 10 levels. of de-
vel~ ment of each economically underdevel?ped repubhc, par-
. . ul~ly of the Socialist Autonomous Provtnce of Kosovo. as
.' t tc . al average,
' compared with the nation .
- improving total national defe!lce and SOClal self...pro-
tection in step with material and social development. h
Co~munists, together with all. wo.rldng people. ra~e :h:
duty to work for a consistent reahzatton of the goa s tn

422
. self-managing organizations arid communities
01
1
adopthed P al~s 0 f long-term development and the Social Plan
and t e po Jcy f h
of Development of YugoslaVIa or t e per10
d 1976 1
to 980.
Organizations and leadership bodies of the League of Com-
munists are also expected .to h~l.p self-managi.n~ organizations
and communities . and soctopoh.tlcal cot?mun1tles to step up
their work and, zn ~ull com~hance w1th ~he Law on Self-
Management and Social ~1annmg, to adopt tlmely self-manage-
ment agreements and social compacts on the basic element
of plans and social plans for the period 1981 to 1985 and t~
~tart wor~ on elaborating the principles of the Iong-ra~ge pol-
ICY of nat1onal development for the period after 1985.
Cotmmt un~st~s, togetht~r wifth workers, and on the basis of
1
a cons an en 1ca scru tny o practice, are expected to mak
crearflive efforts to .pro~ote the organization and functiondn e
of the bas!c organizattoz: of associated labour in which thg
workers will truly exercise their inalienable self m
ht d t't t a1 . - anagement
r1g s an con~ 1 u 1on soCloeconomic status. The workers in
basic organiaztlons of ass.ociated labour must become the real
subjects of decision-ma~1ng, thereby endorsing self-manage-
ment as a genuine ~ch~evement of the working class, and
the wo:ker a~ the pru~ctpal agent in social reproduction and
the entt:e soCioeconomic system. A major prerequisite for the
accomplishment of these tasks is for the workers to receive
ti~ely, com.f?lete and intelligible information on all issues re-
latlng to their material and social status.
.(\t the same time, communists shall combat all state-own-
ersht?, group-owner-ship , looalist an d other monopolistic ten-
de~?les and behayiour, .compliance with the letter but not th e
sp1r1t of the la'Y 111: setting up basic organizations, the autarky
of ~hese organizations, technocratic pressures and the usur-
pation of the self-management rights of workers.
The League of Communists shall encourage even m ore
energ~tically t~e ~elf-management cooperation and association
of bas1e organwat1oru; of a980ciat.ed 1abour into wor:k, compos-
ite an~ o~her fon;ns ol :the poolmg of la bour and resources on
the ~rtnCiples. of Income-sh aring, for t he p urp ose of achieving
ma~m';lm soctal and economic efficiency. Wor kers in basic or-
garu~ations of associated labou r shall be the init iators of the
poohng of labour and resources in h igher f orms of self-manage-
ment on the basis of their sh ared interests and needs, t heir
~~u;~ d~dence and cooperation in the process Off labour, the
un~ementart;wn of coordinated joint plans a nd programmes
o.f dev~~pment, together w'Wh the earning and distri!bu-
bon of JOlnt. revenues and in come. Communists, organ izations
and leaderships of the League of Communists m ust r esolutely
~~pose th~ practice of raising and concen trating funds to fi-
wi~~e vanous development programmes in a way in consistent
self-management, or by means of various forms of pres-
sure.
423
While advocating the pooling of labour and resources and
various forms of integ~ation of lab~ur in general, wherever
it is desirable and feasible, commun1sts should staunchly op-
pose various artificial mergers an~ in~egrations~ which are un-
I natural and unnecessary, and wh1ch In fact shift the difficul-
ties of organizations having low productivity onto those which
have a high productivity.
Communists must energetically combat instances in work
and composite organizations of associated labour and other
forms of t he pooling of labour and resources at a higher level,
where the old, entrepreneurial method of organization is re-
tained, where the forms of association are a formality and
amalgamations are artificially created, where the process of
association and cooperation is kept within local and territorial
limits, where unwieldy executive apparatuses are formed and
decisions are taken without reference to the workers and their
e self-management organs.
It is imperative for the League of Communists to strive
even more resolutely to transform the banks, insurance unions
and other financial institutions, and relations therein, into
self-managing financial associations of associated labour, and
equip them to carry out their functions successfully. Efforts
to create internal banks in associated labour, wherever the
socioeconomic prerequisites exist for it, should be energeti-
cally pursued.
The League of Communists m ust conduct an even more
intensive drive for the transformation of domestic and foreign
trade along the lines of the Constitution, for the cooperation
{
'
between manufacturing and commercial organizations of as-
socia ted labour on the principle of income-sharing, and for a
nronger influence on the commercial sector by consumers
o~gandzed on a self-management basis. In the sp'here of whole-
sale and retail trade, the old socioeconomic relationships and
.. patterns, as reflected in the erratic division of income between
distribution and production, and in the monopolistic a nd in-
i
dependent behavio ur of commercial and manufacturing organ-
I
r izations toward -the consumers, must be resolutely overcome.
I Communists shall see to it that workers in basic and other
or.ganizations of associated labour should control their entire
t
.
I income and make sustained efforts to increase it, primarily on
the strength of increased labour productivity, the pooling of
labour and resources and an effective utilizati<:>n of ~urrent
and past labour. To this end, t}le ro~e. and function. of 1ncome
as the basic motive for economic actlVIty and planrung, and as
}. the material fmmeworit for the satisfaction of collective an.d
public needs, should be consisten~ly strengthened. In b~Sic
' and other organizations of assoCiated labour and outside
them energetic efforts must be made to remove ~he sources
and forms of ownership monopoly, of technocrat1~, bure~u
cratic and other kinds of monopolistic decision-mak1ng on tn
come, which is cont rary to its social character.

424
Workers in basic and other organizations of associated
labour and in sociopolitical communities, by direct voting and
through their delegations, shall lay down the general terms
for the earning of income, promote greater market stability,
and to this end shall define and enforce a policy of prices and
policies in other areas of economic life, and shall have a deci-
sive voice in the elaboration of solutions and measures of
economic policy which will determine the conditions for busi-
ness activities and the earning and distribution of income.
Pursuant to jointly adopted goals and development needs
the League of ~ommunists shall strive to accelerate the proc~
ess of the pooling of labour and resources. Self-management
agreements ?n .the poolin.e- of labour and resources should
stat~ the obJectives, purpose, conditions and manner of the
pooli~ of la~ou~ and resources. These agreements should
~nta1n ~e cnteru~. for the earning and distribution of joint
mcome, m .proportion to the contribution which the workers
of the vanous basic organizations make with their current
and past labour, or pooled income.
ti The elabor.ation and practical application of the Constitu-
S:3 ~ ~Cla~ed Labour Act dealing with the management
~ ~ on o past. labour by workers in basic and other
orgaruzatlons of assocrated labour are among the most im-
portan~ tasks of the League of Communists and workin eo
~~~ 18fpa~ularly imoprtant to lay down the standar3s pand
:~ ~ or ~ornlS of the .Poo~ing of labour and resources,
be rding ~ 0 which the contrtbutlon to the income earned can
estat~~edtn.ed and the standards and criteria should also be
J.Or the allocation of this income.
A syste~ of allocation and planned use of the portion of
. ;
~cc:m~ that IS the result of special advantages (such as natural
of ~a~onst ;e~tdt etc.) for the expansion of the material base
ur s o also be formulated as soon as possible
to The League ?f c;:ommunists must make day-to-day ~fforts
theen!o~tathe prJnopJe of distribution according to work and
t res of current labour and management and use of
:'nt l~bour, and to promote a consistent application and con-
fl
tlon oo~t~~~:~~ent
the criteria iOVerning income distribu-
managem~nt enn se --management agreements und other self..
Labour Act ~ctments, in accordance with the Associated
receive a ~..,,'n t~nt posdiUv~ ~xperiences in thfR respect ~hould
"'"' 1 -a
8
en orrJ~m~nt.
T}M, IAattue of Co 1
the
1
mmun .U huuld do iifA 'Ut.mo&t to ntmove
tource~ rnr per;,~~~ Jf:;r:m-1 . l~ru~na in the alJocaUon of re-
the roulta n! w.ot . Jt - w .(:h nl'c nut bused un work and
munlt. to ~han1 pton t~ hnperallv fur thtt Logua of Com
ot work ln all acuvua ':;"mnl nt wnrk und th~ ,.t.11!1U1tl
tauulew "ilnat ttndcr~'i ommunll mu1t wa1 a oontant
c "' o1 walvtlllna~. thn anln" of
425
income unrel~ted. to :vork, and. other practices that violate the
princip~e .of d1stnbut1on according. to work performance.
It 1s 1n~umbent upon co~mun1sts to strive persistently for
the expansion of the .matert~l base of associated labour as a
whole, the stre~gtherung o~ Its reproductive capability and an
increased capacrty for capital accumulation. Conditions must
be created for a more effective adjustment of relations in all
phases and spheres of social reproduction on the basis of the
Marxist theory of social reproduction and the Yugoslav so-
cial practice in the system of socialist self-management. This
requires a constant increase in income on the basis of a rise
in indiviuual and social labour productivity, the allocation of
net income that will assist the expansion of the material base
of associated labour, and the successful elimination of remain-
ing, and prevention of new, sources and forrns of the aliena-
tion of income. The policy of income distribution should serve
the objectives and tasks of agreed economic and social devel-
opment.
The League of Communists must see to it that all deci-
sions concerning the extent and quality of fulfilment of gen-
eral and collective needs should be adopted by the workers
in the basic organizations of associated labour, who allocate
resources for these needs, and that they should decide on it
on an equal footing with the working people in the public
services, who provide services and on this basis earn their in-
come.
It is imperative for associated labour and sociopolitical
communities to draw up programmes of a<:tion and measures
which will alleviate the indebtedness of the economy and pro-
/.
gressively replace credits in the financing of reproduction with
I,
the pooling of labour and resou and to promote self-man-
'
agement forms of the concentration of capital aecumulation.
Communists should urge that loans and simUar levies on
' the income of organizations of associated labour imposed by
I
sociopolitical communities be kept at an absolute minimum.
The Eleventh Congress emphasizes that the constant rajs-
ing of labour productivity is the only effective basis for overall
I
economic growth; for improvements in the material and ~
..'
ctal position of each individual, and for a succeesful aolVU\1
of many fundamental problema ln the development of our
society Hence a faster growth of 1ocial and individual labour
produciivlty ta one of the ba3lc objt.-.ctlvn of tht- ~a.ru~ of
Communiat8 and other IOdAI f&t10rl . The {Aagttl! of
munliU mutJt penist in effortJI to aiiUI'f! a pro~r attltu
cor;-
toward work and tottal f'OIOUI~I. To thta end C{unmunl!ltt
r r.hould oonetatntly atriv~ fn~:
_ __ thtt ctrawhttt up and tmpl.-rnttntatton t.lf pl~ n:
l'n ranlnlel of detallt'd m<'aur" of ~nomk h~u~y ~
rn.~ument of lh~ ~~ltUlml<'&)'Att'tl\ (elf ralatna f abt.U~r~
dugUvlty in All baatc and uthr l~t..anlution n AM1 .
labn\lr ~

426
_ improvement of the system of inc?m~ dist_ribution
according to work, so that it becomes t~e matn Incentive both
for productivity and for more effective m~nagement a~d
business operations in general, combine~ ~t~ an . e~er~etlc
suppression of wage-levelling and of UDJUstlfied distinctions
that do not reflect a corresponding labour input and that are
transformed into privileges at the expense of others;
- a c~n.stant i~provement in the organization of work,
a more e~fiCie~t utihz:=ttion of productive and other capacity
and working time, adJustment of production to the require-
ments of the domestic and foreign markets reduction of busi-
~ess expenses, a cutting down of paper~ork improvements
In the system of information, and the promotion of savings
and a more. responsi~le ~ttitude towards work and business;
. --:- .a Wider. application and use of modern know-how
sc1en~c, technical and te~hnological achievements; stepped~
up e orts. to develop national technology on the b . f workers in material production and working people in the
mo~ern science; greater social and material rewards f 0asia o
!essi~nal work, scholarly contributions and creativity ~Jo~
~~a e~ro~~~:;g~f~~~h~~~ugh be~er ~cono~c in~entives
rationalization of techni . e?ucation, Inven?ve work and
system of education to ~~i -~~p~ovrments. In the present
the economy and societ
\\'Orking conditions;
I
In In~ ~th the needs of
y, and the humanization of work and
- raising of the level of c0
of business; work discipline and :fP~t~nce .and profitability
responsibility in all jobs with t a mm~stratxve and economic
work of disciplinary bodies a~~ t~xcepbon; the more effective
an adequate system of sancti ~ or~ans of v:orker control;
or damages caused by neglige:~ o_r lr responsible behaviour
for violation of self-management us~ness and work; sanctions
or for dam e d . an comradely relationships
or through ~gl;;:~e. to socially-owned property deliberately
The results of stepped ff . means and results of their labour and the flows of social
and technological base of-~b e orts to Improve the scientific
of personnel and mater e economy, a better utilization
productivity should hel~l resou~ceshand a growth in labour
sociated labour im rov expan. t e material base of as-
ers and strengthen pthe edt~e socroeconomi~ position of work-
Great potential for e .e~ce and security of the country.
found in the pooling of ~~smg labour product~vity is to be
tages of the unity of th a our and resources, 1n the advan-
of socialist self-manage~~~.g~sla~ market, ~nd in the system
of Communists must res0 1 P anntng. To this end, the League
and autarky be th utely combat all forms of insularity
of a sociopolltical c~~~n ~htye part of a single organization or
Th L uni at any level.
. e eague of Conunu . t
ngorous possible appli t1 ms s stronly advocates the most
~ang~ o~ labour, as t : ~n .of the P~inciple of a free ex-
rgantzattons of associated r~s on. which working people in
a our In the public services earn
427
their income. In line wi~h joint plan_s and programmes of
development of th~se services, the worktng people in associated
labour should dectde on the e~tent and patt~rn of satisfying
needs in health, culture, physical culture, sCience, education
ublic services and other fields. '
p It is incumbent upon communists to make efforts to
promote a more rational organization and more effective work
of the public services, to promote savings and a higher qual-
ity of services, . and . a consistent obse~vance o~ soc?alist sc:
lidarity and trOOlprOOitY.. At the same time, an (lNarbional uti-
lization of funds in these areas, a proliferation of paperwork,
the creation of any funds autonomously controlled by the
administration, the buhl!cling of e~sive a nd luxurious facii-
ities, etc., shouild be combatted.
The League of Communists will endeavour to make the
self-management interest unions the auspices under which
public services, in the context of a free exchange of labour,
shall genuinely cooperate with one another, adjust policies
and reach agreements on the basis of independent and equal
decision-making.
The League of Communists feels that responsible organs
of social communities, trade unions and other sociopolitical
organizations, whose own specific social activity links them
to the activity of the self-management interest unions, may,
and when special public interests so require, should be mem-
bers of self-management interest unions.
The Eleventh Congress of the League of Communists of
Yugoslavia calls on communists to work for a consistent and
effective functioning, further improvement and implementa-
~~~n o~ the self-management system of social planning. This
1s a VItal P rerequisite if workers, in conditions of socialist
commodity production, are to gain control o\Ter the conditions,
.
reproduction as a whole, and if a stable, dynamic and bal-
,.I
anced socioeconomic development of the country is to be l
achieved. Communists and all working people in basic arid
other organizations of associated labour, self-management
interest unions and local communities, other self-managing
organizations and sociopolitical communities should tirelessly
strive for a formulation of self-management agreements and
compacts on the basic terms of the plans. It is necessary to .'
I
put into practical effect the principles of a continuous,
combined macro- and microeconomic planning at all levels.
It is also nece.s sary to ensure the harmony of economic, so-
cial a nd spatial planning. The results of scientific advances
and achievements should be utilized in the application and
promotion of the system of self-management planning.
Workers in basic organi-zations of associated labour should
be as dil"ectly involved as possible in setting the targets aDd
tasks in development plans and programmes. They shall as-
sume the obligation of carrying them out, but at the same

428
ti and consultation with
time must seek constant cooper~ ~?ons of associated labour
the workers of other basic organ~~ d labour and production
within the organizations of asso~~~ ed Workers in basic or-
entities with which they are hn ~d ume all the respon-
ganizations of associated labour sho ass . own and joint
sibility for carrying out the plans, both thetr to be realistic
plans. This is indispensable if the plans are b'rf 8 of as
and in line with the real interests and cap.a 1 1 1e - and especially of SAP Kosovo.
sociated labour as a whole, as well as with ava1lable resources.
To foster cooperation in the sphere of planning, it . is
essential to build, on the principles of self-management soCial
planning, an organizational mechanism of social planning
that will rely on the existing organizational system of as-
sociated labour, together 'Wlit h ba:nk s, interest unions, cham-
bers, the appropriate planning bodies of sociopoliti'Cal commu-
ni-t ies, etc. Irt is also necess81cy to devise a uniforn1 methodol-
ogy and a oollat ed body of statistics and documents to be
used in the system of self-management planning.
The Eleventh Congress of the League of Communists of
Yugoslavia notes the imperative need for the further de-
velopment of the unified Yugoslav market, as a vital prereq-
uisite for a rartional social division of labour and a better
balanced and more efficient growth of the productive forces
of the country, for the equal rights of working a people and
organizations of associated labour, and for their more ex-
tensive cooperation on the principle of income-sharing, in line
with the operation of market laws and subject to the social
guidance of economic development.
Communists in their activities must strive to break down
regional barriers, to ensure a free circulation of goods and
social resources, a greater mobility and more rational utili-
zation of the resources of social accumulation, an unhindered
movement and pooling of labour and resources within the
unified Yugoslav market. Communists must endeavour above
all to create the necessary social and economic conditions
which will eliminate the sources of local insularity and self-
interest and to devise practical instruments and carl?'. out
effective measures to prevent the use of monopoly pos1tton~
the aporopriation of income which is not the result of w~r
and violation of the income-sharing principle, and must stnve
to prevent political pressure from being used to enforce an
administrative territorialization of social resources.
A more rapid development of the economicall~ less 0 df
vel oped republics and especially of SAP ~osovo 1s .o~e a
the overriding tasks and goals of our s.o<:I~ty' requx~~!ted
broader assertion of the role and responsxbihty of ~ 880
88 tieS
labour. Special eff~rts. should be ~ade to foster bustn~onorn
between the organizations of assoCiated labour from fons bY
ically developed and those from less developed ~eg sou~ces,
means of various forms of the pooling of labour an r~th corn-
on the principles of income-sharing, in accordance 'Vll
429
mon interests and for the purpose of accelerating the growth
of the economically less developed republics and of SAP
Kosovo, a policy which is also to the advantage of the as-
sociated labour in the ec~nomically developed republics and
provinces. A more extens1ve ~xchange of experience in the
application of the modern achievements of science and tech-
nology and of a modern organization of work should .become
'
the way of stimulating a faster development of these republics
'
I
The League of Communists shall support the adoption '., 1
of methods of finmcing and improV'ing the effectiveness of .I
'
the incentives offered by the community in t he implemen- .
.
tation of the policy of the accelerated development of eco- $
nomically less developed republics and SAP Kosovo, primarily
~
!
by virtue of the complete mobilization of their own forces .'
and increased responsibility of the individual working people
and associated labour as a whole in the individual working
people and associated labour as a whole in the underdeyeloped
republics and SAP Kosovo. The League of Commun1sts be-
lieves that a more conscientious approach and greater as-
sistance from associated labour and society are required to
accomplish the objectives laid down in the plans of socioeco-
nomic development, and that investment ~eso~~ces sho~d be
allocated accordingly, and a higher profitability ~f Invest-
ments ensured. The measures contained in plans for th~ faster
development of economically less develo~ ~epubli~ . and
Kosovo, as well as the aforementioned and Similar addtti~nal
measures, should be applied to ensure ~e faste~ J><?SStble
development of SAP Kosovo. The respons1ble a!Jenc1es 1n. t~e
republics and provices should assume the pubhc responsibil-
.i ey:. for the effective use of th~ resources from the Federal
Fund for the purposes for which. they are allocated. These '
objectives should be brought ~to Une wit~ the social plans
of development of the republics and proVlllces and of the
Yugoslav self-managing community as a whole. .
Implementation of the agreed policy of .accelera~ed de-
velopment of the economically less developed repubhcs and
SAP Kosovo must be constantly monitored, and the necessary
actions and measures to carry it out must be taken. '
Criteria for determining the level of devel?pment of
republics and autonomous provinces for ~he per1od 1~81 ~~
1985 must be established, and the qu~tity_ and quali~ ria
the support measures established on this ~aslS. These cnte
u b used to determine which republics and autonom_qus
Wl
proVln eces are to be considered economically less developed in
. .
the period after(
1980.
Co nists of
The Eleventh Congress of the Lea~e o~ mm: ~c
.
Yugoslavia n:s~~~~:e~~:m~~t~ ~~~~~~=~ :f SAP
features o h. b would begin n arrowiag relative
Kosovo, w 1c
j
 430
will be a key to the better balan~, more ~ven and stable
development of the entire country In the period to come ..
The Eleventh Congress of the League . of Communts~s
believes that the implementation of the ~hey o~ econo~c
stabilization still represents one of the. maJor soc1oeco~omtc
and political tasks. To this end, communists must energetically
strive for:
- a greater and more economical output, in line with
the requirements of the market and economic activities, on
the basis of higher labour productivity, a better utilization of
capacity, and a steady reduction in production costs in each
basic organization of associated labour and in associated la-
bour as a whole;
- a socially rational use OJ. inoome, and improvement of the
count:y's posit~on in international economic relations by a long-
ter~ ~ncrease In exp~rts, achieved thanks to a higher degree
of f~nzsh, better quality of products and services and profi-
t~bility! a better balanced regional structure, and more ra-
tional Imports, all thereby helping to lower the balance of
payments deficit:
. - formulation and implementation of a programm~ ~of
saVIngs of all resources used in reproduction in associated
labour;
. - ~onsistent implementation of an anti-iflationary policy
In th.e field of consumption, credit, monetary and fiscal policy,
and In all ot?er areas of economic activity, especially in the
sphere .of pnces and cost of living, and the prevention of
tendenct~s to solve problems caused by inefficient business
by exerting pressure on prices;
. faster changes in the structure of the economy, in
line w1th the plans draw~ up on the basis of self-manage-
ment a~reeme;t~s ~nd social compacts, as a prime f actor in
economtc stabilization and a more dynamic and better bal-
an.ced .eco~omic g~o~h, and the channeling of investments
pnmanly Into actiVIties of common interest, especially for
the. faster development of the production of energy, raw ma-
~ertals and food, for the sake of a rational substitution of
Imports and raising of exports;
-- formulation, adoption and implementation of a joint
energy policy, which will be based on a rational structure
of the production, transmission and consumption of energy,
commens'!rate with the available domestic energy resources
and a rati?nal policy of importing energy;
- a.dJustment of output to the demands of the domestic
and foreign markets
' tion of the country in international econormc relat! 0~ of
~djustment
earned Income of all forms of consumption to output and
' the foreign trade network ~d t.o prepar~i~~a~::z_ foreigd
!ormulation of realistic investment programmes, and
energe~Ic steps to do away with unsound investment, over...
extenslo~ of deadlines for completion of building projects,
construction of facilities for which the funds have not been
431
secured and of in?ustrial ~apacity whose products cannot be
sold in the domestic or foreign markets;
the devising of solutions which will create conditions
for an ~ffective eli~ination of the basic causes of losses, by
readjusting production programmes and by efforts to promote
more efficient business in organi;Zations operating at a Joss
a faster formation of material and other reserves ui
associated labour and sociopolitical communities within a single
unified and efficient system.
The League of Communists shall seek to promote all-
round and equitable economic cooperation with all countries
and regions in the world, and particularly with the non-
aligned and developing countries. It is the task of communists
in organizations of associated labour and their associations,
and in the competent organs of the federation, republics and
provinces to encourage the ela~oratio~ of ~ong-r~ge pro-
grammes of Yugoslavia's economic relations With foret~ coun-
tries in general and with individual countries an~ regions, on
the basis of mutual interest, and to adopt effective measur:s
to implement these programmes in a consistent manner. This
implies a constant adjustment of the develo~ment plans of
organizations of associated labour to . the re9~I~ements of an
effective participation in the international ~IVI.SIOn of. labour,
the raising of exports and a rational substitution of n~ports.
It is imperative to expand modern forms of econonuc co-
operationt joint ventures and other forms of long-term co-
operation.
The League of Communi~ ~d all other. social fa~tors
will continue to take an active Involvement xn the actions
of progressive forces in the world to change the pres:nt
inequitable international economic relations an~ to establish
a new international economic order. Communists have the
duty t o encourage activities aimed at effectively imJ?lement-
ing the tasks laid down in the Economic Declaration and
Action Programme of Economic Cooperation adopted at the
Fifth Conference of Nonaligned Countries at Colombo. These
assignments should be fully incorporat.ed .into the dev~lop
ment programmes and plans of organizations of assoCiated
labour and other agents of planning. . ..
1t is exceptionally important. to step ~p actiVIties in or-
ganizing and training self-managmg assoCiated l~bour as the
basic vehicle of development in t he sphere of soc1al reprod~c
tion, with an increased role and. respon~ibility of t~~ republ~!
and autonomous provinces for 1mprovmg the P~Sition of t.
republics and autonomous provinces for imJ?r.oVIng. the ~~;
calls for speedier action to complete the reorg~1~ ~~
0
f-inancially .a nd personnel-~, m~ctlons joint business
economic relationst economic cham~er lved i,; the execution
agencies abroad and ~ther facto~st mv~ them on an operative
of agreed policies in this fielcL an pu
 432
l 433
;
!
\
. .bl In this connection, communists shall
~e a:o ~u: ~nue~ber of administrative ~easures and
any excessive fl uence of government
m . organs
. t the
d 1n sphere
t ngthen
of ~nomic relations with fore1gn countries, an ~ ~ re
the role and responsibility of those \\>'ilo make dec1s~ons there.
Greater efforts should be made, and the republi~, auton-
omous provinces and all social factors should have 1ncreased
responsibility. for equilibrating the country's b~ances _of for-
eign e_~ch~oe and of payments by continually 1n~~1ng ex-
ports and bringing deficits and foreign debts to Within agreed
limits.
In order to help realize the right to work, and promote
a speedier employment in productive jobs and a reduction in
unemploy1nent~ communists shall strive to achieve a dynamic
and stable economic activity~ faster development of the pri-
vate sector as an important factor in the overall economic
and social development, a fuller utilization of production
capacity and working hours, especially by introducing shift
work, and a better and modem organization of labour. Part-
time work should be reduced to the absolute minimum and
.
any unlicenced work should be prevented. All this should'
make possible the opening of new jobs. For the same reasons
the League of Communists disapproves of work-able and
relatively young people retiring and then taking the same
or a different job at a full salary. The League of Communists
considers that retirement regulations which permit such in-
stances should be changed as soon as possible.
The League of Communists must energetically seek mor e
employment for women and young people, particularly those
who have just completed their education. Social compacts on
employment must be consistently observed, and any resistance
to the employment of young people and women and to their
inclusion in the process of self-management must be combat-
ted with all available means.
The League of Communists must seek a consistent realiza-
tion of the established programmes to enable a gradual
return of people from temporary work abroad, particularly
of the skilled, and to find a suitable way of making use of
their savings, especially for the opening of new jobs where
they can take employment themselves. More attention should
be given to the living and working conditions of th e workers
temporarily employed abroad and of their families, and to
better protection of their status and rights.
The League of Communists and other organized socialist
forces must commit themselves to the furth er development
and Pz:omotion of self-employment and must encourage ~he
formatio~ .of contractual organizations w hich lik ewise pro~de
?PPortunities of developing productive forces and increasmg
In~ome. Economic p olicy measures should also be adopted to
this. ~d. Essential in this respect is the continued proces~
0
! linking self-employed labour with associated labour throug
different fonns of the pooling of labour and resources, co-
.
roduction an~ other forms of busine~ .cooperation, thereby
~eatly incl'easmg e~ployment opportumti~.
In view of the Importance of a dwelling for the work-
ers' welfare, and in view of the economic and class nature
of the housing problem and the importance of housing con-
struction for the entire economic develop m ent, t he League of
Communists calls for the a doption and implem en tation of a
housing policy in the basic and oth er organizations of asso-
ciated labour, in local communities a nd ~elf-manag~men~ . in-
terest unions, in the communes and higher soCiopolitical
communities, and is in favour of th ? kind. of socioeconomic
relations in which wor king people will deCide by themsel~es
on the meeting of their housing ne~ds from t~e planrung
and securing of r esources for .h ouszng constr~c~Io:-, _to t~e
management a nd maintenance of .apartme~t bwld1ngs. This
is the precondition for a further 1ncre~e In th.e volume of
housing construction, stabilization of pr1ces and Improvement
in t he quality of apartments, a better managem~t of t~e
housing fund and the further affirmat~on _of ~oCioeconomtc
relations in using apartments and of sohdanty In the sphere
of h ousing.
Workers in all basic and other organizations of associated
labour and in all the self-managing organizatio~s and co~
munities must view their housing needs in the ltght of thetr
development plans and must establish programmes and ~et~
ods of dealing with housing req:uirements as well as cntena
for the distribution of socially-owned apartments.
The League of Communists wants to see the W?~king
people, in accordance wi~h what. they c~n affo~d, partiCipate
with their own savings m meeting thetr housing needs . . To
this end it is necessary to develop various forms of the pool-
ing of their saVings in a proportion that will be established
under a self-management agreement. A part of the resources
for housing constru.ction taken fro~ income sh?uld be pooled
in the self-management inter~t union for hol!stng for ~utual
aid The League of Communtsts wants certain categox:e~ of
1 orne tenants to have a part of the rent substd1zed
ow Inc d
from special social funds. The terms an ~n .. tons o . dit" f com -
mitting personal savings to purchase or rent an apa~tment
should be decided by worker~ !n as~ociated labour, 1n ac-
corcicince with the housing pohc1e~ latd down_. unr.~~ att~o~
dal compacts in the com~une and other ~ociopo I ~e work-
munities. More encouragement sh<?uld b_e gtven to tuiring an
ing people and citizens u~ing thetr s~vt~J ~~r
apartment, and more ~ubhc s~ppo_rt s a
J:n by con-
crete measures to housmg .cooperatives. _
. . ..
.
. The -Congress
. calls upon the
.1ead er~.hips o_.. f theently
League 01
start
Communists il) the r~publi~ and ~~VI~=:e:ot:~SformatWn
seekin~ solutio~s whi~ w . . secur are of housing, and on
of SOctoeconomlC ~elations ln tbeffe~p~t solVing of the prob-
this basis a speedter and more tCl
 435

434
.. . mic and organizational conditions should be
. . d building a new housing
Soclo~c~~~t housing construction is I?atch~d by the con-
lems of maintaining the exisbng ~nl 't ation of certain cate- secur~d s f auxiliary amenities that wtll satisfy the. .other
fund, taking into account the ~~cta Sl u
gories of working people and c1bzens.
struct1on k ' g needs of the working people and citizens.
living and wor 1n
The League of Communists shall seek to create material " Referat i zavrsna rec Predsednika Tita,
and other conditions for a further development of self-man- Rezolucije, Statut SKJ"
agement by apartment users in buildings, suburbs and local
communities and for a further development of self-manage- (Report and Closing Speech by President Tito,
ment intere;t unions for housing~ as centres where basic or- Resolutions, Statute of the LCY),
ganizations of associated labour, local communities, tenants Komunist, Beograd, 1978, pp. 108 131.
and other subjects negotiate self-management agreements and
compacts for the development of their basic communities an d
units. These communities must establish direct links with
local and other communities, particularly in planning and
building housing developments. The management, mainte-
nance and .r enewal of the social housing fund must be decided
upon by the workers who set aside their resources for hous-
ing construction, together with the tenants.
The League of Communists shall strive to bring about
cooperation on the basis of self-management, income-sharing
and business commitments of all participants in housing con-
structionf starting from architectural design organizations, to
building contractors, to manufacturers of construction equip-
ment and building materials, to the commercial and oth er
organizations for the construction of a housing development,
so that economy, functionality and rationality of the apart-
ments and the housing development are the basic motive and
criterion for the forming of income of all participants in the
construction.
The League of Communists shall resolutely seek decision-
making by working people and citizens on a self-management
basis on all questions involving the development of commu-
nal activities, and on the special development of the cities
and other to\vnships, where local communities are expected
to play a special role. Every commune must speed up t he
adoption of coordinated programmes of the development of
communal activities and of improvement of building sites.
Reliable sources of financing must be found, on the basis of
self-management agreements and the pooling of labour and
resources, for the construction of communal infrastructures.
A portion of the resources for housing construction and of
the municipal land rent must be channeled for this purpose.
All this should help stabilize and reduce the cost of housini
F?r the sake of a better management of housing co_n...
struction, a more rational use of building sites and a benefiCial
eff~t on the process of urbanization, considerably more 8~
tentlon should be paid to land use planning, w hich wo~
encourage organized housing construction in t he countrySl e
and contribute. to a speedi~r economic and social developm~~
Wherever pos&ble, the pohcy of protecting arable land shoU
be enforced as much as possible.
 -
I
\
EXCERPTS FROM THE SPEECH BY ]OSIP
BROZ TITO AT THE EIGHTH CONGRESS
OF THE YUGOSLAV TRADE UNIONS
~
\
l
CONFEDERATION
'
'
'
I
November 1978
I

J
I

II In .r ecent y~ea.rs we hwv:e enjoyed a sustained and

. relatively rapid socioeconomic and political development.
Economic, cultural and other progress has been made
I' despite quite difficult conditions. Improvements in the
\
I standard of living and the level of pu!blic services can
be seen at every step; in fact this has been one of our
fundamental social objectives and tasks, and so it shall
be in the future, too.
We -c an be satis.fied with our overall progress when
we compare it with other countries o r with any previous
I
period ~in our develiOplllent. However, we cannot be salt-

' isfied VJfhen we look at a~H the !h~Um~an and martertial
potential that we have and the opportunities provided by
our system. Problems and -d ifficulties that are not just of
an objective natur cast a shadow on our achievements.

I. There are some negative tendencies and practices in c:ur-
rent e conomic trends which, ~bec-ause we h ave not nipped
!
'
th~ in the bud, are turning into chronic problems, erod-

'
'
1
ing everything that we have already ac-c omplished .

'' I want to take this opportunity to point out once
I
\. again some problems and shortcomings t hat are standing
I
;
in the way of our all-round d evelopme nt. For instance,

'
we are not restructuring the e conomy fast -e nough to
I
bring it into lin e with our j~i~tly. determi-:r;ed d~velop
I
I
ment strategy. Labour productivity 1s not. 'being rrused. as
I'

I
fast as it could lbe. All forms of consumption are g:o~Ing
much more rapidly than the social prqdt:tct can reabstlcal-
I
I
I
ly provide for. In short, we are consuming mo~e ~han .we
are producing. Accordingly, too much of a stra1~ lS being
put on the economy, a~nd it is going dee~r 1nto debt,
so that the m aterial ;b ase of self-m~agement 1s we~ened.
I This situation :breeds inflation, w~1ch threatens to beco~e
even worse than it is now. There 1s also a c~nstantly .h~;~
deficit in the balance of payments, as I . have po1n
 ...,
438
ou~ many times. We pay too little attention to what is
going ~n outside our country and to how we stand in
econom.Ic relations with other countries. We have a good
~~ui~!on for .s olvency and for servicing our foreign debts.
of late ~ co~sk
bnlue. the way we have -been going, especially
' e ri os1ng this r eputation.
Furthermore the
autarky and an ' .re are cases of local and regional
economy all of ~~~t~s~ctory level of cooperation in the
develop~ent of th tc amp ers the long-term successful
of its economicallye u~~u~ry ~ a who~e, and especially
nomic trends suffer. ef eve oped regions. If such eco-
were to continue, s~~er r~~ l;~~ethand oth er problems
affect our equality, brotherh ood and ey ~ould ~dverseiy
been and remain the k . . . unl y , whtch have
and development in peac!YatJ~~!~~~~ for our survival
lVe n1ust ask ourselves wh y virtual! th
lems and \:Veaknesses appear . Y e same prob-
ln our economy fr
year to the next. Why is it tha t we clearl and ~m . one
set annual and five-y~ar targets and th?n
hav~ t clsely
that we have only partially f ulfilled them? What . o say
here? 1s wrong
To a considera~le extent it is the fail~ to carry out
what h as been dec1ded upon in self-management agree-
ments and compacts. We are quite successfully ~building
up the system , adopting legislation and plans and ne-
gotiating compacts and agreements. Therefore 'the fault
does not lie with any defects in the system, although
it c an aJ.ways be jmproved, !but rather with attemp ts to
bypass it, non-compliance with the principles underlying
t he systm and agreed policy, a lack of responsibility
at different levels, and sometimes even a deliberate un-
dermining of the policy we have adopte~. Often _people
do not give a policy time to prove itself 1n pract1ce but
t ry to avoid putting it into effect or else form~!~ adopt
it but continue doing things the old way. This :ts how
elements of anarchy and instability creep into the mos~
sensitive area t he functioning of the s_ystem. A ret;...
from whart has been agreed ~eaves the field open 00 em
eraillstrlc alilJd bu~cratic tendencies, aru:l both of _ib
prevent planned task s from 'being carried out. . class only. There is no need today to tighten our belts
task in the
What is our immediate an:d lo~g-t~~m _. the poliCY
present circumstances? Our basiC or1enta~tlon IS ta:ble
of stabilization. We m~t strive to achieves~!do!n in
trends, eve n at the pric-e of a temporary
.,..........:..,;,..,
~
439
economic gr~wth . It is n~t up to us to do everything.
New genera h ons are com1ng, and let them do something
themselves. We have achieved a great deal so far. Come,
let us alleviat e the situation of our working people, of
our dir-ect producers. Our work collctivities have con-
siderable reserves and capabilities for more productive,
economical and efficient work , but only provided the en-
tire society saves more, wol1k.s harder and acts in a more
economically rational fashion. Above all we must b ring
investment, general, collective and personal consumption
into line with our means, i.e. with real i-n come. We must
prevent investments that have no funds to cover them.
.
I For instance, at present some 29,000 building projects are
under way. What does it mean? It means a great danger
of inflation. We must approach these matters more se-
riously we must change some things and leave other
things for later. We must proceed with greater delibera-
tion, not so fast as heretofore. Otherwise we could get
into a difficult situation. I warn you that the situation will
not be good if we go on doing as we are today. When
will they, for example, stop taking money from the work
' collectivities for what can wait, most frequently without
consulting them or getting only a -formal consent from
those who earn this money?
Who is responsible far the eXJaggerated ambitions and
discrepancy between what is wanted and what is pos-
sible? Responsibility lies with those who make decisions,
investment decisions in particular. Notwithstanding a
broad self-management -and delegate base, many decisions
are still not b eing taken according to the rules of self-
management, although they fonnally go through the self-
management procedures. There are many insta.n ces where
caucus decisions are taken on a number of questions
which affect reprodu~tion, and there are many influences
which are at odds with self-management :relations. I re-
gard this as a major poldrtioal problem and its solution as
a top priority task, especially the task of the party and
trade union organizations.
O ur efforts to stabilize the economy must be attended
'
by certain sacrifices, but not only on the part of a section
l of society an d certainly .n ot on the part of the working
'
I the way we used to do before. It is, however, necessary
'
to bring our overall consun\ptibn within the framework
'
of what we can afford and it must =b e fully -depend@!nt
:
on an increased labour~ pr-Oductivity. In this country 'la-
'
,.

440
bour productivity is still fairly low . in compa_rison with
that of the highly developed industnal countries.
The existing problems clearly can not he resolved
overnight. It is a long process, -althou~h 1:here are ques-
tions which call for prompt intervention and brook no
d-elay. It does not suffice to fight such instances: we must
remove their causes. This is particularly important now,
as we are preparing the medium-term plan. The League
of Communists as well as all other organizations, includ-
ing the labour unions, must devote the greatest at-
tention to the current prob iems in the economy. These
questions were considered in much detail a few years
ago at the session of the Presidency of the LCY's Central
Committee. It is now up to all the organizations and
organs to start dealing with them very responsibly.
. ~11. the organs and institutions of our system, each
W1th1n 1ts competence, must responsi-bly perform their
functions and carry out their tasks. The questions of
common interest must lbe dealt with more speedily and
efficiently through self-management agreements and so-
cial compacts.
To achieve this, they must resolutely do away with
the tendencies, and frequently also the practice, of the
bureaucratic usurpation of the wor.kers' self-management
rights, as well as of constitutional rights and duties of
the institutions of the political system.
This also calls for the curbing of an unfair insistence
on the satisfaction of those particular but actually selfish
interests that stand in opposition to the common and
also, therefore, to their own interests.
Attempts are also b eing made to "politicize" some
of the particular interests, involving the danger of the
political manipulation of the working people and citizens.
There should be no such instances in our socialist self-
managing society. The League of Communists, the Trade
Unions Confederation and all the organized socialist
forces unified in the Socialist Alliance must energetically
oppose any such tendencies. It is necessary to strengthen
the awareness that the pooling of labour and resources
rather than local or regional insularity is in the
common interest of the working class and all our work~
ing people, in the interest of all the peoples and na-
tionalities of our c ountry.
While on the subject of the imp0$ition of narrow
and particular, b ut in fact- selfish inte.res1s, it is us~al~y
believed that the main proponent of such tendencies 15
441
... -
hnocrati.c and bureaucratic m?nopoly. This is ba-
t~e tee true. But we must not lose sight of the fact that
s1call~cracy would not ~ave s.u~h a force if it did not
tec.hn support from certain pohtlcal ,fact<>rs, namely from
enJ?fcal bureaucracy. We know full well that bureau..
0
pohtl 15
. extreme ly tenacious and that it -cannot be easily
cracy t d This is why it s hould be fought wholehea-rtedly
uproo e
t all levels.
a You may recall that I have more than once warned
. . t bureaucratic arbitrariness by individuals and
0
I agalns and against tend.enc1es
. f . . h
o usurpmg t e power of
g~ou~orking class, when I sp~ke of decisions .which do
I t ~t express the interests and wishes of the working people
no
themselves.
All the organizations and organs of the League of
Communists and all other organized 'SOci.aiist forces mu~t,
i
' therefore, steadiastly oppose any such. Instances and, m
their own midst particularly, must proVlde for a successful
development of sociali~t self-management. In my recent
speeches in this connection, I demanded that more at-
tention be devoted to the functioning of the d~legate
I system. Through their delegations and delegates. 1n the
sociopolitical communities an.d self-management I~teres;
unions workers and all working people should dec1de o.
the ov~rall policy of our society, particularly on the poh-
cy of reproduction. The delegate system and the furt~e:
development of socialist self-management democracy ~d
peratively d emand that collective work should 'be ~ppd e _
I
in all self-management and g overnment org~, mliti e~ 1
egate assemJblies, forums and o~ans of sociopo c
organizations. .
'tive e~pen-
T~o this end, and on the lbaslS of. the posl he meth<>ds
I enoe a1r eady gained, we must further Improve t You all
and forms of organization of forums ~d org~ce-presi
know. that f or a number of years alread!, t~; the highest
dent In the Presidency of the SFRY, whic\his principle
~tate organ, is elected to one-year .terms. he Central
18
now being applied in the Presidency of.~ chairman
CollUnittee
t0
of "'he
..,
LCY '
which also elecis 1
ed sugg~
d~ts that
.a one-year term. Experience thus grun lied in other
th1s practice can and should also be appune right ~p
organs and organizations from the comm de onlY U1
to the federation. An exception
' uld
co . be ma
and institutions.
some e xecutive organs and staff serv:ees and promote
Nevertheless, they, too, should cui~v~1e
collective work and collective responsrbll ty.
 442
I have given these matters a great deal of thought.
I an1 deeply convinced that S\tch a method of operating
would reaffirm collective work and accountability, that
it would promote the further democratization of work
of all self-management and political organs, and preclude
~:V: ~en1agogic and other overweening ambitions of the
Ind1v1~ua1. In other words, it would make work more
eff~ti,e an~ human relationships better and more hu-
~ane. All tJns would help Yugoslavia to continue dev.elop-
lng ~uc~lly as a socialist, self-managing federal com-
munity, 1n stable conditions.
I
Komunist, Belgrade, 1979, pp. 7 12.
EDVARD KARDELJ: PREFACE TO THE
JAPANESE EDITION OF "SELF-
Febrt~ary 1978
It is clearly not by chance that the publisher has
decided to publish two of my works: The Contradictions
of Social Ownership in Contemporary Socialist Practice
and Self-Management and Nonalignment. This is because
self-ma nagement based on social ownership and the ~on
alignoo policy of Yugoslavia constitute two basic, key
components af the Yugoslav ibody politics, two closely
related and mutually conditioned elemen~. We can con-
fidently claim today that if it were not for its system
of socialist self-management, Yugoslavia would not have
been a~ble to maintain its nonaligned position nor pursue
~ts nonaligned foreign poli~y. And conversely, if the pol..
tcy of nonl8llagnanent ~were not ilbs pezmanent . . . . . . .
and line of action in foreign affairs, Y~~slaVIa =~
not successfiuHy develop its system of SOClmqst self
agement.
Self-management, as a system of social ~lati~
and nonalignment, as Yugoslavia's pe:manent ~o~~Y for-
COUTSe
. . of ~tilon
~ . t -.~ -- 1 relatiQDS and ltn tts
ln (lfi eJ. iN:IJI,liO.UiU io some contra
~ pd]icy, .aJre m met QiDSW~ ~ on'ly ~ ialist society
1

~ct1ons an~ dilemmas that eXISt 1n ~e ...~ntradictions

I
f YugoslaVIa ;but also to the antagonisms, 'alist prac-
~d dilemmas' present m the contemporary- ~ey are, at
tice and relations among socialist countries, of realizing
:h~ same, time, a practical way an~ m~~!kind and cf
'

I

1
t
he common aspirations of progresstve that has, in a
>
I
; the Working cla&s in particular, the cla:~other- taken
n~ber of countries in one w~Y or
this Path and made progress along It. . relations
.f production . ging
. Se.If-management. is a form ? t voice in ~an~ biS
' In Wh1ch the working man has a d:~ec and frUiiS 0
. of
f~d deciding on the means, con~ti= in all s~~our
'\
I
!

hi8 activities,- in which the managexne

~...,_our and _. creativitY at all 1eve nt of rbO
:
'
:
'

.'

444
and capital is in the hands of the worker. The objective
of self-management and of socialist self-manageme~t de-
m ocracy is to enable the working people to solve, 1n the
most democracy is to enable the working people to solve
in the most democratic way possible, the contradictions
which exist and keep recurring in the course of the
development of social relations and of man's social con-
sciousness. Viewed from the historical perspective, self-
~anagem~n t i~ the democratic form of socialist produc-
tJon re1at1ons 1n which it is possible with comparatively
the least amount of crises obstacles and distortions to
achieve social proce~ that are conducive to the creation
of an "associa.tion of free p~oducers". Consequently, self-
~anag~ment lS a democratic system of social relations
In w?~ch the long-tenn sociohistorical process of the
trans1tion to a classless society can take place in relatively
the. greatest freedom,. as an expression of the will and
action as Ma~ sa1d of the working class and not
of some force ruhng on behalf of the working class.
This is how the leading political and ideological forces
of. Yu.goslav society conceive of the sociohistorical role
obJectives and paths of socialism and socialist self-man~
~gement. And this is how they are envisaged by the work-
Ing ~an, too. H7 opposes, .spontaneously and consciously,
the Idea of be1ng a subJect of the state or of being a
:vage labourer for any monopoly whatsoever, or a passive
1nstrum~nt and cog in the bureaucratic or managerial
mecharusm, or only the consumer of wages fixed by
others, which he cannot influence except through the
spontaneous pressure of his dissatisfaction. All this ex-
presses the iTrepressi,ble .aspi.ration of 1he contemporacy
worker and man, who, following a deeper instinct of
his social being, and owing to his ever-growing social
consciousness, feels that the present-day development of
productive forces offers man the possibility of expressing
his creative individuality more powerfully and in a more
suibstantive manner.
But in spite of the significant 'SUccesses that we have
achieved, w.e cannot say that self-management has been
developing in our country along an ascending line. It
was, and still is, limited by our society's relatively loW
level of economic development and by numerous oth~r
j
factors in its internal ~truc.ture and in our country s
, .
international position. Yugoslav society was faced rather
early both in its own experience an d in that of other
I
socialist countries with the fact that socialism as a
I
1
j
..
445
r10nal step in social development does not create
tra~s; free from contradictions or even conflicts wa
socie Yever found it either useful or necessary to co~cea~
ha~ie ~ore such contradictions, problems and difficulties,
or t gbave openly faced them. We have always sought,
bud in our opinion have been successful in finding, the
an t suitable way out by further consolidating and
~:ngthe.ning sociaJist. self-management an~ self-man-
.. ement democracy. V1ewed through the pr1sm of long-
~!~ dev.elopment, the system of socialist seJf..manage-
ment in Yugoslavia has stood the test of time and has
been able at the crucial points of its development, to
find its o~n ways and solutions, which have enabled it
to make further progress and to increase its internal
cohesion as well as to enrich i1s social and political
content ~nd gain in strength. In any case, no cris~ has
seriously threatened to turn hack the wheel of h1Story.
When I say that self-management and non-alignment
are for Yugoslavia the essential components of ol!-e and
the same concept, what I have in mind above aD: IS that
a nation which governs its own country and wh1c~ r~
?gnizes the same right to other nations cannot m 1ts
1ntern ationa! relations pursue any policy other than tJ:e
policy of equality, mutual respect, and independence, Ul
other words, the policy of nonalignment.
. For as long as some. natio~s . in the world can s:~~
l ~ugate o ther peoples, Testr1ct the1r mdependence and eq ol-
~ty and threaten their securi1y and world peace, th~~ be
ley of nonalignment in any of its f.orms ;n
0 such
a nat~ral and necessary reaction :b y free peoples aiist
~actJ.Ces. This policy is perfectly accepta~le. ~ ~:tries
0
ugoslavia, because only free and equal sociahs ration
can bui~d new mutual rela tions and forms of c:P~on of
~~~solidarity and can strive for the democra. z:e~ in
ln~rnational relations and for a peaceful coexl.S
general.
Th t ata and of
the e ~p1rations of the broad worJ?ng.; rthemsel-ves
on t~~rk1ng class in the world to dec1de Y the actions
and e1~ own destinies are inseparable frorn .beCause so-
l
cialisobJectives of .t he nonaligned moveme~, peoples. ~e
'
corn lll can ?e ~uilt only !by free -~~ equ d lasting b&Sls
f<ir ~n ob,lecb ves provide a reah~tlc~nmoveiii~t an~
those ooperation between the non~1gn transfoJ11lation
th forces that seek a progresslve
e World .

444
and capital is in the hands of the worker. The objective
of self-management and of socialist self-manageme~t de-
m ocracy is to enable the working people to solve, 1n the
most democracy is to enable the working people to solve
in the most democratic way possible, the contradictions
which exist and keep recurring in the course of the
development of social relations and of man's social con-
sciousness. Viewed from the historical perspective, self-
~anagem~n t i~ the democratic form of socialist produc-
tJon re1at1ons 1n which it is possible with comparatively
the least amount of crises obstacles and distortions to
achieve social proce~ that are conducive to the creation
of an "associa.tion of free p~oducers". Consequently, self-
~anag~ment lS a democratic system of social relations
In w?~ch the long-tenn sociohistorical process of the
trans1tion to a classless society can take place in relatively
the. greatest freedom,. as an expression of the will and
action as Ma~ sa1d of the working class and not
of some force ruhng on behalf of the working class.
This is how the leading political and ideological forces
of. Yu.goslav society conceive of the sociohistorical role
obJectives and paths of socialism and socialist self-man~
~gement. And this is how they are envisaged by the work-
Ing ~an, too. H7 opposes, .spontaneously and consciously,
the Idea of be1ng a subJect of the state or of being a
:vage labourer for any monopoly whatsoever, or a passive
1nstrum~nt and cog in the bureaucratic or managerial
mecharusm, or only the consumer of wages fixed by
others, which he cannot influence except through the
spontaneous pressure of his dissatisfaction. All this ex-
presses the iTrepressi,ble .aspi.ration of 1he contemporacy
worker and man, who, following a deeper instinct of
his social being, and owing to his ever-growing social
consciousness, feels that the present-day development of
productive forces offers man the possibility of expressing
his creative individuality more powerfully and in a more
suibstantive manner.
But in spite of the significant 'SUccesses that we have
achieved, w.e cannot say that self-management has been
developing in our country along an ascending line. It
was, and still is, limited by our society's relatively loW
level of economic development and by numerous oth~r
j
factors in its internal ~truc.ture and in our country s
, .
international position. Yugoslav society was faced rather
early both in its own experience an d in that of other
I
socialist countries with the fact that socialism as a
I
1
j
..
445
r10nal step in social development does not create
tra~s; free from contradictions or even conflicts wa
socie Yever found it either useful or necessary to co~cea~
ha~ie ~ore such contradictions, problems and difficulties,
or t gbave openly faced them. We have always sought,
bud in our opinion have been successful in finding, the
an t suitable way out by further consolidating and
~:ngthe.ning sociaJist. self-management an~ self-man-
.. ement democracy. V1ewed through the pr1sm of long-
~!~ dev.elopment, the system of socialist seJf..manage-
ment in Yugoslavia has stood the test of time and has
been able at the crucial points of its development, to
find its o~n ways and solutions, which have enabled it
to make further progress and to increase its internal
cohesion as well as to enrich i1s social and political
content ~nd gain in strength. In any case, no cris~ has
seriously threatened to turn hack the wheel of h1Story.
When I say that self-management and non-alignment
are for Yugoslavia the essential components of ol!-e and
the same concept, what I have in mind above aD: IS that
a nation which governs its own country and wh1c~ r~
?gnizes the same right to other nations cannot m 1ts
1ntern ationa! relations pursue any policy other than tJ:e
policy of equality, mutual respect, and independence, Ul
other words, the policy of nonalignment.
. For as long as some. natio~s . in the world can s:~~
l ~ugate o ther peoples, Testr1ct the1r mdependence and eq ol-
~ty and threaten their securi1y and world peace, th~~ be
ley of nonalignment in any of its f.orms ;n
0 such
a nat~ral and necessary reaction :b y free peoples aiist
~actJ.Ces. This policy is perfectly accepta~le. ~ ~:tries
0
ugoslavia, because only free and equal sociahs ration
can bui~d new mutual rela tions and forms of c:P~on of
~~~solidarity and can strive for the democra. z:e~ in
ln~rnational relations and for a peaceful coexl.S
general.
Th t ata and of
the e ~p1rations of the broad worJ?ng.; rthemsel-ves
on t~~rk1ng class in the world to dec1de Y the actions
and e1~ own destinies are inseparable frorn .beCause so-
l
cialisobJectives of .t he nonaligned moveme~, peoples. ~e
'
corn lll can ?e ~uilt only !by free -~~ equ d lasting b&Sls
f<ir ~n ob,lecb ves provide a reah~tlc~nmoveiii~t an~
those ooperation between the non~1gn transfoJ11lation
th forces that seek a progresslve
e World .

446
The entire post-war development of economic and
political relations in the world and the role Pl.ayed b y
the nonaligned policy in it have shown tha.t 1t ~as a
universal significance that it provides m-ank1nd w1th a
long-term outlook, a ~lution to all the contradictions and
crises in a highly complex but also highly interdependent
world. The nonaligned movement is not and cannot be
an ephemeral phenomenon ascribable to the c.old war
and the bloc division of the world, nor a sU!bjectivist
cons-truction of -a given crnornent in 1fue intem.albional sit-
uation a.Hlh.ougth it c.atn dhia-nge ritls fornn but a socio-
historical factor and force. It would, of course be utopian
to believe that all these objectives could be r~alized
overnight. in a world rent .by deep class, social, .e conomic
and political contradictions, which are constantly pre-
cipictating it in to new conflicts. The movement and the
policy of nonaJi.gnment are among those powerful histor-
ical factors which gradually ohange such a world and
cr'81Je lh.ilstot,ioaJ oondlithlons fur a new type of rela'tiions
among peoples, for demoo!'lartiie fotms of 'thei-r cooperaltion
and tJhej r tl"8lpproohement.
For us in Yugoslavia, to renounce the policy of non-
aUgnme~t would mean renouncing our 'independence,
renounc1ng the role that Yugoslavia plays among the f~
people~ of the world; it would mean calling into question
our ex1stence, the existence of Yug.o slavia as the country
of socialist self-management. This basically applies to the
many other countries that belong to this n1ovement. Y.n
other terms, our nations and nationalities have no alter-
native to self-management in domestic relations and the
policy of nonalignment in international relations.
If I were to try to identify some of the common con-
ditions and sou~ces of the system of socialist self-man-
agement and the poliey of nonalignment <Yf socialist
Yugoslavia, I would point to the following:
Fil\St of all, I should point out some of t he roots of
self-management and nonalignment. Yugoslavia is a multi-
national state and, what is more, it is historically not
an old state in which national diffrences would b e leSS
pronounced. Yugoslavia is a new state, created onlY
after World War I, owing more to the force of the
0
~ :U.
imperialists that to the will of its peoples. The rulers 0
prewar Yugoslavia established a centralistic systelll
government, turning it into a prison of nationS
447
and this explai~ .why prewar Yugoslavia disintegrat d
at the very begmnmg of the Second World War e
The peoples and nationalities of Yugosla~ia uld
not b e reunited by any force other than the revoluti~:a
workers' .movement he~ded by. t he Communist Party ?t
Yugoslav1a. It accompliShed thiS not only by promising
to free Yugoslavia from the invader, b ut also by pledging
to carry out the programme of ~building a new Yugoslavia
as a federal state of free and equal nations and nationali-
ties on the basis of the democratic power of th people.
In fact, self-management by the nations and na~tionalities
in new Yugoolavia was the first and main condition for
them to accept there establishment of the common state
of Yugoslavia.
Another factor acted in the same direction. The
internal antagonisms in prewar Yugoslavia not only
national but also class, social, cultural and those of the
impoverished countryside had brought Yugoslavia to
the brink of revolution even before the world war. So
l
even if there had been no Second World War, Yug~lavia
would have been the victim of a revolutionary crisis.
C?nce the national liberation .w ar had begun, this revolu-
t~onary tendency of the masses became a powerful cohe-
slve factor in the people's struggle and in the unity of
Yugoslavia's peoples and nationalities in that struggle.
In ?ther words, the national Uberation war and the. so-
I
I ciahst revolution were interlinked in a single revolution-
I' ary process which gave that movement its internal
strength and unity.
.. Owing to the nature of the national liberation war,
' some sections of the armed forces in different parts of
the c~untry frequently had to fight for months without
I
l.
.'
I
:
I
I comple:
~y dw:-eot ()()InmUJlicaJtionB, in ollher words. lin a
Y. decen.tl"1allir1Jed and eJWt;onomous manner. Ali 1lhiB n
:rthsta.ndintg, the ideological unity was SO stron,g t!h~ttha!
embers of the national Hberation movement fo~tly
0
afde. body, having the same objectives and co
tng
T one
. . ano ther. . es were
Cl'e thiS IS the situation in which free. terrlf~ajor or
I
:rni~ .ea.. all over the country, like a striJl~O into larger
'
uni or Islands which sometimes amatgamat, the enemY
int ts, and at other times were broken up ~y of the na
I
tio~J~aller free territories, so that the~~ con,iointly,
'
each . h~ration movement w:re not able
'
1 111anagement
in a ltl ~ts own territ~. ~ is where ):'89SIOII. i.e. self
nat1on-a1 sense rece1ved 1ts full exp
{
 . 449
448
management jn individual national states, although they
were all united by a single idea a~~ut a future . ~ew
Yugoslavia, as well a<; by common n:1htary. and political
suppeme organs. In tthe midst of a national llberatlon war,
the government could not taike the f.orm of a bureaucrat-
ic administration directing all public affairs, but the
working people organized themselves in different forrns
of national liberation committees to maintain law and
order in their territories and to provide minimum con-
ditions for human existence. The management of the
factories in the free territories was taken over by the
wor~ers. Owing to the backwardness of prewar Yugo-
slavia, there were not many factories certainly not in
the free territories, so there were not ~any cases of this
kind of factory management by the workers, but there
were enough of them to give rise not only to the idea
but also to the initial practice of self-management.
. ~fter the .war. under the influence of the pr.ivailing
soc1alis~ practice 1n the world, i.e. under the pressure of
dogi?atlsm there were dilemmas in Yugoslavia con-
cernmg the further development of socialism and e ven
concerning the further developme nt of inter communal
r elations. However , t h e r.evolu tionar y colllSciousness of
th e popular masses, built up in t h e course of the national
liberation war and r~evolution, was so strong t hat it was
impossible to impose on the new Yugoslavia a w ay of
life belonging to othe r count ries and devel opin g in com-
plet ely different hist or ical conditions. Therefore, imme-
diately after our conflict with Stalin in 1948, the germ
of self-management, which put down roots in t h e course
of the national liberation w ar, started buPgeoning into
an integral social or ganism.
The pressur e exerted agains t Yu goslavia was so
strong t hat this budding social syst em would certainly
n~t have survived i t if it had not started joining forces
With another revolutionary process which shook the entire
world. That was the struggle of the c olonial and all other
dependent and semi~dependent peoples to emanc1pate
themselves from foreign dominance and economic and
polit ical dependen-ce of all kinds and to live in freedom
and independence. We had to fight internationally for
t~e peoples i~ the world to gain the same freedoms and
r1ghts for which we had fought in our own cou ntry. ThUS
nonalignment, which means independence f r om the blocs
and great powers, emerged almost au t omatically frorn
our struggle for a new Yugoslav ia, for t he freedom and
equal rights of its nations e:.nd nat1or"']'. . -
b th 1...: l a 1tie= , df
manag~men t Y c worr~1ng man. VIe 11 ,. ., ti.n . .or eelf-
in finding a common language wif -th ud no dtffieulty
countries in the world which wrrA ~ir. . ~~1 peopl8 and
irrespective of their social or poliii;al s;~~. threatened,
The second factor that contributed to the em
and development of self-management and rergence
1
was socialist Yugoslavia's struggle for its ngnhotna gdnment
t th an free-
dom t o ch oose 1 s own pa and forms of sodarst d 1
ment We claim that there is no model of so~ialis~et~~t
carD: b~ regarded as a law gove rning the development of
soc1absm. On the contrary, the objective law of i ts histo _
ical de v-elopment is actually t he diversity of paths a:d
forms of d evelopment of socialism. This is why we tried
to further d-evel op the revolutionary traditions and crea-
tive iniifi.atiJves started .iLn rtfue course of the narbiontBJl liber-
ation war, and to 1b uild them into the system of our
socialist society.
In d oing so we met with persistent attempts on the
part of v arious reactionary, imperialist and capitalist
circles to interfere in our internal affairs, for they con-
sidered that our conflict with Stalin had definitively un-
derrnined socialism in Yugoslavia and .that chances had
been created for the counter-revolutionary forces to re-
store the capitalist society. On the other hand, the dog-
mat ism w ielded a constant and strong pressure, claim-
ing that we had betrayed socialism, that we had s?ld
ours.elves to imperialism, and even that we :vere turrung
fascJSt. Their objective was to foist on us their own model
of socialism and their own foreign policy.
Our struggle against these two pre~ures strengthen-
ed our alliance and cooperation with all those ~~~les
and countries in the world which opposed its diVlSIOD
along bloc lines, not only because this division !Dex?rably
~ed to a third world war !but also because tt. tned to
lallpose an equil~ilbrium of forces, spheres . of J.~~~:t
1
and new fol'ltns of domination over nations. of
Y'u . L-=-~ 1ts own course
goslavia could not have matn1aJ..l~ ent if at
developrnent of socialism through self-manage~ations in
the same time it had not sought a ~han~~:: division
the world, if it had not fought ag~nst relatio.ns among
of the world and for a democratization of the!Jl, itreS-
nati~ns and a peaceful coexfsten~e artl!'Jgand political
Pective of any differences lin thetr sOCl
8 Yitellls.
 450
451
There is no denying that the existence of t~e social- become a widespread practice which .
ist 'bloc has facilitated the struggle of the enslaved na- to the countries of the so-called social~ tn~t limited only
18
tions or their freedom and the struggle of the progres- transcends those boundaries. loc but by far
sive movements for social progress. H~d it D:ot been ~or Truly, I can claim without exagger t'
the October Revolution, for the Sov1et Un1on and 1ts socialist Yugoslavia, the lbattle for the ~n that for
ability to safeguard the basic achievements of that revo- of socialist self-management and the battle fer tphrogress
lution, it is quite certain that the struggle of the enslaved o f the po11cy of nona11gnment in interna4-:
Ization or e real-
nations and classes for their liberation would have been
lations 1 u t e one Inseparable
cons t"t whole. .,1ona1 re-
much harder. And yet, socialism cannot be expected to
expand in the world on the 1basis of a further division
along the bloc lines. Furthermore, history has endorsed
Marx's and Lenin's anticipations that the victory of the
revolution would not automa tically put an end to antag-
onisms and confllcts between socialist countries, not
even to the tendencies of what Lenin described as "climb-
ing onto someone's back". Stalin's attack against Yugo-
slavia, the evolution of Soviet-Chinese relations, the dif-
ferences over Eurocommunism, and lately the conflict
between Vietnam and Kampuchea, have convincingly
borne out those anticipations.
Consequently, not only for the sake of people's
emancipa~on and democratization of r.e lations among the
world nations, and not only for the sake of coexistence
among the countries having different social system, but
also for the sake of a free development of socialism and
in order to o vercome the contradictions and disputes
amQng socialist countries which are a legacy of the
past, though proclaimed to !be a contemporary dogma of
socialism it is necessary to put an end to t-he blocs,
for a world of free peoples who will live together main-
taining democratic relations and a peaceful coexistence.
This is the essence of the policy of nonalignment. Our
struggle for the right to make a free and independent
choice of o ur society's road to socialist development,
which is socialist self-management, has become the source
of our struggle for the policy of non-alignment in the
world.
We are fully aware that this matter involves mo~e
than just political struggle or political expediency. ThiS
battle is a part of all those pvogressive processes which
attend the transition from one epoch to another, from
capitalism to socialism. What we must bear in mind above
all is that this battle is waged not only between socialism
and capitalism, !but also with1n socialism itself, sometimes
even between socialist countries. Socialism is today no
longer a lonely island in the sea of capitalism, but hsS
 {) .. .-. . o.:
~
~
,...,.,
v>~ '
-~ -. -.] :::a
cno
..<:""''
t~ 0
-......

::J~CO ca
u
..).

~?~ t:l ..... ~

s~s
. s
"

EXCERPT FROM JOSIP BROZ TITO'S

pORT DELIVERED AT THE
coMMITTEE
'

April1979

our Party's historical merit is to have given new

for~e to the age-.old slogan of the workers' movement
"factories to the workers" . '
With th-e handin g o ver of state-owned enterprises for
management by the work collectivities in 1950, a resolute
step was made towar~d a free development of socialist
soc1o-economic relations.
When in the early years of socialist construction we
introduced the system of state-management of the econ-
omy, we knew that we were not establishing ideal socialist
relations. We knew that it as only the beginning of the
transitional period into a new society and that these rela-
tions n ecessarily had to undergo a further elaboration.
Our own practice, as we ll as the practice of others, soon
told us that such a system of relations, if it were to re-
main longer th.a n strictly necessary, would increasingly
hamper developm-e nt an~d shut off society's prospects of
mOVin~g ~d!S ra .Wee 18S90ci181tiiion of .dlirect pl"'ducers, ..
which inde ed is th~e final aim ~of the socialist revolution
and the historical mission of the working class. Conse-
quently, the system of state management had to give way
to the system .o f wock er self-ma.n agement. In the man- .
.
.
agement of affairs o f social .reproduction, the state ~had to
begi-n tQ withe r away, as anticipated by the classical works ...
of Marxism.
~bviously, although we had a clear policy, we could
not unmediately esta:b lish such relations as we have to-
day. What was e ssential howe ver, w.a s that the workers
should begin to ta'k e ch~rge of their own labour and its
~~ts. Thus through the practice of sel~-management,
c e ."'?rke rs .acquired the necess~y e"pe~Ienoe and ~
~e. lncreasmgly aware that. .tl1e1r mater1a~ and sOCial
tions were d ependent on themselves. ThiS was at the
same time a con-dition for them to take over the manage- ,, .

.
)
.
'
.
'
'
 455
454 'ld ever higher forms of
. to .bw J
!
of Communists following the 21st .
11 cial affall"B, t. ns idency of the League of Comm . sesston of the Pres-
me~t .of s:lf-:anagement rela to ~ road we have covered
I
'
oondi1ioll8 were 'Cl'eat ed for a d ~~~tts 0~ Yugoslavia, that
0

socialist look back todaY ove~ ~ocioeconomic relations,

I
P.roponents of all these negati~:n~r!n~owd~n with the
'
0

As we. self-managemen found a true meas-

in develotp:~~hat we have not atl~sayseconomic functions to
r
II ststent development of the system <>f U for a con-
we can s a~ the sta e 1 II H~d we not done that, we would have co:e imanageme~t.
ure in trying to ~u~e There were. severa reasons With the aspira:tions of the working class. nto a conflict
. dispensable munmum. 0f communiSts we have not
fan mt"~~ Even in the League ga-~ ... the .r ole of the state T.he Constitution of 1974 and the Associated Labour
or JUO' ous as re L'W)
always rbeen unanun centralization of state
fun ti
c ons had Act fmal!y shape~ the sys~z_n of socialist self-manage-
in the economy. ~he rticularly of the resources for ment SOC1oeconom1c and. pohbcal relations, and revealed
'been very extenSive, P:OO ction .in the federaticm, which t~e c~ear ~prospect of their further development. The Con-
financing expanded blia; uand provinces to bear a direct
did not allow the ~rep~ own as well as for the common
s?tutlon regulated the new relations within the federa-
tion. The Tenth and Eleventh Congresses of the League
responsi:bili ty fo~ thelr mainly due to the fact that the
.
l
r of Communists established and developed the task8 of the
develop~ent. This was a sufficient attention to the eco- League of Communists and other socialist forces in im-
I

I

centre d1d n?t alwaysepry ublics and provinces, to the plementi.n g the Constitution and putting the Associated
i
nomic eq;t~:~n4-of th mepthem and to their different in-
0
0
0
Labour Act into effect.

specific ctrcwu..,"ances ct ...............~

It . true that we have taken up coiTe sw:w"""~ on . & we ~now, t?e f~undation of the entire system of
terest. ~ both in the Programme of the League of socioeconomic relations lB the status of the working man,
aH these.~: Yugoslavia and at the Eighth Con~, which enables 'him to work with socially-owned means
:

CommuniS did not consistently observe them m of production and freely and on equal terms with other .

but ~ome pe~pl~o int out here that the Programme of
practice. I wishofC mmpourusts is a historical document of our
the League o t so
Party, which will for a long time ibe a signpos ln our ..
cialist self..management development. . resources, in which workers decide on the entirety of their
With the Constitution of 1963 and the ~nom.1c re-
f f 1965 we set a resolute course in the d'ltrect1on of
orm o , . .
deetatization and decentralization o gove
f rnment func-
d .d
tions. Thereby we gave the producers more SC?Pe to eCl ~
on the general conditions of labour and bUSln~ss an~~
questions of development. But even then we dtd not a-
ficiently insure oursel~ against the. danger of ursurpe-
tion of the func~ions of descio~-m~Ing. by th~ m~~e,
ment in composite work orgaruzations, m ~ore1gn v-
banks, etc. Nor did relations a mong repubh~ and pr~er
inces on the one hand and the federation on the 0 .a1
correspond to the needs and the attained leve~ of ~ced
development. Too much emphasis was still ~being . pl and
on ~e federation's legislative function. The rel?ub~t,ing
ali...
workens in associated labour to manage his own labour
0 and the conditions and results of his labow:-. In this con-
I nection, basic organizations of associated la'b our have be-
come the basic forzn of the pooling of labour and
income and exercise other self-management rights. This,
of course, also applies to decision-ma,k ing on the resources
f
i
I
which they pool with other organizations, in banks, in-
surance unions and in various self-management interest
unions.
Relations b etween workers in production and those
t
workers who with their labour satisfy their wants in the
fields of education, healtftl Md other public services, are
being esta1blished within self-management interest unions
directly, without the intermediary of the state. In these
unions they enter into a free exchange of labo~r ~d
equit~bly decide on the volume and mode of satisfying
public wants in these activities as well as on their devel-
opment.
'I
)
These changes created conditions for workers~ truly
0

provmces did not play a commensurate role 1n. I

become subjects of decision-making on all questions of
joil_lt policy and in detennining the resources far 1ts f!oc- '.
I
j

social reproduction and to be really able to prevent .the
zation. In this situation we saw the appearance of tee. ilat ! usurpation of their right to decision-making. The pri~cl)ty~
racy, bureaucracy, liberalism, nationalism and J:~ of income-sharinrt makes the entire system econo~ca
defonnations. It was only after the constitutional -r ..ague efficient, allows'""e
workers 1n
ct:sn\i7.ation to strive 1or
each oro--
of 1971 and the reestablishment of unity in the ~

')
.
0

'I
I)

 '
.
456 ' . 11 457
mOre successful b usi- '
t
were con 1nua y reduced and .
.4- and for a I It 10
' :1...
over by the c ommunes. Thew kWere Increasingly take
greater lcvboUT producmVI"Y al Obviously, re a! ns ~~C'.u
ness performance in. g.ene.~l .not come to therr fruiti?n lities of the communes were o~o~howers and responsi:bi~
as we have established W'l rm process. There are still commune gradually becam~ the . n~ally enlaTged Th
by themselves; it is a long-te t If the workers are not ment organization, in which wo~~~cipal form of g~vern:
forces that resist this developm~n~tution and the Asso- took part di rectly, {)n the principlesg f eople and citizens
aware of the power that !he ~em and if they do not 0
The development of the comm u al self-management.
ciated Labour Act. ~ave ~:on 1 ali
questions regarding amplification of democratic revol ~- system meant the
take charge of decJ.Slon-m . . ns may well become a mere which the national1iberatio~ com~~~~ar~h principles on
their la:bour, then tbesedre~a~ making might remain 1n
10 1
. hil true eC1SIOn- <iuring the war. es ad been based

formality w e . ..._ of Conomic and political '. .

the hands of vartous cen c..les . ~~.nt f th D~ce?tralization of management w 1 . . . .,'
wer. It is, therefore, extremely Imyv~ __. or. e OT- on pnnciples which the Party has aasl a so InteilSJ.fied, .. ....
po ._..J 'alist forces the League of Commurusts, the 1 r t . . ways stood for .,
~
~
~

garuzt:U SOCI d oth t t' name y' equa ! y In Inter-communal relat'10 The . ' <

lies and provinces acquired a new inde ~

.r..n~ the Socialist AlJi.ance an ers o ac IVe- rep':lb- l

trad e UDluuu, te t . 1 ~ ... .L:

ly and continually strive for a co~IS n tmp emeu&.cl'won gave them full :mponsirbility for decidingpoenn ~~cet, wffh~.ch
of socialist self-management relations. The stances we . Jmn a ru.rs
at t he federa1 1eve1. This was extremely signr . t f
took on this score at the Tenth and Eleventh Congresses
of the LCY were quite clear.
the stret;gth an? stability of
our socialist self:~::agi:
commu~uty. Na tlonal ~ality rhad 'b een and has remained '.
.. .
.
'

As the new production relations developed, so con-
tinued the process of changes in the political system. The
direction of this development is determined by the deeply
democratic character of our revolution. It was 'b ased on
the experiences of our armed struggle, on the revolution-
ary and democratic character of our national Uberation
committees. In their mode of formation, structure a.nd
work, they were the kind of government organs that the
popular masses wanted, because they served their in-
teres1s. This is why they considered thern to be their own
government. This revolutionary democratic character of
government was in evitlence throughout the entire process
of the construction of our political system, especially after
we introduced socialist self-management.
The effect of those changes was that decision-making
on a number of public affairs, which had been within the
competence of the state adminjstration, were increasingly
tak~n over by the working- people and citizens through
ther self-management organizations and agencies. Tbjs
~as particularly true of the sphere of management of so-
cially-owned , which we have already referred
to.
We have, of course, never lost sight of the need for
the state to act in the transiti al
. . on pen.od as or .
t::u=~~~ m certain public matters. This is why the
graduall bence by working peopre and citizens was
com t Y rougbt to bear in govermnent affairs.. The
the basis and the condition of our unity. This of course
is not som~thing that can be .resolved once a~d for ever~
these .relations must be continually nurtured and per-
fected. T?e same goes for the principle of an equitable
consultation and agreement-making. However individual,
I
especially economic, interest might differ, our experience
'
i
to date has shown that they can be fully realized through
democratic coordination and that the awareness of a com-
mon interest has always .prevailed over various particu-
laristic and similar tendencies. In this matter, as in all
others, we shall make no concessions to either centralism
or particularism.
The charncter of the government organs also gradual-
ly changed. The change was best seen in the Constitu-
tional Law of 1953, when producers' councils were formed.
Next, following the Constitution of 1963, ~be assemblies
became the centre of political decision-making, and under
the 1974 Constitution the delegate ~mblies were set up.
The delegate principle of decision-maki?g lJ!akes up
the essence of our new political system. _It 15 ~mg ~
sued in all areas and at all levels of public decision~m~
ing, in the organs of self-management as well ase:bled
..
organs of government. The ~egate system ~ me the
the working class and working people ~o beco
..'
ruling political and economic force of sooety. . .
~
Through the delegations and ~egates,thepol::J:
i' become a matter of direct practiCe~gbyorganir,atioo&. m .
..<
m~ or rather by their self-managJP
4

pe ences of the federation, republics and .province5 '

.,'
'
\
f.
l
<

458
co~~t. to those systems ~~ere politics is the monopoly
of mdiVIdua]s or of top politicalleaderships or indeed of
the g overnment apparatus.
COJru:~auently, socialast self-management democracy
in view C?f the status and opportunities it has granted_ t~
the working man to administer public affairs, differs com-
pletely from all other forms of state organization which.
call themselves democratic. It has created a genuine
government of the working class and working people, and
as such has become a means of defending revolutionary
achievements and a further development of the revolu-
tion. It constitutes a kind of "organization of the working
class as a state", as proposed by Marx.
To put it briefly, as a result of a continued demo-
cratic development of our revolution, socialist seltf-man-
agement has become a comprehensive system of socio-
economic and political relations. It expresses the freedom
and inalienable right of the worlting man to decide on
equal terms, freely and together with other working
people, on all questions affecting his life and the com-
munity as a whole, and to assume responsibilit!. for it.
This social pnqition makes it possible for our citizen ~
develop as a free, creative personality, to develop all his
creative abilities. . Small fanns could hardly produce e nough to cover their
, seO.lf-mtanagement is a e~~ce
and attainment of our working class in the exe~ of I!B
historical role which iB to create a classless ~1ety. I~ ts
nat by 'acciJdent
t :bhlat today IS atb:"aoting
growing interest and is becoming the programme ~n:::d
tation of many democratic and workers' movemen
other progressive forces in the world. . develo -
Although we have suffered som: ~tbao::5~ we miy
ing our system o~ self-managemen .Since. d un~av.ering.
cl~aim that our ma1n course fl:as ?ee,:e f~nt: .result of the
Its successful development lS -~~is of Yugoslavia, whiCh,
action by the Lea~e of C omm;::rd of the worldng class,
as a true revolutionary vang h. gs of the classic wol"ks
has creatively applried ~h:e teac In
of Marxism to our condttlons. d asserting
Socialist self-management. is more ant more This is bes t
itself as an efficient e conomic sys~~~~ 0i~ our postwar
seen from the r.esults we have ac Ie
material and social development. f the social
With an .average annu . fa1 growth rate o
the period between
product amounting to 6.~ pe cen~n: among the countries
1947 and 1978, Yugoslavia now r
,,.,... . ' ' '
i .. .
' '
.. 1
'
'*' .
'. - - .. -- - ----
-'------....--- ...
459=
having. the fnstes~ economic growth. During thls period
tJhe SOOiial POOiducl 6.4funes, <ami :per oa.Pi'ba prod-
~ct ~e <tlhan futmfolld. This figure is pariioul~ly signfuf-
'
'
I Icant 1f we rememlber that our starting point was the
I material hase inherited from pre-war Yugoslavia, which
was one of the most ~backward countries in Europe. I shall
onlv cite a few figures.
On the eve of the war, the agricultural population ac-
counted for 77 per eent of the total population. There
were only 920,000 employed blue-collar and white-collar
workers, in the economy and in public services, including
some 200,000 civil servants, which m ade up 6 per cent of
the total population. Out of this number, one third was
employed in industry, mostly in small enterprises em-
ploying handiwork technology. By the .e nd of the 1930s,
t he mimnimum how--wage was on an average 2 dinMS,
While at the same time one kilog:ramme of bread cost 4
I dina.ns, meat 10 to 15 dinans, sugar 13 dinars, etc.
;
. ..
I
<
Life was particularly wretched 1n the countryside. . '.
~
AgricultU:MI production was v.ery low. In the ten-year
I period between 1930 and 1939, the per hectare yield of
bread cereals was 11 and of maize 16 metric centners.
I own needs, so that agricultural production was largely
subsistence farming and maintained itself at the level of
simple ~eproduction.
The per capita social production in 1939, calculated
at 1977 prices, was only about 7,000 -dinars per annum.
The situation was hardly 'better in t he spheres of
education and health. According to the 1931 census, 45 per
cent of the inhabitan1s over the ag.e of ten were illiterate.
Fewer than two and a half thousand students were
graduated every year from all the universities and col-
I leg.es. There was one physician for ~very 3,236 ~abitants.
Mortality was high. The average life expectation was 45
years for men and 46 -f or women.
Here, then, was where socialist Yugoslavia had to
make a start a nd what enormous efforts had to :b e made
to arrive at what we harve today! If the postwar develop-
ment is compared with the dev~op~ent attained at the
same time throughout the world, 1t will then :be seen that
per capita social product in Yugosla~a in 1939 was 30c=
cent 'below the world average, and lS today 34 per
above that average. f in-
., Particularly rapid was the postwar growth 0 ew
! dustry which in the period between 1947 and 1978t. ~:~
at an average
' annual rate of more than 9 per cen .... .lLID
I
'

~eans that _today industri~ p~tion is fiftel!n times
higher than tn. 194 7, or 18 times higher than in 1939. Tbe
grow~ of ag1'1cultural output could not be so fast, but
very unportant chan,g es have been achi-eved in this sector
too. 1
As_ compared w~th the five-year average attned in
the mld-1950s, agt'tcultural production today ~ mor
than ~ouble. It is mo~ than seven times higher on
aodelist faztns. The : of tbe pai
th;
crops have been greatly and they have today
reached the l~vel of top world achievements.
. Notable successes have also been attained in other
f1elds of the economy. We should pa1tkularly the
development of economic relations with foreign countries.
In 1978, the volume of foreign trade was more than 285
billion new dinars, and only ten years earlier it was five
times smaller.
This material development was attended by changes
in the structure of the population. The share of agricul-
tural population has been reduced since the war from 77
per cent to a-bout 30 per cent. The number of employed
has risen to about 5.5 millions, so that they make up to-
day more than one half of the economically active popula-
tion. Women account for 34 per cent of the work force.
The progress achieved in economic d~e~~ment ha.s
been expressed in a pronounce<f: growth m livmg stand:
ards. During the last twenty-five .years, personal con
sumption increaBed more than four tlmes over. .
We have aLso considerably raised the educational level
of the population. In the year before last, for ~amptilet
more than 48,000 students gradu~ted from unJversi es
and colleges, which is nearly 20 t1mes m.ore ~ .u:f;;:.
th~ war. The medical care of the po~ula~ than
proved. The number of doctors has tnc.re m~ to-
four times since the war. The average life expec y ;
I.
day is 67 for men and 72 f or women. chi ved . all the
A dynamic development has been a e :Ve beeD
republics and provinces. E~orm~us effortsin the levels
made to overcome the inherited differences d the Yvinl
of their development. Both the ~;~~Jy anhigher level
standarOO are today at a qua 1 li and provinces
throughout our country. In all the. repub wC:u as the 6()Cial
t he material base of labour and hfe, das ti nal level and
ul
structure of the pop a on, ti their e uca o
thorough change.
their health have all undergone a very the task of speed-
Despite all this, we still have b efore us
'
\
461
ing up the development of the underdeveloped republics
and areas, particularly of the Province of Kosovo.
Rapid and radical changes were duly accompanied by
certain difficulties and weaknesses. We are not free from
problems and difficulties even today. We have openly and
articulately spoken about them at the Eleventh Co!U!l~
of the LCY and laid down our clear tasks. There is no
need for me to talk about it at any length on this occagon.
I only want to point out that we should lose much if we
failed to carry out these tasks thoroughly. Something has
already been done in this respect since th Eleventh Con-
gi~ but more could have and ought to have been done.
The probleruS of excessive C()JARn~ insufficient re-
produCtiVe ability of the economy, excessive investruent
ambitions, growth of prices and foreign trade imbalance
are still facing us in all their acuteness. We must be more
resolute in dealing with them, because if we do not do
so, they will multiply and may become a serious obstacle
to our development. There are many other weakn6SCS,
much absenteeism and so forth.
W-e do not have to reduce our attained level in our
living standards in order to solve these problems, but we
must also not raise them above what we can afford, un-
less it is related to a corresponding increase in labour pro-
ductivity.
Collective and general social expenditure are still
being decided upon without reference to workers in as-
sociated labour, although nearly 40 per cent of the na-
tional income is spent in that field. I must admit that this
is where self-manage.~nent is functioning the least effec-
tively. Thls particularly applies to self-management in-
terest unions, where those who supply reso~ for pub-
lic services do not have a decisive influence.
Especially disturbing are the excessive investments
and the disparity between what is agreed upon and what
is done. We must make use of more planning, more con-
sultation and coordination of investment decisions
throughout associated labour. In particular, we must rely
more on a direct pooling of labour and resources among
interested organizations of associated labour, and not so
much on expensive credits, especially from abroad.
While on the subject of problems and ta9ks in the
economy, I must also mention the problem of employment,
particularly of young and skilled workers. I .h ave already
said that during the postwar years we have increased the
number of employed by more than four miJ1ions, which
conesponds to an average annual rate of 5 per cent. In
462

recent years this increase has :been m ore than 200,000 per
annum. This i~s not a small numb er. It is sufficient to
absorb not only the total inflow of new labour tforce
particularly of young people who have just finished thei;
schooling, but also a portion of those who are unem-
ployed now, including also the workers returning from
the temporary employme nt atbroad. Special care must be
devoted to this question, and we must continually seek
out new openings for emp'loyement, including those avail-
alble in the sector of the self-employed. _
Despite all the sucCSSes that we have achieved in
developing our soc~alist self-management democracy, there
is no room for complacency. I think that we have not yet
organization and action which are contained in the Con-
stitution, the Associated La!bour Act and resolutions of the
Tenth and E leventh Congresses of the LCY. What 1 have
in mind is mainly the delegate assembly system.
At the last elections, in rthe spring of 1978, .almost
800,000 m embers of delegations were elected, p lus more
than 53,000 delegates to the assemblies of sociopoliticaJ.
, . When we add to lit the members of the
workers' councils, members of delegations to the assem-
blies of self-management interest unions and members of
the councils of local communities, it m eans that more than
3,000,000 people are directly, through the delegate system,
involved in political decision-making.
And yet, the delegate method of decision-making has
still not tb ecome firmly rooted. The practices of the old,
representative system have not yet been abandoned. There
is also a widespread !belief that it is sufficient to send a
delegate to an assernbly or another organ of self-manage..
ment and to entrust him with the settlement of questions
invol~ing common interests. There is still a powerful in..
fluenoe from bureaucratic and technocratic forces, who
dislilk e rthe self-management and democratic proceeddngs
of the delegations and delegates.
On tfihe otfuJer hood, rtih.e deleglalte aa;emJbili.es . ves
are not sULfficiently open to the other self-management
organs a nd organiza tions. With their mode of action they
should b ecome the central part and the backbone of the
entir e system, of socialist democracy. Cooperation of as..
semlblies with other self--management organs and organi-
zations will prevent the estalblishment of power centres
ou~ide the delegate system. I think that we are now
ready to make new steps forwaro in developing our seM-
ma nagement socialst democracy. I have referred to this
on other occasions, too.
Edtwr-tn-Chtet: Franc cengle
&JtJ)Onatble Edtto1": Novak Strugar
Bdttor: Djordje Borozan
Tranalation: BoAko and Margot Milosavljevtc
Deatgned bll Ivtca Stev16

Published bl/ - lz&Jie:

"Aktuelna pttanja socijalizma"
Trl Markaa 1 Engelaa 11
11000 Beograd., YugoslaVIa

PnnUcl b11 - Sftimpa: NISRO "OBZ . .,

XIV vOjvodjanske slova~ke udarne OR OOUR "Kultura"
bri&ade t e
2lt70 Ba~k1 P~kovao
 SOCIALIST
SELF- A AGE ENT
I YUGOS VIA

Documents
Selected and edited by
Blagoje Boskovic
David Dasic

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STP
SOCIALIST THOUGHT AND PRACTICE
Be 1 grade, 1980
1980 b11 SOCIALIST THOUGHT AND PRACTICE, BelgratJe .