The Constitution of Jersey: Lessons from the Soviet Union
Historical Archive
This article is preserved as part of the historical record of this blog. It reflects the author's views at the time of publication. The content has not been substantively altered, although the HTML, accessibility and formatting have been updated to meet modern web standards.
In a recent blog, I looked at the effect of Spartan-style constitutions and the inevitable failures which arise when circumstances change but the constitution and government cannot adapt to the new reality.
This has obvious parallels to what is happening in the Western world, but instead I will look at a constitution which is further along the road, has passed its crisis and begun to rebuild: Russia.
The economy of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was based upon state ownership of the means of production, collective farming, industrial manufacturing and centralised administrative planning.
The economy was characterised by state control of investment, public ownership of industrial assets and, during the last twenty years of its existence, pervasive corruption and socio-economic stagnation.
From 1928 the entire course of the economy was guided by a series of Five-Year Plans. Within forty years the nation had evolved from a mainly agrarian society into one of the world's leading manufacturers of heavy industry, capital goods and weaponry.
From the Stalin era to the early Brezhnev era, the Soviet economy grew rapidly, but the system eventually became a barrier to change as those in power sought to preserve it.
Economic stagnation, generally associated with the 1960s and 1970s, reflected inefficiencies in the planned economy. Gosplan struggled to predict consumer demand across such a vast country, while corruption and manipulated statistics became increasingly common.
Towards the end of the regime, the USSR also became increasingly involved in costly military adventures, most notably Afghanistan.
When Mikhail Gorbachev introduced economic liberalisation, the reforms exposed people to greater personal freedom. As Churchill observed, "Socialism is the equality of misery", and many people preferred to determine their own futures.
These factors ultimately contributed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Like the Soviet Union, the Government of Jersey has become bloated and inefficient. It adjusts the manner in which statistics are produced and refuses to represent the truth. For fear of losing control it is content to drag down the whole of Jersey and, in resisting change, jeopardises the Island's future.
Historical Archive Update
This page was updated on 27 July 2026. The content has been preserved as originally published. This update was undertaken solely to modernise the HTML markup, improve accessibility, correct obvious spelling mistakes and grammatical slips, update obsolete links where appropriate, and bring the page into line with current web standards.
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