Blaming it strictly on the form of government is pretty much anarchist ideological nonsense.
It had more to do with material conditions and policy changes of the time
So… then… if the policies had an effect on the famine, it was the form of government? I’m confused, were the politicians drafting policy not part of said government? Curious.
Form of government = how political authority is structured, how power is organized and managed, etc. For instance, monarchism, presidential/parliamentary republic, single-party state, etc. In this case it was more about the state management aspect of it
Policy = Decisions/rules/strategies that the government adopts and executes. This means stuff like tax policy, healthcare, the forced collectivization, etc.
The types of policies that get implemented are determined by the form of government. Yes, they are separate things, but they are inextricably linked. The famine was the result of poor decision-making, and the form of government determines how decisions are made.
Yeah, it determines how decisions are made but not what decisions, as those are majorly determined by mode of production, class character of the state + it’s interests, material conditions of the time, etc.
Does a form of government have influence? Maybe, but at best it’s relatively minor compared to aforementioned factors. You can see this with bourgeois states of today, where many share the exact same form of government but have vastly different policies that are the result of historical conditions (i.e. compromises given to workers to avert revolutions for instance) and their level of wealth, but overall it’s all done to preserve the power of capital and to further its interests as that is its class character.
So… then… if the policies had an effect on the famine, it was the form of government? I’m confused, were the politicians drafting policy not part of said government? Curious.
Form of government = how political authority is structured, how power is organized and managed, etc. For instance, monarchism, presidential/parliamentary republic, single-party state, etc. In this case it was more about the state management aspect of it
Policy = Decisions/rules/strategies that the government adopts and executes. This means stuff like tax policy, healthcare, the forced collectivization, etc.
Two different things
The types of policies that get implemented are determined by the form of government. Yes, they are separate things, but they are inextricably linked. The famine was the result of poor decision-making, and the form of government determines how decisions are made.
Yeah, it determines how decisions are made but not what decisions, as those are majorly determined by mode of production, class character of the state + it’s interests, material conditions of the time, etc.
Does a form of government have influence? Maybe, but at best it’s relatively minor compared to aforementioned factors. You can see this with bourgeois states of today, where many share the exact same form of government but have vastly different policies that are the result of historical conditions (i.e. compromises given to workers to avert revolutions for instance) and their level of wealth, but overall it’s all done to preserve the power of capital and to further its interests as that is its class character.