ABSTRACT
Just as the Soviet Union – or so its citizens told Western television – “had no sex”, it also had no “public opinion”. Social consciousness, in the official view, was a reflection of forms of property; in a socialist society, based on public ownership, it was characterised by the “dominance of Marxist-Leninist ideology in every aspect of the spiritual life of citizens”. The main social groups formed a “moral-political unity”; nationalism had been superseded by “socialist patriotism”; the woman question had been “resolved”. All had the right to express their views; but there were no differences of opinion, and certainly no fundamental differences of interest, that could not be reconciled through the leadership of a broadly based Communist Party.
