The difference is the state does not choose who their opposition is and you are actually allowed to replace the governing system as a whole in liberal states which was not permitted in the USSR.
Yes, there is no branch of the government that chooses the opposing candidate to the state party candidate.
In theory in most liberal countries candidates can run on scrapping the current system and replacing it. For example you can run a socialist candidate in US elections that wants to legally and non-violently remove capitalist democracy and replace it with a socialist autocracy. You cannot run a candidate in Chinese elections that wants to remove the Chinese Communist party from power.
This is one of the most critical freedoms that the USSR lacked and China lacks.
The difference is the state does not choose who their opposition is and you are actually allowed to replace the governing system as a whole in liberal states which was not permitted in the USSR.
Are you sure about that?
What does “replacing the governing system as a whole”, look like, in practice, exactly? How is this different from the USSR?
Yes, there is no branch of the government that chooses the opposing candidate to the state party candidate.
In theory in most liberal countries candidates can run on scrapping the current system and replacing it. For example you can run a socialist candidate in US elections that wants to legally and non-violently remove capitalist democracy and replace it with a socialist autocracy. You cannot run a candidate in Chinese elections that wants to remove the Chinese Communist party from power.
This is one of the most critical freedoms that the USSR lacked and China lacks.