Explored are differences and similarities between the Slovene (Yugoslav) type of socialism and that of East European countries. The author posits that differences between socialist countries are just as marked as differences between capitalist ones. There are also différences within individual countries and in different periods. In conclusion, the author suggests that the present widely embraced conviction that up to the 1990s thè Slovene (Yugoslav) society was a totalitarian one is hardly justified; indeed, since the 1950s it became increasingly more democratic. The position of Slovenia, as well as Yugoslavia, »in-between« the two systems and blocs shall, at least from the historiographic perspective, remain a historic fact.