Politics of the Soviet Union

The Congress of Soviets was the supreme organ of power in accordance with Article 8 of the 1924 Soviet Constitution.[1] The Congress was replaced in the 1936 Soviet Constitution by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. In accordance with Article 30,[2] it functioned as the highest state authority[3] and the only legislative branch of the Soviet Union.[4] According to Article 108 of the 1977 Soviet Constitution, the Supreme Soviet was empowered to deal with all matters within the jurisdiction of the Soviet Union. The admission of new republics; creation of new autonomous republics and autonomous regions; approval of the five-year plan for social and economic development; and creation of the state budget and the institution of bodies to which the Soviet Union was accountable were the exclusive prerogative of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. The law of the Soviet Union was enacted by the Supreme Soviet or by referendum.[5]

External video
Soviet election in 1938

The Supreme Soviet consisted of two chambers, the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities which had equal rights[6] and an equal number of deputies. The Soviet of the Union was elected by constituencies with equal populations while the Soviet of Nationalities was elected on the basis of the following representation: 32 deputies from each Union Republic, 11 deputies from each autonomous republic, five deputies from each autonomous region and one deputy from each autonomous area. The Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities (upon submission by the elected credentials commissions) had the power to decide the validity of the elected deputies' credentials and (in cases where election law had been violated) would declare the election null and void.[7] Both chambers elected a Chairman and four Deputies. The Chairmen of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities presided over sessions of their respective chambers and conducted their affairs. Joint sessions of the chambers were presided over by (alternately) the Chairman of the Soviet of the Union and the Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities.[8]

Through a constitutional amendment made by Mikhail Gorbachev, the Supreme Soviet became a permanent parliament which was elected by the Congress of the People's Deputies. In the 1989 Soviet legislative election, the Soviet people, elected for the first time candidates democratically. The new amendment called for a smaller working body (later known as the Supreme Soviet) to be elected by the 2,250-member Congress of People's Deputies. One-third of the seats in the Congress of People's Deputies was reserved for the Communist Party and other public organisations. The amendment clearly stated that multiple candidates could participate in elections[9] and Soviet voters stunned the authorities by voting for non-CPSU candidates and reformers. However, genuine reformers were estimated to have won only about 300 seats.[10] Following the failed August Coup attempt, the State Council became the highest organ of state power "in the period of transition".[11]

According to the 1924 Soviet Constitution, the executive branch was headed by the Council of People's Commissars.[12] In the 1977 Soviet Constitution, the Council of Ministers was the head of the executive branch.[13] The Council of Ministers was formed at a joint meeting of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities. The Council consisted of the Chairman, the First Deputies, the Deputies, the ministers, the chairmen of the state committees and the Chairmen of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Republics. The Chairman of the Council of Ministers could recommend to the Supreme Soviet other heads of organisations in the Soviet Union as members of the Council. The Council of Ministers laid down its power before the first session of the newly elected Supreme Soviet.[14]

The Council of Ministers was both responsible for and accountable to the Supreme Soviet, and in the period between sessions of the Supreme Soviet it was accountable to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. The Council of Ministers regularly reported to the Supreme Soviet on its work.[15] It was tasked with resolving all state administrative duties within the jurisdiction of the Soviet Union, to the degree that they did not come under the competence of the Supreme Soviet or the Presidium. Within its limits, the Council of Ministers had authority to do the following tasks:[16]

• Ensure management of the national economy and its socio-cultural construction and development.
• Formulate and submit the five-year plan of "economic and social development" and the state budget to the Supreme Soviet and submit its fulfilment to the Supreme Soviet.
• Defend the interests of the state, socialist property and public order and protect the rights of Soviet citizens.
• Ensure state security.
• Exercise general leadership of the Soviet armed forces and determine how many were to be drafted into service.
• Exercise general leadership over Soviet foreign relations; trade and the economic, scientific-technical and cultural cooperation of the USSR with foreign countries. It also confirmed and announced international treaties signed by the USSR.
• Set up necessary organisations within the Council of Ministers in matters of economics, socio-cultural issues and defence.

The Council of Ministers also had the power to issue decrees and resolutions and to later verify their execution. All organisations were obligated to follow the decrees and resolutions issued by the All-Union Council of Ministers.[17] The All-Union Council also had the power to suspend all issues and decrees made by itself or organisations subordinate to it.[18] It coordinated and directed the work of the republics and their ministries, state committees and other organs subordinate to the All-Union Council.[19] Finally, the competence of the Council of Ministers and its Presidium in their procedures and activities (and its relationship with subordinate organs) was defined in the Soviet constitution by the law on the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union.[20]

In 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev created the office of the President of the Soviet Union, the head of the executive branch.[21] In the meantime, the Council of Ministers was dissolved and replaced by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Soviet Union. The new cabinet was headed by the Premier.[22] Gorbachev's election as President marked the third time in one year he was elected to an office equivalent to that of Soviet head of state. He was elected by the Congress of People's Deputies on all three occasions.[10]

The Communist Party controlled the government apparatus and took decisions affecting economy and society. The Communist Party followed the ideology of Marxism–Leninism and operated on the principle of democratic centralism. The primary party bodies were the Politburo, the highest decision-making organ; the Secretariat, the controller of party bureaucracy; and the Central Committee, the party's policy forum. Party membership reached more than 19 million (9.7 percent of the adult population) in 1987 and was dominated by male Russian professionals. Party members occupied positions of authority in all officially recognized institutions throughout the country.

Single party rule combined with democratic centralism, which in practice consisted of a hierarchal structure which with the aid of a secret police organization enforced decisions made by the ruling party as well on the personnel of all governmental institutions, including the courts, the press, cultural and economic organizations and labor unions. The Soviet Union is considered by many to have been a totalitarian state for much of its existence. Critics include Western authors such as Robert Conquest and Russian critics such as Alexander Yakovlev.

Education and political discourse proceeded on the assumption that it was possible to mold people using collectivist institutional forms into an ideal Soviet man or woman (see new Soviet man). The validity of ideas, public discourse, and institutional form were evaluated in terms of the official ideology of Marxism–Leninism as interpreted by the Communist Party.