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Political
Structure Administrative Divisions Country administratively divided into one soviet federated socialist republic (Russian) and fourteen soviet socialist republics (Armenian, Azerbaydazhan, Belorussian, Estonian, Georgian, Kazakh, Kirgiz, Latvian, Lithuanian, Moldavian, Tadzhik, Turkmen, Ukrainian, and Uzbek). Below republic level, administrative subdivisions complicated, varying with each republic and including following categories: autonomous oblast, autonomous okrug, autonomous republic, krai, oblast, and raion. Only Russian Republic had all categories Government As authorized by 1977 Constitution, fourth since 1918, government executed decisions of CPSU pertaining primarily to economy but also to security affairs and social issues. Congress of People's Deputies created in 1988 by amendment to Constitution; highest organ of legislative and executive authority; consisted of 2,250 deputies, about 87 percent of whom CPSU members or candidate members and some of whom selected in first multicandidate (although not multiparty) elections since early Soviet period; slated to meet once a year for a few days; met for first time in May 1989; deputies openly discussed issues, elected a chairman, and selected about 542 deputies from among its membership to constitute a reorganized, bicameral Supreme Soviet, a standing legislature slated to remain in session six to eight months annually. Prior to 1989, former Supreme Soviet was constitutionally highest organ of legislative and executive authority but met only a few days annually; its Presidium managed affairs throughout year. Council of Ministers administered party decisions, mainly regarding economic management, by delegating authority to its Presidium; chairman of Council of Ministers also sat on CPSU Politburo. Judicial System Supreme Court, highest judicial body, had little power, lacking authority to determine constitutionality of laws, to interpret laws, or to strike laws down. Heads of Government and State The formal structure of power in the Soviet Union consisted of three main branches that gave rise to three top positions. The first position of importance was that of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, informally translated as President of the Soviet Union. Theoretically it was the highest position, since the Supreme Soviet was an interim organ of the Congress of Soviets, the latter being the supreme power of people, according to the Constitution of the Soviet Union. The head of the government was the Premier of the Soviet Union. This was the most important position in Lenin's time. After Lenin's death the most important position ultimately became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union who headed the Politburo. In practice, the leader of the Communist Party used to occupy another position, which lead to confusion in the West as to what is the number one person in the USSR: Lenin, Stalin and Khrushchev preferred the post of the premier, while Brezhnev and the successors preferred that of the president. Political Party The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the only party permitted by Constitution, controlled the government apparatus and decisions affecting economy and society. The CPSU followed the ideology of Marxism-Leninism and operated on principle of democratic centralism. The governing body of the CPSU was the Party Congress which initially met annually but whose meetings became less frequent, particularly under Stalin. Party Congresses would elect a Central Committee which, in turn, would elect a Politburo. Under Stalin the most powerful position in the party became the General Secretary who was elected by the Politburo. In theory, supreme power in the party was invested in the Party Congress, however, in practice the power structure became reversed and, particularly after the death of Lenin, supreme power became the domain of the General Secretary. CPSU membership more than 19 million (9.7 percent of adult population in 1987), dominated by male Russian professionals. Party members occupied positions of authority in all officially recognized institutions throughout country.
The Russian term nomenklatura (номенклату́ра), derived from the Latin nomenclatura meaning a list of names, was originally the list of higher responsibility positions or jobs whose occupants needed to be approved by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. By extension the term started to be used figuratively, to designate people who effectively occupied these positions. The nomenklatura were only a small, élite subset of the general population of Party members, which was essentially composed of blue-collar workers. The nomenklatura did not always need to be Communist Party members, notably the intelligensia (experts in necessary fields who were not members of the CPSU) but the Party had to be convinced that they were reliable and trustworthy. Another faction of the nomenklatura were the apparatchiks or the party concrete of the Communist regimes, or Party officials in general. For example, in a state-owned factory, top managers would obviously be nomenklatura, though often from the intelligensia, and would therefore have to be approved by the Party, but Party officials working at the factory were a separate and independent hierarchy, and they could all be just simple workers. The Party secretary would report to the director as an employee, but the director would report to the secretary as an ordinary Party member. By the time of the Twenty-Eighth Party Congress in July 1990, the CPSU was largely regarded as being unable to lead the country and had, in fifteen republics, split into opposing factions favoring either independent republics or the continuation of the Soviet Union. Stripped of its leading role in society the party lost its authority to lead the nation or the cohesion that kept the party united. The growing likelihood of the dissolution of the USSR itself led conservative elements in the CPSU to launch the August Coup in 1991 which temporarily removed Gorbachev from power. On August 19, 1991, a day before a Union Treaty was to be signed devolving power to the republics, a group calling itself the "State Emergency Committee" seized power in Moscow declaring that Gorbachev was ill and therefore relieved of his position as president. Soviet vice-president Gennadiy Yanayev was named acting president. The committee's eight members included KGB chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov, Internal Affairs Minister Boris Pugo, Defense Minister Dmitriy Yazov, and Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov. The coup dissolved due to large public demonstrations and the efforts of Boris Yeltsin who became the real power in Russia as a result. Gorbachev returned to Moscow as president but resigned as General Secretary and vowed to purge the party of conservaties. Yeltsin had the CPSU formally banned within Russia. The KGB was disbanded as were other CPSU-related agencies and organizations. Yeltsin's action was later declared unconstitutional but by this time the USSR had ceased to exist
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