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Czechoslovakia National Organization
KSC organization is based on the Leninist concept of
democratic centralism, which provides for the election of party
leaders at all levels but requires that each level be fully
subject to the control of the next higher unit. Party ideologues
assert that democratic centralism is the most important principle
in the organizational structure and activity of the party.
Accordingly, party programs and policies are directed from the
top, and resolutions of higher organs are unconditionally binding
on all lower organs and individual party members. In theory,
policy matters are freely and openly discussed at congresses,
conferences, and membership meetings and in the party press. In
practice, however, these discussions merely reflect decisions
made by a small contingent of top party officials. According to
party statutes, the supreme KSC organ is the party congress,
which normally convenes every five years for a session lasting
less than one week
(see
fig. 14). An exception was made with
respect to the Fourteenth Party Congress, which was held in
August 1968 under Dubcek's leadership. This congress was
subsequently declared illegal, its proceedings were stricken from
party records, and a second, "legal" Fourteenth Party Congress
was held in May 1971. The Fifteenth Party Congress was held in
April 1976; the sixteenth, in April 1981; and the seventeenth, in
March 1986.
The party congress theoretically is responsible for making
basic policy decisions; in practice, however, it is the Presidium
of the Central Committee that holds the decision-making and
policy-making responsibilities. The congress merely endorses the
reports and directives of the top party leadership. The statutory
duties assigned the party congress include determination of the
party's domestic and foreign policies; approval of the party
program and statutes; and election of the Central Committee and
the Central Control and Auditing Commission, as well as
discussion and approval of their reports.
Between congresses the Central Committee is responsible for
directing
party activities and implementing general policy decisions. Party
statutes also provide that the Central Committee functions as the
primary arm of KSC control over the organs of the federal
government and the republics, the National Front, and all
cultural and professional organizations. Party members who hold
leading positions in these bodies are responsible directly to the
Central Committee for the implementation of KSC policies. In
addition, the Central Committee screens nominations for all
important government and party positions and selects the editor
in chief of Rude Pravo, the principal party newspaper. The
Central Committee generally meets in full session at least twice
a year.
Nevertheless, the Central Committee, like the party congress,
has rarely acted as more than a rubber stamp of policy decisions
made by the party Presidium. (As an exception to this rule, when
factional infighting developed within the Presidium in 1968, the
Central Committee assumed crucial importance in resolving the
dispute and ousted First Secretary Novotny in favor of Dubcek.)
Generally, decisions on which the Central Committee votes are
reached beforehand so that votes taken at the sessions are
unanimous.
Central Committee membership increased gradually from the
mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. At the Fifteenth Party Congress in
1976, the number of full members in the Central Committee rose
from 115 to 121; in 1981, from 121 to 123; and in 1986, from 123
to 135. The number of candidate members rose from forty-five to
fifty-three in 1976, to fifty-five in 1981, and to sixty-two in
1986. Of the 135 full members elected in 1986, almost 26 percent
were newcomers to the Central Committee, as were approximately 81
percent of the 62 candidate members selected. In terms of
composition, the Central Committee normally included leading
party and government officials, military officials, and a cross
section of outstanding citizens.
The Presidium of the Central Committee, which conducts the
work of the party between full committee sessions, formally is
elected by the Central Committee; in reality, the top party
leaders determine its composition. The Sixteenth Party Congress
in 1981 elected twelve full members and one candidate member to
the Presidium. Membership fluctuated between the sixteenth and
seventeenth congresses; just before the Seventeenth Party
Congress it stood at eleven full members and three candidate
members. The Seventeenth Party Congress retained all the
incumbents and added three new candidate members.
While the Presidium functions as the highest policy-making
authority in the party hierarchy, the Secretariat of the Central
Committee acts as the party's highest administrative authority
and as the nerve center of the party's extensive control
mechanism. The Secretariat supervises the implementation of
decisions made in the Presidium, controls the movement up and
down the party ladder, and directs the work within the party and
government apparatus. Under Husak, the composition of the
Secretariat, like that of the Presidium, has remained rather
constant, although in 1987 Secretariat membership did increase
with the additions of Hoffman as secretary and Miroslav Zavadil
as member. The authority and function of the KSC Presidium and
Secretariat continued to be interlocked in 1987 by the dual
membership of Husak, Bilak, Fojtik, Hoffman, Jakes, Josef Haman,
and Frantisek Pitra.
Another important organ in the party hierarchy is the Central
Control and Auditing Commission. As its name implies, the
commission plays a dual role, overseeing party discipline and
supervising party finances. As an organ for the enforcement of
party standards, the Central Control and Auditing Commission has
frequently wielded its power to suspend or expel "deviant" party
members. It was this commission that directed the massive purges
in party membership during the early and late 1970s.
Members of the Central Control and Auditing Commission are
elected at each party congress (the Seventeenth Party Congress
elected fifty-four members). These members then elect from among
themselves a chairman, deputy chairmen, and a small presidium.
Subunits of the commission exist at the republic, regional, and
district levels of the party structure. The enforcement of party
discipline down to the local level also involves the People's
Control Commission, which is part of the government structure.
Frantisek Ondrich, the minister-chairman of the People's Control
Commission in late 1986, also served on the Central Control and
Auditing Commission.
Other KSC commissions in 1987 included the Agriculture and
Food Commission, the Economic Commission, the Ideological
Commission, and the Youth Commission. In 1987 the party also had
eighteen departments: agitation and propaganda; agriculture, food
industry, forestry, and water management; Comecon cooperation;
culture; economic administration; economics; education and
science; elected state organs; external economic relations; fuels
and energy; industry; transportion and communications;
international affairs; mass media; political organization;
science and technology; social organizations and national
committees; state administration; and a general department. In
most instances the party departments paralleled agencies and
ministries of the government and supervised their activities to
ensure conformity with KSC norms and programs. Also under the
supervision of the Central Committee were two party training
centers--the Advanced School of Politics and the Institute of
Marxism-Leninism.
Data as of August 1987
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