MongoliaMongolian People's Revolutionary Party
Mongolia's communist party was established on March 1, 1921,
with 164 members in a country that previously had no political
parties. At that time, it was called the Mongolian People's Party
(see Revolutionary Transformation, 1921-24
, ch. 1). In August
1924 at the Third Party Congress, the party assumed its current
nomenclature, the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. It was
the only political party, modeled closely after the
organizational structure and party program of the Communist Party
of the Soviet Union. It has followed the Soviet example during
most of its existence, and it continued to do so in mid-1989.
The authoritative Party Program, the fourth in Mongolian
history, which was adopted in 1966, states that party
organizations serve as "the directing and guiding force of
society and the state," and at the national level are decisive in
setting policy, developing programs, and making key personnel
appointments. Below the national level, party organizations and
personnel ensure the implementation of the Party Program,
maintain political discipline, and supervise appointment to all
party and non-party organizations.
Following the pattern of ongoing developments in the Soviet
Union, high-level substantive discussions of party organizational
reform measures were being held in 1989. One measure under
consideration would have government bodies play an enhanced role
as consultative bodies in the party's policy-making process. New
senior government bodies that eventually could disperse some of
the party's closely held power were being discussed.
Consideration also was being given to the devolution of some
decision-making powers from upper party levels to the primary
party organizations. Nevertheless, in the late 1980s, top-level
party organizations still continued to hold exceptional
authority, dominating the governmental, economic, and military
life of the country
(see
fig. 14).
Figure 14. Organization of the Mongolian People's
Revolutionary Party, 1989
Data as of June 1989
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