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Romania Organizational Structure
As the fundamental document of the PCR, the party
statutes set
basic policy on party organization, operation, and
membership.
Originally adopted in May 1948, the statutes underwent
several
modifications, with significant revisions in 1955, 1965,
1967,
1969, 1974, and 1984. Many of these changes strengthened
Ceausescu's hold on the party and reduced the role of
rank-and-
file members.
All organs of the party were closely interrelated and
operated
on the principle of democratic centralism. (Derived from
the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union, this concept required
a firm
hierarchical subordination of each party organ to the next
higher
unit. In practice, party programs and policies were
directed from
the center and decisions of higher organs were
unconditionally
binding on all lower organs and on individual members.)
The
statutes called for the free and open discussion of policy
questions at congresses, conferences, and local membership
meetings. But discipline required that once a decision was
made,
the minority fully submitted to the will of the majority.
According to the party statutes, the supreme organ of
the PCR
was the party congress, consisting of delegates elected by
the
judet conferences at a ratio of 1 delegate per
1,000
members. The party congress, which convened at least once
every
five years, elected the PCR general secretary, the Central
Committee, and the Central Auditing Commission and
discussed and
adopted programs and policies proposed by central party
organs.
Between congresses the leading party organ was the
Central
Committee. At the Thirteenth Party Congress in 1984, the
Central
Committee consisted of 265 full and 181 candidate
members--twice as
many members as in 1969. The Central Committee was
responsible for
the overall direction of party activities and the
implementation of
policies established by the party congress. In addition,
it
screened nominations for the more important party and
state
positions. Party statutes required a plenary session of
the Central
Committee at least four times a year.
Several important changes in the structure of the party
leadership were enacted by the Central Committee in March
1974, a
few months before the Eleventh Party Congress. The
Standing
Presidium of the Central Committee, whose members were the
most
influential individuals in the party, was abolished and
replaced by
the Political Executive Committee
(
Polexco--see Glossary)
Permanent
Bureau. Although formally the Central Committee elected
the leading
party organs, in practice the Polexco Permanent Bureau was
a selfperpetuating body, and any change in its membership or in
that of
the Secretariat was generated from within rather than
through a
democratic decision by the Central Committee. The
Secretariat, most
of whose members were full or candidate members of the
Polexco, had
responsibility for overseeing the implementation of party
decisions. As general secretary of the party, Ceausescu
headed
both the Polexco Permanent Bureau and the Secretariat and
chaired
the Polexco.
The Central Committee was backed by an extensive
bureaucratic
structure that in many instances paralleled the
organization of the
government ministries. A chancellery office, headed by a
chief and
three deputies, coordinated the committee's overall
administrative
activities. Party work was organized under several
permanent
sections, which were typically headed by a supervisory
secretary,
and a number of administrative sections and functional
commissions.
The designations of the sections were agriculture, armed
forces and
security forces, cadre, culture and education, economic
affairs,
foreign relations, letters and audiences, local economic
administration, organization, party affairs, propaganda
and media,
social problems, and administration.
In 1989 the following commissions were directly tied to
the
Central Committee: the Party and State Cadres Commission;
the
Ideology, Political and Cultural Activities, and Social
Education
Commission; the Party Organization and Mass and Public
Organization
Commission; and the Economic Cooperation and International
Relations Commission. Most of these commissions appeared
redundant,
addressing problems within the purview of the Central
Committee
sections, various joint party-state organizations, and the
ministries.
As the center for decision-making and policy control,
the
Polexco Permanent Bureau was the most powerful body in the
country.
Established in 1974, the Permanent Bureau went through
several
stages. Initially it consisted of five members, but after
the
Twelfth Party Congress in 1979, it expanded to fifteen
members. In
1984, however, it was reduced to eight members, including
Nicolae
and Elena Ceausescu, and in June 1988 it had only seven
members.
Most observers agreed that in fact the decision-making
process was
limited to the Ceausescus and their most trusted allies,
not all
of whom held positions in the Permanent Bureau, the
Polexco, or the
Secretariat.
Little information was available on the
responsibilities of the
Polexco, although some observers regarded it as an
administrative
link between the Permanent Bureau and the Central
Committee. In
practice, it functioned as a rump Central Committee when
the latter
was not in session. The Secretariat served as the
continuing
administrative unit of the party. It supervised the
execution of
policies decreed by the Permanent Bureau.
Two other important party organs functioned under the
supervision of the Permanent Bureau and the Secretariat:
the
Central Auditing Commission and the Central Collegium,
formerly
known as the Party Control Commission. Consisting of
seventy-three
members (none of whom could belong to the Central
Committee), the
Central Auditing Commission was empowered to exercise
general
control over party financial affairs and examine the
management of
finances by the various party organs. During the 1980s,
the
commission literally became a place of exile for officials
who had
fallen out of favor. The twenty-two-member Central
Collegium dealt
with matters of party discipline and served as a type of
appeals
court for penalties imposed on members by judet or
local
party committees.
An interlocking of authority and functions at the
highest level
of the party and state was evidenced in the frequency with
which
the senior party officials also held important government
posts. In
the late 1980s, all the members of the Polexco Permanent
Bureau,
the Polexco, and the Secretariat were GNA deputies, and
most of
them held prominent positions in the State Council, the
Defense
Council, or the Council of Ministers.
The party statutes described the basic party
organization as
the foundation of the party. Basic party organizations
existed in
factories, offices, cooperatives, military and police
units, social
and cultural organizations, and residential areas. Some of
the
party units consisted of a few members, whereas those in
the larger
enterprises could have as many as 300 members. In 1980
there were
an estimated 64,200 basic party organizations.
The local and occupational basic party organizations
implemented party directives and programs, recruited and
indoctrinated new members, and disseminated propaganda
directed at
those outside the party. Members had the duty to
participate in
social, economic, and cultural activities, particularly
those
associated with economic enterprises, and to examine
critically
production and community life in the light of party
ideology and
goals. In all their activities, the local party units were
required
to uphold the discipline of the party and to adhere to the
policies
established by the ruling bodies of the PCR.
Between the basic party organizations and the higher
organs of
the PCR stood a hierarchy of party committees organized on
the
judet, town, and communal levels. Each of these
units was
directly subordinate to the next higher level of the party
organization. Each party committee set up its own bureau
and
elected a secretariat. In most cases the secretariat
consisted of
a first secretary, a first vice-chairman, and three or
more vicechairmen or secretaries.
The activity of the bureau was conducted through
several
functional departments, which generally consisted of
sections on
personnel, administration, agitation and propaganda,
economic
enterprises, youth, and women's affairs. The judet
and city
committee also had their own control commission and
training
programs. The first secretary of the judet
committee served
as chairman of the judet people's council, linking
the
party and government offices.
At each of these levels--judet, city, town, and
commune--the highest authoritative organ was the party
conference,
which played a role similar to that of the party congress
on the
national level. The party statutes called for the
convening of
conferences every five years in the judete, in the
city of
Bucharest, and in the larger towns. In communes and
smaller towns
the conference was held every two years. Although the
conferences
were held ostensibly to discuss problems and formulate
policies,
they served in practice as transmission belts for the
official
party line set down by the central PCR authorities.
Judet
conferences and the Bucharest city conference elected
candidates to
the national party Congress.
Data as of July 1989
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