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Soviet Union [USSR] District- and City-Level Organization
In 1988 more than 3,400 district (raion) organizations
made up the position in the CPSU hierarchy below that of the
oblast. Of these organizations, 2,860 were located in rural areas
and 570 in wards of cities. In addition, this hierarchical level
encompassed 800 city (gorod) organizations.
The structure of these organizations resembled that of
organizations on the republic and oblast levels. In theory, the
party conference, with delegates selected by the PPOs in each
district or city, elected a committee composed of full and
candidate members. In practice, the party leadership in the
district or town chose the delegates to the party conference and
determined the composition of the district or town committee. Party
conferences took place twice every five years. In the interim, the
district committee (raion komitet--raikom) or city
committee (gorodskoi komitet--gorkom) was the most
authoritative body in the territory. The committee consisted of
party officials, state officials, local Komsomol and trade union
officers, the chairmen of the most important collective farms, the
managers of the largest industrial enterprises, some PPO
secretaries, and a few rank-and-file party members.
The raikom or gorkom elected a bureau and a
secretariat, which supervised the daily affairs of the
jurisdiction. The bureau numbered between ten and twelve members,
who included party officials, state officials, and directors of the
most important economic
enterprises (see Glossary) in the district
or city. The composition of the bureau at this level varied with
location. For example, the gorkom had no specialist for
agriculture, and the rural raikom had no specialist for
industry. The raikom and gorkom bureaus met two to
three times per month to review the affairs of the district or city
and to examine the reports of the PPOs.
The first secretary of the raikom or gorkom
bureau headed the party organization at this level. As part of its
nomenklatura authority, the oblast party organization made
appointments to these positions. In 1987, however, reports of
multicandidate elections for first secretary of a raikom
appeared in the Soviet press. Two candidates competed for the
position of raikom secretary in the Kemerovo and Vinnitsa
districts. In the case of Kemerovo, Pravda reported that the
oblast party secretary nominated the candidates, and the party
conference at the district level settled the contest in a secret
ballot. The Nineteenth Party Conference called for the
institutionalization of multicandidate elections for these and
other party positions.
The secretariat of a raikom and gorkom resembled
that of the oblast party committee. In contrast to the party
committee of the oblast level, however, the composition of this
body varied with location. All had a department for agitation and
propaganda; an organizational department, which staffed the
positions for PPO secretaries and supervised the performance of the
PPOs; and a general department, which coordinated the affairs of
the district and city party organizations by circulating documents,
administering party work, and preparing the agenda and materials
for conferences, plenums, and bureau meetings. In 1988 the
raikom or gorkom included a department for either
agriculture or industry, which supervised those elements of the
Soviet economy on the district level. In contrast to efforts to
reduce the number of departments at higher levels of the party
apparatus, no such reduction on the district level was planned as
of early 1989.
As in the oblast, until the late 1980s the party organization
in the district and city tended to involve itself in economic
administration and production, which Gorbachev intended to place
within the purview of the government. The CPSU judged its officials
on their ability to meet and exceed the state economic plan. Party
officials used their power as the representatives of the leading
political institution in the country to engage themselves in
economic administration. For fear of offending party officials and
in the expectation that the party would solve their problems, until
the late 1980s government and economic administrators were
reluctant to exercise initiative and take responsibility in
economic matters. The ability of raikom and gorkom
secretaries to involve themselves in government activities formed
one aspect of their power and influence within their respective
jurisdictions. During the Khrushchev era, these officials resisted
reforms that led to a diminution of their responsibilities
(see Soviet Union USSR - Khrushchev's Reforms and Fall
, ch. 2).
Data as of May 1989
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