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Soviet Union [USSR] Commissions and Committees
Commissions and committees, each made up of some thirty to
fifty members, have been important because they have prepared and
proposed legislation for formal approval by the Supreme Soviet and
monitored activities of ministries and other government bodies.
Each chamber of the Supreme Soviet had fourteen committees, which
had jointly shared functions, and four commissions, which had
unique functions. In 1989 the commissions and committees were
tasked by the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet
with examining myriad issues, among them ethnic strife, economic
autonomy for the republics, the draft economic plan and budget,
efficiency in agriculture, social policy, legal reform, and the
conformity of various laws to the Constitution. The commissions and
committees also evaluated decrees issued by the Presidium of the
Supreme Soviet that had been rejected by the Supreme Soviet and
sent to the commissions and committees for reworking.
In the 1984-89 convocation of the Supreme Soviet, 1,200
deputies served on the commissions (as the committees were called
at that time), and 800 worked on the draft economic plan and the
draft budget for the following year. In the 1989-94 convocation,
320 deputies served on the commissions and 616 served on the
committees. About one-half of the deputies serving on the
commissions and committees of the Supreme Soviet were deputies to
the Congress of People's Deputies but were not members of the
Supreme Soviet. One-fifth of their membership has usually been
replaced each year by other deputies of the Supreme Soviet or the
Congress of People's Deputies.
In making assignments to commissions and committees, the
preferences and expertise of the deputies were taken into account;
deputies have included party leaders, scientists, educators,
agricultural specialists, and foreign policy experts. This
variegated membership not only has obtained contributions of
experts on legislation but also has permitted the party to
communicate its policies to important segments of society.
In 1989 the four commissions in each chamber that had functions
unique to the chamber included, among others, planning, budgeting,
and finance; labor, prices, and social policy; transportation,
communications, and information sciences; and nationalities policy
and interethnic relations. The fourteen committees in each chamber
that had jointly shared functions covered such areas as foreign
affairs, ecology, women and family, veterans and invalids, youth,
glasnost', economic reform, agronomy, and construction,
among others. In addition to drafting legislation, the commissions
and committees monitored the activities of the ministries and other
government bodies. Their oversight of the government included
evaluating candidates for ministerial posts and questioning
ministerial personnel while preparing legislation. In 1989 the
committees of the Supreme Soviet rejected several candidates
nominated by the chairman of the Council of Ministers, Ryzhkov,
forcing him to submit other, more qualified candidates for the
posts. Candidates approved by the committees were subject to
questioning by deputies on the floor of the Supreme Soviet. To
monitor compliance with existing law, the commissions and
committees heard ministerial reports and requested materials and
documents from the ministries and other government bodies.
Government bodies were required to consider the recommendations on
government operations of the commissions or committees and to
report implementation measures to them.
Prior to 1989, the commissions of the Supreme Soviet had been
instruments by which the CPSU controlled legislation and supervised
the Supreme Soviet and the ministries. In 1989 the CPSU remained an
important influence over the work of the commissions and committees
because the vast majority of members were party members, and
influential party leaders either chaired the commissions and
committees or served as members. The departments of the party's
Secretariat watched over commissions and committees that monitored
work under their purview
(see Soviet Union USSR - Secretariat
, ch. 7). Although by law
government officials were not permitted to serve on the commissions
and committees, this ban did not apply to party officials, so that
the membership on the commissions and committees was able to
overlap with that of the party's departments. Through this overlap,
party officials were thus able to ensure that the Supreme Soviet
adhered to party decisions. For example, prior to 1989 the chairman
of the Foreign Affairs Commission (present-day Foreign Affairs
Committee) of the Soviet of the Union was usually the secondranking member of the Politburo. The chairman of the Foreign
Affairs Commission of the Soviet of Nationalities was normally the
head of the CPSU International Department. The deputy chairmen and
secretaries of the two commissions were also deputy heads of the
party's International Department or the Liaison with Communist and
Workers' Parties of Socialist Countries Department. Party leaders
used these roles to conduct diplomacy on behalf of the Soviet
Union. Thus, during his 1984 visit to Britain, Gorbachev acted in
his capacity as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the
Soviet of the Union. As of 1989, the chairman of the Foreign
Affairs Committee (formerly the Foreign Affairs Commission) of the
Soviet of the Union was no longer a major party figure but was
still a party official.
Data as of May 1989
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