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Soviet Union [USSR] Party Controls
The CPSU has exercised control over the activities of the
Supreme Soviet in a variety of ways. Most important has been the
extent of party membership among the delegates. In the first eleven
convocations of the Supreme Soviet, party membership averaged about
75 percent. Another 15 percent of the delegates were members of the
Komsomol. At the twelfth convocation beginning in 1989, party
membership in the Congress of People's Deputies amounted to 87
percent, and Komsomol membership amounted to 5.9 percent. The party
caucus, which received its instructions directly from the CPSU's
central apparatus, was led by party members and controlled
legislative procedures.
Leadership positions in the Supreme Soviet were under the
nomenklatura of the Politburo. Thus, members of the
Presidium, all but one of whom were usually party members, abided
by the decisions of the party leadership or risked losing their
positions. Members of the Presidium, as well as rank-and-file party
members who were elected delegates, were subject to the norms of
democratic centralism.
The party controlled the selection process for ordinary
deputies as well. Local party organs supervised nominations and
elections. Party officials carefully selected delegates either to
ensure the selection of party leaders and party stalwarts in the
arts, literature, the military, and the scientific and scholarly
communities, or to reward rank-and-file members for long years of
service to the party and government. In the event that delegates
proved uncompliant, the Constitution granted the party the power to
initiate a recall election. Recalls have been rare, however. Out of
7,500 deputies elected between 1960 and 1985, only 12 have been
recalled, mainly for serious personal failings.
Data as of May 1989
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