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class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Legislative branch</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Legislative_branch-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Legislative branch subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Legislative_branch-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Congress_of_Soviets_(1922–1936)_and_the_Supreme_Soviet_(1936–1989)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Congress_of_Soviets_(1922–1936)_and_the_Supreme_Soviet_(1936–1989)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Congress of Soviets (1922–1936) and the Supreme Soviet (1936–1989)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Congress_of_Soviets_(1922–1936)_and_the_Supreme_Soviet_(1936–1989)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Congress_of_People's_Deputies_and_State_Council_(1989–1991)" 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class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Premier_and_the_Council_(1922–1991)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Premier_and_the_Council_(1922–1991)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.1</span> <span>Premier and the Council (1922–1991)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Premier_and_the_Council_(1922–1991)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-President_and_the_Cabinet_(1991)" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#President_and_the_Cabinet_(1991)"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.2</span> <span>President and the Cabinet (1991)</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-President_and_the_Cabinet_(1991)-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Judicial_branch" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Judicial_branch"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Judicial branch</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Judicial_branch-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Role_of_the_Communist_Party" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Role_of_the_Communist_Party"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Role of the Communist Party</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Role_of_the_Communist_Party-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Role of the Communist Party subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Role_of_the_Communist_Party-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Organization" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Organization"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.1</span> <span>Organization</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Organization-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Ideology" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Ideology"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.2</span> <span>Ideology</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Ideology-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>Further reading</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Further_reading-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of 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Available in 13 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-13" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">13 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%81%D9%8A%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%8A" title="سياسة الاتحاد السوفييتي – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="سياسة الاتحاد السوفييتي" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Govern_i_pol%C3%ADtica_de_la_Uni%C3%B3_Sovi%C3%A8tica" title="Govern i política de la Unió Soviètica – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Govern i política de la Unió Soviètica" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol%C3%ADtica_de_la_Uni%C3%B3n_Sovi%C3%A9tica" title="Política de la Unión Soviética – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Política de la Unión Soviética" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA_%D8%AF%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AF_%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%88%DB%8C" title="سیاست در اتحاد شوروی – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="سیاست در اتحاد شوروی" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politik_Uni_Soviet" title="Politik Uni Soviet – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Politik Uni Soviet" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-he mw-list-item"><a href="https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A4%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%98%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%94_%D7%A9%D7%9C_%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%AA_%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%A2%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%AA" title="פוליטיקה של ברית המועצות – Hebrew" lang="he" hreflang="he" data-title="פוליטיקה של ברית המועצות" data-language-autonym="עברית" data-language-local-name="Hebrew" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>עברית</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hu mw-list-item"><a href="https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Szovjetuni%C3%B3_politikai_rendszere" title="A Szovjetunió politikai rendszere – Hungarian" lang="hu" hreflang="hu" data-title="A Szovjetunió politikai rendszere" data-language-autonym="Magyar" data-language-local-name="Hungarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Magyar</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ms mw-list-item"><a href="https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politik_Kesatuan_Soviet" title="Politik Kesatuan Soviet – Malay" lang="ms" hreflang="ms" data-title="Politik Kesatuan Soviet" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Melayu" data-language-local-name="Malay" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Melayu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sl mw-list-item"><a href="https://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politika_Sovjetske_zveze" title="Politika Sovjetske zveze – Slovenian" lang="sl" hreflang="sl" data-title="Politika Sovjetske zveze" data-language-autonym="Slovenščina" data-language-local-name="Slovenian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Slovenščina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fi mw-list-item"><a href="https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuvostoliiton_politiikka" title="Neuvostoliiton politiikka – Finnish" lang="fi" hreflang="fi" data-title="Neuvostoliiton politiikka" data-language-autonym="Suomi" data-language-local-name="Finnish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Suomi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovjetunionens_politik" title="Sovjetunionens politik – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Sovjetunionens politik" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" 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<div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Communist Party dominated politics</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">For information about the government, see <a href="/wiki/Government_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Government of the Soviet Union">Government of the Soviet Union</a>.</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output 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href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile nowraplinks vcard hlist"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-title"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Politics of the Soviet Union</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-image"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Coat_of_arms_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1956%E2%80%931991).svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Coat_of_arms_of_the_Soviet_Union_%281956%E2%80%931991%29.svg/120px-Coat_of_arms_of_the_Soviet_Union_%281956%E2%80%931991%29.svg.png" decoding="async" width="120" height="124" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Coat_of_arms_of_the_Soviet_Union_%281956%E2%80%931991%29.svg/180px-Coat_of_arms_of_the_Soviet_Union_%281956%E2%80%931991%29.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Coat_of_arms_of_the_Soviet_Union_%281956%E2%80%931991%29.svg/240px-Coat_of_arms_of_the_Soviet_Union_%281956%E2%80%931991%29.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="587" data-file-height="605" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content">  </td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)">Leadership</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="List of leaders of the Soviet Union">Leaders</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/President_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="President of the Soviet Union">President</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_heads_of_state_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="List of heads of state of the Soviet Union">list</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vice_President_of_the_Soviet_Union" class="mw-redirect" title="Vice President of the Soviet Union">Vice President</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Collective_leadership_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Collective leadership in the Soviet Union">Collective leadership</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State_Council_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="State Council of the Soviet Union">State Council</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Presidential_Council_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Presidential Council of the Soviet Union">Presidential Council</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Communist Party</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks" style="background-color: transparent; color: var( --color-base ); border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0px; border:none; width:100%; margin:0px; font-size:100%; clear:none; float:none"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Congress_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Congress</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Central_Committee_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Central Committee</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">History</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <i><a href="/wiki/General_Secretary_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">General Secretary</a></i></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Politburo_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Politburo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Secretariat_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Secretariat</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Orgburo" title="Orgburo">Orgburo</a></li></ul> </div></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)">Legislature</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks" style="background-color: transparent; color: var( --color-base ); border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0px; border:none; width:100%; margin:0px; font-size:100%; clear:none; float:none"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <i><a href="/wiki/Congress_of_Soviets_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union">Congress of Soviets</a></i></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Central_Executive_Committee_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union">Central Executive Committee</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <i><a href="/wiki/Supreme_Soviet_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union">Supreme Soviet</a></i></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_of_the_Union" title="Soviet of the Union">Soviet of the Union</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_of_Nationalities" title="Soviet of Nationalities">Soviet of Nationalities</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Presidium_of_the_Supreme_Soviet" title="Presidium of the Supreme Soviet">Presidium</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <i><a href="/wiki/Congress_of_People%27s_Deputies_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union">Congress of People's Deputies</a></i></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_heads_of_state_of_the_Soviet_Union#Chairmen_of_the_Supreme_Soviet_of_the_Soviet_Union_(1989–1990)" title="List of heads of state of the Soviet Union">Speaker</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1989_Soviet_Union_legislative_election" title="1989 Soviet Union legislative election">1989 Legislative election</a></li></ul></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)">Governance</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks" style="background-color: transparent; color: var( --color-base ); border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0px; border:none; width:100%; margin:0px; font-size:100%; clear:none; float:none"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <i><a href="/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Constitution of the Soviet Union">Constitution</a></i></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Official_names_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Official names of the Soviet Union">Official names</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1924_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1924 Soviet Constitution">1924</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1936_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1936 Soviet Constitution">1936</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977</a></li></ul> </div></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <i><a href="/wiki/Government_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Government of the Soviet Union">Government</a></i></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ministries_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Ministries of the Soviet Union">Ministries</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State_Committee_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="State Committee of the Soviet Union">State Committees</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_governments_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="List of governments of the Soviet Union">Cabinets</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <i><a href="/wiki/Premier_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Premier of the Soviet Union">Premiership</a></i></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/First_Deputy_Premier_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union">First Deputy Premier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deputy_Premier_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union">Deputy Premier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Administrator_of_Affairs_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Administrator of Affairs of the Soviet Union">Administrator of Affairs</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)">Judiciary</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Law of the Soviet Union">Law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Supreme Court of the Soviet Union">Supreme Court</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Military_Collegium_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union">Military Collegium</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/People%27s_Court_(Soviet_Union)" title="People's Court (Soviet Union)">People's Court</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Procurator_General_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Procurator General of the Soviet Union">Procurator General</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Ideology_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Ideology</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks" style="background-color: transparent; color: var( --color-base ); border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0px; border:none; width:100%; margin:0px; font-size:100%; clear:none; float:none"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_democracy" title="Soviet democracy">Soviet democracy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Marxism%E2%80%93Leninism" title="Marxism–Leninism">Marxism–Leninism</a></li> <li><div class="hlist"><ul><li><a href="/wiki/Leninism" title="Leninism">Leninism</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Stalinism" title="Stalinism">Stalinism</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Khrushchevism" class="mw-redirect" title="Khrushchevism">Khrushchevism</a></li></ul></div></li> <li><a href="/wiki/De-Stalinization" title="De-Stalinization">De-Stalinization</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Perestroika" title="Perestroika">Perestroika</a></i> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Glasnost" title="Glasnost">Glasnost</a></i></li></ul></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)">Society</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks" style="background-color: transparent; color: var( --color-base ); border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0px; border:none; width:100%; margin:0px; font-size:100%; clear:none; float:none"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <i><a href="/wiki/Economy_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Economy of the Soviet Union">Economy</a></i></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Agriculture_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Agriculture in the Soviet Union">Agriculture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Consumer_goods_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Consumer goods in the Soviet Union">Consumer goods</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Five-year_plans_for_the_national_economy_of_the_Soviet_Union" class="mw-redirect" title="Five-year plans for the national economy of the Soviet Union">Five-Year Plan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1965_Soviet_economic_reform" title="1965 Soviet economic reform">Kosygin reform</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/New_Economic_Policy" title="New Economic Policy">New Economic Policy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Science_and_technology_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Science and technology in the Soviet Union">Science and technology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Era_of_Stagnation" title="Era of Stagnation">Era of Stagnation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Material_balance_planning" title="Material balance planning">Material balance planning</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transport_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Transport in the Soviet Union">Transport</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/War_communism" title="War communism">War communism</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <i><a href="/wiki/Culture_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Culture of the Soviet Union">Culture</a></i></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Demographics of the Soviet Union">Demographics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Education_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Education in the Soviet Union">Education</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Family_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Family in the Soviet Union">Family</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_phraseology" title="Soviet phraseology">Phraseology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Religion_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Religion in the Soviet Union">Religion</a></li></ul> </div></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <i>Repression</i></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Censorship_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Censorship in the Soviet Union">Censorship</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Censorship_of_images_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Censorship of images in the Soviet Union">Censorship of images</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Great_Purge" title="Great Purge">Great Purge</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gulag" title="Gulag">Gulag system</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Collectivization_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Collectivization in the Soviet Union">Collectivization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Human rights in the Soviet Union">Human rights</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ideological_repression_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Ideological repression in the Soviet Union">Ideological repression</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union">Political abuse of psychiatry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_repression_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Political repression in the Soviet Union">Political repression</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Population_transfer_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Population transfer in the Soviet Union">Population transfer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Propaganda_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Propaganda in the Soviet Union">Propaganda</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Suppressed_research_in_the_Soviet_Union" class="mw-redirect" title="Suppressed research in the Soviet Union">Suppressed research</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Red_Terror" title="Red Terror">Red Terror</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_Empire" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet Empire">Soviet Empire</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-below"> <span class="nowrap"><span class="mw-image-border noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="flag" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg/16px-Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="8" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg/24px-Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg/32px-Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="600" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Portal:Soviet_Union" title="Portal:Soviet Union">Soviet Union portal</a> <div class="hlist" style="text-align:center;font-weight:normal;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Outline_of_political_science#Politics_by_region" title="Outline of political science">Other countries</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Template:Politics of the Soviet Union"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Template talk:Politics of the Soviet Union"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Politics of the Soviet Union"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Political_system" title="Political system">political system</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> took place in a <a href="/wiki/Federalism" title="Federalism">federal</a> <a href="/wiki/One-party_state" title="One-party state">single-party</a> <a href="/wiki/Soviet_republic_(system_of_government)" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet republic (system of government)">soviet</a> <a href="/wiki/Socialist_republic" class="mw-redirect" title="Socialist republic">socialist republic</a> framework which was characterized by the superior role of the <a href="/wiki/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Communist Party of the Soviet Union</a> (CPSU), the only party permitted by the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet constitution">Constitution</a>. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Background">Background</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Background"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-Unreferenced_section plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Unreferenced" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="39" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>does not <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">cite</a> any <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">sources</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Special:EditPage/Politics of the Soviet Union">improve this section</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden_of_evidence" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">removed</a>.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">June 2020</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Bolsheviks" title="Bolsheviks">Bolsheviks</a> who took power during the <a href="/wiki/October_Revolution" title="October Revolution">October Revolution</a>, the final phase of the <a href="/wiki/Russian_Revolution_of_1917" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian Revolution of 1917">Russian Revolution</a>, were the first <a href="/wiki/Communist_party" title="Communist party">communist party</a> to take power and attempt to apply the Leninist variant of Marxism in a practical way. Although they grew very quickly during the Revolution from 24,000 to 100,000 members and got 25% of the votes for the <a href="/wiki/Russian_Provisional_Government,_1917" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian Provisional Government, 1917">Constituent Assembly</a> in November 1917, the Bolsheviks were a minority party when they took power by force in Petrograd and Moscow. Their advantages were discipline and a platform supporting the movement of workers, <a href="/wiki/Peasant" title="Peasant">peasants</a>, soldiers and sailors who had seized factories, organized <a href="/wiki/Soviet_(council)" title="Soviet (council)">soviets</a>, appropriated the lands of the aristocracy and other large landholders, deserted from the army and mutinied against the navy during the Revolution. </p><p><a href="/wiki/Karl_Marx" title="Karl Marx">Karl Marx</a> made no detailed proposals for the structure of a socialist or communist government and society other than the replacement of <a href="/wiki/Capitalism" title="Capitalism">capitalism</a> with <a href="/wiki/Socialism" title="Socialism">socialism</a> and eventually <a href="/wiki/Communism" title="Communism">communism</a> by the victorious <a href="/wiki/Working_class" title="Working class">working class</a>. <a href="/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin" title="Vladimir Lenin">Vladimir Lenin</a>, the leader of the Bolsheviks, had developed the theory that a communist party should serve as the <a href="/wiki/Vanguardism" title="Vanguardism">vanguard</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Proletariat" title="Proletariat">proletariat</a> and ruling in their name and interest, but like Marx had not developed a detailed economic or political program. The new communist government of the Soviet Union faced alarming problems, such as extending practical control beyond the major cities, combatting <a href="/wiki/Counter-revolution" class="mw-redirect" title="Counter-revolution">counter-revolution</a> and opposing political parties, coping with the <a href="/wiki/Russian_Civil_War" title="Russian Civil War">continuing war</a> and setting up a new economic and political system. </p><p>Despite their relative discipline, the Bolsheviks were not of one mind, the party being a coalition of committed revolutionaries, but with somewhat differing views as to what was practical and proper. These diverging tendencies resulted in debates within the party over the next decade, followed by a period of consolidation of the party as definite programs were adopted. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Legislative_branch">Legislative branch</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Legislative branch"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Congress_of_Soviets_(1922–1936)_and_the_Supreme_Soviet_(1936–1989)"><span id="Congress_of_Soviets_.281922.E2.80.931936.29_and_the_Supreme_Soviet_.281936.E2.80.931989.29"></span>Congress of Soviets (1922–1936) and the Supreme Soviet (1936–1989)</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Congress of Soviets (1922–1936) and the Supreme Soviet (1936–1989)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main articles: <a href="/wiki/Congress_of_Soviets_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union">Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union</a> and <a href="/wiki/Supreme_Soviet_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union">Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union</a></div> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Congress_of_Soviets_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union">Congress of Soviets</a> was the supreme organ of power in accordance with Article 8 of the <a href="/wiki/1924_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1924 Soviet Constitution">1924 Soviet Constitution</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Congress was replaced in the <a href="/wiki/1936_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1936 Soviet Constitution">1936 Soviet Constitution</a> by the <a href="/wiki/Supreme_Soviet_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union">Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union</a>. In accordance with Article 30,<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> it functioned as the highest state authority<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and the only legislative branch of the Soviet Union.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> According to Article 108 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 Soviet Constitution</a>, the Supreme Soviet was empowered to deal with all matters within the <a href="/wiki/Jurisdiction" title="Jurisdiction">jurisdiction</a> of the Soviet Union. The admission of new republics; creation of new autonomous republics and autonomous regions; approval of the <a href="/wiki/Five-year_plans_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Five-year plans of the Soviet Union">five-year plan</a> for social and economic development; and creation of the <a href="/wiki/State_budget" class="mw-redirect" title="State budget">state budget</a> and the institution of bodies to which the Soviet Union was accountable were the exclusive <a href="/wiki/Prerogative" title="Prerogative">prerogative</a> of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. The <a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Law of the Soviet Union">law of the Soviet Union</a> was enacted by the Supreme Soviet or by <a href="/wiki/Referendum" title="Referendum">referendum</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1257001546">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox" style="clear: right; float:right;margin:0 0 1.5em 1.5em"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="font-size:115%">External videos</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data" style="text-align: left"><span typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="video icon" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg/16px-Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg/24px-Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg/32px-Nuvola_apps_kaboodle.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></span></span> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPDhNUD7SWw">Soviet election in 1938</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The Supreme Soviet consisted of two <a href="/wiki/Chambers_of_parliament" class="mw-redirect" title="Chambers of parliament">chambers</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_of_the_Union" title="Soviet of the Union">Soviet of the Union</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_of_Nationalities" title="Soviet of Nationalities">Soviet of Nationalities</a> which had equal rights<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and an equal number of deputies. The Soviet of the Union was elected by constituencies with equal populations while the Soviet of Nationalities was elected on the basis of the following representation: 32 deputies from each <a href="/wiki/Union_Republic" class="mw-redirect" title="Union Republic">Union Republic</a>, 11 deputies from each autonomous republic, five deputies from each autonomous region and one deputy from each autonomous area. The Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities (upon submission by the elected credentials commissions) had the power to decide the validity of the elected deputies' credentials and (in cases where election law had been violated) would declare the election null and void.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Both chambers elected a chairman and four Deputies. The Chairmen of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities presided over sessions of their respective chambers and conducted their affairs. Joint sessions of the chambers were presided over by (alternately) the Chairman of the Soviet of the Union and the Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Congress_of_People's_Deputies_and_State_Council_(1989–1991)"><span id="Congress_of_People.27s_Deputies_and_State_Council_.281989.E2.80.931991.29"></span>Congress of People's Deputies and State Council (1989–1991)</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Congress of People's Deputies and State Council (1989–1991)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main articles: <a href="/wiki/Congress_of_People%27s_Deputies_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union">Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union</a> and <a href="/wiki/State_Council_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="State Council of the Soviet Union">State Council of the Soviet Union</a></div> <p>Through a constitutional amendment made by <a href="/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev" title="Mikhail Gorbachev">Mikhail Gorbachev</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Supreme_Soviet_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union">Supreme Soviet</a> became a <a href="/wiki/Parliament" title="Parliament">permanent parliament</a> which was elected by the <a href="/wiki/Congress_of_People%27s_Deputies_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union">Congress of the People's Deputies</a>. In the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union_legislative_election,_1989" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet Union legislative election, 1989">1989 Soviet legislative election</a>, the Soviet people, elected for the first time candidates democratically. The new amendment called for a smaller working body (later known as the Supreme Soviet) to be elected by the 2,250-member Congress of People's Deputies. One-third of the seats in the Congress of People's Deputies was reserved for the <a href="/wiki/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Communist Party</a> and other public organisations. The amendment clearly stated that multiple candidates could participate in elections<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and Soviet voters stunned the authorities by voting for non-CPSU candidates and <a href="/wiki/Reform" title="Reform">reformers</a>. However, genuine reformers were estimated to have won only about 300 seats.<sup id="cite_ref-countrystudies_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-countrystudies-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Following the failed <a href="/wiki/August_Coup" class="mw-redirect" title="August Coup">August Coup</a> attempt, the <a href="/wiki/State_Council_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="State Council of the Soviet Union">State Council</a> became the highest organ of state power "in the period of transition".<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Executive_branch">Executive branch</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Executive branch"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Premier_and_the_Council_(1922–1991)"><span id="Premier_and_the_Council_.281922.E2.80.931991.29"></span>Premier and the Council (1922–1991)</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Premier and the Council (1922–1991)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main articles: <a href="/wiki/Council_of_People%27s_Commissars" title="Council of People's Commissars">Council of People's Commissars</a> and <a href="/wiki/Council_of_Ministers_(Soviet_Union)" class="mw-redirect" title="Council of Ministers (Soviet Union)">Council of Ministers (Soviet Union)</a></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Premier_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Premier of the Soviet Union">Premier of the Soviet Union</a></div> <p>According to the <a href="/wiki/1924_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1924 Soviet Constitution">1924 Soviet Constitution</a>, the executive branch was headed by the <a href="/wiki/Council_of_People%27s_Commissars" title="Council of People's Commissars">Council of People's Commissars</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 Soviet Constitution</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Council_of_Ministers_(Soviet_Union)" class="mw-redirect" title="Council of Ministers (Soviet Union)">Council of Ministers</a> was the head of the executive branch.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Council of Ministers was formed at a joint meeting of the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_of_the_Union" title="Soviet of the Union">Soviet of the Union</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_of_Nationalities" title="Soviet of Nationalities">Soviet of Nationalities</a>. The Council consisted of the <a href="/wiki/Premier_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Premier of the Soviet Union">Chairman</a>, the <a href="/wiki/List_of_First_Deputies_of_the_Soviet_Union" class="mw-redirect" title="List of First Deputies of the Soviet Union">First Deputies</a>, the <a href="/wiki/List_of_Deputies_of_the_Soviet_Union" class="mw-redirect" title="List of Deputies of the Soviet Union">Deputies</a>, the <a href="/wiki/List_of_ministries_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="List of ministries of the Soviet Union">ministers</a>, the chairmen of the state committees and the Chairmen of the Council of Ministers of the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Republic_(system_of_government)" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet Republic (system of government)">Soviet Republics</a>. The Chairman of the Council of Ministers could recommend to the <a href="/wiki/Supreme_Soviet_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union">Supreme Soviet</a> other heads of organisations in the Soviet Union as members of the council. The Council of Ministers laid down its power before the first session of the newly elected Supreme Soviet.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The Council of Ministers was both responsible for and accountable to the Supreme Soviet, and in the period between sessions of the Supreme Soviet it was accountable to the <a href="/wiki/Presidium_of_the_Supreme_Soviet" title="Presidium of the Supreme Soviet">Presidium of the Supreme Soviet</a>. The Council of Ministers regularly reported to the Supreme Soviet on its work.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It was tasked with resolving all state administrative duties within the <a href="/wiki/Jurisdiction" title="Jurisdiction">jurisdiction</a> of the Soviet Union, to the degree that they did not come under the competence of the Supreme Soviet or the Presidium. Within its limits, the Council of Ministers had authority to do the following tasks:<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <ul><li>Ensure management of the national economy and its socio-cultural construction and development.</li> <li>Formulate and submit the <a href="/wiki/Five-year_plans_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Five-year plans of the Soviet Union">five-year plan</a> of "economic and social development" and the <a href="/wiki/State_budget" class="mw-redirect" title="State budget">state budget</a> to the Supreme Soviet and submit its fulfilment to the Supreme Soviet.</li> <li>Defend the interests of the state, socialist property and public order and protect the rights of Soviet citizens.</li> <li>Ensure state security.</li> <li>Exercise general leadership of the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_armed_forces" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet armed forces">Soviet armed forces</a> and determine how many were to be drafted into service.</li> <li>Exercise general leadership over <a href="/wiki/Soviet_foreign_relations" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet foreign relations">Soviet foreign relations</a>; <a href="/wiki/Foreign_trade_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Foreign trade of the Soviet Union">trade</a> and the economic, scientific-technical and cultural cooperation of the USSR with foreign countries. It also confirmed and announced international treaties signed by the USSR.</li> <li>Set up necessary organisations within the Council of Ministers in matters of economics, socio-cultural issues and defence.</li></ul> <p>The Council of Ministers also had the power to issue decrees and resolutions and to later verify their execution. All organisations were obligated to follow the decrees and resolutions issued by the All-Union Council of Ministers.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The All-Union Council also had the power to suspend all issues and decrees made by itself or organisations subordinate to it.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It coordinated and directed the work of the republics and their ministries, state committees and other organs subordinate to the All-Union Council.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Finally, the competence of the Council of Ministers and its Presidium in their procedures and activities (and its relationship with subordinate organs) was defined in the Soviet constitution by the law on the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="President_and_the_Cabinet_(1991)"><span id="President_and_the_Cabinet_.281991.29"></span>President and the Cabinet (1991)</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: President and the Cabinet (1991)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main articles: <a href="/wiki/President_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="President of the Soviet Union">President of the Soviet Union</a> and <a href="/wiki/Cabinet_of_Ministers_(Soviet_Union)" title="Cabinet of Ministers (Soviet Union)">Cabinet of Ministers (Soviet Union)</a></div> <p>In 1990, <a href="/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev" title="Mikhail Gorbachev">Mikhail Gorbachev</a> created the office of the <a href="/wiki/President_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="President of the Soviet Union">President of the Soviet Union</a>, the head of the <a href="/wiki/Executive_branch" class="mw-redirect" title="Executive branch">executive branch</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the meantime, the <a href="/wiki/Council_of_Ministers_(Soviet_Union)" class="mw-redirect" title="Council of Ministers (Soviet Union)">Council of Ministers</a> was dissolved and replaced by the <a href="/wiki/Cabinet_of_Ministers_(Soviet_Union)" title="Cabinet of Ministers (Soviet Union)">Cabinet of Ministers of the Soviet Union</a>. The new cabinet was headed by the <a href="/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_the_Soviet_Union" class="mw-redirect" title="Prime Minister of the Soviet Union">Prime Minister</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Gorbachev's election as president marked the third time in one year he was elected to an office equivalent to that of Soviet head of state. He was elected by the <a href="/wiki/Congress_of_People%27s_Deputies_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union">Congress of People's Deputies</a> on all three occasions.<sup id="cite_ref-countrystudies_10-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-countrystudies-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Judicial_branch">Judicial branch</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Judicial branch"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main articles: <a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Law of the Soviet Union">Law of the Soviet Union</a>, <a href="/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Supreme Court of the Soviet Union">Supreme Court of the Soviet Union</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Procurator_General_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Procurator General of the Soviet Union">Procurator General of the Soviet Union</a></div> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Supreme Court of the Soviet Union">Supreme Court</a> was the highest judicial body in the country as it supervised the administration of justice by the courts of the Soviet Union and its <a href="/wiki/Soviet_republic_(system_of_government)" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet republic (system of government)">soviet republics</a> within the limits of established law. The leadership of the Supreme Court was elected by the Supreme Soviet. The exceptions were the Chairmen of the Supreme Courts of the Soviet Republics, who were <a href="/wiki/Ex_officio_member" title="Ex officio member">ex officio members</a>. The organisation and the procedures of the Supreme Court were defined by law.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> As written in Article 157 of the <a href="/wiki/Brezhnev_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="Brezhnev Constitution">Brezhnev Constitution</a>, "[j]ustice is administered in the USSR on the principle of the equality of citizens before the law and the court".<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the following articles, it was made clear that all individuals (no matter their circumstances) had the right to <a href="/wiki/Legal_assistance" class="mw-redirect" title="Legal assistance">legal assistance</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> All judicial proceedings in the Soviet Union were conducted in the language of the Soviet republic, "Autonomous Republic, Autonomous Region, or Autonomous Area, or in the language spoken by the majority of the people in the locality". People who participated in court proceedings without knowledge of the language had the right to become fully acquainted with the materials in the case, the right to an interpreter during the proceedings and the right to address the court in their own language.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>According to Article 165, the <a href="/wiki/Procurator_General_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Procurator General of the Soviet Union">Procurator General</a> was appointed to the office by the Supreme Soviet. The Procurator General was responsible and accountable to the Supreme Soviet, or between sessions of the Supreme Soviet to the <a href="/wiki/Presidium_of_the_Supreme_Soviet" title="Presidium of the Supreme Soviet">Presidium of the Supreme Soviet</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The Procurator General supervised most activities of Soviet agencies such as ministries, state committees and local Prosecutor Generals.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Subordinate agencies of the Procurator General exercised their functions independent from meddling by the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_state" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet state">Soviet state</a> and were subordinate only to the Prosecutor General's office. The organisation and procedures of these subordinates were defined in the law on the Procurator General's Office of the Soviet Union.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Role_of_the_Communist_Party">Role of the Communist Party</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Role of the Communist Party"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Communist Party of the Soviet Union</a> and <a href="/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="List of leaders of the Soviet Union">List of leaders of the Soviet Union</a></div> <p>According to <a href="/wiki/Article_6_of_the_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="Article 6 of the Soviet Constitution">Article 6 of the Soviet Constitution</a>, the "leading and guiding force of <a href="/wiki/Soviet_society" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet society">Soviet society</a> and the nucleus of its political system, of all state organisations and public organisations, is the <a href="/wiki/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Communist Party of the Soviet Union</a>. The CPSU exists for the people and serves the people". The Communist Party was officially a <a href="/wiki/Marxism%E2%80%93Leninism" title="Marxism–Leninism">Marxist–Leninist</a> <a href="/wiki/Communist_party" title="Communist party">communist party</a> which determined the general development of Soviet society both in domestic and foreign policy. It also directed the "great work" of building communism through <a href="/wiki/Central_planning" class="mw-redirect" title="Central planning">central planning</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Economy_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Economy of the Soviet Union">economy</a> and the struggle for the victory of <a href="/wiki/Communism" title="Communism">communism</a>. All Communist Party organisations had to follow the framework laid down by the 1977 Soviet Constitution.<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> After mounting pressure against him by the reformers, <a href="/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev" title="Mikhail Gorbachev">Mikhail Gorbachev</a> removed the phrase "the leading and guiding force" and replaced it with "the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and other political parties".<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The <i><a href="/wiki/Nomenklatura" title="Nomenklatura">nomenklatura</a></i> was the Soviet Union's ruling group and remained one of the main reasons why the Soviet Union existed as long as it did. Members of the <i>nomenklatura</i> were elected by the Communist Party to all important posts in Soviet society which could mean a locally or nationally significant office. Along with the Communist party's monopoly on power, this led to the gradual physical and intellectual degeneration of the Soviet Union as a state. As long as the <a href="/wiki/General_Secretary_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">General Secretary of the Communist Party</a> commanded the loyalty of the <a href="/wiki/Politburo_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Politburo</a>, he would remain more-or-less unopposed and in all probability become the leader of the country.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Organization">Organization</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Organization"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1251242444"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1248332772">.mw-parser-output .multiple-issues-text{width:95%;margin:0.2em 0}.mw-parser-output .multiple-issues-text>.mw-collapsible-content{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox{border:none;border-collapse:collapse;background-color:transparent;margin:0 0 0 1.6em!important;padding:0!important;width:auto;display:block}body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox.mbox-small-left{font-size:100%;width:auto;margin:0}.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox .mbox-text{padding:0!important;margin:0!important}.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox .mbox-text-span{display:list-item;line-height:1.5em;list-style-type:disc}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .multiple-issues-text>.mw-collapsible-toggle,.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox .mbox-image,.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox .mbox-imageright,.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .ambox .mbox-empty-cell,.mw-parser-output .compact-ambox .hide-when-compact{display:none}</style><table class="box-Multiple_issues plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-multiple_issues compact-ambox" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Ambox_important.svg/40px-Ambox_important.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Ambox_important.svg/60px-Ambox_important.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Ambox_important.svg/80px-Ambox_important.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="40" data-file-height="40" /></span></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span"><div class="multiple-issues-text mw-collapsible"><b>This section has multiple issues.</b> Please help <b><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Special:EditPage/Politics of the Soviet Union">improve it</a></b> or discuss these issues on the <b><a href="/wiki/Talk:Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Talk:Politics of the Soviet Union">talk page</a></b>. <small><i>(<a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove these messages</a>)</i></small> <div class="mw-collapsible-content"> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1251242444"><table class="box-Unreferenced_section plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Unreferenced" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="39" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>does not <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">cite</a> any <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">sources</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Special:EditPage/Politics of the Soviet Union">improve this section</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden_of_evidence" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">removed</a>.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">March 2013</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1251242444"><table class="box-POV plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-POV" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span class="skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><span><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Unbalanced_scales.svg/45px-Unbalanced_scales.svg.png" decoding="async" width="45" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Unbalanced_scales.svg/68px-Unbalanced_scales.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Unbalanced_scales.svg/90px-Unbalanced_scales.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="400" data-file-height="354" /></span></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">The <b><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view" title="Wikipedia:Neutral point of view">neutrality</a> of this section is <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:NPOV_dispute" title="Wikipedia:NPOV dispute">disputed</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Relevant discussion may be found on the <a href="/wiki/Talk:Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union##" title="Talk:Politics of the Soviet Union">talk page</a>. Please do not remove this message until <a href="/wiki/Template:POV#When_to_remove" title="Template:POV">conditions to do so are met</a>.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">March 2013</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> </div> </div><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The Communist Party controlled the government apparatus and made decisions affecting the economy and society. The Communist Party followed the ideology of <a href="/wiki/Marxism%E2%80%93Leninism" title="Marxism–Leninism">Marxism–Leninism</a> and operated on the principle of <a href="/wiki/Democratic_centralism" title="Democratic centralism">democratic centralism</a>. The primary party bodies were the <a href="/wiki/Politburo_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Politburo</a>, the highest decision-making organ; the <a href="/wiki/Secretariat_of_the_CPSU_Central_Committee" class="mw-redirect" title="Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee">Secretariat</a>, the controller of party bureaucracy; and the <a href="/wiki/Central_Committee_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Central Committee</a>, the party's policy forum. Party membership reached more than 19 million (9.7 percent of the adult population) in 1987 and was dominated by male Russian professionals. Party members occupied positions of authority in all officially recognized institutions throughout the country. </p><p><a href="/wiki/One-party_state" title="One-party state">Single party rule</a> combined with <a href="/wiki/Democratic_centralism" title="Democratic centralism">democratic centralism</a>, which in practice consisted of a <a href="/wiki/Hierarchy" title="Hierarchy">hierarchal</a> structure which with the aid of a <a href="/wiki/Secret_police" title="Secret police">secret police</a> organization enforced decisions made by the ruling party as well on the personnel of all governmental institutions, including the courts, the press, cultural and economic organizations and labor unions. The Soviet Union is considered by many to have been a <a href="/wiki/Totalitarianism" title="Totalitarianism">totalitarian</a> state for much of its existence. Critics include Western authors such as <a href="/wiki/Robert_Conquest" title="Robert Conquest">Robert Conquest</a> and Russian critics such as <a href="/wiki/Alexander_Nikolaevich_Yakovlev" class="mw-redirect" title="Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev">Alexander Yakovlev</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Ideology">Ideology</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Ideology"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1251242444"><table class="box-Unreferenced_section plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Unreferenced" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="39" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>does not <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">cite</a> any <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">sources</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Special:EditPage/Politics of the Soviet Union">improve this section</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden_of_evidence" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">removed</a>.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">March 2013</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/State_ideology_of_the_Soviet_Union" class="mw-redirect" title="State ideology of the Soviet Union">State ideology of the Soviet Union</a></div> <p>Education and political discourse proceeded on the assumption that it was possible to mold people using collectivist institutional forms into an ideal Soviet man or woman (see <a href="/wiki/New_Soviet_man" title="New Soviet man">new Soviet man</a>). The validity of ideas, public discourse, and institutional form were evaluated in terms of the official ideology of <a href="/wiki/Marxism%E2%80%93Leninism" title="Marxism–Leninism">Marxism–Leninism</a> as interpreted by the Communist Party. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Economy_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Economy of the Soviet Union">Economy of the Soviet Union</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="History of the Soviet Union">History of the Soviet Union</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_governments_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="List of governments of the Soviet Union">List of governments of the Soviet Union</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_heads_of_state_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="List of heads of state of the Soviet Union">List of heads of state of the Soviet Union</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Premier_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Premier of the Soviet Union">Premier of the Soviet Union</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #8 of the <a href="/wiki/1924_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1924 Soviet Constitution">1924 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of January 1924 <i>Article 8</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #30 of the <a href="/wiki/1936_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1936 Soviet Constitution">1936 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 5 December 1936 <i>Article 30</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #14 of the <a href="/wiki/1936_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1936 Soviet Constitution">1936 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 5 December 1936 <i>Article 14</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #31 of the <a href="/wiki/1936_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1936 Soviet Constitution">1936 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 5 December 1936 <i>Article 31</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #108 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 108</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #109 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 109</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #110 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 110</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #111 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 111</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/ru:%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A0_%D0%BE%D1%82_1.12.1988_%E2%84%96_9853-XI" class="extiw" title="s:ru:Закон СССР от 1.12.1988 № 9853-XI">Soviet Union law № 9853-XI "On amendments and additions to the Constitution (Basic Law) of the USSR</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-countrystudies-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-countrystudies_10-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-countrystudies_10-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/russia/18.htm">"Gorbachev's Reform Dilemma"</a>. <a href="/wiki/Library_of_Congress_Country_Studies" title="Library of Congress Country Studies">Library of Congress Country Studies</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">16 October</span> 2010</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Gorbachev%27s+Reform+Dilemma&rft.pub=Library+of+Congress+Country+Studies&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fcountrystudies.us%2Frussia%2F18.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APolitics+of+the+Soviet+Union" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFGovernment_of_the_USSR:_Gorbachev,_Mikhail1991" class="citation web cs1 cs1-prop-script cs1-prop-foreign-lang-source"><a href="/wiki/Government_of_the_USSR" class="mw-redirect" title="Government of the USSR">Government of the USSR</a>: <a href="/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev" title="Mikhail Gorbachev">Gorbachev, Mikhail</a> (5 September 1991). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sssr.su/zopp.html"><bdi lang="ru">УКАЗ: ПОЛОЖЕНИЕ О МИНИСТЕРСТВЕ ЮСТИЦИИ СССР</bdi></a> [Law: About state governing bodies of USSR in a transition period On the bodies of state authority and administration of the USSR in Transition] (in Russian). sssr.su<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">12 September</span> 2022</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=%D0%A3%D0%9A%D0%90%D0%97%3A+%D0%9F%D0%9E%D0%9B%D0%9E%D0%96%D0%95%D0%9D%D0%98%D0%95+%D0%9E+%D0%9C%D0%98%D0%9D%D0%98%D0%A1%D0%A2%D0%95%D0%A0%D0%A1%D0%A2%D0%92%D0%95+%D0%AE%D0%A1%D0%A2%D0%98%D0%A6%D0%98%D0%98+%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A0&rft.pub=sssr.su&rft.date=1991-09-05&rft.au=Government+of+the+USSR%3A+Gorbachev%2C+Mikhail&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sssr.su%2Fzopp.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APolitics+of+the+Soviet+Union" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #37 of the <a href="/wiki/1924_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1924 Soviet Constitution">1924 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of January 1924 <i>Article 37</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #128 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 128</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #129 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 129</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #130 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 130</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #131 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 131</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #133 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 133</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #134 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 134</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #135 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 135</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #136 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 136</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFPolmar,_Norman1991" class="citation book cs1">Polmar, Norman (1991). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=tkGDkpkQh-sC"><i>The Naval Institute guide to the Soviet</i></a>. <a href="/wiki/United_States_Naval_Institute" title="United States Naval Institute">United States Naval Institute</a>. p. 1. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87021-241-9" title="Special:BookSources/0-87021-241-9"><bdi>0-87021-241-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Naval+Institute+guide+to+the+Soviet&rft.pages=1&rft.pub=United+States+Naval+Institute&rft.date=1991&rft.isbn=0-87021-241-9&rft.au=Polmar%2C+Norman&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DtkGDkpkQh-sC&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APolitics+of+the+Soviet+Union" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMcCauley,_Martin2007" class="citation book cs1">McCauley, Martin (2007). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ycCZqmhhceMC"><i>The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union</i></a>. <a href="/wiki/Pearson_Education" title="Pearson Education">Pearson Education</a>. p. 490. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-582-78465-9" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-582-78465-9"><bdi>978-0-582-78465-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Rise+and+Fall+of+the+Soviet+Union&rft.pages=490&rft.pub=Pearson+Education&rft.date=2007&rft.isbn=978-0-582-78465-9&rft.au=McCauley%2C+Martin&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DycCZqmhhceMC&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APolitics+of+the+Soviet+Union" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #153 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 153</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #157 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 157</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #158 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 158</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #159 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 159</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #165 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 165</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #164 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 164</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #168 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i>Article 168</i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"> Article #6 of the <a href="/wiki/1977_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="1977 Soviet Constitution">1977 constitution</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" class="mw-redirect" title="Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Union of Soviet Socialist Republics</a> (USSR) of 7 October 1977 <i><a href="/wiki/Article_6_of_the_Soviet_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="Article 6 of the Soviet Constitution">Article 6</a></i>. .</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFGovernment_of_the_USSR:_Gorbachev,_Mikhail1990" class="citation web cs1 cs1-prop-script cs1-prop-foreign-lang-source"><a href="/wiki/Government_of_the_USSR" class="mw-redirect" title="Government of the USSR">Government of the USSR</a>: <a href="/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev" title="Mikhail Gorbachev">Gorbachev, Mikhail</a> (14 March 1990). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://constitution.garant.ru/history/ussr-rsfsr/1977/zakony/185465/"><bdi lang="ru">УКАЗ: Об учреждении поста Президента СССР и внесении изменений и дополнений в Конституцию (Основной Закон) СССР</bdi></a> [Law: Establish the post of President of the USSR and the amendments to the Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the USSR] (in Russian). constitution.garant.ru<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">12 September</span> 2022</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=%D0%A3%D0%9A%D0%90%D0%97%3A+%D0%9E%D0%B1+%D1%83%D1%87%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B6%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8+%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0+%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0+%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A0+%D0%B8+%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8+%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%B8+%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%B2+%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%83%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8E+%28%D0%9E%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B9+%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD%29+%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A1%D0%A0&rft.pub=constitution.garant.ru&rft.date=1990-03-14&rft.au=Government+of+the+USSR%3A+Gorbachev%2C+Mikhail&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fconstitution.garant.ru%2Fhistory%2Fussr-rsfsr%2F1977%2Fzakony%2F185465%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APolitics+of+the+Soviet+Union" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFChubarov,_Alexander2001" class="citation book cs1">Chubarov, Alexander (2001). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ycCZqmhhceMC"><i>Russia's bitter path to modernity: a history of the Soviet and post-Soviet eras</i></a>. <a href="/wiki/Continuum_International_Publishing_Group" title="Continuum International Publishing Group">Continuum International Publishing Group</a>. pp. 58–60. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8264-1350-1" title="Special:BookSources/0-8264-1350-1"><bdi>0-8264-1350-1</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Russia%27s+bitter+path+to+modernity%3A+a+history+of+the+Soviet+and+post-Soviet+eras&rft.pages=58-60&rft.pub=Continuum+International+Publishing+Group&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=0-8264-1350-1&rft.au=Chubarov%2C+Alexander&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DycCZqmhhceMC&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APolitics+of+the+Soviet+Union" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <ul><li><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="Public Domain" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/62/PD-icon.svg/12px-PD-icon.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/62/PD-icon.svg/18px-PD-icon.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/62/PD-icon.svg/24px-PD-icon.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="196" data-file-height="196" /></span></span> This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the <a href="/wiki/Public_domain" title="Public domain">public domain</a>. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation encyclopaedia cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.loc.gov/collections/country-studies/about-this-collection/"><i>Country Studies</i></a>. <a href="/wiki/Federal_Research_Division" title="Federal Research Division">Federal Research Division</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Country+Studies&rft.pub=Federal+Research+Division&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.loc.gov%2Fcollections%2Fcountry-studies%2Fabout-this-collection%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3APolitics+of+the+Soviet+Union" class="Z3988"></span> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/sutoc.html">Soviet Union</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Soviet_Union&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Further reading"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Bibliography_of_the_Russian_Revolution_and_Civil_War" title="Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War">Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War</a>, <a href="/wiki/Bibliography_of_Stalinism_and_the_Soviet_Union" title="Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union">Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Bibliography_of_the_Post_Stalinist_Soviet_Union" class="mw-redirect" title="Bibliography of the Post Stalinist Soviet Union">Bibliography of the Post Stalinist Soviet Union</a></div> <ul><li>Alexander N. Yakovlev, Anthony Austin, Paul Hollander, <i>Century of Violence in Soviet Russia</i>, Yale University Press (September, 2002), hardcover, 254 pages, <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-300-08760-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-300-08760-8">0-300-08760-8</a>.</li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-image,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-list{border-top:2px solid #fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title{background-color:#ccf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Soviet_Union_topics" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Soviet_Union_topics" title="Template:Soviet Union topics"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Soviet_Union_topics" title="Template talk:Soviet Union topics"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Soviet_Union_topics" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Soviet Union topics"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Soviet_Union_topics" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> topics</div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="History of the Soviet Union">History</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Index_of_Soviet_Union%E2%80%93related_articles" title="Index of Soviet Union–related articles">Index of Soviet Union–related articles</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Russian_Revolution" title="Russian Revolution">Russian Revolution</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/February_Revolution" title="February Revolution">February</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/October_Revolution" title="October Revolution">October</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Russian_Civil_War" title="Russian Civil War">Russian Civil War</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Russian_Soviet_Federative_Socialist_Republic" title="Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic">Russian SFSR</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Creation_of_the_Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" title="Treaty on the Creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics">Creation treaty</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/New_Economic_Policy" title="New Economic Policy">New Economic Policy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stalinism" title="Stalinism">Stalinism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Great_Purge" title="Great Purge">Great Purge</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union_in_World_War_II" title="Soviet Union in World War II">Great Patriotic War</a> (World War II) <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Evacuation_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Evacuation in the Soviet Union">Evacuation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="The Holocaust in the Soviet Union">The Holocaust</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cold_War" title="Cold War">Cold War</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Khrushchev_Thaw" title="Khrushchev Thaw">Khrushchev Thaw</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sino-Soviet_split" title="Sino-Soviet split">Sino-Soviet split</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_space_program" title="Soviet space program">Soviet space program</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1965_Soviet_economic_reform" title="1965 Soviet economic reform">1965 economic reform</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Era_of_Stagnation" title="Era of Stagnation">Stagnation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Afghan_War" title="Soviet–Afghan War">Soviet–Afghan War</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Perestroika" title="Perestroika">Perestroika</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Glasnost" title="Glasnost">Glasnost</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Revolutions_of_1989" title="Revolutions of 1989">Revolutions of 1989</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Dissolution of the Soviet Union">Dissolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Post-Soviet_states" title="Post-Soviet states">Post-Soviet states</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nostalgia_for_the_Soviet_Union" title="Nostalgia for the Soviet Union">Nostalgia</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Geography_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Geography of the Soviet Union">Geography</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Subdivisions_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Subdivisions of the Soviet Union">Subdivisions</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Republics_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Republics of the Soviet Union">Republics</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Autonomous_Soviet_Socialist_Republics" title="Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics">Autonomous</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Krais_of_Russia" title="Krais of Russia">Krais</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Oblasts_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Oblasts of the Soviet Union">Oblasts</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Autonomous_oblasts_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union">Autonomous</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Autonomous_okrugs_of_Russia" title="Autonomous okrugs of Russia">Autonomous okrugs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Closed_city" title="Closed city">Closed city</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Regions</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Caspian_Sea" title="Caspian Sea">Caspian Sea</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Caucasus_Mountains" title="Caucasus Mountains">Caucasus Mountains</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/European_Russia" title="European Russia">European Russia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/North_Caucasus" title="North Caucasus">North Caucasus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Siberia" title="Siberia">Siberia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ural_Mountains" title="Ural Mountains">Ural Mountains</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/West_Siberian_Plain" title="West Siberian Plain">West Siberian Plain</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Politics</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">General</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Constitution of the Soviet Union">Constitution</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/1936_Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union">1936</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1977_Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union">1977</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elections_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Elections in the Soviet Union">Elections</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Foreign relations of the Soviet Union">Foreign relations</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Brezhnev_Doctrine" title="Brezhnev Doctrine">Brezhnev Doctrine</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gun_control_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Gun control in the Soviet Union">Gun control</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Government_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Government of the Soviet Union">Government</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_governments_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="List of governments of the Soviet Union">List</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Human rights in the Soviet Union">Human rights</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_post-Soviet_states" class="mw-redirect" title="LGBT rights in the post-Soviet states">LGBT</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Law of the Soviet Union">Law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Capital punishment in the Soviet Union">Capital punishment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_leaders_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="List of leaders of the Soviet Union">Leaders</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Collective_leadership_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Collective leadership in the Soviet Union">Collective leadership</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_delimitation_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="National delimitation in the Soviet Union">National delimitation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Passport_system_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Passport system in the Soviet Union">Passport system</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Propiska_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Propiska in the Soviet Union">Propiska</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="List of political parties in the Soviet Union">Political parties</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ideology_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">State ideology</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Marxism%E2%80%93Leninism" title="Marxism–Leninism">Marxism–Leninism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Leninism" title="Leninism">Leninism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stalinism" title="Stalinism">Stalinism</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_anti-Zionism" title="Soviet anti-Zionism">Soviet anti-Zionism</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Bodies</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Communist Party</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Organization_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Organization of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">organisation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Congress_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Congress</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Central_Committee_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Central Committee</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Politburo_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Presidium/Politburo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Secretariat_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">Secretariat</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/General_Secretary_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union">General Secretary</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Congress_of_Soviets_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union">Congress of Soviets</a> (1922–1936)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Supreme_Soviet_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union">Supreme Soviet</a> (1938–1991)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Congress_of_People%27s_Deputies_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union">Congress of People's Deputies</a> (1989–1991)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Supreme Court of the Soviet Union">Supreme Court</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Military_Collegium_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union">Military Collegium</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Offices</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_heads_of_state_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="List of heads of state of the Soviet Union">Heads of state</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/President_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="President of the Soviet Union">President</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Premier_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Premier of the Soviet Union">Premier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deputy_Premier_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union">Deputy Premier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/First_Deputy_Premier_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union">First Deputy Premier</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Chronology_of_Soviet_secret_police_agencies" title="Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies">Security services</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cheka" title="Cheka">Cheka</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State_Political_Directorate" title="State Political Directorate">GPU</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/NKVD" title="NKVD">NKVD</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Destruction_battalions" class="mw-redirect" title="Destruction battalions">Destruction battalions</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ministry_of_Internal_Affairs_(Soviet_Union)" title="Ministry of Internal Affairs (Soviet Union)">MVD</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Militsiya" title="Militsiya">Militsiya</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ministry_of_State_Security_(Soviet_Union)" title="Ministry of State Security (Soviet Union)">MGB</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/KGB" title="KGB">KGB</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_chairmen_of_the_KGB" title="List of chairmen of the KGB">Chairmen</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_Border_Troops" title="Soviet Border Troops">Soviet Border Troops</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_Armed_Forces" title="Soviet Armed Forces">Soviet Armed Forces</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_Army" title="Soviet Army">Soviet Army</a>/<a href="/wiki/Spetsnaz_GRU" title="Spetsnaz GRU">Spetsnaz GRU</a> • <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Navy" title="Soviet Navy">Soviet Navy</a> • <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Air_Forces" title="Soviet Air Forces">Soviet Air Forces</a>/<a href="/wiki/Soviet_Airborne_Forces" title="Soviet Airborne Forces">Soviet Airborne Forces</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Political_repression_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Political repression in the Soviet Union">Political repression</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Red_Terror" title="Red Terror">Red Terror</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Collectivization_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Collectivization in the Soviet Union">Collectivization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Great_Purge" title="Great Purge">Great Purge</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Population_transfer_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Population transfer in the Soviet Union">Population transfer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Forced_labor_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Forced labor in the Soviet Union">Forced labor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gulag" title="Gulag">Gulag</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Gulag_camps" title="List of Gulag camps">List</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Holodomor" title="Holodomor">Holodomor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union">Political abuse of psychiatry</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Ideological_repression_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Ideological repression in the Soviet Union">Ideological repression</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Religion_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Religion in the Soviet Union">Religion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Repression_of_science_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Repression of science in the Soviet Union">Science</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Censorship_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Censorship in the Soviet Union">Censorship</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Censorship_of_images_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Censorship of images in the Soviet Union">Censorship of images</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Economy_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Economy of the Soviet Union">Economy</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Agriculture_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Agriculture in the Soviet Union">Agriculture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gosbank" class="mw-redirect" title="Gosbank">Central Bank</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet-type_economic_planning" title="Soviet-type economic planning">Economic planning</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Energy_policy_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Energy policy of the Soviet Union">Energy policy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Five-year_plans_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Five-year plans of the Soviet Union">Five-year plans</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/.su" title=".su">Internet domain</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Timeline_of_Russian_innovation#Soviet_Union" title="Timeline of Russian innovation">Inventions</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Net_material_product" title="Net material product">Net material product</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/OGAS" title="OGAS">OGAS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Science_and_technology_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Science and technology in the Soviet Union">Science and technology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_ruble" title="Soviet ruble">Rouble <span style="font-size:85%;">(currency)</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transport_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Transport in the Soviet Union">Transport</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Railway_system_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Railway system of the Soviet Union">Railway system</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rail_transport_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Rail transport in the Soviet Union">Rail transport</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_metro_systems_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="List of metro systems in the Soviet Union">List of metro systems</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Science_and_technology_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Science and technology in the Soviet Union">Science</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Communist_Academy" title="Communist Academy">Communist Academy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cybernetics_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Cybernetics in the Soviet Union">Cybernetics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Russian_Academy_of_Sciences#In_the_Soviet_Union" title="Russian Academy of Sciences">Academy of Sciences</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/USSR_Academy_of_Medical_Sciences" title="USSR Academy of Medical Sciences">Academy of Medical Sciences</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/VASKhNIL" title="VASKhNIL">Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sharashka" title="Sharashka">Sharashkas</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Naukograd" title="Naukograd">Naukograds</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Naukograds" title="Category:Naukograds">List</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Category:Society_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Category:Society of the Soviet Union">Society</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Antisemitism_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Antisemitism in the Soviet Union">Antisemitism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Crime_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Crime in the Soviet Union">Crime</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Demographics of the Soviet Union">Demographics</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_people" title="Soviet people">Soviet people</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_working_class" title="Soviet working class">Working class</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1989_Soviet_census" title="1989 Soviet census">1989 census</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Drug_policy_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Drug policy of the Soviet Union">Drug policy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Family_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Family in the Soviet Union">Family</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Languages_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Languages of the Soviet Union">Languages</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Linguistics_of_the_Soviet_Union" class="mw-redirect" title="Linguistics of the Soviet Union">Linguistics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cyrillisation_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Cyrillisation in the Soviet Union">Cyrillisation</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_Russian_Empire_and_the_Soviet_Union" title="Prohibition in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union">Prohibition</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Racism_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Racism in the Soviet Union">Racism</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Culture_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Culture of the Soviet Union">Culture</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Russian_ballet" title="Russian ballet">Ballet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cinema_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Cinema of the Soviet Union">Cinema</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fashion_in_the_Soviet_Union" class="mw-redirect" title="Fashion in the Soviet Union">Fashion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Russian_literature#20th_century" title="Russian literature">Literature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Music_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Music of the Soviet Union">Music</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Russian_opera#20th_century" title="Russian opera">Opera</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_phraseology" title="Soviet phraseology">Phraseology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Printed_media_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Printed media in the Soviet Union">Printed media</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Propaganda_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Propaganda in the Soviet Union">Propaganda</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Radio_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Radio in the Soviet Union">Radio</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sport_in_Russia" title="Sport in Russia">Sports</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stalinist_architecture" title="Stalinist architecture">Stalinist architecture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Television_in_the_Soviet_Union" title="Television in the Soviet Union">Television</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Anti-Sovietism" title="Anti-Sovietism">Opposition</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Soviet_dissidents" title="Soviet dissidents">Soviet dissidents</a> and their groups <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Soviet_opposition_groups" title="Category:Soviet opposition groups">List</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Symbols</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/State_Anthem_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="State Anthem of the Soviet Union">Anthem</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Anthems_of_the_Soviet_Republics" title="Anthems of the Soviet Republics">Republics</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State_Emblem_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="State Emblem of the Soviet Union">Emblem</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Emblems_of_the_Soviet_Republics" title="Emblems of the Soviet Republics">Republics</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union" title="Flag of the Soviet Union">Flag</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Flags_of_the_Soviet_Republics" title="Flags of the Soviet Republics">Republics</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hammer_and_sickle" title="Hammer and sickle">Hammer and sickle</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2" style="font-weight:bold;"><div> <ul><li><b><span class="nowrap"><span class="mw-image-border noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="flag" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg/32px-Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg.png" decoding="async" width="32" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg/48px-Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg/64px-Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="600" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Portal:Soviet_Union" title="Portal:Soviet Union">Soviet Union portal</a></b></li> <li><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span title="Category"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/16px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/23px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/31px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /></span></span> <a href="/wiki/Category:Soviet_Union" title="Category:Soviet Union">Category</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Politics_of_Europe" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Politics_of_Europe" title="Template:Politics of Europe"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Politics_of_Europe" title="Template talk:Politics of Europe"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Politics_of_Europe" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Politics of Europe"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Politics_of_Europe" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Europe" title="Politics of Europe">Politics of Europe </a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Sovereign states</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Albania" title="Politics of Albania">Albania</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Andorra" title="Politics of Andorra">Andorra</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Armenia" title="Politics of Armenia">Armenia</a></li> <li><a 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Estonia">Estonia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Finland" title="Politics of Finland">Finland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_France" title="Politics of France">France</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Georgia_(country)" title="Politics of Georgia (country)">Georgia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Germany" title="Politics of Germany">Germany</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Greece" title="Politics of Greece">Greece</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Hungary" title="Politics of Hungary">Hungary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Iceland" title="Politics of Iceland">Iceland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_the_Republic_of_Ireland" title="Politics of the Republic of Ireland">Ireland</a></li> <li class="mw-empty-elt"></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Italy" title="Politics of Italy">Italy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Kazakhstan" title="Politics of Kazakhstan">Kazakhstan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Latvia" title="Politics of Latvia">Latvia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Liechtenstein" title="Politics of Liechtenstein">Liechtenstein</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Lithuania" title="Politics of Lithuania">Lithuania</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Luxembourg" title="Politics of Luxembourg">Luxembourg</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Malta" title="Politics of Malta">Malta</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Moldova" title="Politics of Moldova">Moldova</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Monaco" title="Politics of Monaco">Monaco</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Montenegro" title="Politics of Montenegro">Montenegro</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_the_Netherlands" title="Politics of the Netherlands">Netherlands</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_North_Macedonia" title="Politics of North Macedonia">North Macedonia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Norway" title="Politics of Norway">Norway</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Poland" title="Politics of Poland">Poland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Portugal" title="Politics of Portugal">Portugal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Romania" title="Politics of Romania">Romania</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Russia" title="Politics of Russia">Russia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_San_Marino" title="Politics of San Marino">San Marino</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Serbia" title="Politics of Serbia">Serbia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Slovakia" title="Politics of Slovakia">Slovakia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Slovenia" title="Politics of Slovenia">Slovenia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Spain" title="Politics of Spain">Spain</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Sweden" title="Politics of Sweden">Sweden</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Switzerland" title="Politics of Switzerland">Switzerland</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Politics_of_Turkey" title="Politics of 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