Politburo
Politburo (from Russian Политбюро Politbjuro ) or Political Bureau of the Central Committee is the name for the highest political leadership body of communist parties . From 1952 to 1966 it was called the Presidium in the Soviet Union and from July 1965 to December 1989 in Romania as the Political Executive Committee . Its members (between 5 and 40) are elected by the Central Committee (ZK) of the respective parties. Members are mostly secretaries of the Central Committee, regional party leaders and government representatives such as prime ministers and ministers, provided the communist party is in government. There are voting full members and non-voting candidates who can attend meetings.
Mission and direction
The Politburo directs the party's work between plenary sessions of the Central Committee. It is the party's real center of political power. In socialist states it has authority over the respective governments of the states in all important tasks, especially in economic , foreign and information policy ( censorship ).
It is headed as a collective body by a powerful First Secretary or General Secretary . In the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he was first secretary from 1952 to 1966 , before and after that general secretary . In the SED there was a party executive with a Politburo from 1949 to 1950 (previously the Central Secretariat from 1946 to 1949) and then a Politburo of the Central Committee with a First Secretary and, from 1976, a Secretary General .
The work of the Politburo is to be supported by the Secretariat of the Central Committee. In practice, the Politburo was also dominated by the Secretariat at different times and in different parties.
Formal right to vote and control and actual practice
The Politburo is elected and controlled by the party's Central Committee (ZK). In practice, most of the votes in the Central Committee were based on proposals from the Politburo. Deviating proposals were unusual, as so-called faction formation in the party's committees was viewed as subversion and behavior that was harmful to the party , which was resolutely pursued by the respective parties through sanctions.
See also
- Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED
- List of the members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED
- List of candidates for the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED
- Politburo of the Communist Party of China
- Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
- Candidates for the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
- Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Web links
- Chronicle glossary entry of the RBB