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Politburo



 
 
Politburo, short for Political Bureau, Russian
Russian language

Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe....
 Politicheskoye Buro, is the executive organization for a number of political parties
Political Parties

Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy....
, most notably those of communists
Communist party

A political party described as a communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government....
.

Marxist-Leninist states
In Marxist-Leninist states
Communist state

Communist state is a term used by many political scientists to describe a form of government in which the state operates under a single-party state and declares allegiance to Marxism-Leninism or a derivative thereof....
, the party is seen as "the vanguard of the people" and therefore usually has the power to control the state, and the non-state party officials in the politburo generally hold extreme power.

In the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 for example, the General Secretary
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU of the Communist Party of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was the title synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union after Joseph Stalin's consolidation of power in the 1920s....
 of the Communist Party did not necessarily hold a state office like president or prime minister to effectively control the system of government.






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Encyclopedia


Politburo, short for Political Bureau, Russian
Russian language

Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe....
 Politicheskoye Buro, is the executive organization for a number of political parties
Political Parties

Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy....
, most notably those of communists
Communist party

A political party described as a communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government....
.

Marxist-Leninist states


In Marxist-Leninist states
Communist state

Communist state is a term used by many political scientists to describe a form of government in which the state operates under a single-party state and declares allegiance to Marxism-Leninism or a derivative thereof....
, the party is seen as "the vanguard of the people" and therefore usually has the power to control the state, and the non-state party officials in the politburo generally hold extreme power.

In the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 for example, the General Secretary
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU of the Communist Party of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was the title synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union after Joseph Stalin's consolidation of power in the 1920s....
 of the Communist Party did not necessarily hold a state office like president or prime minister to effectively control the system of government. Instead, party members answerable to or controlled by the party held these posts, often as honorific posts as a reward for their long years of service to the party. On other occasions, having governed as General Secretary, the party leader might assume a state office in addition. For example, Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a Russian politician. He was the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, serving from 1985 until 1991, and also the last head of state of the USSR, serving from 1988 until its collapse in 1991....
 initially did not hold the presidency of the Soviet Union, that office being given as an honour to former Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko
Andrei Gromyko

Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko was a Soviet Union politician and diplomat. He served as Foreign Minister of Russia and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet ....
. Stalin ruled the Soviet Union for well over a decade before assuming the governmental position of Premier of the Soviet Union
Premier of the Soviet Union

Premier of the Soviet Union is the commonly used English language term for the offices of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR , who was the head of government in the Soviet Union....
 during World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
.

Officially, the Party Congress
Party Congress

A party congress is a general conference of a political party. The congress is attended by delegates who represent the party membership. In most parties the party congress is the highest decision making body of the organisation and elects the party's leadership bodies such as the National Executive Committee in the case of the British Labour...
 elects a Central Committee
Central Committee

Central Committee most commonly refers to the central executive unit of a Leninist or Communist party, whether ruling or non-ruling. In a Communist party, the Central Committee is made up of delegates elected at a Party Congress....
 which, in turn, elects a General Secretary
General secretary

The term General Secretary denotes a leader of various unions, parties, churches or associations. The most notable usages are the following:...
. Under Stalin however, this model was essentially reversed and it was the General Secretary who determined the composition of the Politburo and Central Committee.

Trotskyist parties


In Trotskyist parties, the Politburo is a bureau of the Central Committee
Central Committee

Central Committee most commonly refers to the central executive unit of a Leninist or Communist party, whether ruling or non-ruling. In a Communist party, the Central Committee is made up of delegates elected at a Party Congress....
 tasked with taking day-to-day political decisions, which must later be ratified by the Central Committee. It is appointed by the Central Committee from among its members. The post of General Secretary carries far less weight than in the Stalinist model. See, for example, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party
Lanka Sama Samaja Party

The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is a Trotskyism political party in Sri Lanka.The party was founded in 1935 and emerged as a major political force in the 1940s....
.

See also

  • Orgburo
    Orgburo

    The Organizational Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPSU existed from 1919 to 1952, until the 19th Congress, when the Orgburo was abolished and its functions were transferred to the enlarged Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee....
  • Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee
    Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

    The Politburo , known as the Presidium from 1952 to 1966, functioned as the central policymaking and governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union....
     in the Soviet Union
    Soviet Union

    The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
  • Politburo of the Communist Party of China
    Politburo of the Communist Party of China

    The Politburo of the Communist Party of China , formerly as Central Bureau before 1927, is a group of 19 to 25 people who oversee the Communist Party of China....
  • Politburo of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
    Politburo of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan

    At the time of its foundation, the Central Committee consisted of:* Permanent members** Nur Mohammed Taraki** Babrak Karmal** Sultan Ali Keshtmand...
  • Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party
    Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party

    The Politburo of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers Party was the chief executive body of the ruling Polish Communist apparatus between 1948?1989....
  • Politburo of the Bulgarian Communist Party
  • Politburo of the Hungarian Communist Party
  • Politburo of the Romanian Communist Party
  • Politburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party
    Lao People's Revolutionary Party

    The Lao People's Revolutionary Party is the Communist Party of Laos. Since 1975, it has monopolized political power in the country. The policy-making organs are the politburo and the central committee....
  • Politburo of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front
    Politburo of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front

    The Politburo is a 49-member body that formulates and decides policy for the Zimbabwe African National Union ? Patriotic Front, the minority party in the Parliament of Zimbabwe....