Government of the USSR

The emblem of the USSR was used as the main symbol of the government of the USSR in 1923-1991

The Government of the USSR ( syn. Government of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic ; Soviet Government ) is the generalized name of the central government body of general administrative competence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics .

In Soviet times, when using the term "Government of the USSR" as the official name of a particular institution, capital letters were used in its spelling. The expressions “government”, “Soviet government” and their derivatives in the context of the Soviet Union were used in the past and are currently used, as a rule, informally - often to refer to the totality of the organs of state power and government of the USSR ^[1] .

In different years, the USSR government bore the following names ^[2] :

December 30, 1922 - July 6, 1923 - Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR ^[3] ;
July 6, 1923 - March 15, 1946 - Council of People's Commissars of the USSR ;
March 15, 1946 - January 14, 1991 - Council of Ministers of the USSR ;
January 14 - December 26, 1991 - Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR ^[4] ;
August 28 - September 20, 1991 - Committee on the Operational Management of the National Economy of the USSR ^[5] ;
September 20 - November 14, 1991 - Inter-Republican Economic Committee of the USSR ^[4] ;
November 14 - December 26, 1991 - The Interstate Economic Committee of the Economic Community ^[6] .

Term History

The word "government" does not appear either in the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR or in the Constitution of the USSR of 1924; however, the phrase "Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" was already used in the names of the official press bodies of the USSR Council of People's Commissars throughout their entire existence (from 1924 to 1946). Only with the adoption of the Constitution of the USSR in 1936 , where the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR was called the "Government of the USSR", this term came into official use. The 1977 Constitution maintained this tradition; in the text of the country's main law, the names “Council of Ministers of the USSR” and “Government of the USSR” were used as synonyms . The term disappeared from the USSR Constitution on December 26, 1990, however, the practice of its use has been preserved. So, in the Law of the USSR of March 20, 1991 No. 2033-1 “On the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR” the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR is called the Government of the USSR.

Subordination and Status

The government of the USSR was formed by the supreme bodies of state power of the country — the Central Executive Committee of the USSR (from 1923 to 1938 ), the Supreme Council of the USSR (from 1938 to 1991 ) —and was accountable directly to these bodies, as well as to the President of the USSR (in 1990-1991 ) .

In the period from 1936 to 1990, the Government of the USSR had the status of the highest public administration body of the Soviet Union.

Head of Government

V. I. Lenin , first head of the USSR government

The post of head of government of the Soviet Union was to a large extent similar to the post of prime minister in other countries. In different years, the powers of the head of the government of the USSR changed, but in general, the person holding this position supervised the activities of the USSR government, selected personnel for their inclusion in the government, and had the right to make decisions in certain cases on certain issues of state administration. The head of government did not have the right to independently appoint and remove the heads of central government bodies from office; this right belonged to the highest legislative body.

The appointment of the head of the Soviet government was carried out by the highest organ of state power of the USSR - the Central Executive Committee of the USSR (from 1923 to 1938 ), and from 1938 to 1990 - by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR . Since 1990, the government and its head began to report directly to the President of the USSR , however, the appointment of the head of government to the post required coordination with the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Central government of the USSR

The central organs of state administration of the USSR were the core of the state administration system of the Soviet Union. The following institutions were included in the system of central government bodies of the USSR:

supreme central organ of general administrative competence (government of the USSR)
central bodies of sectoral and functional management ( people's commissariats (1922–46), ministries (1946–91), state committees and state agencies )
central departments of the government of the USSR

The government of the USSR was formed from the leaders of the central organs of sectoral and functional management and the leaders of some government departments.

Departments of the Government of the USSR

The Government of the USSR had the constitutional right to create, reorganize, and abolish government departments (bureaus, inspections, commissions, committees, administrations, agencies, etc.) necessary to carry out the functions assigned to the union government by the Constitution of the USSR and other laws of the country. The government of the USSR included the heads of some of the most important bodies from the point of view of state administration subordinate to the government — for example, the heads of the Higher School Affairs Committee (1936–46), the Central Statistical Bureau (1957–91), and others.

Official Publications

Izvestia newspaper logo

The newspaper "Izvestia" - in different years of the existence of the government of the USSR, was issued under various names:
- " Proceedings of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Peasants, Workers, Soldiers and Cossack Deputies and the Moscow Council of Workers and Red Army Deputies " (1918-1923) ^[7]
- " Proceedings of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers, Peasants, Red Army and Cossack Deputies " ^[8] (Proceedings of the CEC and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, 1923-1938)
- " Bulletin of the Soviets of Deputies of the Working People of the USSR " (1938-1946)
" Bulletin of the Central Executive Committee, SNK and STO USSR " (1923-1924)
"A collection of laws and orders of the Workers 'and Peasants' Government of the USSR " ^[9] (1924-1937)
"A collection of decrees and orders of the Government of the USSR " (1938-1946)
" Collection of decisions and orders of the Council of Ministers of the USSR " (1946-1949)
" Collection of Resolutions of the Government of the USSR " (1957-1991)

Notes

↑ The latter is characteristic of Western countries , where a political tradition based on the doctrine of separation of powers views the “government” ( English government ) as a combination of legislative , executive and judicial bodies {{subst: AI}}.
↑ The dates within which the body legally or actually performed the functions of the USSR government are indicated.
↑ {{subst: AI2 | The Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, on behalf of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, temporarily performed the duties of the Government of the USSR between the formation of the USSR in December 1922 and the formation of the first composition of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR in July 1923.}}
↑ ¹ ^{2 The} USSR Law "On State Administration and Administration of the USSR during the Transitional Period" No. 2392-I of September 5, 1991 established the Inter-Republican Economic Committee of the USSR instead of the USSR Cabinet of Ministers . However, the corresponding amendments to the Constitution of the USSR were not made.
↑ The provisional governing body, not provided for by the Constitution of the USSR, on which on August 28, 1991, after the resignation of the USSR Cabinet of Ministers, were assigned the functions of the USSR government until the formation of a new Cabinet of Ministers.
↑ On November 14, 1991, the Inter-Republican Economic Committee of the USSR was transformed into the Interstate Economic Committee of the Economic Community (between the Union republics and the republics that announced their withdrawal from the USSR). It was liquidated on December 26, 1991 in connection with the termination of the USSR.
↑ The organ of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR , which served as the government of the USSR from the moment the USSR was formed until the formation of the first Council of People's Commissars of the USSR .
↑ About the official newspaper of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR: Decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of July 13, 1923.
↑ Published by the Administrative Department of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR . Source: On the Procedure for Publishing Laws and Orders of the Government of the USSR: Decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of August 22, 1924.

[1] The latter is characteristic of Western countries , where a political tradition based on the doctrine of separation of powers views the “government” ( English government ) as a combination of legislative , executive and judicial bodies {{subst: AI}}.

[2] The dates within which the body legally or actually performed the functions of the USSR government are indicated.

[3] {{subst: AI2 | The Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, on behalf of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, temporarily performed the duties of the Government of the USSR between the formation of the USSR in December 1922 and the formation of the first composition of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR in July 1923.}}

[МЭК-4] ¹ ^{2 The} USSR Law "On State Administration and Administration of the USSR during the Transitional Period" No. 2392-I of September 5, 1991 established the Inter-Republican Economic Committee of the USSR instead of the USSR Cabinet of Ministers . However, the corresponding amendments to the Constitution of the USSR were not made.

[5] The provisional governing body, not provided for by the Constitution of the USSR, on which on August 28, 1991, after the resignation of the USSR Cabinet of Ministers, were assigned the functions of the USSR government until the formation of a new Cabinet of Ministers.

[6] On November 14, 1991, the Inter-Republican Economic Committee of the USSR was transformed into the Interstate Economic Committee of the Economic Community (between the Union republics and the republics that announced their withdrawal from the USSR). It was liquidated on December 26, 1991 in connection with the termination of the USSR.

[7] The organ of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR , which served as the government of the USSR from the moment the USSR was formed until the formation of the first Council of People's Commissars of the USSR .

[8] About the official newspaper of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR: Decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of July 13, 1923.

[postanov1924-9] Published by the Administrative Department of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR . Source: On the Procedure for Publishing Laws and Orders of the Government of the USSR: Decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of August 22, 1924.