🎯 Main Thesis

• The Soviet Union’s political and economic system was complex, evolving, and often misunderstood in the West.
• It was fundamentally democratic in design, but heavily shaped (and constrained) by one-party rule and vanguardist ideology.
• Economically, it was state socialist, not capitalist — profits were reinvested into public goods rather than private wealth.

1️⃣ Historical Context

• 1917: Bolsheviks overthrow Russian Provisional Government → Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR).
• 1922: Creation of the USSR to give national minorities their own socialist republics within a federal structure (like US states under a federal government).

2️⃣ Republic-Level Government (Example: RSFSR)

• Legislative: All-Russian Congress of Soviets (elected by local workers’ councils).
  • Chose Council of Ministers (executive branch).
  • Elected High Court judges and a Central Executive Committee to act when congress was out of session.
• Executive: Council of Ministers implemented laws (e.g., domestic trade, labor, agriculture, healthcare, etc.).
• Judiciary: Judges elected for five-year terms; interpreted laws.
• 1937–38: Reform → Congress replaced by Supreme Soviet of the republic (more direct elections, presidium for when not in session).

3️⃣ Federal-Level Government (USSR-wide)

• Pre-1936: All-Union Congress of Soviets → elected All-Union Central Executive Committee → appointed Council of People’s Commissars (ministers for defense, foreign affairs, etc.).
• Post-1936 Constitution: Supreme Soviet of the USSR replaced Congress, with two chambers:
  1. Soviet of the Union (population-based representation — ~300k citizens per deputy).
  2. Soviet of Nationalities (equal representation for each republic — e.g., Russia and Estonia both got 32 deputies).
• Chambers had to agree to pass laws; appointed ministers directly.
• Presidium of the Supreme Soviet could issue decrees between sessions (similar to US executive orders).