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Congress of Soviets was the supreme governing body of the RSFSR and the USSR in two periods, from 1917 to 1936 and from 1989 to 1991.
Congress of Soviets, 1917-1936
The initial full name was Congress of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies. It is also known as Congress of People's Deputies.
Congress of Soviets was an assembly of representatives of local councils elected by workers, peasants and soldiers. In theory, it was the supreme power of Soviet State, an organ of the dictatorship of the proletariat. No burgeoise, no noble, no aristocrat, no priest had right to wote. Only working people. Congress of Soviets created laws and elected the Council of People's Commissars, which was the government.
In the interim its functions were performed by designated executive bodies, see Supreme Soviet.
In Stalin period, the Congress of Soviets in fact rubberstamped the decisions of the CPSU and served as a propaganda tribune. The 1936 Soviet Constitution eliminated the Congress of Soviets and made Supreme Soviet the governing body.
Congress of Soviets, 1989-1991
Congress of Soviets was recreated during Gorbachev's reforms, by amending the 1977 Soviet Constitution in 1988. The official name of the re-created congress was the Congress of People's Deputies. The congress consisted of 2,250 deputies elected in three different ways:
- 750 deputies elected according to the system used in Soviet of the Union elections in the 1936-1989 period.
- 750 deputies elected according to the system used in Soviet of Nationalities elections in the 1936-1989 period.
- 750 deputies representing "public organizations", such as Communist Party, Komsomol and labor unions. The election law would allocate a fixed number of seats to organizations, for example, 100 to Communist Party and 100 to Komsomol and the organizations would appoint deputies to those seats.
The congress would gather twice a year and would then elect the Supreme Soviet consisting of a smaller number of deputies. The Supreme Soviet would then serve as a permanent legislature, deciding all but the most important issues, such as amending the Soviet constitution, which were left to the full Congress only.
Only one Congress was elected, in March 1989. The fundamental difference from the previous elections in Soviet Union was that elections were competitive. Instead of one Communist Party-approved candidate for each seat, multiple candidates were allowed. The Congress had a variety of different political positions, from Communist to pro-Western, represented and lively debates with different viewpoints expressed. The Congress existed until the end of Soviet Union in 1991.
During the same period, a similar two-level structure, with a Congress of Soviets meeting twice a year and Supreme Soviet meeting all year, was established in Russian SFSR. One Congress was elected, in March 1990. It existed until being dissolved by President Boris Yeltsin during the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993. No Congress structure was established in the other republics of the Soviet Union in this period.
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