Authors

Ivan Sablin¹;  ¹ University of Heidelberg, Germany

Discussion

In 1935, the Soviet leadership made a major concession to the universalist approach to modernity by announcing plans to introduce a “parliament” in the USSR. The 1936 Soviet Constitution and the introduction of the Supreme Soviet, however, did not change the operation of the single-party and personal dictatorship. The Supreme Soviet was de facto appointed by the party and had no agency in decision making. Its main functions were symbolic and propagandistic. Elections and sessions were supposed to demonstrate the total loyalty of the population. The Supreme Soviet’s further functions included descriptive representation, including a showcase of the country’s ethnic diversity, the integration of the singular Soviet people, and the amplification of official discourse. The Supreme Soviet’s members, however, had some practical functions in policy fine-tuning and acted as intermediaries between the state and the people by receiving and acting on numerous petitions and complaints. Despite some reforms in the 1960s and the adoption of the 1977 Soviet Constitution, the Supreme Soviet’s role and functions barely changed until perestroika.