Abstract

The first two Soviet constitutions (the RSFRR in 1918 and the USSR in 1924) re- mained silent on the political role of the Communist Party, although they regulated the ideologi- cal goals of the system. After the adoption of the first constitutional act, a discussion began on the legal way of regulating the role of the party. Its results were used in practice to a small extent, and only in the course of work on the third consecutive Soviet constitution.

The Constitution of 1936 legally anchored the Communist Party. Its congresses were not rec- ognised as a legislative body, but the working people of towns and villages — as constitutional sovereignty — were institutionalised through the actions of the party’s authorities. Additionally, the CPSU (b) gained a significant influence on the course of the elections, confirming in a legal sense their transformation into a system of universal voting.

As far as the status of the CPSU (b) is concerned, the Constitution of 1936 provides for the transition to treating the party as a specific state body, an element of constitutional sovereignty, and not only as an axis of the system of power; previously the scope of its authority was unlimit- ed, so was it the same at the moment? The fact of constitutionalisation of the Communist Party’s political position led to the law regulating its legal situation, which should have been intensified in the long run. It has to be said that only to a small extent did this happen.