Collective Leadership
집단지도
The supreme governing principle of the CPSU after Stalin's death, institutionalised as a system of distributed power to prevent a recurrence of one-man dictatorship. Power was dispersed among the Politburo, Central Committee, and Council of Ministers; Party rules codified it as 'the supreme principle of Party leadership.' Khrushchev proclaimed collective leadership after Beria's arrest in 1953, but was himself ousted in 1964 for violating it. Under Brezhnev, it stabilised into oligarchic rule under the rubric of 'collectivity.' The principle symbolised a political culture in which losers no longer died (the end of Stalinist purges) yet it coexisted with the steady concentration of real power in the General Secretary's hands until the Party's dissolution in 1991.
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Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) comprehensive article on the concept, its institutionalisation after Stalin's death, Khrushchev's proclamation of it as 'the supreme principle of our Party,' the 1964 ouster, Brezhnev-era collectivity, and later developments
- Marxists Internet Archive CPSU Rules (1977), Article 27: 'The supreme principle of Party leadership is collective leadership, which is an absolute requisite for the normal functioning of Party organisations'
- Marxists Internet Archive 1969 Soviet party textbook with chapter 'Supreme Principle of Party Leadership: Collective Leadership from Bottom to Top,' elaborating the Leninist doctrinal basis
- Wikipedia (RU) Russian Wikipedia article covering the Soviet section: post-Stalin distribution of powers, Khrushchev's hypocrisy charge, Brezhnev reinforcement, and Gorbachev-era fragmentation