Soviet democracy

Soviet democracy (sometimes council democracy) was a political system in the Soviet Union, in which workers' councils called "soviets" (Russian for "council"), consisting of delegates, formed organs of legislative and executive power. The soviets begin at the local level and onto a national parliament-like assembly. According to Vladimir Lenin and other Marxist theorists, the soviets represent the democratic will of the working class and are thus the embodiment of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

The process begins when the workers of a city elect their local soviet. This body holds both legislative and executive power for that city. The idea is identical to that of the Paris Commune. The local soviets choose their delegates for their district soviet. These district soviets in turn elect their provincial soviet. Lastly, the provincial soviets then choose their delegates for the regional soviet. Each soviet has legislative-executive power over the territory it governs.

This elective process of a group of soviets electing the council above it continues until the national soviet, which is the supreme governing body of the nation. In the USSR, Until 1936 the national soviet (at that time the Congress of Soviets) was not elected by the regional soviets, but rather by the district soviets. Each district soviet elected and sent a number of delegates to the national soviet that was appropriate to accurately represent its population. But following passage of the 1936 Soviet Constitution the Supreme Soviets became directly-elective as well. However, in the rest of the Eastern Bloc, the Soviets were always directly elected, while China and, until 1992, Cuba, still use the hierarchical electoral system.

Each large soviet (including some larger locals) elects a small executive committee. This assembly deals with the day-to-day affairs of the territory that its soviet governs. The executive committee is subservient to its soviet, its actions must be in accordance with the soviet's legislation, and it only operates during times when the soviet is not in session. This method is likely borrowed from Athenian democracy.

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