In The Soviet Union
During Joseph Stalin's time, the principle of democratic centralism had evolved to the point that the Supreme Soviet, while nominally vested with great legislative powers, did little more than approve decisions already made at the highest levels of the Communist Party. This de facto arrangement soon became the norm in nearly all Communist states.
By the Leonid Brezhnev period democratic centralism was described, in the 1977 Soviet Constitution, as a principle for organizing the state: "The Soviet state is organized and functions on the principle of democratic centralism, namely the electiveness of all bodies of state authority from the lowest to the highest, their accountability to the people, and the obligation of lower bodies to observe the decisions of higher ones. Democratic centralism combines central leadership with local initiative and creative activity and with the responsibility of each state body and official for the work entrusted to them."
Read more about this topic: Democratic Centralism
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