ABSTRACT
As we have discussed in Chapter 2, the party had to conduct various functions and one of the most burdensome functions was economic management. Therefore the party’s relations with the state became a serious concern. In fact, this topic had attracted many scholars before the Gorbachev period.1 This chapter also considers the party’s control over the state in the perestroika period.2 It is well known that the party controlled state organs. The party had various controlling mechanisms. First the party developed the party apparat to check the activity of state organs. For example, the CC apparat had departments that paralleled the central ministerial branches. Second, the party controlled the staffing of the state organs through the nomenklatura system. For instance, the all-union Central Committee approved the important posts in the military, ministries, and so forth. Third, the party had primary party organizations (PPOs) in state organs (and almost every organization in the Soviet Union). The party could monitor the activity of the state through PPOs.
