ABSTRACT
As demonstrated in this chapter, the USSR Congress of Soviets, the Central Executive Committee, and the Central Executive Committee Presidium were the supreme bodies of state power only nominally. The provisions of the Constitution were not strictly followed, and the practices of the single-party regime rather than legal theory were the main background for the operation of the Soviet bodies. The function of descriptive representation gained prominence, emphasizing the Bolshevik take on building an inclusionary political community in a top-down manner. The Soviet system continued to play an important role in the global crisis of parliamentarism, which saw the rise of authoritarian and dictatorial regimes around the world, both institutionally and intellectually. There was, however, never a complete departure from parliamentarism, as the Congress of Soviets and the Central Executive Committee were occasionally referred to as “workers’ parliament.” Besides, the Comintern promoted the use of parliaments by foreign communist parties. Domestic opponents of the Bolsheviks supported the idea of freely elected soviets and establishing proper parliamentary institutions. For Russian émigré authors, the crisis of parliamentarism was a major topic, and some even suggested keeping the soviets in view of the popularity of corporatist designs.
