The Soviet Municipal Charter

In addition to reaffirming the federal nature of the Soviet state, the October 1977 Soviet constitution, as well as the constitutions of the union republics ratified over the course of the following year, proclaimed a new legal basis for Soviet municipal administration, with the role of the local soviets, or councils, being stated ever more forcefully.^[11] In theory, the system of national, republican, regional, and local soviets of people's deputies set forth in the 1977 constitution is the primary instrumentality of state power.^[12] Other government institutions—including such varied bodies as industrial enterprises, schools, hospitals, and shops—become subordinate at one level or another to the elected soviets, which direct all branches of state, economic, social, and cultural activities.^[13] To guarantee the soviets' juridically superior position, the 1977 Constitution states in Article 105 that "The Deputy has the right to request information from the appropriate state agency or official who is obliged to respond to the inquiry at a session of the Soviet."^[14]

Chapter 19 of the 1977 constitution addresses this basic conflict of Soviet local governance in a forthright manner, with Articles 146 and 147 of that chapter forming the basis of municipal attempts to assert local control over economic activities.^[15] Article 146 grants local soviets the power to resolve "all questions of local importance, proceeding from the general interests of the state and the interests of citizens residing on a soviet's territory."^[16] Still, the constitution's authors seem reluctant to extend the authority of local soviets over conflicts of national importance emerging within their territory.

At this point Article 147 assumes its significance, particularly in its final revised version, which contains new language added to the

preliminary draft that had been released for public discussion. Article 147 declares, in text added after the public debate, that local soviets "ensure comprehensive economic and social development on their territory."^[17] This was and still remains the boldest legislative effort to assert municipal control over the activities of national economic organizations operating within the soviets' jurisdictions. The article goes on to state that local soviets "exercise control over the observance of legislation by enterprises, institutions, and organizations of higher subordination located on the soviets' territory; and coordinate and control these entities' activity in the fields of land use, conservation, construction, the use of labor resources, the production of consumer goods, and the provision of social, cultural, consumer, and other services to the population."^[18] This statute goes well beyond previous efforts to increase the authority of the soviets.

Almost immediately following the ratification of the new constitution in 1977 the Supreme Soviet began to amend and revise all existing legislation in order to bring the corpus of Soviet law into conformity with the new constitution. Many of these revisions similarly strengthened the authority of local soviets to regulate the activities of the central ministries in such areas as provision of local services, labor regulations, and environmental standards, where primary regulatory control had been ceded to the soviets.^[19] The more important of these decrees was a joint resolution issued in March 1981 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party, the USSR Supreme Soviet, and the Council of Ministers; it sought to strengthen and widen the economic powers identified in Article 146 of the 1977, or "Brezhnev," Constitution.^[20] Legislation enacted in June, September, and November 1980, governing the activities of local soviets,^[21] and efforts during the spring and summer of 1984 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the supreme soviets of the union republics attempted to ensure greater local control over economic agencies operating in a given jurisdiction.^[22] Consequently, the new constitution and legislation and resolutions of the past several years—taken as a whole—define the functions of the city soviet and its executive agencies.

In any given municipality or district, the soviet of people's deputies, its executive committee (ispolnitel'nyi komitet or ispolkom ), administrative agencies, and commissions serve as the Soviet state's principal agent.^[23] The local soviet, which is dissolved for reelection every 30 months,^[24] oversees all governmental, administrative, economic, social, and cultural endeavors within its territorial domain.^[25] In the city of Leningrad, the city soviet supervises the activities of over 400 industrial enterprises, 800 construction, transportation, and commercial bodies, 900 educational and scientific institutions from primary schools to advanced research centers, and 8,000 service-sector organizations, all subordinate to some 150 ministries and other state agencies.^[26] Such

supervision entails the coordination of interests among all of these contrasting local and national ventures, with a view to maximizing the interests of the entire community.^[27] The city soviet also directs construction activity within its jurisdiction and has responsibility for enforcing environmental laws.^[28]

Until 1989, the regional, city, and district soviets usually have been made up of local workers and notables such as famous actors and renowned scientists, as well as administrators who have stood unopposed in single-candidate elections organized by districts with relatively small populations.^[29] For example, in 1985 the composition of the Leningrad city soviet, with a total membership of 600 deputies, was as follows:^[30]

The deputies, who tend to meet once every quarter, select, according to Communist Party—controlled nomenklatura procedures to be described shortly, an executive committee to conduct the soviet's business during the intervening period. The chairman of the executive committee is also the local government's chief executive officer. The municipality's executive functions are carried out by departments and administrations that are subordinate to the soviet and its executive

committee, and are supervised by citizen commissions chaired by elected deputies who are members of the local soviet.

North American observers might be struck by the relatively large number of participants at any given stage in the process of local governance.^[31] The more skeptical among us might conclude that the sheer size of local soviets guarantees that they have only a most peripheral role in municipal administration, as the large numbers of deputies would presumably preclude meaningful participation in the decision-making process. In 1985, for example, the Leningrad regional soviet consisted of 280 deputies, who selected a 25-member executive committee responsible for the operation of several departments and administrations (of which 39 were reported to have been in operation in 1982), as well as for the support of standing commissions (of which there were 15 in operation in 1982).^[32] The Leningrad city soviet at that time should have been even more unwieldy, with 600 deputies and a 25-member executive committee responsible for even more departments and administrations (54 at last report in 1987) and committees and commissions (28 in 1987).^[33] In July 1987 the structure and membership of executive agencies were as follows:^[34]

Chair of the City Soviet Executive Committee
V. Ia. Khodyrev

First Deputy Chairs of the City Soviet Executive Committee
K. I. Labetskii (also Chair, Planning Commission)
Iu. A. Maksimov (Agro-industrial Commission of Leningrad)
L. G. Perekrestov

Deputy Chairs of the City Soviet Executive Committee
A. Ia. Avdeev
N. M. Arkhipov
G. A. Bukin
V. I. Matvienko
A. S. Sokolov
B. A. Surovtsev

Secretary of the City Soviet Executive Committee
L. A. Khodchenkova

Members of the City Soviet Executive Committee
O. I. Beliakov (Secretary, Kalininskii District Party Committee)
A. A. Bol'shakov (General Director, Scientific-Production Association)
A. N. Gerasimov (First Secretary, Leningrad City Party Committee)
G. A. Grigor'eva (Doctor, City Children's Polyclinic no. 58)
V. A. Leniashin (Director, State Russian Museum)

M. V. Riabkova (Leader of Plasterers' Brigade)
T. A. Senina (Chief Engineer, All-Union Draft-Design and Scientific Research Institute of Hydro Design)
V. I. Serova (Secretary, Leningrad Regional Trade Union Council)
V. P. Sidel'nikov (First Secretary, Nevskii District Party Committee)
G. G. Sintsova (General Director, May Day Dawn Association)
I. D. Spasskii (Chief, Construction-Design Bureau)
M. V. Stepanov (Brigade Leader, Sokol Association)
P. I. Timofeev (Lathe Operator, Kirov Factory)
E. A. Vasil'eva [position unidentified]

People's Control Commission Chair
E. P. Iudin

People's Court Chief
V. I. Poludniakov

Chairs of Standing Commissions of the City Soviet
Auditing: A. I. Aleksandrov (First Secretary, Moskovskii District Party Committee)
Construction and Construction Materials Production: Iu. K. Sevenard (Chief, Leningrad Hydro Specialized Construction Association)
Culture: V. N. Zaitsev (Director, State Public Library)
Health: N. V. Vasil'ev (Director, Scientific Research Institute on Trauma and Orthopedics)
Heat & Energy: G. A. Lastovkin, (General Director, Leningrad Petrotechnical Scientific-Production Association)
Housing Accounting and Distribution: V. A. Efimov (First Secretary, Leninskii District Party Committee)
Housing Exploitation and Repair: N. A. Ignat'ev (First Secretary, Oktiabr'skii District Party Committee)
Improvement of Administration and Realization of the "Intensification-90" Program: A. D. Dolbezhkin (General Director, Printing Machine Construction Production Association)
Industry: A. V. Chaus (General Director, Pulp Machine Construction Production Association)
Nature Protection and Well-Being: Iu. A. Balakin (Chief, Leningrad Civil Aviation Administration)
People's and Professional-Technical Education: B. M. Petrov (First Secretary, Petrodvortsov District Party Committee)
Physical Culture and Sports: A. A. Arbuzov (test driver at a scientific-production association)

Plan-Budget: V. P. Koveshnikov (general director of a scientific-production association)
Public Dining: V. F. Poliakov (Director, Leningrad Milk Combine no. 1)
Questions of Women's Labor and Style of Life: V. A. Zhelnova (Chief Doctor, City Children's Polyclinic no. 34)
Servicing of the Style of Life: L. A. Kutuzova (Director, Sewing and Clothing Repair Production Association of Vyborgskii District)
Socialist Legality and the Protection of the Social Order: A. I. Korolev (Dean, Juridical Faculty, Leningrad State University)
Social Insurance: N. Iu. Shumilova (Chief Doctor, Kalininskii District Polyclinic no. 90)
Trade: A. I. Bobrov (First Secretary, Dzerzhinskii District Party Committee)
Transportation & Communications: V. I. Karchenko (Chief, Baltic Steamship Line)
Youth Affairs: Iu. S. Vasil'ev (Rector, Leningrad Polytechnic Institute)

Leaders of Departments of the City Soviet Executive Committee
Cadres & Academic Institutions: A. A. Ponomarev
Construction & Construction Materials: A. D. Beglov
Economic Research: A. I. Denisov
General: G. A. Glukhov
Justice: M. R. Rakuta
Legal: I. A. Sobolevskii
Organizational and Instructional: V. I. Rozov
Price: Iu. V. Keleinikov
Registration of Civil Acts: G. I. Bogdanova
Veterinary: A. N. Romanov

Chiefs of Main Administrations of the City Soviet Executive Committee
Architectural Planning: V. I. Nikitin
Capital Construction: A. N. Alfimov
Construction Materials Industry: V. F. Nikulin
Construction of Engineering Structures: A. V. Veselov
Culture: A. P. Tupikin
Finance: V. N. Lomachenko
Health: G. A. Zaitsev
Heat and Energy: A. S. Khotchennov
Housing, Civil, and Industrial Construction: Iu. R. Kozhukhovskii
Internal Affairs: A. A. Kurkov

People's Education: S. A. Alekseev
Professional-Technical Education: L. A. Gorchakov
Public Dining: A. A. Tomashevich
Supply: V. Z. Grigor'ev
Trade: A. P. Zlobin
Wheat Baking and Macaroni Production: V. K. Ivanov

Chiefs of Administrations of the City Soviet Executive Committee
Archival: N. V. Ponomarev
Consumer Services: Iu. P. Filatov
Cooperative Housing Construction: A. N. Glotov
Dacha Services: A. P. Saksin
Expert: Iu. A. Ponomarev
Film: A. Ia. Vitol'
Flood Control Construction: B. P. Usanov
Foreign Relations: V. E. Kublitskii
Highway-Automotive: V. I. Shugaev
Hotels: N. M. Kazantsev
Housing: M. F. Petruk
Housing Accounting and Distribution: Iu. N. Lukanin
Individual Sewing and Clothing Repair: S. F. Molodtsova
Labor: N. Z. Amonskii
Local Industry: A. S. Vorob'ev
Municipal Services: V. V. Morozov
Parks: Iu. I. Khodakov
Pharmacy: V. M. Musatova
Protection of State Secrets in Print (Glavlit): L. N. Tsarev
Publishing and the Book Trade: E. A. Rozhnov
Servicing of Accredited Foreign Representatives: K. M. Ivanov
Social Insurance: A. A. Avseevich
Specialized Transportation and Ports: G. M. Alekseevca
Streetcars and Trolleybuses: Iu. N. Gorlin
Technical: B. S. Leshukov
Technical Inventories: A. I. Zakharov
Transportation: A. A. Zorin
USSR State Savings Bank (Gostrudsberkass): V. A. Shorin

Chairs of Committees of the City Soviet Executive Committee
TV and Radio: R. V. Nikolaev
Physical Culture and Sports: N. M. Popov
Collectivized Agriculture Services: A. N. Maliutin
Capital Repair and Reconstruction of Public Buildings: E. V. Bozhko

Commissions Subordinate to the City Soviet Executive Committee

Superintendency: A. Ia. Avdeev (Deputy Chair, Leningrad City Soviet Executive Committee)
Minors' Affairs: V. I. Matvienko (Deputy Chair, Leningrad City Soviet Executive Committee)
Struggle with Alcoholism: L. G. Perekrestov (First Deputy Chair, Leningrad City Soviet Executive Committee)

Finally, jurisdictions subordinate to the Leningrad city soviet in 1987 elected 5,420 deputies to 21 district, 3 city, and 4 settlement soviets, just one of which, that of the Vasileostrovskii District, had operated 15 standing commissions the previous year.^[35] Deliberative assemblies of such proportions are unsuited for meaningful discussion and control of municipal affairs. For the most part, these sessions are organized around a well-planned succession of speeches on a given set of policy questions such as housing, the new five-year plan, or economic performance; spontaneous participation by soviet members other than those whose remarks have been prepared in advance is discouraged. Consequently, the soviets' executive committees, administrations, and departments inevitably assume such supervisory functions, becoming from necessity the central administrative agencies within this system of local governance. Nonetheless, the deputies provide important liaison between those executive offices and the local citizenry. Interchanges between deputy and constituent begin during the election process.