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Supreme Soviet

Soviet government
Also known as: Verkhovny Soviet

Quick Summary

The Supreme Soviet was the highest legislative body in the former Soviet Union and its republics. The Soviet Union itself was a vast Eurasian empire that existed from 1917/22 to 1991, encompassing 15 Soviet Socialist Republics.12

The foundation of the Soviet government was the Soviets of People's Deputies, which existed at all administrative levels. The Supreme Soviet of the USSR, located in Moscow, was nominally in control. It consisted of two chambers: the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities.2

Elections to these bodies were typically controlled by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), which held a monopoly on power for much of the USSR's existence. While theoretically a legislative body, real decision-making power often resided with smaller groups like the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, which was influenced by the CPSU's Politburo. In 1989, the Supreme Soviet was replaced by the Congress of People's Deputies as the highest organ of state power, though a new bicameral legislature, also called the Supreme Soviet, was elected from within the Congress.3425

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