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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Soviet Union
Index
The Council of Ministers and its agencies carried out the
following tasks of government: internal and external security of
the state; economic development, management, and administration;
and ideological instruction and education. The council enacted the
decisions of the party and therefore administered, through its
bureaucratic regulatory and management arms, every aspect of Soviet
life. As its primary task, however, the council managed the
economy.
The Supreme Soviet ratified council membership as submitted by
the chairman of the Council of Ministers. However, the actual
selection of council ministers was made by the party leadership as
part of its nomenklatura authority and was only later
confirmed by a vote of the Supreme Soviet. Until recently, the
Supreme Soviet endorsed such decisions unanimously and without
debate. In mid-1989, however, Ryzhkov was forced to withdraw some
candidates for ministerial posts because some of the committees of
the Supreme Soviet objected that the candidates were unqualified,
thus forcing him to submit alternative candidates.
The Council of Ministers had the power to issue decrees, which
carried the same force of law as legislative acts of the Supreme
Soviet. The Supreme Soviet or, indirectly, the Congress of People's
Deputies, could annul a decree if it found the decree to be in
violation of the Constitution or an existing statute (perhaps upon
the recommendation of the Constitutional Oversight Committee).
Orders of the Council of Ministers on administrative matters
technically did not carry the force of law, but they were binding
on the ministerial apparatus. Although some decrees were published,
most remained secret.
In 1989 the Council of Ministers had more than 100 members,
including the ministers, the heads of government bureaus and state
committees, and the chairmen of the councils of ministers of the
fifteen constituent republics. Soviet scholars maintained that the
Council of Ministers met "regularly," but reports in the press
indicated that full meetings occurred only quarterly to hear and
ratify a plan or a report from the chairman. In reality, the
Council of Ministers delegated most of its functions to its
Presidium or to the individual ministries.
Data as of May 1989
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