The Soviet of Nationalities (russian: Совет Национальностей, ''Sovyet Natsionalnostey'') was the upper

chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations * Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics * Debate chamber, the space or room that houses delib ...

of the

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet (russian: Верховный Совет, Verkhovny Sovet, Supreme Council) was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) ...

of the

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, elected on the basis of

universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

, equal and

direct Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...

in accordance with the principles of

Soviet democracy Soviet democracy, or council democracy, is a political system in which the rule of the population is exercised by directly elected ''soviets'' (Russian for "council"). The councils are directly responsible to their electors and bound by their ...

. Before 1989, candidates were selected on the basis of democratic centralism by local party branches, and would subsequently need to receive more than 50% of the vote in a referendum open to the public. It was briefly succeeded by the Soviet of the Republics from October to December of 1991. As opposed to the

Soviet of the Union The Soviet of the Union (russian: Сове́т Сою́за - ''Sovet Soyuza'') was the lower chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, elected on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot ...

, the Soviet of Nationalities was composed of the nationalities of the Soviet Union, which in turn followed

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

rather than being a representation of ethnic groups.

Background

Prior to the creation of the Supreme Soviet in 1938 by the

Soviet Constitution of 1936 The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, the Soviet of Nationalities was one of the bodies that formed the

Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union The All-Union Central Executive Committee (russian: Всесоюзный Центральный исполнительный комитет, Vsesoyuznyy Tsentral'nyy ispolnitel'nyy komitet) was the most authoritative governing body of the USSR d ...

, the other being the

. Created by the 1924 Constitution to represent the national-territorial units of the Soviet Union in 1924, the Soviet of Nationalities included 5 delegates from union-level republics and ASSRs and 1 delegate from each autonomous oblast.

History

The Soviet of the Nationalities was formed on the basis of equal representation of all the

Republics of the Soviet Union The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Union Republics ( rus, Сою́зные Респу́блики, r=Soyúznye Respúbliki) were National delimitation in the Soviet Union, national-based administrative units of ...

(32 deputies from each republic, excluding other autonomous units inside that republic which sent in separate members),

autonomous republic An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Man ...

s (11 deputies from each republic), autonomous oblasts (five deputies from each

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdom of ...

), and national districts (one deputy from each

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

). As a result, the largest republic, the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

with a population of 147 million, and the smallest republic, the

Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...

with a population of about 1.5 million, got 32 deputies each.

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

as an ethnic group made up more than half of the population of the Soviet Union, but the Soviet of Nationalities did not represent ethnic groups, it represented the different nationalities as expressed by the republics and various autonomous units of the Soviet Union. This electoral system seriously diminished representation of larger ethnic groups in favor of the smaller ethnic groups of the Soviet Union, with the Russians being most underrepresented. The Soviet of Nationalities enjoyed the same rights as the

in the area of

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

initiative and in resolving other issues inside the competence of the Soviet Union. It was responsible for holding debates with the purpose of providing multiple perspectives regarding the legislation in question, before voting on it. Such debates took place at many levels of the party- the vote of the representative would usually align with the consensus of the regional party branch that they represented. The Soviet of Nationalities elected a

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

(who would lead the sessions of the chamber), his four deputies, and permanent commissions: Mandate Commission, Commission on Legislative Suppositions,

Budget A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...

Planning Commission,

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

Commission, Youth Affairs Commission, Industry Commission, Transportation and Communications Commission, Construction and Industry of

Building Materials Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-ma ...

Commission,

Agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

Commission,

Consumer Goods A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, but ...

Commission,

Public Education State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

Commission, Science and Culture Commission, Trade Commission, Consumer Service and Municipal Economy Commission,

Environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

al Commission. The presidium of the Soviet of Nationalities did "survive as the sole central political institution formally devoted to the nationalities question". Throughout the first two decades of the USSR's existence, the influence of the Soviet of Nationalities expanded to roughly match the influence of the Soviet of the Union - the other chamber of the USSR's Congress. During that time, 5 new Soviet Republics emerged in Central Asia (Uzbek, Turkmen, Tajik, Kazakh, Kirghiz respectively) - and the Transcaucasian SFSR was dissolved, elevating the constituent territories (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) to full Soviet Republics as well. By the 1962 elections, it reached its maximum size of 750 representatives. The Soviet of Nationalities continued consisting of 750 representatives until 1989, when it was reduced to 271 deputies indirectly elected by the Congress of People's Deputies. New, much larger electoral districts were drawn up. This partially nullified the role of local party branches, who were previously tasked with holding debate sessions to ensure that locals involved in politics could more adequately get to know and understand their prospective representatives.

Soviet of the Republics

The Soviet of the Republics — the upper chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, created on the basis of the USSR Law of 5 September 1991 "On the bodies of state power and administration of the USSR in the transition period",Закон СССР от 5 сентября 1991 года № 2392-I «Об органах государственной власти и управления Союза ССР в переходный период»
/ref> however, not provided for by the Constitution of the USSR. The first meeting of the new chamber took place on 21 October.

Anuarbek Alimzhanov Anuar Turlybekuly "Anuarbek" Alimzhanov ( kk, Әнуар Тұрлыбекұлы Әлімжанов, Änwar Turlıbekulı Älimjanov; 2 May 1930 – 9 November 1993) was a Soviet and Kazakh writer, publicist, public figure and politician. From Oc ...

, a deputy from Kazakhstan, was elected chairman of the chamber.Высшие органы государственной власти СССР
/ref> The Council of Republics consisted of 20 deputies from each union republic from among the people's deputies of the USSR and union republics, delegated by the highest bodies of state power of these republics. Taking into account the federal structure of the RSFSR, it had 52 deputies in the Council of Republics. Other union republics, which include republics and autonomous formations, additionally delegated to the Council of Republics one deputy from each republic and autonomy. In order to ensure the equality of the republics when voting in the Council of Republics, each union republic had one vote. The Council of Republics made decisions on the organization and procedure for the activities of union bodies, ratifies and denounces international treaties. On 26 December 1991 the Soviet of the Republics adopted a resolution declaring that the Soviet Union no longer existed as a functioning state and voted both itself and the Soviet Union out of existence. The Soviet of the Union had effectively been dissolved two weeks earlier when Russia unilaterally recalled its deputies, leaving it without a quorum. This declaration by the Soviet of the Republics was thus the final legal step in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soviet Of Nationalities Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Government of the Soviet Union Historical legislatures 1938 establishments in the Soviet Union 1991 disestablishments in the Soviet Union

Background

History

Soviet of the Republics

See also

References