The People's Control was a semi-civic, semi-governmental organisation in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

with the purpose of putting under scrutiny the activities of government, local administrations and enterprises. It traces its roots back to Rabkrin (the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate), established in 1920. When

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

rose to power, he merged Rabkrin with the

CPSU Party Control Committee The Central Control Commission (, ''Tsentral'naya Kontrol'naya Komissiya'') was a supreme disciplinary body (since 1934 within the Central Committee) of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, also known as the ''Party Control Commission'' (193 ...

, only to un-merge them in the 1930s.

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

, seeking to emulate the Bolsheviks but as part of his

de-Stalinization De-Stalinization () comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and Khrushchev Thaw, the thaw brought about by ascension of Nik ...

efforts, merged them again and created the Committee of Party-State Control of the Central Committee of the CPSU and of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, putting the ambitious Alexander Shelepin in charge. In 1965,

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

and the collective leadership around him separated them once more to restrain Shelepin's ambitions. The 1979

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Law on People's Control established committees of people's control in each

Soviet republic A soviet republic (from ), also called council republic, is a republic in which the government is formed of soviets (workers' councils) and politics are based on soviet democracy. During the Revolutions of 1917–1923, various revolutionary ...

under the supervision of the central Committee of People's Control. These committees had the authority to audit government and economic administration records. Officials found guilty of illegalities could be publicly reprimanded, fined for damages, or referred to the procurator for prosecution. In the late 1980s, the committees of people's control were an invaluable instrument in

Soviet general secretary The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. was the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). From 1924 until the country's dissolution in 1991, the officeholder was the recognize ...

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

's efforts at reform and ''

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

''.A Country Study: Soviet Union (Former), section "Committees of People's Control"
/ref> The committees of people's control extended throughout the Soviet Union. In 1989, of the more than 10 million citizens who served on these organs, 95 percent were volunteers. General meetings of work collectives at every enterprise and office elected the committees for tenures of two and one-half years. The chairman of the Committee of People's Control and a professional staff served for five years. The chairman sat on the

USSR Council of Ministers The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ˌɛsˌɛsˌɛsˈɛr), sometimes abbreviated as Sovmin or referred to as the ...

Chairmen

* Alexander Shelepin (...-1965) * Pavel Kovanov * Gennady Voronov (1971-) * Alexey Shkolnikov (1974-) * Sergey Manyakin (1987-) * Gennady Kolbin (1989-)

References

*Adams, Jan S. (1978). "Institutional Change in the 1970s: The Case of the USSR People's Control Committee." Slavic Review 37(3):457 - 472. *Adams, Jan S. (1989). "USSR People's Control Committee and Perestroika." Radio Liberty Report on the USSR 1(4):1 - 3. {{authority control Soviet state institutions 1934 establishments in the Soviet Union 1991 disestablishments in the Soviet Union Supreme audit institutions Subordinate bodies of the Soviet government

Chairmen

See also

References