Русский (Politburo)

Political Science 101 Lesson of the Day - Русский (Politburo)

From the Russian History Encyclopedia:

The Politburo, or Political Bureau, was the most important decision-making and leadership organ in the Communist Party, and has commonly been seen as equivalent to the cabinet in Western political systems. For most of the life of the Soviet system, the Politburo (called the Presidium between 1952 and 1966) was the major focus of elite political life and the arena within which all important issues of policy were decided. It was the heart of the political system.

The Politburo was formally established at the Eighth Congress of the Party in March 1919 and held its first session on April 16. Formed by the Central Committee (CC), the Politburo was to make decisions that could not await the next meeting of the CC, but over time its smaller size and more frequent meeting schedule meant that effective power drained into it and away from the CC. There had been smaller groupings of leaders before, but these had never become formalized nor had they taken an institutional form. The establishment of the Politburo was part of the regularization of the leading levels of the Party that saw the simultaneous creation of the Orgburo and Secretariat, with these latter two bodies meant to ensure the implementation of the decisions of leading Party organs, in practice mostly the Politburo.

Pop Quiz:

1. Who are the current members of the coalition's Politburo?
2. How will the candidates be determined for each riding?
3. Will the respective Liberal or NDP riding associations who object to being disenfranchised in their choice of candidates be:

a) ignored;
b) replaced with a more compliant bunch; or
c) sent for compulsory re-education
d) All of the Above

If you picked D, you're most likely correct. Strange days indeed.