Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, abbreviated as Politburo, was the de facto highest executive authority in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). While elected by and formally accountable to the Central Committee, in practice the Politburo operated as the ruling body of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union from its creation in 1919 until the party's dissolution in 1991. Full members and candidate (non-voting) members held among the most powerful positions in the Soviet hierarchy, often overlapping with top state roles. Its duties, typically carried out at weekly meetings, included formulating state policy, issuing directives, and ratifying appointments.

The Politburo was originally established as a small group of senior Bolsheviks shortly before the October Revolution of 1917, and was re-established in 1919 to decide on urgent matters during the Russian Civil War. It operated on the principles of democratic centralism, though in practice it increasingly centralized power in the hands of a few. Under Joseph Stalin, the party's General Secretary from 1922 to 1952, the Politburo evolved into an instrument of personal dictatorship. His domination of the body was such that its sessions were often perfunctory, and during the Great Purge from 1936 to 1938, even Politburo members were not immune to persecution. The body was renamed the Presidium between 1952 and 1966. After Stalin's death in 1953, the Politburo's authority became more collective under leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev. During the Brezhnev era from 1964 to 1982, the Politburo grew in size and became increasingly bureaucratic in character. As General Secretary from 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to reform the Politburo's functions during perestroika, shifting power away from party structures and toward state institutions. The Politburo was officially disbanded upon the banning of the CPSU in late 1991.