40-826: 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 recognized leader of the Soviet Union . Prior to Joseph Stalin 's accession, the position was not viewed as an important role in Vladimir Lenin's government and previous occupants had been responsible for technical rather than political decisions. Officially,
80-424: A party leader acts as the official representative of their political party , either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a political party may officially be party chair , secretary , or the highest political office. The party leader is often responsible for managing the party's relationship with the general public and leading
120-763: A vice president ; therefore, the party's de jure internal leader either takes a background role (such as the Chairs of the Democratic , and Republican parties in the United States, who serve more so as the chief administrative officers of their respective political parties), or the leadership may be automatically bestowed on an incumbent president who belongs to the party (such as the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan). In countries using
160-461: A German party are not even members of parliament, such as Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil , who are incumbent the chairpersons of the (governing) Social Democrats . This sometimes leads to open conflicts between the party leadership, its parliamentary group and its members of government. In the Netherlands , the party leaders are the most senior politicians within the political parties in
200-458: A much more prominent role in German politics than they do in many other countries, where the parties are mainly represented by their members and leaders in government. Although the party leaders often also hold important public offices (such as government minister or parliamentary leader ), those roles are clearly separated, even by law. Consequently, it does occasionally happen that the leaders of
240-651: A new party; examples of this include when Jean-François Fortin quit the Bloc Québécois to form Strength in Democracy in 2014 and when Maxime Bernier quit the Conservative Party to form the People's Party of Canada in 2018. The leaders of communist parties often hold the title of general secretary (e.g. General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and General Secretary of
280-620: Is also elected through public opinion polls, not party members. For the PPP, however, they calculate the public opinion poll and the party member poll by 50:50. The major political parties in Taiwan are the Democratic Progressive Party and the Kuomintang . The Democratic Progress Party's constitution stipulates that the President may serve directly as Party Chairman without an election during
320-436: Is therefore different from leader of parliamentary committee of a party. This is much harder to do in presidential and semi-presidential systems , where the chief executive is a president who can only be removed by a special impeachment (typically involving a legislative supermajority , an investigation by a constitutional court , or both), and removal entails either a snap election or automatic succession to office by
360-578: The House of Representatives , with party-elected leaders in each. The leader of the party with most of the representation (sometimes called the party-in-power) in each case is known as the majority leader , whereas the leader of the opposing party with the most members is known as the minority leader . Party leaders in the United States Senate have been elected by their respective political parties' caucuses since 1913. They include President of
400-796: The October Revolution , the job of the party secretary was largely that of a bureaucrat. Following the Bolshevik seizure of power, the Office of the Responsible Secretary was established in 1919 to perform administrative work. After the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War , the Office of General Secretary was created by Vladimir Lenin in 1922 with the intention that it serve a purely administrative and disciplinary purpose. Its primary task would be to determine
440-702: The Vice President likewise holds a leadership role as both the second-highest executive officer and the President of the Senate . However, major parties also generally have a National Committee as their governing body, which has separate leadership roles. The legislative branch, otherwise known as the United States Congress , is made up of the upper chamber, the Senate , and the lower chamber,
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#1732790656232480-405: The de facto party leaders. The leaders of all major political parties are chosen during their respective political party's leadership conventions upon the completion of a leadership election . Exceptions to this process sometimes occur when Members of Parliament leave their former party to form a new party. It is possible to co-chair a party. The party leader is the most prominent politician of
520-429: The legislature and, if elected, to simultaneously serve as the party's parliamentary leader . In several countries utilizing the parliamentary system , if the party leader's political party emerges with a majority of seats in parliament after a general election , is the leading party in a coalition government , or (in some instances) is the largest party in a minority parliament , that party's leader often serves as
560-486: The parliamentary party , or particular party office-holders, may vote; in others, such as the British Labour Party , though the entire membership is eligible to vote, some electors may have a much larger share of the vote than others (see also Superdelegate for a similar concept). If only one candidate emerges, they are said to be "elected by acclamation " or "ratified" by the general membership (sometimes
600-411: The prime minister . Thus, in the politics of several countries utilizing the parliamentary system , a political party's leader is treated as a de facto candidate for prime minister by the media and the general public, even if said office is technically not directly elected. Party Head or leader of a political party, subject to party's constitutional document need not be elected member of legislature and
640-475: The Chinese Communist Party ) and the officeholder is usually considered the paramount leader of China. On 15 November 2012, Xi Jinping was elected General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party at the 18th Communist Party national congress . The party organizations themselves and also their representatives (such as the chairperson, who is the party leader, and other board members) play
680-414: The Communist Party of the Soviet Union at the Central Committee plenum on 14 September that same year. Khrushchev subsequently outmanoeuvred his rivals, who sought to challenge his political reforms . He was able to comprehensively remove Malenkov, Molotov and Lazar Kaganovich (one of Stalin's oldest and closest associates) from power in 1957 , an achievement which also helped to reinforce the supremacy of
720-619: The General Secretary solely controlled the Communist Party directly. However, since the party had a monopoly on political power , the General Secretary de facto had executive control of the Soviet government . Because of the office's ability to direct both the foreign and domestic policies of the state and preeminence over the Soviet Communist Party, it was the de facto highest office of the Soviet Union. Before
760-669: The House by secret ballot . The Republican Party is represented in the House by Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson , whereas the Democratic Party is represented by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries . In the House of Representatives, the most powerful official is the House-elected Speaker . Jaime Harrison serves as the chair of the Democratic Party , while Michael Whatley serves as
800-537: The Netherlands . The leaders outwardly act as the 'figurehead' and the main representative of the party. Within the party, they must ensure political consensus. At election time the leader is always the Lijsttrekker (top candidate) of the party list . Outside election time the leaders most often serve as Parliamentary leader of their party in the House of Representatives , some party leaders opt to serve in
840-513: The Secretariat, which also included Nikita Khrushchev , among others. Under a short-lived troika consisting of Malenkov, Beria, and Molotov , Malenkov became Chairman of the Council of Ministers , but was forced to resign from the Secretariat nine days later on 14 March. This effectively left Khrushchev in control of the government, and he was elected to the new office of First Secretary of
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#1732790656232880-678: The Senate Kamala Harris, President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate Patty Murray , Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin on the Democratic side, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Whip John Thune on the Republican side. The party leaders of the House of Representatives are elected by their respective parties in
920-479: The Soviet Union . Trotsky attributed his appointment to the initial recommendation of Grigory Zinoviev . This view has been supported by several historians. According to Russian historian, Vadim Rogovin , Stalin's election to the position occurred after the Eleventh Party Congress (March–April 1922), in which Lenin, due to his poor health, participated only sporadically, and only attended four of
960-486: The Soviet Union as General Secretary until 1990, when the Communist Party lost its monopoly of power over the political system. The office of President of the Soviet Union was established so that Gorbachev could still retain his role as leader of the Soviet Union. Following the failed August coup of 1991 , Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary. He was succeeded by his deputy, Vladimir Ivashko , who only served for five days as Acting General Secretary before Boris Yeltsin ,
1000-484: The Westminster system, the leader of the largest political party not within the government serves as the leader of the opposition . In Canada , the leaders of all major political parties are chosen during their respective political party's leadership conventions upon the completion of a leadership election . Exceptions to this process sometimes occur when Members of Parliament leave their former party to form
1040-592: The cabinet as a minister . In the Republic of Korea , Representatives of most political parties are elected through elections of party members. The representative of the Democratic Party of Korea is Song Young-gil, who was elected in May 2021, and the representative of the conservative opposition PPP is Lee Jun-seok , a famous young politician who was elected in June 2021. In the Democratic party's presidential election, it
1080-607: The chair of the Republican Party . 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Nineteenth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held from 5 to 14 October 1952. It was the first party congress after World War II and the last under Joseph Stalin 's leadership. It was attended by many dignitaries from foreign Communist parties, including Liu Shaoqi from China. At this Congress, Stalin gave
1120-466: The competition against political rivals, similar to the role of a party spokesperson . As such, they will take a leading role in developing and communicating party platforms to the electorate. In many representative democracies , party leaders compete directly for high political office. It is thus typical in such states (notably in the Westminster system ) for the party leader to seek election to
1160-488: The composition of party membership and to assign positions within the party. The General Secretary also oversaw the recording of party events, and was entrusted with keeping party leaders and members informed about party activities. When assembling his cabinet, Lenin appointed Joseph Stalin to be General Secretary. Over the next few years, Stalin was able to use the principles of democratic centralism to transform his office into that of party leader, and eventually leader of
1200-511: The newly elected President of Russia , suspended all activity in the Communist Party. Following the party's ban, the Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union (UCP–CPSU) was established by Oleg Shenin in 1993, and is dedicated to reviving and restoring the CPSU. The organisation has members in all the former Soviet republics . Party leader In a governmental system,
1240-449: The party and is usually considered to become the head of government . However, a party leader may also put forward a different candidate for the elections. The party leader (chairperson) can not be the same as the party's General Secretary . The method of selection of the party leader varies from party to party, though often it will involve an election involving all or part of the party membership. In some parties, only incumbent members of
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union - Misplaced Pages Continue
1280-408: The party secretariat due to his age, was rejected by the party congress, as delegates were unsure about Stalin's intentions. In the end, the congress formally abolished Stalin's office of General Secretary, although Stalin remained the highest-ranked party secretary and maintained ultimate control of the party. When Stalin died on 5 March 1953, Malenkov was considered to be the most important member of
1320-578: The position of First Secretary. In 1964, opposition within the Politburo and the Central Committee, which had been increasing since the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis , led to Khrushchev's removal from office. Leonid Brezhnev succeeded Khrushchev as First Secretary, but was initially obliged to govern as part of a collective leadership , forming another troika with Premier Alexei Kosygin and Chairman Nikolai Podgorny . The office
1360-626: The ruling period, and that the Party Chairman is elected by party members during the opposition period. The Party constitution of the Kuomintang provides that the party chairman is directly elected by party members. The current chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party is President Lai Ching-te . The current chairman of the Kuomintang is former Vice Premier Eric Chu . In Turkey , the party chairpersons are
1400-459: The scandal and remained in his post. After Lenin's death, Stalin began to consolidate his power by using the office of General Secretary. By 1928, he had unquestionably become the de facto leader of the USSR, while the position of General Secretary became the highest office in the nation. In 1934, the 17th Party Congress refrained from formally re-electing Stalin as General Secretary. However, Stalin
1440-649: The term "anointed" occurs informally or in media discourse). Sir Keir Starmer is leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister , while Kemi Badenoch was elected the leader of the Conservative Party , and thus Leader of the Opposition , in November 2024. If elected, political parties have party leaders in the executive branch of the United States government. The President becomes the de facto leader of their respective political party once elected, and
1480-542: The twelve sessions of the Congress. Some historians have regarded the premature death of prominent Bolshevik Yakov Sverdlov to have been a key factor in facilitating the elevation of Joseph Stalin to the position of leadership in the Soviet Union. In part, because Sverdlov served as the original chairman of the party secretariat and was considered a natural candidate for the position of General Secretary. Prior to Lenin's death in 1924, Stalin's tenure as General Secretary
1520-417: Was already being criticized. In Lenin's final months, he authored a pamphlet that called for Stalin's removal on the grounds that Stalin was becoming authoritarian and abusing his power. The pamphlet triggered a political crisis which endangered Stalin's position as General Secretary, and a vote was held to remove him from office. With the help of Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev , Stalin was able to survive
1560-451: Was re-elected to all the other positions he held, and remained leader of the party without diminution. In the 1950s, Stalin increasingly withdrew from Secretariat business, leaving the supervision of the body to Georgy Malenkov , possibly to test his abilities as a potential successor. In October 1952, at the 19th Party Congress , Stalin restructured the party's leadership. His request, voiced through Malenkov, to be relieved of his duties in
1600-534: Was renamed to General Secretary in 1966. The collective leadership was able to limit the powers of the General Secretary during the Brezhnev Era . Brezhnev's influence grew throughout the 1970s as he was able to retain support by avoiding any radical reforms. After Brezhnev's death, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko were able to rule the country in the same way as Brezhnev had. Mikhail Gorbachev ruled
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