The Politcal Structure Of The Communist State Under Stalin

• The structures established by Lenin - rule by one party and centralised control - were perpetuated and extended by Stalin who asserted an increasingly dominant personal influence.
• The Party continued to predominate over state institutions. Control was ensured through the dual membership of Party and government offices held by trusted members of the nomenklatura.
• As General Secretary he controlled appointments to the party ‘apparat’ who commanded the nomenklatura which gave Stalin influence over all important roles in society
• Stalin preferred to work with personally selected committees rather than the full Politburo, and he used his power of appointment to build up the Party membership and develop an elaborate bureaucracy of loyal servants.
• An expansion in Party membership began with the 'Lenin enrolment'. This took place in 1924-25, in commemoration of Lenin's death. The Party almost doubled its membership to one million. Attracted to Stalin’s nationalist and brutal policies
• Most new members tended to be drawn from the younger and less well-educated urban workers and ex-peasants who were less interested in ideological debate and more concerned with their own careers.