JPRS ID: 10498 USSR REPORT POLITICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL AFFAIRS

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• Content Type: REPORTS

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JPRS L/ 10498
6 May 1982
,
USSR Re ort
p
POLITICA~ AND SOCIOLOGICAL AFFAIRS
cFOUO 13/~2)
~
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JPRS L/10498
6 May 1982
USSR REPORT
POLITICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL AFFAIRS
(FOUO 13/82)
_ CONTENTS
NATIONAL
Posthumous Urlanis Article on Demographic Policy
(G. I. Litvinova, B. Ts. Urlanis; SOVETSKOYE GOSUDARSTV~
I PRAVO, Max 82) 1
New Constit~~�ion al Status of Autonomous Republics Described
(B. L. Zheleznov, A. M. K~rimov; IZVESTIYA VYSSITYKH
UCHEBNYKH ZAVEDENIY: PRAVOVEDENIYE, No 2, 1981) 12
Composition, Role of Standing CorrQnissions in Local Soviets
Described
(Editorial Report) 23
Quantitative Methods Urg~d for Legal Science
(Editorial Report) 23
Origins of Soviet Demographic Science Described, Praised
(Editorial Report) 23
Conference on Alcoholism, Ilrunkenness Held
(V. IVikolayev; SOVETSKOYE GOSUDARSTVO I PRAVO, Mar 82).. 21~
- a - [III - USSR - 35 FOUO]
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NATIONAL
POSTHUMOUS URLANIS ARTICLE ON DEMOGRAPHIC POLICY
Moscow SOVETSKOYE GOSUDARSTVO I PRAVO in Russian No 3, Mar 82 pp 38-46
[Article by G. I. Litvinova, senior scientific associate at the Institute of
State and Law of the USSR Academy of Sciences, candidate in juridical sciences,
and B. Ts. Urlanis: "The Soviet Union's Demographic Policy"J
[Text] The problems of population have taken a place among the global proble~ns
of the present day. In this connection, juridical science is being faced by
large problems. The necessity for the legal regulation of social, including
demographic, processes, many of which only yesterday, it seemed, could develop
spont~neot~sly is becoming increasingly obvious. The management of demographic
processes represents conscious, directed, and systematic influence on the popu-
lation on the basis of the knowledge and use of the objective regularir.ies and
progressive tendencies which are inherent in socialism in the interest of ensuring
the optimal movement of population and of establishing the kind of population
reproduction mode which will fully accord with the tasics of the state and
society of developed socialis~.
The multi-aspect character of demographic processes F~resupposes their comprehen-
sive analysis by economists, legal experts, sociologists, medical experts, and
the representatives of other sciences and the disCovery of the various factors
- which influence the movement of population and of the possibilities for managing
it. It is precisely an overall study of demographic problems for the purpose of
developing an effective demographic policy that the 25th CPSU Conoress set as the
direction for the representatives of the na~ural and social sciences. [2] In the
Summary Report of the CC CPSU to the 26th Partq Congress L. I. Brezhnev s~id:
"In accordance with the instructions of the 25th Party Congress, the C~ntral
Committee has devoted serious attention to the development and realization of an
eff~ctive demographic policy and to the problems of population which have recently
become exacerbated." [3, p 54]
The clemographic policy of the Soviet state is aimed at ensuring the natural growth
oF the population, at strengthening the health and extending the longevity and
active working life of a person, and at the rationalization of territorial mobility.
It is also oriented toward the development of the qualitative characteristics of
population, for the progress of society depends not so much upon the size as upon
the quality of population. A large role in achieving the goals of demographic
policy is assigned to the family whose most important function is the reproduction
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of the pnpulation. The reproductive conceptions of the citizens are realized in
the family, the initial socialization of the child takes place in it, and his
emotional world and moral and ethical positions are formed in it. The USSR
Constitution proclaims that the family is under the protection of the state. The
state shows its concern for the family by means of creating and developing a wide
network of children's institutions, organizing and perfecting domestic services
and public catering, paying allowances for the birth of a child, and granting
allowances and privileges to families with many children, and also providing other
types of benefits and family aid. (Article 53)
At the 26th CPSU Congress L. I. Brezhnev emphasized that the chief way to solve
tl~e problems of population is to "strengthen concern for the family, for newlyweds,
and above all for women." [3, p 54] Without the assistance or the state it would
be difficult for a woman to combine the functions of maternity with production
and public activities. It was pointed out at the congress that although a number
of. measures were adopted during the lOth Five-Year Pldn ro improve the workit~g
conditions of working women and their rest in the family and domestic and cultural
- services for them, there has not yet been any appreciable breakthrough. [3, p 55]
The proportion of women employed in night shifts and also at job.; which require
unskilled manual labor is still large. The preferential use of female labor at
unskilled jobs is the reason why the average monthly wages of women are 1.5 times
lower than those of inen, although their total work load at home and at work is
15-20 percent grt~ater than the work load of inen. [4]
Consolidating th~~ successes which have been achieved in improving the situation of
women and confirming the principle of the equality of women and men, the 1977
' USSR Constitution, compared to the 1936 Constitution, contains a number of supple-
mentary measures, ~.ncluding program measures, which are aimed at ensuring the
actual equality of women and men and at improving the conditions for combining
maternity and production work, particularly the gradual reduction of the working
r.ime of. women who have young children. (Article 35)
Extensive and effective measures to improve the working and living conditions of
working women and, above all, working mothers have been mapped out in the Basic
Directions of the Economic and Social Development of the USSR for the Years 1981-
'985 and for the Period Until 1990. They provide far the introduction of a
partially paid child care leave of up to one year, the expansion of benefits for
children, especially in connection with the birth of a second and third child, ~
tl~e aitnulment of the childlessness tax on newlyweds during the Eirst year of
~ m~rriage, a shortened workday for mothers with young children, and an expansion
of the network and improvemPnt of the wor.k of children's preschool a.nstitutions,
schools with extended-day groups, and of the entire domestic services sphere. In-
creased tiousing benef.its are planned for newlyweds and families with children.
" L3, PP 55, 178]
The experience connected with the top-priority provisioning of comfortable housing
fc~r young families with c.hildren in the city of Naberezhnyye Chelny has shown
_ t}i~~t this measure is capable of having an important influence on the birth rate
l.evel. In this connection, it would appear to us to be u~eful to clearly record in
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law the right to obtain maximum housing privileges for young families which are in
their first marriage and which have 2 to 3 children. The top-priority introductio~.i
_ of priviieges of this kind in the republics and regions with a low birth rate will
promote not only an increase in the birth rate, but also the strengthening of
marriages, since the areas with a low birth rate are distinguished by a high per-
centage of broken marriages.
The increase in divorces is a kind of shadow of progress in relation tc~:the posi-
tion of women: The greater economic independen~e of women has ~ncreased their
demands upon the marriage alliance and has become one of the reasons for a decrease
in the stability of marriage. In seeking to resolve these difficult questions
account should be taken of the changed views of marriage, of the goals of marriage,
and of its material basis and of the character of the emotional and sexual
attitudes of the spouses and their reproduction conceptions. Apparently, an im-
provement of marriage and family legislation should be performed not so much along
the line of expanding prohibitory legal norms, including those concerning divorces
and abortions (prohibitory legal norms which regulate the reproduction behavior
of citizens have to be employed with especial circumspectness), as along that of
= increasing privileges and allowances for families with children. This is precisely
the kind of solution of the problem ttiat legal specialists are directed toward by
the materials of the 26th CPSU Congress which directly point to the necessity f_or
increasing privileges and allowances "especially in connection with the birth of
a second and third child. In addition, it is recommended to "carefully
take account of the special characteristics of the situation in the different
_ republics and regions." [3, p 55] The contrasts in the birth rate and natural
population growth levels by the republics and regions are very substantial. The
Soviet people i:; increasing in number chiefly thanks to the high natural grow~h
of certain nations, and a low natural growth and even decrease in size in others.
It is appropriate to recall here that before the revolution many peoples ot the
Asiatic part of our country were characterized by depopulation: The number of
Kazakhs, Kirghiz, Turkmen, Buryats, and ;,thers was decreasing. The Soviet Union
state, by means of concentrating all material resources in its hands and re-
distributing them to backward areas, was able in an unprecedentedly hrief histo-
rical period to sharply raise the material, health, and cultural levels of peoples
who were under the threat of extinction. Compared to the a?1-union indicators,
outstripping rates of social and economic development were cre~ted for them. In
this way the problem not only of juridical but of the actual equai~*;~ of nations
was solved. As a resu~t, it was possible to prevent the physical extinction of
these peoples and to eusure high natural growth rates for them. L. I. Brezhnev
has rightly observed that the growth of the population in the Central Asa.an
Republics "reflects above all the mighty rise in the economic level of our
republics, including the enormous improvement of the well-being of the populations
of ttie former outlying districts of Tsarist Russia. [1] Al~hough the
demographic situation 9.n the USSR has changed sharply now, the operating system
of the distribution of budgetary resources and the policy of procurement prices
_ which influences the material level of the rural population continue to be
privileged for the outlying republics and regions, although today the central
regions and, above all, the Non-Black Earth Zone are more in need of such privi-
leges.
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The legislation aimed at a maximum encouragement of families with many children
which was adopted as early as 1944 and is still in effect no longer corresponds
t~~ the requirements of the demographic situation which has been created in the
country. Under the present conditions of the almost full employment of women in
social production and the increased deman3s upon a comprehensive education for
children, families with many children can neither be a standard nor a norm which
'_s encouraged by the state.
The pol.ic_~ of maximum encouragement for 2-3 children families which was proposed
by the 2ut:~ CPSU Congress will help to bring the birth rate levels of the different
republics and nations closer together, to increase the common nature of their
demographic ctiaracteristics, and to strengthen the unity of the Soviet people. Its
realization requires a review not only of the extent but also of the principles
- of encouraging births which are stipulated by the 8 July 1944 Ukaze of the Presidium
of the USSR Supreme Soviet, in accordance with which a monthly allowance is paid
to a family only beginning with the fourth child; here the maximum allowance is
paid for the llth and for subsequent children. [5] The same policy of providing
incentives for families with many children is pursued by the procedure stipulated
by the UkaZe of awarding the orders "Maternal Glory" and "Mother-Heroine" to
women who have given birth to and educated 7-10 and more children. [5]
A mother with many children is deservedly surrounded by honor, since the bringing
up of children demands enormous labor and selflessness from her. However, from
the point of view of stimulating the birth rate the existing norms of encouraging
many children are insufficiently effective. It is scarcely possible to think
that women will increase the number of their children because they are oriented
toward receiving medals, orders, or titles. At tha same time, it has to be
noted that a large number of children, even under the most favorable conditions,
is a considerable burden Eor a woman. A large number of children reduces her
possibilities of cultural and professional growth, sometimes deprives her of
leisure alto~ether, and is reflected in her health. The upbringing of children is
made difficult in a large family, since the parents are unable to devote suffi-
~ient attention to each individual. I'or this reason, an orientation toward an
optimal number of children which acc~rds best with the rational needs of the
family and of society for children will be in the interests both of the woman
r..other. herself and of. her descendants. This optimum under present conditions is
repr.esented by three children. However, at the present time, given the still
existing housing difficulties, for the urban population one can speak as a real
task of the universal two-child family, since it is known that a substantial
number of married ~ouples limit themselves to a single child. This can be seen
at least from the fact that the number of second'~children in 1977 was substan-
tially smaller than the number of first children. Consequently, an approach by
the number of second children to the r_umber of first can mean a substantial rise
in ttie birth rate. On the other hand, legal norms should promote a decrease in
the number of one-child families. It is generally known that in one-child
families .it is difficul*_ to create the best conditions for the upbringing of the
child. The child here is frequently in the position of a"lwminary" around which
all of the "planets" rotate. This kind of child-centrism cannot but give rise to
cxaggerated egotistical feelings in a child, and an endeavor to satisfy his un-
important needs frequently to the detriment of his parents' interest.
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Childless families are in a special situation. Voluritary childlessness is
applicable only to 1-2 percent of married couples, while actual childlessness is
somewhat greater and goes as far as 10 percent. These are married couplPS who
suffer from the infertility either of the husband or of the wife. Frequently
infertility is a result of family conflicts and in a number of cases is a reason
for divorce. It is not accidental that the vast majority of divorces come with
childless or one-child families. The legal regulation of artifi.cial insemination
operations for women could become a serious measure for decreasing childless
families and, consequently, increasing the stability of marriage.
Among the social measures which were mapped out by the 26th CPSU Congress, the
decisions to expand the network of children's preschool institutions and to im-
prove their work are of great demographic importance. [3, pp S5, 178] In this.
connection, it would be useful to unify the legal situation of kindergartens and
nurseries ~~hich are under the management of different agencies. As is known,
departmental nurseries and kindergartens occupy a better posi'~ion than the nur-
series and kindergartens which are on the budget of the local Soviets (fewer
children per educator, larger food expenditure norms, better pay for the per-
sonnel, and so forth). The situation is even more difficult with kindergartens
and nurseries on the budget of the kolkho:.es. Whereas, for example, in the
Tiirkmen SSR where the kolkhozes are economically strong every kolkhoz has 1-2
kindergartens and nurseries (their total number in the republic is 1.S times
greater than the number of kolkhozes), in the Non-Black Earth Zone far from every
kolkhoz t~as its own kindergarten or nurseries. The sc,:khoz kindergartens witich
exist i~ the rural rayons do not always accept the neighborhood children of
kolkhoz workers. Today, when the school curricula are predicated upon preschool
education, the children of kolkhoz workers who have not gone to a kindergarten
turn out in schoal to be in poarer start conditions. The kolkhoz kindergartens
are experiencing not only financial difficulties, but difficulties in providing
themselves with equipment and, especially, cadres. Sometimes a woman who has
been tran~ferred from hard work because of her health becomes an educator here.
It would be expedient to transfer all of the kindergartens and nurseries to the
,jurisdict'c.~ of the local Soviets and to improve thzir material base and organiza-
tional s~ructure.
Especial note should be taken of the legal position of unmarried mothers* to the
improvement of which considerable attention is devoted in the materials of the 26th
_ CPST~ Congress. The unmarried mother i~ surrounded by the attention and concern
ot t}ie state. In ~ccordance with the decree of the CC CPSU and USSR Coiincil of
Mi.nisters whic:h was aclopted in January 1981, "On Measures to Increase State
' A:;sistance to Famil.ies with Children," the monthly benefits for the maintenance of
a child was increased from 5 to 20 rubles for this kind of mother, and, moreover,
it will be paid until the child reaches the age of 16, and if the child continues
his education, it will be paid until 18. This lcind of benefit *o a definite
* It seem~ to us that the existing term "lonely mother" is illogical: Can one call
a woman who has a family, albeit an incomplete one, lonely? It would be more useful
to speak about an unmarried mother, in contrast to a divorced one or to a widow.
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- extent compensates for the expenditures for the maintenance of a child, which is
especially important since the mother does not receive alinony.
The additional ~privileges for working women who have children which are provided
for. by the decisions of the 26th CPSU Congress and the decree of the CC CPSU and
USSR Council of Ministers "On Measures to Increase State Assistance to Families
with Children" are of great importance for the formation of optimal families:
The partially paid leave for the care of a child which has not reached the age
- of one year; ur.paid leave until the child reaches the age of 1.5 years, and then
- 2 years; an increase in the length of the next leave; the right to a part-time
work day or work week; the right to work at home; an increase in the number of
Paid days for a sick child fr.om 7 to 14, and so farth. The realization of the~e
meas~ires will promote an optimization of the birth rate level.
Of course, no legal document can oblige every .family to have a certain specific
number of children. However, a legislator can stipulate the kind of system of
privileges and allowances under which all or the vast majority of families will
, prefer to have the number of children which can be regarded as optimal for the
_ n~rmal development of the state and of society. In perfecting the legislation
wh:ich influences the reproduction behavior of citizens, use should be made of
r.he p~sitive experience in demographic policy which has been built up by the
_ European socialist states and which in recent decades has been developing along
r.he path of increasing the privileges and allowances of working women who have
2-3 children. We helieve that under our country's conditions, the experience of
_ providing housing privilege~ to newlyweds and families with children is especially
significant. For example, i.n the GDR newlyweds who have entered upon their
' first marriage are given a loan amounting to 5,000 marks for 8 years if they are
no older than 26 years old. These interest-free lo:~ns have the fo]:lowing re-
payment terms: with the birth of the first child the state eliminates 1,000 marks;
w~ith the birth of the second--1,500 marks; and with the birth of the third--the
_ remaiaing 2,500 marks. The yoiing spouses willingly take the loans, since almost
all uf them wish to have a first child. This means that if 5,000 was taken,
only 4,000 can be returned. However, with the birth of a child the financ.ial
situation of a f.amily usually becomes more difficult, and the remaining 4,000
r~arks are frequently "repaid by childreii" whose birth (the second and the third)
_ }~ave not always been planned before the loan. During approximately the first
five years of the efr.ective of this legal document (it was introduced in 1972),
398,000 instances of credit raith a total value of 2.2 billion marks were granted.
During this time period married couples returned 323 million marks of the loans. [7]
'I'l~e size o( a state's population and its growth rates depend not only upon the
hirtl~ ratc level, but atso upon the average longevity. Ttie Soviet state was the
i-ir5~ in the world to creat:e the Ministry of Health which took wholely upon itself
the concern for improving the health of citizens and, above all, of children,
_ which had as its result a two-fold increase in longevity and a sharp (10 times)
d~crease in infant mortality. However, recent years have been characterized by
_ a stabilization, and for individual age groups, even an increase in mortality.
Th.is is one of the aspects of the exacerbation of the problems of population which
was pointed out in the materials of the 25th CPSU Congress. [2]
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Health protection in the USSR is classified among the problems of paramount
importance. This is testified to by the existence of special articles in the USSR
Constitution which stipulate the right of citizens to health protection. This
right is ensured by free medical care, the realization of extensive preventive
measures and of ineasures to improve the environment, and "by an especial concern
for the health of the younoer generation, including the prohibition of child
labor not connected with studies and labor education. (Article 42) A
great deal of attention is devoted in the Constitution to the spiritual and
physical development of the youth. (Article 25) The protection of the health
of citizens is also guaranteed by other constitutional norns, for example, the
right to live in a healthy environment (Article 18), the right to rest (Article 41),
and the right to material security in old age, in the event of sickness, of com-
plete or partial loss of the ability to work, and also in rhe event of the loss
of a breadwinner. (Article 43)
Having proclaimed the right to life as man's most important right, the 26th CPSU
Congress provided for a system of ineasures to strengthen the health of our citi-
zens, to raise the level and improve the quality of inedical services, to expand
the network of health protection institutions, and to improve their structure
and rational siting. [3, pp 182-183] The realization of the measures mapped out
by the congress to improve social security and working conditions will help to
increase longevity. The congress decreed an increased mechanization of labor
_ intensive processes and a decreased use of manual labor. We believe that these
measures should in the first place be ~arried out in the spheres of production
where female labor is predominantly used and that they should be condolidated in
legal norms which re~ulate social and economic planning.
Among the measures which are aimed at the protection of health a large place is
occupied by measures to fight against the abuse of alcohol which has a pernicious
influence not only on the health of the people themselves who consume it, but
- also upon their progeny. According tc~ the data of sociological research, 65
pe.rcent of the fathers of inentally backward children suffered from chronic alco-
holism. The probability of giving birth to a defective child is even greater
with a drinking mother. [8] In this connection, the proposal that there be a
limitation upon the marriages of chronic untreated alcoholics and also of inental
defectives and narcotics abusers seems to be a valid one. [9j The question of
the voluntary sterilization of such people as a condition for their marriage has
to be discussed.
Migration policy is an important element of demographic policy and a component
part of it. The size of a population and, above all, the amount of labor
res~urces on the territory of. one or another republic or region is determined i~ot
only by the level of natural populati~n growth, but also by the directions and
intensity of. migration flows. A substantial amount of the contemporary territorial
mobility of the population does not correspond to the interests of the economy.
_ Given the exacerbation of the problem of labor resources on a large part of the
territory of the country, a scientifically 5ubseantiated migration policy is be-
coming especially important. Although the interests of economic and social
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clevelo~~ment demand the influx oF lahor res~urces into labor shcr.t regions, flows
- uf mi~;rants Erequently go into labor surplus regions. At the 26th CPSU Con~ress
L. L. Brezhnev noted that to date people frequently prefer to trrtvel from the
north to the south and From the east to the west, although the rational location
of the productive forces requires movement in the opposite direction. [3, p 54]
The republics of Central Asia which are marked by the highest natural population
growth and by a surplus of labor resources ha~~ a favorable migration balance,
that is, more population comes here than leaves.
The management of migration processes presupposes an analysis and consideration of
the factors which influence the intensity and directions of n:igration flows. Many
of these factors were pointed out in the materials of the 26th Party Congress.
They include, first of all, the level of the development of the inf rastructure,
and the degree of material well-being. A person most frequently leaves Siberia,
for example, becaus e it is more difficult to obtain housing there, to get a child
into a kindergarten, and to find enough cultural centers. In view of this the
congress set an aim for outstripping rates of social and domestic and cultural
constrttction in the areas of preferential economic development which, as a rule,
are labor-short areas (Siberia, the BAM Zone, the Non-Black Earth Zone). [3,
pp 54-55]
The successes of migration policy are closely connecte~ with budgetary and tax
policy and with the procurements prices policy. Serious measures aimed at lifting
up tl:e tion-Black Earth Zone will produce great results, if they are supplemented
by correctives in tax and budgetary policy, and a~_so in the procurements prices
policy which for a number of decades has not been to the benefit of certain
re~ions. Thus, in the 1950's, in accordance with the procurement prices in the
_ Non-Black Earth Zone of the RSFSR, the value of the gross harvest of cropping
products during one labor-day was estimated at almost 10 times less than in the
Uzbek SSR and 15 times less than in the Georgian SSR. [10] In 1970, one able-
bodied kolkhoz worker in the RSFSR accounted for 11.5 hectares of arable land,
while in the Uzbek SSR the figure was 1.5 hectares, but the income there per
kolkhoz worker was 33 percent greater than in the RSFSR. [11] Compared with the
Non-Black Ear~.h Zone of the RSFSR, these differences were even sharper. The
relatively low procurement prices for the basic agricultural output which was
~.roduced in the Non-Black Earth Zone (potatoes, flax, and others) have a negative
effect upon the profitability of the kolkhozes and the income of the kolkhoz
workers :3nd do not entirely correspond to the principle of payment according to
lahor. Suffice it to say that the procurement prices for potatoes frequently do
not compensate the expenditures for their production. For example, the cost of
;1 yuintal of potatoes on a farm in the N~n-Black Earth Zone comes today to 9
rubles 61 kopecs, but they are delivered to the state for 6 rubles 6 kopecs per
c~uintal (including discounts for starch, non-standard potatoes, and so forth).
(].2] The negative aggregate profitability of the agriculture of the RSFSR is
E~r.plained first oF all by the procurement prices policy thrnugh which the basic
_ redistribution of national income which is created in the agriculture of a
republ.ic or region is carried out.
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For decades tax policy was also organized in such a way that rhe greatest tax
_ privileges were granted to the outlying areas of the country. As for budgetary
policy, du_ing all of the years of the ex~stence of the Soviet state the RSFSR
not oniy never received a subsidy from the all-union b~dget, as certain other
re~ublics did, but it received one of the lowest percentages of allotments from
the turnover tax--the basic item of budgetary income--for its republic budget.
In accordance with a general rule, the RSFSR receives only one-half of the monies
from the income tax on the population, while certain other republics receive
~ these monies in their republic budgets in full. The influence of all of these
f.actors, and also of the low (lower than the all-union) rates of the social and
economic development of the rural areas ot the center of the `ountry were the
reason for the migration flows from here, especially among the youth, and they
resulted in the aging of the rural population and in a decrease in its numbers.
The 26th CPSU Congress pointed to the existing differences in the cultural and
domestic living conditions in the different areas of the country and emphasized
the "necessity for equalizing social differences, so to speak, on the territorial
leve~." [3, p 54] In this connection, it would be ad~~isable to institute a
dif.ferentiated land rent that takes full account of soil and. climatic and geo-
graphic conditions, and this could substantially reduce the need of the southern
republics for the establishment of increased allotments for them from the all-
union state taxes and income, and also take account of the pr:posal of demographers
to develop territorial indices of the standard of living and indices of the
living conditions of the population. Legal acts regarding privileges for persons
working in specific areas should be adopted with regard to these indices whic~i
should he calculated regularly for the different territories. in this way,
scientifically substantiated criteria could be created for the establishment of
~ specific wage additions whicti should no~ be adde~ wholesale for large territories,
but with regard to the concrete living conditions in a specific locality. Such
indices should include not only the cost of living in these areas, bet also the
necessity for ensuring a sufficient level of nutrition and expenditures for
clothing, footwear, and heat which are the result of the climatic conditions of
the locality. In addition, special indices of comfort and of the satisfaction of
the population's cultural needs should be developed.
Migration policy, especially inter-republic policy, is connected with national
policy. The strictest observance of the principle of national equal rights and
the ensuring of actual equality and of equal possibilities for social growth
(promotion at works obtaining an education, improving one's skills, and so forth)
for the representative of any nation, regardless on the territory of which Soviet
republic the citizen lives, promotes an optimization of migration processes. The
197~ and 1979 all-union population census showed an increase in the proportion of
_ pc~~~pl~ of the native nationality in most of the union and autonom~us republics,
~~nd also a decrease in the proportion of such people living outside of their
republics. One of tl~e reasons for this is that in the republic~ the advantages
for soc.ial advancement by the representatives of the native nationalities have
been preserved, and this was justiiied during the first years after Great October,
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but it requires a change under present conditions.*
After emphasizing a strengthening of the unity of the Soviet nations, r.he 26th
CPSU Congress pointed to the existence of unsolved problems in the sphere of
national relations, and took especial note of the fact that the citizens of the
n~n-indiKenous nationalities living in the union republics have the right to
their pr~per representation in party and s~ate a~encies and have their own
specific needs in the fields of language and c�lture and everyday life. "The
CC of the Comm~sr.ist Parties of the union republics and the kraykoms and obkoms,"
i.t was Gtated in the Summary Report of the CC CPSU to the Party Congress,--"have
to penetrate more deeply into such questions and propose the ways for resolving
them ~n time." [3, pp 56-57~
The management of migration is connected with the solution of the problems of
settlement, particularly with restricting the growth of large cities. There are
many unsolved questions }~ere of. an ecological, economic, legal, social, medical.,
and other character.
'I'he successful conduct of a demographic policy is a part of the socio-economic
poli.cy of the state and depends upon the accomplishment of the complex of
soc�io-eco,~omic tasks. An ef.fective demographic policy presupposes the attain-
_ roent of a set goal in an historically brief period with minimum economic ex-
penditures and the observance of the social norms, including legal ones, which
ar.e in effect in society. [14] Legal support for demogr.aphic policy requires:
~i definition of the place of law in the system of other non-legal measures which
infl.uence the demographic behavior of citizens; the preparation of a generalizing
leg~l act of supreme juridical power which would define the principles of the
demoKraphic legislati~n of the USSR and the union republics, the goals and tasks
of demographic policy, and the ways and means of reaching them; the elimination
of "gaps" in the legal influence on the various demographic processes; an
~idequate ref.lection in the law of the needs for optimal demographic development;
aiid the attribution, insofsr as possible, of a demographic character to non-
. demo~raphic legal norms.
'''iie consolidation in law of the basic principles and directions of demographic
policy presupposes the interconnection of all of its elements, their scientific
validity and balance, and a consideration of the hierarchy of goals. However,
thc~ realization of these demands under present conditions is being held back on
:~cc~unt of the lack of clear criteria and indicators of demographic development.
Especially qualitative ones. The abundance of diverse and sometimes directly
~pposed points of view among economists, sociologists, and psychologists on the
issues of principle in influencing demographic processes complicates the develop-
m~nt ar:d improvement of legal norms and puts the legislator in a difficult posi-
tion, since the adoption o� legal acts, especially laws, excludes such a rapid
* As sociological studies have shown, young people who are born in mixed marriages,
prefer their native nationality when they choose nationality because they connect
with it the possibility of obtaining privileges in entering a Vuz, or of obtaining
a job, and so forth. [13]
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change of points of view as can sometimes be found in science.
Since it is an effective regulator of social relations, law is capable, along
with other means of managing society's demographic processes, of ensuri.ng the
most rational behavior by people and of creating the kind of mode of population .
reproduction under which the demographic well-being of society will be guaranteed.
But in order to perform this function, law must with the necessary fullness and
in the forms characteristic of it express the requirements of Soviet demographic
- policy ~~ith respect to the action of the objective regularities of demographic
development and also of the social, economic, and political needs of the state,
of a republic,; region, individual nation, and of the entire Soviet people and
country as a whole.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- 1. L. I. Brezhnev, "Following Lenin's Course. Speeches and Articles," Moscow,
1978, Vol 6, p 431.
2. "Materials of the 25th CPSU Congress," Moscow, 1976, p 73.
3. "Materials of the 26th CPSU Congress," Moscow, 1~81.
4. Yu. B. Ryurikov, "Children and Society," VOPROSY FILOSOFII, No 4, 1977, p 119.
5. VEDUMOSTI VERKHOVNOGO SOVETA SSSR, No 37, 1944, p 1.
6. PRAVDA, 31 March 1981.
7. I. Gizi and V. Shpaynger, "The Stimulation of the Birth Rate in the GDR,"
SOTSIOLOGICHESKIYE ISSLEDOVANIYA, No 4, 1980, p 127.
8. V. N. Lupandin, "Alc;,holism and Progeny," SOTSIOLOGICHESKIYE ISSLEDONVANIYA,
No 1, 1980, p 100.
9. Yu. A. Korolev, "The Effectiveness of Marriage and Family Laws," SOTSIOLOGICHESKIYE
ISSLEDOVANIYA, No 4, 1981, p 75.
]U. T. M. Volkov, "The USSR Kolkhoz Peasantry During the First Postwar Years,"
VOPROSY ISTORII, No 6, 1970, pp 13-16.
11. "Sixty Years of the USSR Economy," Moscow, 1977, pp 356-357.
12. B. Mozhayev, "Be the Master!" LIT. GAZ., 1 July 1981.
13. L. V. Khomich, "On Preserving the Concept of Ethnic Processes," SOV ETNOGRAFIYA,
No 5, 1969, p 84.
14. A. Ya. Kvasha, "Dem~~raphic Policy in the USSR," Moscow, 1981, p 176.
COPYRIGfiT: Izdatel'stvo "Nauka", "Sovetskoye gosudarstvo i pravo", 1982
2959
CSO: 1800/406
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~ Nok o~'N~ict.at. uS~: ONL1'
NAT IO~dAI,
NE,W CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS OF AUTONOMOUS REPUBLICS DESCRIBED
Leningrad IZVESTIYA VYSSITYKH UCHEBNYKH ZAVEDENIY; PRAVOVIDENIYE in Russian,
No 2, 1981, pp 33-42
[Article by Candidates of Legal Sciences B. L. Zheleznov and A. M. Karimov;
"New Constitutional Legislation and the Status of the Autonomous Repub lic"]
[Text] The de jure and de facto equality of the nations and peoples living on
the territory of the USSR achieved thanks to the Leninist national policies of
the CPSU in adequately reflected in current Soviet law. Besides consolidating
the united soviet multinational state, the new constitutions of the USSR, thP
~ union republics and the autonomous republics give added significance to the
forms of national statehood. Thereby the legal. basis for the further develop-
ment of national relations has been created, assuring "the accelerated con-
vergence and merger of nations, which will conclude with the /withering away/
[italics] of the state."1
Soviet autonomy is a political and legal institution without parallel in world
tiistory. As a concept of government law, autonomy denotes merely the self-
government of a part in the framework of the whole; soviet autonomy is im-
measurably richer in content. It includes a number of important political and
legal features, the principal ones among them being: national makeup of the
population, existence of territory, functioning on the basis of the soviet
political and economic system, government-authority type of self-government,
and free realization of national so~~ereignty. Soviet autonomy can, therefore,
be defined as a government-authority type of self-government by a nation or
nationality over a definite tArritory, in the framework of an autonomous re-
public or national state formation (autonomous oblast, autonomous okrug) con-
stituting part of a sovereign union republic which, with tlie direct participa-
tion of that autonomous state or formation, determines its legal status,
limits of self-government and prerogatives.
Autonomy presumes self-government in the framework of a general constitution
oL- a sovereign state (in the USSR this is the constitution of a union repub-
lic). It is granted to nations and nationalities more or less compactly in-
tiabiting a definite territory, distinguished by a specific way of life and
}~aving a degree of economic oneness. Soviet autonomy is characterized, on
the one hand, by a degree of independence in exercising government power
under the auspices and control of a unio n republic and, on the other, by
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opportunities for receiving help from the union republic in the development of
the local economy, culture and statehood. Many aspects of soviet autonomy
have been adopted b~ socialist Yugoslavia; they include (Serbia) autonomous
formations, in particular, the national territorial and government authority
character, voluntary choice of nonsovereign forms of state law, and free re~li-
zation of national sovereignty.
Soviet autonomy, which is based on the Leninist principles of national-state
building, at the same time possesses a number of specific features setting it
apart from administrative and territorial organization, on the one hand, and
from sovereign soviet statehood, on the other.
As distinct from territorial administrative units, the organs of soviet auto-
nomous states and national state formations have special powers enabling them
to adequately take into account the special character of the indigenous
people's progressive national features and customs, provl.ding for the con-
tinued development of their soviet national culture, the training and prior-
ity employment of personnel having good knowledge of the language, culture and
customs of the local population.
The autonomous republic is the highest element of autonomy and as such enjoys
territorial supremacy: neither the Union of SSR nor the union republic has
the right to alter the autonomous state's borders without the concurrence of
its peoples as expressed by the corresponding organ of state power,2 Further-
more, the autonomous republic itself defines its subdivisio n into rayons and
decides other questions of territorial administrative organization, subject
to subsequent endorsement by the union republic.
This element in soviet autonomy functions as a state, albeit not sovereign,
but possessing supreme organs of state power, authority, justice, etc., its
res~ective prerogatives and symbols of state. The autonomous state handles
questions within its jurisdiction independently, insofar as they do not fall
within the rights of the Union of SSR or the union republic. The state
organs of the autonomous republic exercise, within its territory, the state
power of the soviet people, the people of the union republic and the people
of the ASSR, enjoying in this respect greater authority than government
organs of other formations and administrative territorial units.
Soviet autonomous states and formations are represented in the supreme or-
gans of state power and government of the Union of SSR and the union repub-
lics. Thus, every autonomous repub lic has 11 deputies in the USSR Supreme
Soviet's Council of Nationalities, every autonomous oblast has five deputies,
and every autonomous okrug has one. An ASSR representative is elected one
of the vice-chairmen of the respective union republic'~ Supreme Soviet
Presidium, in a number of republics the chairmen of the ASSR councils of
ministers are ex-officio members of the union republic government, etc.3
The legislature assures ASSR participation in the solution of questions con-
stituting the prerogatives of the Union of SSR an~ the union republic and the
~ rigtit of autonomous republic organs to deal directiy with union republic or-
' gans.
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Hok ot~ H~~c~.ai, usN. c~~Lti~
The autonomous states and formations function on the basis of ASSR consti-
tu~ions and laws on autonomous oblasts and autonomous okrugs, There are
also special organizational and legal guarantees of the legal force and im-
plementation of ordnances issued by autonomous states and formations. For
example, ordnances of ASSR supreme organs of state power cannot be repealed
~ or suspended by supreme organs of the Union of SSR or the union republics.
A union republic minister can only suspend implementation of an ordnance is-
sued by a corresponding ASSR minister.
An ASSR enjoys legislative rights as well as the right of legislative in-
itiative in the union republic Supreme Soviet, and it has its own citizen-
ship (with every ASSR citizen being a citizen af the union republic and the
USSR). ASSR citizens travelling abroad are extended the r~id and protection
of the Soviet state.
There are differences between the degree and nature of the powers a union
re~ublic government has over that of an au*_onomous republic and over the
executive committees of kray and oblast soviets; for example, the RSFSR
Council of Ministers supervises the actions of the executive committees of
local sov~ets of people's deputies, but it merely guides and monitors the
functioning of ASSR councils of ministers. In other words, the union repub-
lic government supervises economic, social and cultural building in an ASSR
tnrough that autonomous republic's government and only in special cases re-
fers directly to city and rayon ispolkoms, informing the ASSR Council of
Ministers of this (Art. 125, Item 7, of the RSFSR Constitution).
The autonomous republic's government defines the Lasks, functions, organi-
zation and operation of republican and local organs of state government in
accordance with USSR and union republic legislation; it approves the
statutes of ASSR ministries, state committees and departments. The ASSR
Supreme Soviet sets up and changes central and local ASSR organs, whereas
kray and oblast authorities have no such powers.
These features are most fully represented in the national-state system of the
RSFSR as a federation based on the autonomy of its constituent entities.
The existence of autonomous units within the union republic does not detract
from its territorial integrit~- and sovereignty. Autonor.?ous republics do not
liave ttie right of independ~r~ secession from the federation (although trans-
Eerring from one union republic to another is possible with rhe concurrence
of both union republics concerned). Outside the limitations defined in Art.
7"' of the USSR Constitutio n, the Union republic exercises state powe r within
its territory independently, and this extends to its autonomous units. The
union republic laws are binding and have equal force throughout its territory.
'I'he P,~SR constitutions and the laws on autonomous oblasts and okrugs are
formulated in accordance with the constitution of the USSR and the respective
union republic. The prerogatives and territorial limits of the union repub-
lic's functions differ in both quality and degree from the prerogatives and
scope of functions of an ASSR. This does not mean that a union republic can
in some way be ~uxtaposed to an autonomous state. Having the latter as a
constituent entity, it realizes, jointly with the Union of SSR, the legal
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governmental principles of sovereignty of the ASSR's indigenous nation, as
well as th~ sovereignty of all the people of the autonomous republic or
autonomous national state formation.
The r~.w const:itutions reflect important trends in the development of the
soviet federation: the consolidation of federal principles in the organiza-
tion of the wlzole multinational soviet state and the expansion of the guar-
antees of the sovereign rights of the union republics. The latter trend is
manifest, in particular, in the fact that the legal status of the autonomous
republics and the principles on which their supreme organs of government and
administration are based come within the domain of questions more detailed
solution of which is handled by the union republics.4
T`wo forms of national-territorial autonomy have evolved historically in the
USSR; state and administrative. True, some sources offer other designa-
tions of these forms, for example, "state-political",or "administrative-
political autonomy." We feel that adding the word "political" serves no
useful purpose in either case, since soviet autonomy is essentially always
a means of promoting the CPSU's national policy and serves the interests of
the working people of differe nt nationalities, i.e., it is political in
character. Hence, both its forms are political, All that is involved is
an aspectual distinction. The autonomous republic represents the highest
state form. There are autonomous repub lics within the RSFSR (16), the Uzbek
SSR (one), the Georgian SSR (two) and the Azerbaijan SSR (one); there are
autonomous oblasts within the RSFSR (five), and Georgian, Azerbaijan and
Tajik union republics (one each); autonomous okrugs are part of RSFSR krays
and oblasts.
The new constitutional legislation has consolidated the legal status of all
forms of Soviet autonomy, In particular, the legal status of autonomous ob-
lasts and autonomous okrugs is no longer defined by a statute but by laws,
that is, by a deed of the highest legal force; a union republic supreme
soviet passes the autonomous oblast law on representation of the oblast's
council (soviet) of people's deputies, and it also passes the autonomous
okrug laws. In the new constitutions of the Union of SSR and the union re-
publics, the norms regulating the legal status of autonomous oblasts and
autonomous okrugs are embodied in a separate chapter. A separate chapter is
devoted to the ASSR.
The new constitutions aim at enhancing the role and significance of the
ASSR.S Besides strengthening all-union principles, they expand the rights
of both the union and the autonomous republics.6 An ASSR is defined as a
soviet socialist state not only in the fundamental 1aw of the autonomous re-
public itself (as the case had been before 1978), but also at the level of
the constitutions of the union republics which incorporate autonomous repub-
lics (for example, Art. 78 of the RSFSR Constitution). In view of the differ-
ences in opinions regarding the state and legal character of the autonomous
republic which existed in the past, it should be noted that now the status
of the ASSR as a state is legally defined with sufficient clarity.
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The new constitutional legislation has expanded and enriched the auton-
omous republic's authority, i.e., the system of prerogatives based on the
tasks and functions of the ASSR which define the republic's status as a
legal entity. Whereas formerly the prerogatives of the ASSR were defined in
final form by the union republic, the supreme soviet of which approved the
autonomous republic's fundamental law, now the latter defines its prerog-
atives itself in accordance with USSR and uni on republic legislation. An
ASSR's fundamental law is not subject to union republic approval. The
autonomous republic, in implementation of its prerogatives, deals, within
its territorial boundaries, with problems facing the union republic and the
USSR as a whole. To this end the Union of SS R and the union republic guar-
antee the ASSR its prerogatives, which it exercises with due account of the
national specifics and sovereignty of its people in the realization of com-
mon tasks. The autonomous republic's prerogatives are based on the politi-
cal and organizational principles of socialis t federalism, democratic central-
ism and the combining of branch and territorial administration, which makes it
possible to take the fullest account of the instructions of V. I. Lenin, who
called for "the struggle /against/ [italics~ petty national hideboundedness,
seclusion, exclusiveness, for taking into account the whole and the general,
for subordinating the interests of the part to the interests of the general,...
to tYiink /not/ [italics] only of one's own nation and to place the interests
of all, their general freedom and equality /abo~~e it/ [italics]."~
The constitutional prerogatives of the autonomous republic include state,
economic, social and cultural development, and the new constitutional legis-
lation has introduced substantial changes in the regulation of these snheres.
It is stipulated that the autonomous republic itself adopts its constitutio n,
whicil corresponds to the USSR Constitution and the constitution of the union
republic. Within the framework of its constitution, the ASSR independently
handles questions falling within its jurisdiction (lying outside the rights
of the Union of SSR and the union republic). More, the ASSR takes part in
solving questions within the ~urisdiction of the union republic and the Union
of SSR through their highest or~ans of state power and administration (Art.
78 of the RSFSR Constitution) .
Cliaracteristically, neither the USSR nor the union republic cons titutions con-
tain any reguiations restricting the legislative prerogatives of the ASSR by
listing the spheres of life in which it can issue laws, giving it the right
and actual possib ility of legislating any questions within its jurisdiction.
An important innovation is the ASSR's right, in the person of its highest
organs of state p ower, to initiate legislation in the union republic supreme
soviet.
The legislative activity of ASSR supreme soviets has increased noticeably of
1ate. Thus, since the promulgation of the Constitution of the Tatarskaya
ASSR in 1978, the ASSR supreme soviet issued a number of important laws; on
tlle Tatarskaya ASS R Council of Ministers, on elections to the Tatarskaya ASSR
Supreme Soviet and to local councils of the republic, on the reorganization of
a number of administrations into state committees of the ASSR, etc. In
future autonomous republics will expand their legislative activity, especially
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in such areas as the economy, education, territorial administratioii, public
health, environmental protection legislation, etc.
Ministries, state committees and other administrative organs of the
autonomous republic supervise the respective branches, and some of them also
exercise in~er-branch administration (see, for examp le, Art. 117 of the
Tatarskaya ASSR Constitution and Art. 117 of the Bashkirskaya ASSR Constitu-
tion). A number of ASSR prerogatives in the sphere of state development
have been clarified and specified: the autonomous republic looks after the
observance of its constituticn, uph~lds state order and the rights and free-
doms of citizens, lays down the rules of organizatio n and functioning of re-
publican and local organs of state power and administration in accordance with
USSR and union repub~ic legislation, implements decisions of the highest or-
gans of government and administration of the USSR and the union republic, and
takes part in ensuring the security and defense capability of the country and
equipping the USSR Armed Forces.
Substantial additions have been made to the provisions of autonomous repub-
lic constitutions dealing with territorial administration. Formerly the op-
erating fundamental laws authorized the ASSR to draw only rayon divisions,
the boundaries of rayons and cities, which were then submitted for the ap-
proval of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet. Moreover, it was not specified which of
the ASSR's highest organs exercised these functions (see, for exampZe, Art.
18, item b, of the 1937 Constitution of the Tatarskaya ASSR). The new con-
s titutions of the autonomous repub lics set forth a b roader and more detailed
list of the republics' prErogatives in this field. Thus, the presidium of an
ASSR supreme soviet is given rights connected with changes in the basic sub-
divisions--rural councils and townships, which it exercises independently.
It is also authorized to incorporate towns of rayon subordination and city
rayons [boroughs~, na.me and rename them and rename other communities, submit-
ting these questions for the. approval of the presidium of the RSFSR Supreme
Soviet (see Art. 103, Items 7, 8, of the Bashkiraskaya ASSR Constitution).
T'hus, the practice of handling questions of administrative and territorial or-
ganization which has evolved in the autonomous republics has been legally con-
f irmed .
The chapter "Administrative and Territorial System" in all autonomous repub-
lic constitutions provides that the A,SSR determines its division into rayons
and itandles other administrative and territorial questions. Although the ASSR
constitutions do not contaia more detailed provisions regarding procedures for
altering the largest administrative and territorial units, in *_he RSFSR the
procedure has been for the presidium of the ASSR supreme soviet to create and
abolish rayons and transfer cities to the category of city of republican sub-
ordination, subject to approval by its supreme soviet and the Presidium of the
RSFSR Supreme Soviet. This practice has been legalized in Art. 115, Item 9,
of the RSFSR Constitution, which authorizes the Presidium of the RSFSR
Supreme Soviet to approve rayon subdivisions, the incorporation of cities
and changes in the status of cities in the autonomous republics.
' The autonomous republics have been granted a number of additional preroga-
tives in the spheres of economic, social and cultural development. Thus, the
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, ASSR implements a unified socio-economic policy, manages the ASSR's economy,
promotes scientific and technical progress and measures aimed at the ratiana.l
utilization and protection of natural resources and the protection of the
environment and historical and cultural monuments (Art. 66, Items 6, 10 and
12, of the Bashkirskaya ASSR Constitution). The autonomous republic ensures
comprehensive economic and social development within its territory. On
questions within its jurisdiction, it mo nitors and coordina.tes (not just
- monitors and observes, as before) the functioning of entP.rprises, establish-
ments and organizations subordinated to the ASSR and the union republic
(Art. 67 of the Bashkirskaya ASSR Constitution). All this makes it possible
to take a new look at some of the prospects of further legal development of
the autonomous republic.
Mar~ism-Leninism has never regarded the existence of one or another form of
national statehood as an end in itself, because national-state development
is, in a s~cialist society, itself subordinated to the class interests of
the working people. In the USSR, national statehood is an important and es-
sential means of successfully solving the economic and political tasks facing
the working people of different nations, For that reason questiotis of
national-state development cannot be considered without regard to economic,
territorial, demographic and other factors affecting the development of rela-
tions between classes.
As a subject of social administration, the autonomous republic is a soviet
national state whose territory represents a single economic region with its
own fairly complex demographic composition. In this sphere there arise a
~ahole range of problems which must be solved if effective use is to be made
of autonomous statehood as a means of the further democratization of public
l~fe and internationalization of social relations.
An ASSR is an economic area and as such is part of a certain economic re-
gion, making it impossible for it, on its scale, to solve questio ns of econ-
omic and administrative zoning and the formation of economically integrated
regions without taking the ASSR's specific features into account. It is not
accidental that the resolution of the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR
Council of Ministers of 12 July 1979, "On Improving Planning and Enhancing the
Impact of the Economic Mechanism on Raising Production Effectiveness and the
_ Quality of Work,"8 stipulates the need for autonomous republic state plans
of economic and social development to include summary sections on the wh~le
range of ineasures in the sphere of social development, making in incumbent on
ASSR councils of ministers to draw up and approve summary five-year and annual
plans for the local production of building materials and consumer goods and
for building housing, public amenities, utilities, services and cultur3l
- facilities and to monitor the fulfillment of those plans.
The integrated administration of a territory presumes an optimal b lending of
branch and territorial management ancl administration. In ~reating questions
of territorial administration, legal literature does not always take into ac-
count the activities of republican and all-union agencies and agencies which
engage in territorial administration along with local agencies. In this con-
nection the spe cific features of ASSR agencies are of great interest and a
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study of their impact on the territory in combination with union republic
agencies and agencies of the USSR as a whole will help to elaborate the opti-
mal variant of administration in the respective region.
The Communist Party regards the introduction of the two- and three-tiered
system of ~ranch administration as an important prerequisite of effQctive
adr~iinistration of the national economy, But how wi11 the creation of as-
sociations affect the organization of the state apparatus in autonomous re-
publics? Perhaps some republican ministries may turn out to be superfluous
elements in the a..~ministrative system? On the other hand, if the autonomous
republics do away with some ministries in their already small branch ap-
� paratus; could this have a negative impact on their state and legal develop-
ment? These questions require detailed study. It is necessary to achieve
optimal blending of the tasks of the national economy of the USSR as a single
complex with the pr.esent-day tasks of the autonomous republic as a socialist
national state. "Today, when we have on the whole solved the problem of
evening out the levels of economic development of the national republics, we
can tackle economic questions primarily from the point of view of the inter-
ests of the state as a whole and of raising the effectiveness of the whole
national economy of the USSR--obviously with due consideration of the specific
interests of the union and autonomous repub lics."9
The highest organs of state power and administration of an autonomous republic
play an important part in exercising its constitutional prerogatives. Oper-
ating constitutional legislation includes a number of n~rms aimed at improving
the organization of the functioning of the highest organs of power. There is,
for example a new interpretation of the concept o� the session as the prin-
cipal form in which the supreme soviet functions~ there is a full list of
agencies and persons with the right of legislative initiative, there are
regulatio ns governing the procedures for debating bills and other issues and
for passing laws, resolutions and other ordnances. The formation of standing
committees and their tasks and relations with other agencies h~ve been legis-
latively defined for the first time.
Special no~e should be made of the inclusion of provisions regulating supreme
- soviet procedurz (Art. 109 of the Bashkirskaya ASSR Constitution and others).
Such procedures have now been adopted by all the autonomous republics,
The ASSR supreme soviet is the highest organ of state power of the republic,
it is freely elected by the people and embodies popular and national
sovereignty. It is authorized to handle all questions referred to ASSR
authoi-it~ and is the only legislative organ in the republic. Thus, in
1.978-1979, the Tatarskaya ASSR Supreme Soviet passed, in addition to the laws
on the state plan and budget, 16 other laws on procedures for realizing norms
]aid down by the ASSR's new Constitution. The right of legislative initiative
in tlie ASSR supreme soviet has been extended to include, besides the presidium
of the ASSR supreme soviet, the ASSR council of ministers, the standing and
other committees of the supreme soviet and its deputies, also the republican
Supreme Court, the ASSR Prosecutor and public organizations as represented
by republican and other corresponding agencies. Draft laws and other impor-
1 tant issues of government operation of the autonomous republic can, by
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- decision of the ASSR supreme soviet or its presidium, be aired in public de-
bate. The adoption of the ASS R constitution, introduction of amendments, ap-
proval of state plans of eco nomic and social development of the ASSR, its
budget and reports on its fulfillment, and the formation of agencies sub-
ordinated to the ASSR supreme soviet is the sole prerogative of the ASSR
supreme soviet. Laws and other ordnances are passed by a majority of the
total number of deputies and p ublished in the language of the autonomous
republic's indigeno4s population as well as in Russian. The ASSR supreme
soviet sets up and dissolves subordinate agencies and monitors the activities
of all subordinate state organs, including the supreme soviet's presidium and
the republican council of. ministers.
A deputy of the ASSR supreme soviet enjoys personal immunity and possesses a
number of important rights essential for due performance of his duties as a
deputy, notably, the right to address inquiries to the ASSR council of min-
isters, to ministers and executives of other organs formed by the ASSR sup-
reme soviet, as well as to executives of enterprises, establishments and
_ agencies of all-union and union-republic subordination located on the ter-
ritory of the ASSR, on issues coming within the authority of the autonomous
republic. The ASSR government or the official to whom the inquiry is ad-
dressed is obliged to give an oral or written reply at the current session of
- the ASSR supreme soviet.
The presidium of the ASSR sup reme soviet is a continuously functioning organ
of the supreme soviet, subordinate to it in all its activities, which oper-
ates as the highest organ of state power of the autonomous republic between
- supreme soviet sessions. The supreme soviet elects its presidium from among
its deputies. The prerogatives of the supreme soviet presidium can be sub-
div.ided into those exercised in the framework of the functions of the supreme
soviet between its sessions and those exercised in the framework of the
presidium's own functions. In its capacity as the highest organ of power the
presidium introduces changes in operating ASSR legislation, creates rayons and
cities of republican subordination, names and renames them, forms and dis-
solves minis tries, state committees and other organs of state administration
formed by the ASSR supreme soviet, dismisses and appoints members of the ASSR
council of. ministers.
Speaking of the presidium's prerogatives exercised in the fraznework of its own
functions, one should single out those associated with organizing the work of
_ tlle supreme soviet (setting election dates, convening sessions, coordinating
ttle work of standing committees, etc.;. Other duties are associated with ex-
ercising the authority of the union republic in administrative, political,
economic, social and cultural affairs. The presidium of the ASSR supreme
soviet issues decrees and passes resolutions; decrees issued in the framework
of Eunctions of the ASSR supreme soviet are subject to approval at the upcom-
ing supreme soviet session.
The ASSR council of ministers--the government of the republic--is the highest
executive and administrative organ af state power in the ASSR. It is formed
by the ASSR supreme soviet and is answerable and accountable to it and,
between its sessions, to the supreme soviet presidium. The autonomous republic
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constitutions provide tha*_ the ASSR council of ministers must report regular-
ly to the ASSR supreme soviet. The autonomous republic goverrnnent is au-
thorized to deal with all questions of state administration within the
jurisdiction of the ASSR, insofar as they do not come within the authority
of the ASSR supreme soviet or its presidium. For example, in 1979, the
Tatarskaya ASSR Council of Ministers passed 706 resolutions, including 29
on industry, 186 on agriculture and 81 on social and cultural development.
The ASSR council of ministers functions in accordance with the Fundamental Law
of the USSR, the constitutions of the union and autonomous republic, current
legislation, and also the law on the council of ministers passed by the ASSR's
supreme soviEt.
The ASSR council of ministers issues resolutions and ordnances, which can be
repealed by the presidium of the ASSR supreme soviet, as well as by the
presidium of the union republic supreme soviet. The union republic council
of ministers can only suspend their implementation. The ASSR supreme soviet
sets up the autonomous republic's people's control committee, which super-
vises the operating system of people's control agencies. The highest judi-
cial body of the ASSR is the supreme court of the autonomous republic, which
is elected by the ASSR supreme soviet; it monitors the judicial activities of
rayon (city) people~s courts in the republic.
The new constitutional legislation h as consolidated the principles of the
Leninist national policy, the unity of the national and in ternational prin-
ciples in the conditions of mature socialism. It thereby assures even
broader prospects for the development of the nations and nationalities of
the USSR, including those wh~.ch have set up their autonomous states or na-
tional state formations. Such forms of statehood as the ASSR, autonomous ob-
last and autonomous okrug effectively serve the cause of communist construc-
tion in the USSR.10
FOOTNOTES
1. V. I. Lenin, "Polnoyesobraniye sochineniy" [Complete Works], Vol 30, p 22.
2, Thus, Art. 65 of the Constitution of the Tatarskaya ASSR states: "The
territory of the Tatarskaya ASSR cannot be altered without its consent."
3. See Art. 120 of ttie Constitution of the Uzbek SSR, Art. 123 of the Con-
stitution of the Georgian SSR and Art, 123 of the Cons titution of the
Azerbaijan SSR.
4. See; M. I. Piskotin and K. F. Sheremet. "The Correlation Between the
Constitution of the Union of SSR and the Constitutions of the Union Re-
publics." Sovetskoye gosudarstvo i pravo [Soviet State and Law], No 10,
1978, pp. 14-15.
5. See; M. A. Yasnov. "The Constitutions of the Autonomous Republics of the
Russian Federation." Sovetskoye gosudarstvo i pravo, No 9, p 10, 1979.
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{'~~R nF~'~~ ~r~~.. 1~~~'. ~~~i0.~~
6, See; N. P. Farberov. "The National-State System of the USSR." In col-
lection; Konstitutsiya razvitogo sotsializma [The Constitution of De-
veloped Socialism], Moscow, 1978, p 172.
7. V. I. Lenin, "Polnoye sobraniye sochineniy" [Complete Works], Vol. 30,
pp 45-44.
8. See: SP SSR [Collection of Government Regulations and Decrees], No 18,
1979, Art. 118.
_ 9. L. I. Brezhnev. Leninskim kursom, Rechi i statyi [Along Lenin's Course.
_ Speeches and Articles Vol 4, pp 9>-94, Moscow, 1974.
10. See; Extraordinary 7th Session of the USSR Supreme Soviet, Stenographic
Report, p 12, Moscow, 1977.
COPYRIGHT: Not Available,
9681
CSO; 1800/395
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I~OR OFF'1('IA1. 11~H: ONI.Y
NAT IONAL
COMPOSITION, ROLE OF STANDING COMr1ISSI0NS IN LOCAL SOVIETS DESCRIBED
[Editorial Report] Moscow SOVETSKOYE GOSUDARSTVO I PRAVO in Russian No 3,
March 1982, carries on pages 69-76 a 6,000-word article by A.T. Leyzerov
titled "The Effectiveness of the Order of Formation and of the Activity of
the Standing Commissions of Local Soviets (Social-Legal Aspects)." Based on
material collected in the Belorussian SSR, the article describes the social
composition and current activities of these bodies. In addition, it provides
- extensive statistical data on them. ~OPYRIGHT: Izdatel~stvo "Nauka�~
"Sovetskoye gosudarstvo i pravo", 19~ 27
QUANTITATIVE METHODS UR~::ED FOR LEGAL SCIENCE
[Editorial Report] Moscow SOVETSKOYE GOSUDARSTVO I PRAVO in Russian No 3,
March 1982, carries on pages 30-37 a 6,000-word article by L.V. Lazarev
titled "Methods of Investigation of Mass Information by Juridical Science."
Lazarev, a senior scientific coworker of the All-Union Scientific Research
Institute of Soviet Law, writes that legal specialists can use the quantita-
- tive and qualitative methods of the social sciences to improve both legal
propaganda and their own understanding of law in Soviet society. He provides
several examples of the current use of such methods in the USSR. /C~PYRIGHT:
Izdatel'stvo "Na~.~ka", "Sovetskoye gosudarstvo i pravo", 198?7
ORIGINS OF SOVIET DEMOGRAPHIC SCIENCE DESCRIBED, PRAISED
[Editorial Report] The USSR Ministry of Higher and Specialized Secondary
Education's Population Section has published a collective volume titled THE
PAST AND PRESENT OF D~MOGRAPHY (PROSHLOYE I NASTOYASHCHEYE DEMOGRAFII,
Moscow: "Statistika," 1980, signed to press: 26 August 1980, 104 pp).
Included in the 10 essays are 3 articles on the origins of Soviet demographic
science and census research. They are "The Establishment of Soviet Demography"
by Ye. Denisova and M. Moskvina (pp 43-57); "From the History of the Study of
the Reproduction of the Population in the USSR" by V. Drobizhev (pp 58-68);
and "The First Investigations of the Migration of the Population in the USSR"
by V. Moiseyenko (pp 69-79). All these articles describe the achievements of
Soviet demographic science in the 1920's and early 1930's and provide exten-
sive bibliographic citations to earlier works in their respective fields of
interest.
CSO: 1800/425
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NATIONAL
CONrERENC~ ON ALCOHOLISM, DRUNKENNESS HELD
Moscow SOVETSKpYE GOSUDARSTVO I PRAVO in Russian No 3, Mar 82 pp 140-141
[Article by V. Nikolayev: "Measures to Fight Against Drunkenness and Alcoholism"]
~ [Text] The social, medical, legal, and organizational measures of the fight
against drunkenness and alcohol~sm--this is tlie topic of a conference which was
hel.d in Tomsk in November 1981 by the Ministry of Health RSFSR, the Siberian Branch
of the Institute of Psychiatry of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences, and the
_ Tomskaya Oblast Public ::ealth Department. Its work was participated in by
scientists, practical legal workers, doctors, and sociologists from various cities
of the country.
In analyzing the reasons for drunkenness and alcoholism the speakers noted such
factors as: a distorted system of values among part of the citizens who replace
cultural recreation with the purposeless passing of time; the fact that people
close their e~es to drunkenness and the violations of labor and public discipline
tl~at fol_low; cases of the involvement of adolescents and young people in the
consumption of alcoholic beverages; and the disunity of the efforts of the
dif.ferent organizations fighting against drunkenness. A great deal of attention
was given to an analysis of the family situation, the organization of the popula-
tion's leisure, a strengthening of the moral climate in labor collectives, the
rc~le of the immediate social milieu, and also the way of life of different groups
at the population. (Ye. S. Sivortsova, V. I. Kudryavtsev, A. L. Remenson,
_ D. Stepanov, D. K. Sokolov) It was noted that the abuse of alcohol decreases
1^ngevity by approximately 20 years; the complete elimination of drunkenness in
production would increase labor productivity by almost 10 percent.
~ ~1n ov~r