As of early 1972 the structure of the government remained essentially the same as that established by the 1965 Constitution. Power is declared to belong to the working people united under the leadership of the Romanian Communist Party (Partidul Comunist Roman—PCR). That power is said to be expressed through their representatives to the Grand National Assembly, the nation's sole legislative body, and through the people's councils, the organs of government on county and local levels. Constitutionally, the Grand National Assembly, as the highest voice of the people, is asserted to be the supreme organ of state power, and all other government bodies are theoretically subordinate to it.

Actual political power, however, is monopolized by the PCR and particularly by the highest organs of the party under the leadership of Nicolae Ceausescu, who is simultaneously head of state. Although the system of government is, in theory, designed to emphasize participatory democracy, the government functions largely as the administrative structure through which the party exerts its will in all aspects of Romanian society (see ch. 9).

There is no separation of powers between the branches of the government, and it is difficult to draw distinctions between the executive and the legislative functions. The Council of State is closely tied to the structure and membership of the Grand National Assembly and functions as a permanent assembly presidium. The nation's highest administrative body, the Council of Ministers, is elected by the assembly and responsible to both the assembly and the Council of State. Although it is theoretically independent in its judicial decisions, the Supreme Court is also constitutionally responsible to the assembly.

The entire structure of the government, from national down to local levels, is organized on a principle of centralized control by which all lower bodies are subject to the authority and control of the next higher unit, the ultimate power resting in the central government. The governmental system consists of nominally representative bodies at community, town, and county levels, which are hierarchically subordinated to the authority of the central government. Throughout the entire system the predominant influence of the party is evident, the key positions at each level being held by party members.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM

Constitutional Development

Since coming under full communist control in December 1947, Romania has had three constitutions. The first, designating the country a "People's Republic," was adopted by the Grand National Assembly in April 1948, just four weeks after the assembly had been reorganized under new communist leadership. The second, officially adopted in September 1952, had first been made public the preceding July after Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej had assumed the post of prime minister in addition to his position as head of the party. A third constitution, incorporating the elements of Romania's changed social and ideological position, entered into force on August 20, 1965.

In many ways similar to the initial constitutions of the other Soviet-dominated states of Eastern Europe, the 1948 Constitution was designed to mark Romania's entry into the first stage of the transition from capitalism to socialism. As a people's democracy, state power was said to derive from the people as expressed through the Grand National Assembly, nominally, the supreme organ of state power. A nineteen-member Presidium was elected by and from the membership of the assembly to provide continuity of legislative authority when the assembly itself was not in session. The highest executive and administrative organ was the Council of Ministers, which functioned under the direction of the prime minister. Although it was not mentioned in the constitution, the Communist Party functioned as the supreme decisionmaking authority over and above that of the government.

The right of ownership of private property was guaranteed, although the constitution provided that privately held means of production, banks, and insurance companies could be nationalized when the "general interest" so required. Less than two months after the adoption of the constitution, the Grand National Assembly applied this "general interest" principle and nationalized all banking, industrial, insurance, mining, and transportation enterprises.

Described in the constitution in anticipation of their actual establishment, the organs of state power in the regions, counties, districts, and communes were designated "people's councils." Formally established by law in 1949, these bodies were organized into a centralized system in which the lower level councils were fully subordinated to the next higher council and all functioned under the direct control of the central organs of government.

Changes that were effected in the political, social, and economic structure of the country after 1948 were incorporated into a new constitution in 1952. Patterned largely after the 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union, the 1952 document specifically designated the Romanian Workers' Party (title of the Communist Party between 1948 and 1965) as the representative of the working class and the country's leading political force. The nation's close ties with the Soviet Union were strongly emphasized. Several references to the Soviet Union glorified its role in the liberation of the country from fascism during World War II and described the Soviets as great friends of the Romanian people. Whereas the 1948 Constitution declared that "the Romanian People's Republic was born amid the struggle conducted by the people, under the leadership of the working class, against fascism, reaction, and imperialism," that of 1952 asserted the republic "was born and consolidated following the liberation of the country by the armed forces of the Soviet Union."

As did the 1948 Constitution, that of 1952 guaranteed full equality to the country's national minority groups, but the 1952 Constitution also established an autonomous administrative unit, the Hungarian Autonomous Region (Mures-Magyar), for the large Hungarian population. The region was given its own people's council and local authorities, although these were clearly subordinated to the organs of the central government. Including the Hungarian Autonomous Region, the country was administered through twenty regional units that, in turn, were subdivided into districts, towns, and rural localities.

Citizens were guaranteed the right to work for remuneration; the right to rest, assured by the establishment of the eight-hour workday and paid annual vacations for workers and office employees; the right to material security when old, ill, or disabled; and the right to education. Full equality in all aspects of economic, political, and cultural life was guaranteed to all working people regardless of nationality, race, or sex.

Freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and public demonstration were likewise assured, as was freedom of religion. Churches, however, were forbidden to operate schools except for the training of religious personnel. Other rights guaranteed the protection of the person from arbitrary arrest, the inviolability of the home, and the secrecy of the mail. The right of citizens to form public and private organizations was also assured, although associations having a "fascist or anti-democratic character" were prohibited.

Citizen duties to the state included the observance of the constitution and the laws of the republic and the obligation to preserve and develop socialist property, to practice discipline in regard to work, and to work in general for the strengthening of the "regime of people's democracy." Military service and the defense of the nation were described as duties of honor for all citizens.

In March 1961 the Grand National Assembly established a commission to prepare a new draft constitution. At the same time the 1952 Constitution was revised to transform the Presidium of the assembly into the Council of State. The new council, vested with supreme executive authority, consisted of a president, three vice presidents, and thirteen members. As was the case with the Presidium, the Council of State was elected by and from the assembly membership and was, in theory at least, responsible to it.

The authority of the council was threefold, consisting of permanent powers, powers to be exercised between assembly sessions, and special powers that could be exercised in exceptional circumstances. The permanent powers were exercised by the president, who was by virtue of his position the head of state, and focused primarily on the representation of the republic in international relations. Between sessions of the assembly the Council of State was empowered to oversee the activity of the Council of Ministers, appoint and recall members of the Supreme Court and the commander in chief of the armed forces, supervise the functioning of the Office of the Prosecutor General, and convene standing commissions of the assembly.

The council could also issue decrees having the force of law although, at least technically, these had to be submitted to the next assembly session for ratification. In the event of circumstances that might prevent the assembly from convening, the council was authorized to appoint the Council of Ministers, declare war, order mobilization, proclaim a state of emergency, approve the budget, and prepare economic plans. Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, first secretary of the Romanian Workers' Party, was elected as president of the Council of State. Ion Gheorghe Maurer—who had been chairman of the assembly Presidium, and thus titular head of state, since 1958—became prime minister.Although the draft constitution prepared by the commission appointed in 1961 was never adopted, it was used as the basis for the work of a second commission named in June 1965. Under the chairmanship of Ceausescu, the commission prepared a new draft and submitted it to the party congress and the Council of State. After being approved by these bodies the Constitution was adopted by the Grand National Assembly on August 20, 1965.

The Constitution of 1965

After the adoption of the first communist constitution in 1948 the country had officially borne the title of a people's republic. With the promulgation of the new Constitution in 1965 the name of the country was changed to the Socialist Republic of Romania (Republica Socialista Romania). In adopting this title, the Romanian leadership was asserting that the country had completed the transition from capitalism and had become a full-fledged socialist state.

Observers of Eastern European politics considered the emphasis placed on national sovereignty and independence in the new Constitution to be significant. Whereas the 1952 Constitution repeatedly stressed the country's close ties to the Soviet Union and the role of the Soviet army in the liberation of Romania during World War II, the 1965 Constitution omits all reference to the Soviet Union. Instead, it refers only to the policy of maintaining friendly and fraternal relations with all socialist states and, in addition, expresses the intention of promoting friendly relations with nonsocialist states.

There is also increased provision for civil liberties in the 1965 Constitution, including the right of petition, the right of individual recourse to the courts in the event of illegal acts of state agencies, and rights equivalent to habeas corpus. The extent of individual freedom is qualified, however, by the declaration that the "freedom of speech, of the press, reunion, meeting and demonstration cannot be used for aims hostile to the socialist system and to the interests of the working people." While proclaiming freedom of association and organization, the 1965 Constitution, as did that of 1952, prohibits associations of a "fascist or anti-democratic character."

Perhaps owing to the declared advancement to the stage of socialism, the 1965 Constitution contains no reference to the "private capitalist sector" of the economy, as had the 1952 document. Whereas the 1952 Constitution had recognized the private sector as one of three elements of the economic system, along with the socialist sector and the sector described as "small-scale commodity production," that of 1965 declares the basis of the economy to rest solely on the socialist ownership of the means of production. Cooperative farmers, however, are permitted the personal ownership of some livestock and tools, certain craftsmen are guaranteed ownership of their workshops, and peasants who are not in cooperatives are able to own small parcels of land and some farm implements.

Changes that had been made in the organizational structure of the government after 1952 were incorporated into the 1965 Constitution. The Council of State is described as the "supreme body of state power with a permanent activity," although it remains theoretically subordinate to the Grand National Assembly, which is designated as "the supreme body of state power." In contrast to the 1952 Constitution, which provided for representation to the Grand National Assembly on the basis of one deputy for every 40,000 persons, the 1965 document fixes the number of assembly deputies at 465 and requires the establishment of that number of constituencies of equal population.

Although the Hungarian Autonomous Region continued to exist, the 1952 provision guaranteeing "administrative and territorial autonomy" to the Hungarian population was omitted from the 1965 Constitution. All of the sixteen regional units were subsequently eliminated by a territorial reorganization of 1968, at which time a system of judete (counties) was established.

All power is ascribed to the people and exercised by their representatives in the people's councils and the Grand National Assembly. The Communist Party is described as the country's leading political force under whose leadership the working people have the expressed goal of building the socialist system to create "the conditions for transition to communism."

THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING OF THE GOVERNMENT

The Central Government

According to the 1965 Constitution the major institutions of the central government are the Grand National Assembly, the Council of State, and the Council of Ministers (see fig. 1). Although the Constitution declares the Grand National Assembly and the Council of State to be the supreme organs of state power, in practice the authority of both of these organs ranks after that of the PCR. The Constitution itself states unequivocally that "the leading political force of the whole society is the Romanian Communist Party." The basic national policy decisions are made in the ruling bodies of the party and subsequently communicated to the government for adoption and implementation.

The Grand National Assembly

The Grand National Assembly, which supervises and controls the functions of all other state organs, consists of 465 deputies elected from an equal number of electoral districts for a four-year term of office. In the event of exceptional circumstances that prevent the holding of elections, however, the assembly is empowered to prolong its term of office for the duration of these circumstances. Regular assembly sessions are held twice yearly, and special sessions may be convened on the initiative of the Council of State or on demand of one-third of the total number of deputies.

Constitutionally, the Grand National Assembly is empowered to elect, supervise, and recall the members of the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, and the Supreme Court. It is also empowered to name the prosecutor general and control the activity of his office. It is given ultimate authority in the regulation of the electoral system, the national economic plan, the state budget, and the organization and functioning of the people's councils.

The assembly is empowered to establish the general line of the country's foreign policy and has ultimate responsibility for the maintenance of public order and national defense. As a part of this responsibility the assembly appoints and recalls the supreme commander of the armed forces. Declarations of war, however, are constitutionally limited to the protection of Romanian national sovereignty in the event of aggression or in the event of aggression against another state with which Romania has mutual defense obligations.

Other powers attributed to the assembly include adopting and amending the Constitution and the general control over its application. Assembly authority extends as well to the interpretation of the Constitution and decisions on the constitutionality of laws, making it in effect its own constitutional court. In exercising that power the assembly elects the Constitutional Commission, which functions for the duration of the legislative term. The Constitution specifies that up to one-third of the commission members may be persons who are not deputies, but members of the Supreme Court, college and university teachers, and scientific researchers are specifically excluded from commission membership. Duties of the commission focus primarily on providing the assembly with reports and opinions on constitutional questions.The Grand National Assembly functions under an elected chairman who presides over assembly sessions and is responsible for directing its activities. The chairman and four elected vice chairmen form the Bureau of the Grand National Assembly and are assisted in their duties by a panel of six executive secretaries. In addition to the Constitutional Commission, other standing commissions of the assembly include the Agriculture and Forestry Commission; Credentials Commission; Defense Commission; Economic and Financial Commission; Education, Science, and Culture Commission; Foreign Policy Commission; Health, Labor, and Social Welfare Commission; Industry, Construction, and Transportation Commission; Legal Commission; and the People's Councils and State Administration Commission. Any deputy may be elected to the standing commissions of the assembly or to temporary commissions created to perform specific functions. Reports, bills, or other legislative matters are submitted to the standing commissions by the assembly chairman for study and for recommendations on further action.

The assembly may function if one-half of the deputies plus one additional deputy are present. Laws and decisions are adopted by simple majority vote with the exception of an amendment to the Constitution, which requires a two-thirds majority of the total number of assembly deputies. Laws and decisions are signed by the presiding officer present at the time the decision is voted. Within ten days after adoption, laws are required to be signed by the president of the Council of State and published in the Official Bulletin of the Socialist Republic of Romania.

The Council of State

Described as the supreme body of state power with a permanent activity, the Council of State exercises certain permanent powers as well as special powers that fall to it when the Grand National Assembly is not in session. Formed of nineteen members, the Council of State is elected by the assembly, from its own membership, at the first assembly session as it begins a new term of office. The council's authority continues until the election of a new Council of State by the succeeding legislature. Although the president of the council is the head of state, the Constitution asserts that the functioning of the council is to be based on the principle of collective leadership. Almost all the members of the Council of State also hold leading party posts.

Among the most important permanent powers of the Council of State are the establishment of election dates; the appointment and recall of the heads of central government agencies, except for the Council of Ministers; and the ratification or denunciation of international treaties. The president of the council represents the republic in international relations. Other permanent powers include the granting of senior military ranks; the conferral of honors; the granting of citizenship, pardon, and refuge; and the appointment and recall of diplomatic representatives.

Grand National Assembly powers that devolve to the Council of State between assembly sessions, or in the event of exceptional circumstances that prevent the assembly from acting, include the authority to appoint and recall members of the Council of Ministers, members of the Supreme Court, and the prosecutor general. Also included in this category are powers to establish norms having the power of law, control over the application of laws and decisions passed by the assembly, and supervision of the Council of Ministers and other central administrative bodies as well as the activities of the people's councils.

Although the legal decisions passed by the council must be submitted for approval to the next session of the Grand National Assembly, they take effect as law immediately on passage by the council or on a date specified in the ruling itself. In the event of a national emergency the Council of State can also exercise the assembly's power to declare a state of war, subject to the same qualifications imposed upon the assembly—that is, in the event that Romania or one of its allies is the victim of external armed aggression.

In December 1967 PCR General Secretary Ceausescu was elected president of the Council of State by the Grand National Assembly and, by virtue of this position, became the head of state. The reason given for the concentration of the principal party and government positions in Ceausescu's hands was the desire to provide unitary leadership both as a means of efficiency and of ensuring full party control at the highest level of the government. The decision to unite the two posts, as well as to combine a number of party and government positions on lower administrative levels, had been taken at a national party conference a few days earlier and followed action taken by the PCR Central Committee in October. Outside observers saw the move as one of a series of steps designed to ensure the continued subordination of the state apparatus to the party.

In March 1970 the Grand National Assembly voted to establish the Defense Council, to be headed by Ceausescu and responsible to the Council of State. The formation of the Defense Council, which was given decisionmaking powers for high-level military affairs, served to strengthen Council of State control over the armed forces and further enhance Ceausescu's personal authority. The same legislation that established the Defense Council also decreed that foreign troops could not enter Romania under any circumstances without the prior approval of the assembly. Coming in the aftermath of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, observers of Eastern European affairs interpreted this ruling as a means of preventing any dissident group from inviting foreign intervention on the pretext of preserving orthodox communist rule.

The membership of the Defense Council reflected the importance given it. Besides the head of state, other members of the council include the prime minister, the minister of the armed forces, the chairman of the Council of State Security, the minister of internal affairs, the minister of foreign affairs, the chairman of the State Planning Committee, and eight other members who also held leading government and party positions. The secretary of the council in 1971 was the chief of the general staff and a member of the PCR Central Committee.

Also connected to the Council of State and subordinate to it is the Economic Council. This body functions to advise on economic matters, coordinate planning, and make recommendations to the Council of State for the development of the national economy and the improvement of state enterprises. In late 1971 the chairman of the Economic Council was also a member of the PCR Secretariat.

The Council of Ministers

Defined in the Constitution as the supreme body of state administration, the Council of Ministers exercises control over the activities of all state agencies on both the national and local levels. The council is composed of a chairman (who is the prime minister), a first deputy chairman, an unspecified number of deputy chairmen, the ministers, and the heads of certain other important government agencies (see fig. 8). Unlike the 1952 Constitution, in which twenty-six specific ministries were listed, that of 1965 fixes neither the number of ministries nor their particular areas of competence, this being left to other laws.

In 1971 the Council of Ministers was composed of forty-four members, including the prime minister, first deputy, seven deputies, twenty-three ministers, and ten committee chiefs with ministerial rank. All but two of the members of the council were also members, or alternate members, of the PCR Central Committee, and the prime minister and his first deputy were members of the Standing Presidium of the party. These two, along with two other deputies, were also full members of the PCR Executive Committee.

The Constitution charges the Council of Ministers with responsibility for the general implementation of the nation's domestic and foreign policies, the application of laws, and the maintenance of public order. As the supreme administrative body of the government, the council coordinates and controls the activity of the ministries and other state organs at all levels. In economic matters the council administers the drafting of the overall state plan and the national budget and provides for their implementation. In addition, it directs the establishment of the economic enterprises and other industrial and commercial organizations (see ch. 14). The council's responsibilities also include the general administration of relations with other states, the conclusion of international agreements, and the general organization of the armed forces.

Formally elected by the Grand National Assembly at the beginning of each new assembly session, the council's term of office continues until the election of a new council by the succeeding assembly. Both collectively and individually, the council members are responsible to the Grand National Assembly; and in the interval between assembly sessions, to the Council of State. The Constitution asserts that the Council of Ministers is to operate on the principle of collective leadership to ensure the unity of its political and administrative actions.

In late 1969 the Grand National Assembly enacted legislation aimed at strengthening the concept of collective leadership in the ministries and extending the principle to other national administrative agencies. In the case of the Council of Ministers, the measure provided for the establishment of a collegium in each ministry consisting of the minister, department heads, certain specialists, and representatives of labor unions or other organizations. Purposes of the collegium included collective decisionmaking, review of ministry activities, and recommendations on ministry programs and policies. The meetings of the collegium, at which decisions are made by majority vote, are also attended by representatives of the PCR appointed by the party Central Committee. In the event of serious disagreements within the collegium, the law provides for the matter to be referred to the Council of Ministers. No such disagreements have been reported, however.

Since the promulgation of the 1965 Constitution, the Council of Ministers has been reorganized several times. In late 1971 the importance of a number of the ministries and state commissions was emphasized by the prominence of the party position held by their ministers or chairmen: almost all of the members of the Council of Ministers were either full or alternate members of the PCR Central Committee; the chairmen of the General Union of Trade Unions, the National Union of Agricultural Production Cooperatives, and the State Planning Committee were full members of the party Executive Committee; the chairmen of the Council of State Security and the State Committee for Local Economy and Administration were alternate members of the Executive Committee, as was the head of the Ministry of the Armed Forces. The chairmen of the State Planning Committee and the Council of State Security and the ministers of internal affairs and the armed forces also were members of the Defense Council.

The Judicial System

The general organization and functioning of the judiciary is established by the Constitution and by the 1968 Law on the Organization of the Court System. Overall responsibility for the functioning of the courts is vested in the Ministry of Justice, whereas the prosecutor general (attorney general) is charged with the general application of the law and the executing of criminal proceedings.

To fulfill its responsibility for the functioning of the courts and the supervision of state marshals, state notaries, and the national bar organization, the Ministry of Justice is divided into six directorates: civil courts, military courts, studies and legislation, personnel, administration, and planning and accounting. In addition, the ministry includes a corps of inspectors, an office of legal affairs, the State Notary Office, and a lawyer and legal expert service.

The court system includes the Supreme Court, judet courts, lower courts, military courts, and local judicial commissions. The Constitution places the judiciary under the authority of the Grand National Assembly; and between assembly sessions, under the authority of the Council of State. The Supreme Court, seated in Bucharest, exercises general control over the judiciary activities of all lower courts.

Members of the Supreme Court are professional judges appointed by the Grand National Assembly to four-year terms of office. The Supreme Court functions as an appeals court for sentences pronounced in lower tribunals and, in certain matters specified by law, may act as a court of first instance. It may also issue guidance, in the form of directives, on legal and constitutional questions for the judicial actions of lower courts and the administrative functions of government agencies. To fulfill its responsibilities, the Supreme Court is divided into three sections: civil, criminal, and military. Each of these sections is presided over by a panel of three judges, and plenary sessions of the entire court are held at least once every three months in the presence of the minister of justice for the purpose of issuing guidance directives.

With the territorial-administrative reorganization of February 1968, the jurisdictions of the former regional and district courts were restructured to correspond to the new administrative units. Accordingly, there are thirty-nine judet courts and the municipal court of Bucharest, which has judet court status. Each court on this level is presided over by a panel of two judges and three lay jurors, known as people's assessors, and decisions are made by majority vote. People's assessors were first introduced in December 1947 and given additional legal status in 1952 by the Grand National Assembly's Law on the Organization of Justice. The law required these lay assessors to be Romanian citizens and at least twenty-three years of age. Most of the people's assessors are appointed by the PCR or by one of the district bodies of the mass organizations (see ch. 9).

Below the judet courts, and subordinate to them, are the lower courts. In the city of Bucharest these consist of eight sectional courts, which function under the supervision of the municipal court. For the remainder of the country the number of these lower courts and the extent of their territorial jurisdiction are established by the Ministry of Justice. Courts on this level are presided over by a panel composed of one judge and two people's assessors; decisions are based on a majority vote.

Military courts are established on a territorial basis, subdivisions being determined by the Council of Ministers. The lower military tribunals have original jurisdiction over contraventions of the law committed by members of the armed forces; the territorial military tribunals exercise appellate jurisdiction for decisions of the lower units. In certain situations specified by law, cases involving civilians may be assigned to military courts. At each level, the military courts, when acting in the first instance, consist of two judges and three people's assessors. In appeals cases on the territorial level, the courts consist of three judges only. As in the civil courts, decisions are reached by majority vote.

In 1968 the Grand National Assembly enacted a law establishing a system of judicial commissions to function as courts of special jurisdiction in the state economic enterprises and in localities. These commissions were designed as "an expression of socialist democracy" to provide for the increased participation of working people in the settlement of problems involving minor local disputes and local economic issues. Functioning under the direction of enterprise management or municipal executive committees, the judicial commissions are assigned such matters as labor disputes, misdemeanors, property disputes, and violations of proper social conduct, a category that appears to provide broad latitude for prosecution. As a rule, the commissions consist of five members elected for a term of two years; however, in labor disputes two additional members are added to the commission, one representing the enterprise management and one representing the labor union committee.

General supervision over the application of the law and the initiation of criminal proceedings is exercised by the Office of the Prosecutor General. Headed by the prosecutor general, the office exercises supervisory powers that extend to all levels of the society, from the government ministries down to the ordinary citizen. Subunits of the Office of the Prosecutor General are hierarchically organized and include offices in each judicial district plus the prosecutor's military bureau. The prosecutor general is elected by the Grand National Assembly for a four-year term and is responsible to the assembly or, between assembly sessions, to the Council of State for the activities of his office. Three deputy prosecutors assist the prosecutor general in carrying out his official duties.

An important part of the prosecutor general's responsibilities consists of supervising the activities of the courts to ensure the uniform application of the law. Prosecutors on the judet level have a consultative vote in the meetings of local government agencies when important legal questions are being decided. The prosecutor general participates in those plenary sessions of the Supreme Court at which guidance decisions are made. In the event the prosecutor does not agree with a decision, he may appeal to the county people's council or to its executive committee for a review of the decision. On the national level, the Office of the Prosecutor General may appeal alleged violations of the law to the Council of Ministers.

Local Government

Local government bodies, known as people's councils, exist on the judet, town, and commune levels. The 1965 Constitution had also provided for subunits of state administration on regional and district levels, but a territorial-administrative reorganization voted by the Grand National Assembly in 1968 replaced the existing sixteen regions and 150 intermediate districts with a system of thirty-nine counties and forty-four independent municipal administrations. The expressed purpose of the change was the provision of more efficient administration.

In addition to the establishment of county and municipal people's councils, local councils were also set up in 142 smaller towns, and communal councils were formed in rural areas. A number of the smaller communes were combined in order to give them a larger population base. Boundaries of each of the new judete were drawn to include about fifty communes consisting of some 4,000 to 5,000 persons.

Along with the territorial reorganization, the decision was also made to combine party and government functions of the judet level so that the same person acted both as party committee first secretary and people's council chairman. In explaining this fusion of party and state authority, Ceausescu stated that there were many instances in which offices in both the party and the government dealt with the same areas of interest, a practice that resulted in inefficiency and the unnecessary duplication of party and state machinery. He asserted that the consolidation of these administrative positions would serve to eliminate this overlapping. At the same time, Ceausescu declared that, inasmuch as the government was responsible for the implementation of the PCR's economic decisions, there was no justification for the continued existence of the numerous economic sections of the party Central Committee and that future economic policy would be implemented within the structure of the government (see ch. 9).

According to the Constitution and the 1968 Grand National Assembly's Law on the Organization and Operation of People's Councils, the people's councils are responsible for the implementation of central government decisions and the economic, social, and cultural administration of their particular jurisdictions. Deputies to the people's councils are elected to four-year terms—except for the communes where the term is two years—from single-member constituencies of equal population. Based on population, the judet people's councils may have a maximum of 231, or a minimum of 141, deputies. The membership of the Bucharest People's Council is fixed at 369, and there are 151 deputies on the councils of each of its subdistricts. City people's councils range from eighty-one to 221 deputies, and those of the towns consist of from thirty-five to ninety-one deputies. Commune council memberships range from twenty-five to seventy-one persons.

Organized on the basis of highly centralized control, the people's councils function under the general supervision of the Grand National Assembly; and between assembly sessions the councils function under the direction of the Council of State. The Law on the Organization and Operation of People's Councils specifically places the people's councils under the overall leadership of the PCR as the leading political force of the society.

To expedite its work, each people's council established an executive committee as its chief administrative organ and a number of permanent committees to which it assigns specific responsibilities. The executive committee, consisting of a chairman, two or more deputy chairmen, and an unspecified number of other members, functions for the duration of the council's term of office. Each of the people's council executive committees also has a secretary, who is appointed with the approval of the next higher ranking council and is considered an employee of the central government rather than of the local executive committee itself. The chairman of executive committees in the cities, towns, and communes are officially considered the mayors of these units. The executive committees are responsible to the people's council that elected them as well as to the executive committee of the next higher council.

The executive committee meets whenever necessary and is required to convene at least once a month; full council sessions are held every two months on the city, town, and commune level and every three months on the county level. Responsibilities of the executive committees include the implementation of laws, decrees, and decisions of the central government, the carrying out of the decisions made by the people's councils, the working out of the local budget, and the drafting of the local economic plan. The executive committee is also charged with the direction and control of the economic enterprises within its area of jurisdiction and with the exercising of supervision over the executive committees of the councils inferior to it. The executive committees are also responsible for the organization and functioning of public services, educational institutions, medical programs, and the militia.

THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM

According to the 1965 Constitution, all power belongs to the working people joined in a worker-peasant alliance; power is exercised through the people's representative bodies—the Grand National Assembly and the several levels of people's councils. Theoretically, these bodies are elected by, controlled by, and responsible to the working people. Emphasis is placed on the direct participation of the citizens through their local people's councils, party units, and chapters of the mass organizations (see ch. 9).

Although the Constitution asserts the right of all citizens eighteen years of age and older to participate in the election of all representative bodies on the basis of a universal, direct, equal, and secret vote, it does not determine how elections are to be organized or specify who is responsible for conducting them. The Constitution does declare, however, that the right to nominate candidates belongs to the PCR, as well as to all labor unions, cooperatives, youth and women's leagues, cultural associations, and other mass organizations. Citizens who have reached the age of twenty-three are eligible to be candidates for elective office.

Separate legislation provides for general elections to be held every four years and local communal elections to be conducted every two years. Elections are organized under the direction of the Socialist Unity Front, the national entity that incorporates the country's numerous mass organizations under the leadership of the PCR (see ch. 9). All candidates for elective office must have the approval of the front in order to be placed on the ballot, a requirement that ensures that no candidate unacceptable to the front's leadership will be placed in nomination.

The Socialist Unity Front was officially established in November 1968 as a replacement for the People's Democratic Front, which had existed since the Communists began to organize effectively in the country during World War II. The Socialist Unity Front lists among its member organizations, in addition to the PCR, the labor unions; cooperative farm organizations; consumer cooperatives; professional, scientific, and cultural associations; student, youth, women's, and veterans' organizations; religious bodies; and representatives of the Hungarian, German, Serbian, and Ukrainian minorities. At the time of its formation, Ceausescu was elected as the front's chairman, and Ion Gheorghe Maurer, the prime minister, was named as first vice chairman. Both continued in these positions in early 1972.

General elections were conducted by the Socialist Unity Front in March 1969. Official results indicated that ballots were cast by 99.96 percent of the country's 13,582,249 eligible voters. Of the votes cast, a reported 99.75 percent were marked in favor of the single list of Socialist Unity Front candidates. Although the great majority of the candidates for the Grand National Assembly who were placed on the ballot belonged to the PCR, some non-members gained front approval and were elected. Nearly half of the candidates elected were newcomers to the assembly and included forty-one Hungarian, twelve German, and nine other minority representatives. The front has scheduled the next general elections for 1973.