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FIGURE 11. Leadership of the Communist Party (C)
leadership that has developed under Husak is basically a combination of politically influential conservatives and more moderate men that agree with most of Husak's policies. A majority of the members of the Secretariat and Presidium may still be considered technical experts and administrators, however, suggesting that Husak continues to stress technical competence and party expertise over pure power politics.
b. Regional and local levels
In 1968 the party organization in the Czech lands was divided into five Bohemian regions, two Moravian regions, and a Prague city region. To the existing three Slovak regions was added the Bratislava city region.
The evolution of party administration on the intermediate level has paralleled that of the national level. Thus, just as the Party Congress is the representative body of the national party, conferences of the regional, district, and basic party organs serve their respective levels. Similarly, regional and local committees and secretariats serve as counterparts to the national Central Committee and Secretariat. All organizations are responsible to the party's central apparatus, in consonance with the principle of democratic centralism. The lowest level of the party is referred to as the basic party organization, which has a minimum of five members but otherwise varies widely in size. In 1973 there were over 30,000 such basic party organizations.
The basic party organization, which is found in schools, industry, agriculture, the armed forces, and the government apparatus, has a number of functions. It disseminates propaganda and promotes organizational work with the people and the local press for fulfillment of party resolutions, and mobilizes workers and employees in factories and offices to prevent waste, fulfill economic plans, and strengthen state and local discipline.
c. Membership
The Czechoslovak Communist Party, unlike most other Eastern European parties, has traditionally been a "mass" party, designed to incorporate representatives of all age groups and major segments of Czechoslovak society. Having been legal prior to World War II, the party had a core of several hundred thousand upon which to build following the end of Nazi rule in the country. Because of the KSC's traditional legitimacy and its anti-Nazi record, the membership rose sharply following the war. When the Communists came to power in 1948, the membership soared to 2.5 million, 19% of the total population of the country. Party membership has since fluctuated due to periodic purges and membership drives, but it has remained the largest in proportion to the population of all ruling Communist parties, including that of the U.S.S.R. In 1962 the leadership decided to hold party rolls to about 1.5 million, or approximately one out of every six adults. By 1968, when liberalization of the party was well along, the membership had swelled to nearly 1.7 million, where it remained until the fall of Dubcek.
Following the 1968 invasion, some 200,000 members—mostly disaffected intellectuals and youth—resigned from the party; added to this loss are some 300,000 who were dropped in the 1970 purge. The membership in 1971 was approximately 1.2
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110010-2
