"The highest organ of state power in the USSR is the
Supreme Soviet of the USSR" (Article 30). "The legis-
lative power of the USSR is exercised exclusively by the
Supreme Soviet of the USSR" (Article 32). The first of
these two statements in the 1936 Constitution establishes
the Supreme Soviet as a body which, like European par-
liaments but unlike the American Congress, includes within
its formal jurisdiction all powers--legislative, executive
and judicial--and not just the legislative alone. But
while there is no division of powers in the Soviet Consti-
tution, there is a division of functions under which the
Supreme Soviet delegates its executive and judicial
authority to other bodies--executive authority to the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, executive and adminis-
trative authority to the Council of Ministers, judicial
authority to the Supreme Court. What the Supreme
Soviet retains as its exclusive prerogative, or what ac-
cording to Article 32 it is presumed to retain as its exclu-
sive prerogative, is the power of legislation.

The 1936 Constitution is at some pains to avoid
ascribing legislative powers to bodies other than the
Supreme Soviet. Thus the Presidium is confined to
"issuing decrees" and "interpreting laws in operation,"
the Council of Ministers has authority to issue only "deci-
sions and orders," the individual ministries may issue
only "orders and instructions," the Soviets of lower than
republican rank have the power simply to "adopt decisions
and issue orders," and bodies outside the Soviet structure
such as the Communist Party and the mass organizations
are implicitly precluded from law-making rights by the

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