User:NiciaD/sandbox/Moscow

Government in Soviet Moscow
Moscow was the capital of the Soviet Union for the entire existence of the USSR. In the Soviet era, Moscow was semi-autonomous due to its status as the capital. During his time as the USSR's leader, Stalin rarely left Moscow, and he described himself to his family as being the equivalent to the city's tsar. Stalin was highly involved in Moscow's city government procedures. The main government organisation in Moscow was the Politburo. Technically, all major policy decisions had to be approved by the Politburo, however, in reality Stalin was able to override any ruling. The agenda of the Politburo focused on six areas of policy - international affairs, defence, internal security, heavy industry, agriculture and transport.

Along with this was the Moscow city soviet (Mossovet), which was the central city committee. They were in charge of the routine operation of the city, and met monthly to develop policies related to soviet department services. A sub committee called a pyaterka convened every two or three says to discuss more routine affairs, and weekly they met with the Mossovet leaders. The Mossovet was meant to be a manifestation of the revolution's ideal of "power to the soviets". However, municipal authority was not respected, and the local government ended up having very little real power or influence. This was one of the causes of public disillusionment with the political structure.