Apolitburo (/ˈpɒlɪtbjʊəroʊ/ ⓘ) orpolitical bureau is the highest organ of thecentral committee incommunist parties.[1] The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs insocialist andIslamist parties, such as the Political Bureau ofHamas.[2] Politburos are part of the governing structure in most former and existingcommunist states.
The termpolitburo in English comes from theRussianpolitbyuro (политбюро), itself an abbreviation ofpoliticheskoye byuro (политическое бюро 'political bureau'). TheSpanish termPolitburó is directlyloaned from Russian, as is theGermanPolitbüro.Chinese uses acalque (Chinese:政治局;pinyin:Zhèngzhìjú), from which theVietnamese (Bộ Chính trị部政治), andKorean (정치국, 政治局Jeongchiguk) terms derive.
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The first politburo was created inRussia by theBolshevik Party in 1917 during theRussian Revolution that occurred during that year.[3][4] The first Politburo had seven members:Vladimir Lenin,Grigory Zinoviev,Lev Kamenev,Leon Trotsky,Joseph Stalin,Grigori Sokolnikov, andAndrei Bubnov.[5]
During the 20th century, politburos were established in most Communist states. They included the politburos ofthe USSR,East Germany,Afghanistan, andCzechoslovakia. Today, there are five countries that have a politburo system:China,North Korea,Laos,Vietnam, andCuba.[6]
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InMarxist–Leninist states, the communist party is thevanguard of the people, therefore the legitimate body to lead the state. The party selects officials to serve in its politburo, which decides party policy. As aone-party state, party policy invariably becomes national policy.
EachParty Congress elects aCentral Committee which, in turn, elects the members of the politburo, secretariat, and ageneral secretary. This process is termeddemocratic centralism. In theory, the politburo is answerable to the Central Committee, however in practice all the authority lies with the politburo.
InTrotskyist parties, the Politburo is a bureau of the Central Committee tasked with making day-to-day political decisions, which must later be ratified by the Central Committee. Its members are chosen by the Central Committee, who appoints it. The post of General Secretary carries far less weight in this model. See, for example, theLanka Sama Samaja Party.
