herever possible in
usual militia functions, but they appear to have only nominal
responsibilities to local government agencies.

The diminishing role of the security troops is evident in several areas.
Their personnel strength in 1971 was a fraction of that of the militia.
The country's efforts against external threat have been increasingly
relegated to the regular armed forces. Also, although the chairman of
the State Security Council--which was newly established in 1968--is a
member of the Council of Ministers, in 1970 he was the only man on the
security council who was a ranking party member, and he was no more than
an alternate member of the Executive Committee of the Central Committee
of the Romanian Communist Party. His vice chairmen were military
officers, and only one of them was prominent enough in the party to have
been a member of the Central Committee. It is evident that the State
Security Council in Romania does not have the status of the high-level
groups that in some countries have the responsibility for coordinating
party and governmental activities relating to national security and for
providing basic guidance to all of the various military, paramilitary,
and police agencies.

PUBLIC ORDER

As is the case in the other communist countries that pattern their
systems after that of the Soviet Union, Romania's leadership relies on
the party and several mass organizations to foster a climate in which
the people will actively support and cooperate with the regime. These
organizations involve as large a segment of the population as possible
in a broad spectrum of programs and functions. The efforts they elicit
from their members may consist of activities within the organizations
themselves or in local governments, judicial systems, and security
groups. Mass popular involvement provides an influence that is generally
subtle but that may become direct pressure.

Mass Organizations

The party attempts to attract the most competent and elite element of
the people, to ensure that its members adhere to basic socialist
ideology, and to maintain the power to direct and control all other
groups involved in major social and governmental activities. The mass
organizations support the party and carry its programs to special
interest groups. They keep the party informed of the concerns of their
members and may also, within certain limitations, have an influence upon
the party's actions (see ch. 9).

There are a