960s and
early 1970s control has been exercised primarily through publishers, art
galleries, theaters, and other outlets. Artists and intellectuals know
that their work must pass through state-owned outlets if it is to be
seen or heard; therefore, they exercise self-censorship to ensure
acceptability. Other means of control are the professional unions that
all artists, writers, and actors must join if their work is to be
exhibited or published. The unions are run by the BKP and, in effect,
become instruments through which the party promotes its cultural
policies. For some artists conformity with ideological goals leads to
upward social mobility, and some enjoy privileges and life-styles that
are usually reserved for the ruling elite.

For control of the general population the government relies on the
regular police, court, and penal systems, which are supplemented by
state security police, paramilitary police auxiliaries, and militarized
border guards. The regular police forces, the auxiliaries, and the state
security police are all under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs, whereas the border guards are subordinated to the army
and are regulated by the Ministry of National Defense. Courts and penal
institutions are under the Ministry of Justice.

Also as means of control, the government sanctions and the party
operates a number of mass organizations that affect or influence the
lives of most people in the country. The Fatherland Front is a large
umbrella organization that includes all other groups as well as
individual members. The other mass organizations include trade unions,
youth groups, athletic societies, and similar interest groups. Other
than these officially sanctioned groups, there are no organizations
permitted and, because the party retains control through the leadership
positions, all organized activity in the country comes under BKP
supervision. Such organizations also serve as upward channels of
information through which the party hierarchy is able to keep in touch
with popular opinion.

Militarily, Bulgaria in 1973 maintained about 160,000 men in its armed
forces, which are committed to the Soviet-dominated alliance known as
the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact). Ground forces constitute
the great bulk of the so-called Bulgarian People's Army, but it also
includes a small air and air defense force, a small naval force, and the
border guards. All of the armed forces are under t