nished. On the
contrary, the power of the top leadership was probably enhanced along
with its ability to perpetuate itself in office.

THE BULGARIAN COMMUNIST PARTY

Organization

Party statutes define the organization, membership, and program of the
BKP. A statute promulgated during the Sixth Party Congress in 1954
proclaimed the party to be an "inseparable part of the world communist
front" and acknowledged the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as the
leading political force within the communist bloc countries. Later party
statutes refined the basic document but did not change the premise that
the BKP looks to the Soviet party for leadership.

Central to the observance of basic communist policy is adherence to the
principles of democratic centralism. Patterned after the Soviet model,
these principles call for a pyramidal form of command responsibility in
which lower party organs are subordinated to the next higher body. This
also means that decisions of higher bodies bind those below,
individually and collectively. Party policy and practice encourage open
discussion of issues during meetings of local party units as well as
during conferences and congresses at higher levels; however, party
discipline requires unitary action after a decision has been reached by
the hierarchy.

The party hierarchy is composed of the Politburo, the Secretariat and,
to some extent, the Central Committee, the membership of which interlock
as one man may occupy two or more positions at any given time.
Theoretically occupying the apex of power is the congress of the party
that is held every five years, following the example of Soviet party
congresses. The congress is made up of delegates from various party
units on the basis of proportional representation of party members. The
main statutory functions of the congress include revising or amending
party statutes, deciding party policy, electing the Central Committee,
and receiving reports concerning past progress and future plans. It is
customary for major governmental programs or reforms to be presented to
a party congress before promulgation. The Tenth Party Congress, for
example, listened to readings of the draft of a new constitution and the
Sixth Five-Year Plan (1971-75) and approved both unanimously. Actually,
the purpose of a congress is to demonstrate unanimity and accord. The
size of the congress (1,553 delegates in 1971) and the fact that it
meets only at five-year intervals