The '''Nomenklatura''' were a self -appointed group running the administration of the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] during the era when the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] had a politcal political monopoly and outlawed opposition. The ''nomenklatura'' were the only group of persons who held [[citizenship]] [[rights]]. At the time of the Soviet Union's demise , along with the ''nomenklatura'' in 1992, nearly 300 million people were dominated, controlled, and were citizenshipless without citizenship in the country of their birth. More [[Blacks]] in [[capitalist]] [[apartheid]] [[South Africa]] - a country with 1/10th the population - had [[property rights]] (owned their own homes and cars) than [[white]] people in [[socialist]] Russia.
The idea of an elite and privileged ''nomenklatura'' to staff the civil service of the Soviet state originated with its founder, [[Vladimir Lenin]].
*Coextensive with the nomenklatura were patron-client relations similar to what existed under [[feudalism]]—the very cause thart give birth to Marxist Doctrine—only the Nomenklatura had no legal authority as feudal lords did. Feudal lords gained position legally by inheritance, whereas Marxist theory and its ruling Nomenklature built its power by seizure, expropriation, and coercion. Officials under this regime who had the authority to appoint individuals to certain positions cultivated loyalties among those whom they appointed. The patron (the official making the appointment) promoted the interests of clients in return for their support. Powerful patrons, such as the members of the Politburo, had many clients. Moreover, an official could be both a client (in relation to a higher-level patron) and a patron (to other, lower-level officials).
*Because a client was beholden to his patron for his position, the client was eager to please his patron by carrying out his policies. The Soviet power structure essentially consisted of groups of vassals (clients) who had an overlord (the patron). The higher the patron, the more clients the patron had. Patrons protected their clients and tried to promote their careers. In return for the patron's efforts to promote their careers, the clients remained loyal to their patron. Thus, by promoting his clients' careers, the patron could advance his own power.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20090110141230/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+su0203)</ref>
==See also==
*[[Superdelegate]]
*[[Elitism]]
*[[Single party]]
*[[Marxism-Leninism]]
*[[Revolutionary vanguard]]
==References==
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{{communism}}
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Communism]]
[[Category:Marxist Terminology]]