SECTION II. POLITICAL
CHAPTER 8
GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM
As of early 1972 the structure of the government remained essentially the same as that established by the 1965 Constitution. Power is declared to belong to the working people united under the leadership of the Romanian Communist Party (Partidul Comunist Roman—PCR). That power is said to be expressed through their representatives to the Grand National Assembly, the nation's sole legislative body, and through the people's councils, the organs of government on county and local levels. Constitutionally, the Grand National Assembly, as the highest voice of the people, is asserted to be the supreme organ of state power, and all other government bodies are theoretically subordinate to it.
Actual political power, however, is monopolized by the PCR and particularly by the highest organs of the party under the leadership of Nicolae Ceausescu, who is simultaneously head of state. Although the system of government is, in theory, designed to emphasize participatory democracy, the government functions largely as the administrative structure through which the party exerts its will in all aspects of Romanian society (see ch. 9).
There is no separation of powers between the branches of the government, and it is difficult to draw distinctions between the executive and the legislative functions. The Council of State is closely tied to the structure and membership of the Grand National Assembly and functions as a permanent assembly presidium. The nation's highest administrative body, the Council of Ministers, is elected by the assembly and responsible to both the assembly and the Council of State. Although it is theoretically independent in its judicial decisions, the Supreme Court is also constitutionally responsible to the assembly.
The entire structure of the government, from national down to local levels, is organized on a principle of centralized control by which all lower bodies are subject to the authority and control of the next higher unit, the ultimate power resting in the central government. The governmental system consists of nominally representative bodies at community, town, and county levels, which are hierarchically subordinated to the authority of the central government. Throughout the entire system the predominant influence of the party is evident, the key positions at each level being held by party members.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM
Constitutional Development