Leading role of the party in the context of "Proletariat"

The People's Socialist Republic of Albania (Albanian: Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë) was the communist state that existed in Albania from 10 January 1946 to 29 April 1991. Originally founded as the People's Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1976, it was governed by the Party of Labor of Albania (PLA), which had a constitutionally enshrined monopoly on state power.

The PLA enforced its state power monopoly by colonising the state and other mass organisations, and by controlling Albania's supreme organ of state power, the People's Assembly.

The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was the executive and administrative organ of the highest body of state authority, the All-Union Supreme Soviet. It was formed on 30 December 1922 and abolished on 26 December 1991. The government was headed by a chairman, most commonly referred to as the premier of the Soviet Union, and several deputy chairmen throughout its existence. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), as "The leading and guiding force of Soviet society and the nucleus of its political system" per Article 6 of the state constitution, controlled the government by holding a two-thirds majority in the All-Union Supreme Soviet. The government underwent several name changes throughout its history, and was known as the Council of People's Commissars from 1922 to 1946, the Council of Ministers from 1946 to 1991, the Cabinet of Ministers from January to August 1991 and the Committee on the Operational Management of the National Economy from August to December 1991.

The government chairman was nominated by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and elected by delegates at the first plenary session of a newly elected Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Certain governments, such as Ryzhkov's second government, had more than 100 government ministers, serving as first deputy premiers, deputy premiers, government ministers or heads of state committees/commissions; they were chosen by the premier and confirmed by the Supreme Soviet. The Government of the Soviet Union exercised its executive powers in conformity with the constitution of the Soviet Union and legislation enacted by the Supreme Soviet. The first government was led by Vladimir Lenin, and the last government was led by Valentin Pavlov.

The German Democratic Republic, commonly known in English as East Germany or the GDR, was a Marxist-Leninist communist state that existed from 7 October 1949 to 3 October 1990. Politics were dominated by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) which ruled the country as a one-party state for most of its existence. The Constitution of East Germany created a liberal democratic socialist republic from 1949 until 1968, when a new constitution formalised many of the Marxist-Leninist practices including the "leading role" of the SED.

East Germany was officially governed by a parliamentary system with power invested in the elected Volkskammer, the State Council (from 1960), the Council of Ministers, and the Supreme Court. The SED instituted a de facto Stalinist political system based on the Soviet Union where actual power was held by the SED's Politburo, maintaining a facade of democracy with rigged elections, and all political opposition was subjected to widespread repression.

A communist state constitution is the supreme and fundamental law of a communist state. In Marxist–Leninist theory, a constitution is understood both as a juridical act that establishes the structure of the state and its legal order, and as the formal expression of the prevailing class system controlled by the ruling class. Communist constitutions codify the political and economic programme of the ruling communist party and are considered to hold supreme legal force, providing the foundation for all legislation and state activity. Unlike liberal constitutional systems, communist state constitutions reject the separation of powers and judicial review, vesting the unified powers of the state in a supreme state organ of power (SSOP). The constitution defines the structure and functioning of other state organs as an act of the SSOP’s self-organisation, not as an imposition upon it in accordance with the division of labour of state organs.

Communist constitutions share a broadly similar structure: a preamble outlining ideological goals; chapters on the political and economic system, often emphasising the leading role of the party, providing a normative framework for the transition to a communist society, public ownership and planned economic development; sections defining the organisation of state power, including the SSOP, its permanent organ, the supreme executive and administrative organ, the supreme judicial organ, the supreme procuratorial organ, and other state organs if needed; and chapters detailing citizens' rights and obligations. Rights are paired with corresponding obligations, reflecting the view that rights are not natural entitlements but contingent upon fulfilling social obligations. Legal systems operate under the principle of socialist law, which requires state organs, transmission belt mass organisations, and citizens to observe the constitution and laws. The procuracy typically supervises legality; constitutional enforcement is ordinarily vested in the SSOP or its permanent organ (with occasional specialised committees or courts).

The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba is the top leader of Cuba. The first secretary is the highest office within the Communist Party of Cuba, which makes the officeholder the most powerful person in the Cuban party-state. In communist states the first or general secretary of a ruling communist party is typically the de facto leader of the country and a more powerful position than state offices such as President (head of state) or Prime Minister (head of government), when different individuals hold those positions.

The officeholder of the post of first secretary presides over the work of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), which is designated as "the organised vanguard of the Cuban nation" and as "the superior driving force of society and the State" by Article 5 of Cuba's constitution. The PCC Central Committee, the Party's highest political-executive organ between convocations of the party congress, has the right to elect and dismiss the first secretary at one of its sessions. The first secretary is responsible for leading the work of the Secretariat, the Party's highest executive organ, and chairing the sessions of the Politburo, the Party's highest political organ. The current first secretary is Miguel Díaz-Canel, elected by the 1st Session of the 8th Central Committee on 19 April 2021, and he concurrently serves as president of Cuba.