The unified state apparatus is the state structure of communist states, meaning the state is organized as a single branch of government where all powers emanate from the organs of state power.
The unified state apparatus is the state structure of communist states, meaning the state is organized as a single branch of government where all powers emanate from the organs of state power.
The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Per the principle of unified power, the NPC heads China's unified state apparatus, and per the division of labour of state organs all state organs from the State Council to the Supreme People's Court (SPC) are accountable to it. With 2,977 members in 2023, it is the largest legislative body in the world. The NPC is elected for a term of five years. It holds annual sessions every spring, usually lasting from 10 to 14 days, in the Great Hall of the People on the west side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Under China's Constitution, the NPC is structured as a unicameral legislature, with the power to amend the Constitution, legislate and oversee the operations of the government, and elect the major officers of the National Supervisory Commission, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Central Military Commission, and the state. Since Chinese politics functions within a communist state framework based on the system of people's congress, the NPC works under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Some observers characterize the branch as a rubber stamp body. Most delegates to the NPC are officially elected by local people's congresses at the provincial level, local legislatures which are indirectly elected at all levels except the county-level. The CCP controls the nomination and election processes at every level in the people's congress system.
The executive is the part of the government that executes or enforces the law. It can be organised as a branch of government, as in liberal democracies, or as an organ of the unified state apparatus, as is the case in communist states.
The supreme state organ of power (SSOP) is a type of legislature and the highest representative institution in communist states operating under the Marxist–Leninist principle of unified power. Unlike systems based on the fusion or separation of powers, the SSOP holds legislative, executive, judicial, and all other forms of state power. Formally regarded as the embodiment of popular sovereignty and the head of the unified state apparatus, its activities in practice are closely shaped by the ruling communist party.
The SSOP's theoretical origins trace back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's idea of a “supreme power” of the people, Karl Marx’s call for unity of state power, and Vladimir Lenin’s vision of soviets as working organs which combined lawmaking and execution. The world's first SSOP was the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, established after the 1917 October Revolution, and it became the prototype for similar institutions in other communist states.
The executive is the part of the government that executes or enforces the law and policy of a government. It can be organised as a branch of government, as in liberal democracies, or as an organ of the unified state apparatus, as is the case in communist states.
The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest organ of state authority of the Soviet Union from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the Soviet state, and headed the unified state apparatus.
Prior to 1936, the Congress of Soviets was the highest organ of state authority. During 1989–1991 a similar, but not identical organ acted as the highest organ of state authority. The Supreme Soviet appointed the Council of Ministers, the Supreme Court, and the Procurator General of the Soviet Union as well as elected the Presidium which served as the Soviet Union's collective head of state under both the 1936 and 1977 Soviet Constitutions.
The State Council of the People's Republic of China, synonymous with Central People's Government, is the supreme administrative organ of China's unified state apparatus and the executive organ of the National People's Congress, the supreme organ of state power. It is composed of a premier, vice-premiers, state councilors, ministers, chairpersons of commissions, an auditor-general, the governor of the People's Bank of China, and a secretary-general.
The premier of the State Council is responsible for the State Council and exercises overall leadership of its work. The secretary-general of the State Council, under the leadership of the premier, is responsible for handling the daily work of the State Council and heads the General Office of the State Council. The executive meeting of the State Council, consisting of the premier, vice-premiers, state councilors, and the secretary-general, is held two to three times a month, while the plenary meeting, consisting of all members of the State Council, is held every six months.