The Soviet system, as it came to be called from the name of its governmental organs, was not only the product of revolution; it became the instrument of a continuing revolution. Its authors still insist on the essentially revolutionary character of their regime even after 20 years. At the present writing the Bolsheviks speak of a "turning-point" in the political life of the country and in the politics of the Revolution, which is taking the form of new constitutions and at the same time of the most extensive and ruthless "purge" in the history of the Revolution. Under a revolutionary regime of constant and intense struggle, political control and manipulation have been extended to all fields. Thus the Soviet system represents a type of "totalitarian" state. It will be necessary in this analysis of the Government of the Soviet union to include institutions and organizations that ordinarily play only secondary roles in the political structure of a community. The Soviet trade or labor unions and the cooperative societies have functions which would be classified as essentially governmental in Western parliamentary systems. The word "government" in the title must therefore be understood in a very broad sense. It would perhaps have been more correct to have titled this study "the functioning of Bolshevism." - Preface.