223 
THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE 
The Central Committee is legally the supreme party authority when 
the Communist Party Congress is not in session. It is assigned broad 
powers to direct all party activities, deploy leading cadres and direct 
the work of central state organizations through the party groups in 
them. 
The Central Committee, however, is unwieldly for executive work. 
By statute it is only required to meet every 6 months. Most of 245 
members and 155 candidate members are located at a distance from 
Moscow, making it difficult for the Central Committee to operate 
continuously as the highest policymaking body. Its members are mainly 
from the party bureaucracy and are holders of certain public offices, 
such as the first secretaries of republic or regional party committees. 
It also has a small number of members from the more important 
government organs and some distinguished citizens. Maritime and 
ocean concerns could be represented at the plenary meetings by mem- 
bers from ministries or state committees in the ocean’s field, as well 
as by the first secretaries from regions with maritime economies. 
Under Khrushchev, Central Committee sessions were held as open 
forums and discussions and reports were published. Sometimes hun- 
dreds of participants who were not Central Committee members were 
invited to join in the discussions. Khrushchev at times used the 
plenums to pass measures that were opposed by Politburo members. 
He used these tactics in 1954 for the virgin lands program, the recon- 
ciliation with Tito in July 1956, in the February 1957 industrial reor- 
ganization, and in June 1957 in opposition to the anti-party group 
that attempted to overthrow him.* 
The proceedings and operating procedures of the Central Committee 
plenums are no longer made public. It is composed of the Soviet 
elite and presented as a major decisionmaking body, and important 
foreign policy and domestic decisions are announced at its sessions. 
Kosygin’s statement on new methods of economic management, for 
example, was made at the September 1965 Plenum. Numerous resolu- 
tions are issued in its name concerning issues of administration and 
ideology. A number of resolutions on ocean uses and management 
have been issued by the Central Committee. 
It is assumed that most of the preparatory work and composition 
of these documents is handled in the Secretariat. But the question 
as to whether the plenums participate in the decisionmaking process, 
operate as discussion forums for the exchange of opinions on subjects, 
or are simply the legitimizers of policy decisions made by higher 
levels remains unanswered. The fact that the proceedings are now 
kept secret is interpreted by some as an indication that the discussions 
are relatively open.*? 
THE CONGRESS OF THE CPSU 
The Party Congress has not been notably involved in ocean policy 
issues and, in any event, has little policymaking power. Theoretically, 
the Party Congress is the supreme body of the Communist Party. 
It is authorized to hear and approve reports of central organizations, 
38 Fainsod, pp. 219-20. 
_ %Gilison notes that Brezhnev promised a larger role for the Central Committee plenums in 1966, 
p. 154. Citing Pravda and Izvestiia, March 30, 1966. 
