Who Should Serve in Nonstaff Departments?

Abstract

The nonstaff departments of executive committees in our republic have a history that is not very long but quite complex. It began with a "fast take-off," when executive committees of district and city Soviets virtually competed about how to set up more such departments, although their purpose and purview were often given little thought. This take-off was sometimes followed by disillusionment, and this too involved going to extremes. Sometimes the very right of volunteer components of the administrative machinery to exist was virtually denied. But life puts everything in its place. The departments that were really needed took root and became firmly established. And those that had been established just to make a record ceased to exist, as was to be expected.