Legal status of public organizations in the USSR in the 1920s-1930s

The article analyzes the legal status of public organizations in the USSR as a basis of civil society, and compares the periods of 1920s and 1930s. The author considers various determinations of a concept of public organization. Forming and evolution of the legal base for activities of public organizations at the nation-wide and regional levels, and the system of party and state control are analyzed. The party-government authorities not only regulated activities of the available public organizations, but also initiated creation of new pro-state mass associations. The New Economic Policy leads to changing the policy for public organizations. In 1928 and 1930, new resolutions of the Communist Party and government on associations and unions were accepted. They resulted in liquidation of many public organizations. The article suggests a conclusion about availability of separate elements of civil society in the USSR in the 1920s and reducing them in the 1930s.