Editing Polish United Workers' Party (section)

== Programme and goals ==
[[File:Statut PZPR.jpg|thumb|left|180px|[[Statute]] of the Polish United Workers' Party, 1956 edition]]
Until 1989, the PZPR held dictatorial powers (the amendment to the constitution of 1976 mentioned "a leading national force") and controlled an unwieldy bureaucracy, the military, the [[Ministry of Public Security (Poland)|secret police]], and the economy.
Its main goal was to create a Communist society and help to propagate Communism all over the world. On paper, the party was organised on the basis of [[democratic centralism]], which assumed a democratic appointment of authorities, making decisions, and managing its activity. These authorities decided about the policy and composition of the main organs; although, according to the statute, it was a responsibility of the members of the congress, which was held every five or six years. Between sessions, the regional, county, district and work committees held party conferences. The smallest organizational unit of the PZPR was the Fundamental Party Organization (FPO), which functioned in workplaces, schools, cultural institutions, etc.

The main part in the PZPR was played by professional politicians, or the so-called "party's hardcore", formed by people who were recommended to manage the main state institutions, social organizations, and [[trade unions]]. The crowning time of the PZPR development (the end of the 1970s) consisted of over 3.5 million members. The Political Office of the Central Committee, Secretariat and regional committees appointed the key posts within the party and in all organizations having ‘state’ in its name – from central offices to even small state and cooperative companies. It was called the [[nomenklatura]] system of state and economy management. In certain areas of the economy, e.g., in agriculture, the nomenklatura system was controlled with the approval of the PZPR and by its allied parties, the [[United People's Party (Poland)|United People's Party]] (agriculture and food production), and the [[Democratic Party (Poland)|Democratic Party]] (trade community, small enterprise, some cooperatives). After [[martial law in Poland|martial law]] began, the [[Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth]] was founded to organize these and other parties.