Theoretically, power lay with the broad lower ranks of the Communist Party, at periodic meetings Party Congresses, which were annual events in the 1920s. No Party Congress met between 1939 and 1952, and after Stalin's death in 1953 they occurred every five years. Members of the Party Congress often voted according to how they were told to vote, ratifying decisions made by the higher ranking party members.
Party Congresses were supposed to have influence on the Central Committee, which met in full session at least once every six months and which ruled between Party Congresses. The Central Committee was supposed to direct "all activities of the Guidelines on the Organizational Structure of Communist Parties, on the Methods and Content of their Work
Adopted at the 24th Session of the Third Congress of the Communist International, 12 July 1921
I. GENERAL