Peculiarities and Paradoxes of the 1937 Election Campaign

The publication presents an analysis of the election campaign for the elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in which for the first time it was planned to use democratic procedures of universal participation of citizens, free nomination of candidates and secret ballot as a condition for the transition of the USSR from the "dictatorship of the proletariat" to a new phase of "construction of socialism" and expansion of the social base of Soviet power.It is noted that, in practice, these principled attitudes came into deep contradiction with the existing realities, creating for the political regime complex collisions and paradoxes in the conduct of the campaign.In preparing for the elections, the Stalinist leadership had to face unexpected reactions from the population and complications within the Bolshevik Party itself, whose apparatus had no experience of civil dialog and no desire to participate in the competitive selection of candidates.It is concluded that fears of losing control of the upcoming vote and growing discontent within the party apparatus forced the Stalinist leadership to abandon the adopted electoral law and completely change the electoral scenario.The relatively free nomination of candidates to the Supreme Soviet, which had begun, ceased, and voting in the elections became non-alternative.The article gives examples of the development of the electoral campaign in the conditions of Siberia.The author assesses the importance of propaganda methods of influencing the population on the eve and during the elections.It is also shown what connection the preparation for the elections had with the mass terrorist operations of the NKVD in 1937.