Politburo, or Politbureau, from the Russian politbyuro, literally “political bureau”, the highest policy-making committee of a communist country, most closely associated with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

In March 1919 the 8th Party Congress decided that the Central Committee of the Communist Party of 27 members was too unwieldy to make quick decisions, and so a politburo of just 5 members (later increased to 9 in 1925 and 10 in 1930) was established, appointed by the Central Committee. The original members included Vladimir Illich Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, and Lev Kamenev.

The politburo in this form lasted until 1952, when it was replaced with a new body, the Presidium of the Central Committee, of 36 members; after Stalin’s death it dropped to 10 members, and in 1966 was renamed politburo once more. The politburo was abolished in 1991 under Mikhail Gorbachev.