Arkady Shevchenko , like many Soviet technical experts , once attended the part of a Politburo meeting that touched on his area of expertise , and he often prepared his boss Andrei Gromyko for meetings . He described the working style of the Politburo 's weekly meeting during the Brezhnev era as " quiet , orderly , and methodical . Although an agenda is prepared , there is no quorum call or other form of parliamentary procedure . " Shevchenko 's memoir makes it clear that the tense political struggle that could often occur among Politburo members usually did not take place openly during its meetings , but rather behind the backs of one 's rivals . In practice , Soviet Leninism 's democratic centralism often followed a style of unanimous consent rather than majority vote . This style of consensus decision-making had roots not only in the era of the Great Terror , when no one dared demur openly , but also in Brezhnev 's carefully cultivated culture of collective decision-making . Shevchenko said , " While the Politburo considered the item for which I was responsible , I sat with Kuznetsov , Kornienko , and Vasily Makarov , behind Gromyko at the long table in the Kremlin . Brezhnev asked whether all members of the Politburo had received the draft U.S.-Soviet documents in time and if they had studied them . Most of the members nodded silent assent . ' Can I assume that the draft is approved ? ' Brezhnev asked . No one spoke . ' The draft is approved , ' said Brezhnev after a few more moments of silence . Makarov put his hand on my shoulder , whispering , ' Okay , Arkady , that 's it . You can go . ' " To be elected to the Politburo , a member had to serve on the Central Committee . The Central Committee formally elected the Politburo in the aftermath of a party Congress . Members of the Central Committee were given a predetermined list of candidates for the Politburo ( having only one candidate for each seat ) , for this reason the election of the Politburo was usually passed unanimously . The more power the CPSU General Secretary had , the stronger the chance was that the Politburo membership were passed without serious dissent
Great Terror
Great Purge
Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union