Changes that had been made in the organizational structure of the government after 1952 were incorporated into the 1965 Constitution. The Council of State is described as the "supreme body of state power with a permanent activity," although it remains theoretically subordinate to the Grand National Assembly, which is designated as "the supreme body of state power." In contrast to the 1952 Constitution, which provided for representation to the Grand National Assembly on the basis of one deputy for every 40,000 persons, the 1965 document fixes the number of assembly deputies at 465 and requires the establishment of that number of constituencies of equal population. Although the Hungarian Autonomous Region continued to exist, the 1952 provision guaranteeing "administrative and territorial autonomy" to the Hungarian population was omitted from the 1965 Constitution. All of the sixteen regional units were subsequently eliminated by a territorial reorganization of 1968, at which time a system of _judete_ (counties) was established. All power is ascribed to the people and exercised by their representatives in the people's councils and the Grand National Assembly. The Communist Party is described as the country's leading political force under whose leadership the working people have the expressed goal of building the socialist system to create "the conditions for transition to communism." THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING OF THE GOVERNMENT The Central Government According to the 1965 Constitution the major institutions of the central government are the Grand National Assembly, the Council of State, and the Council of Ministers (see fig. 1). Although the Constitution declares the Grand National Assembly and the Council of State to be the supreme organs of state power, in practice the authority of both of these organs ranks after that of the PCR. The Constitution itself states unequivocally that "the leading political force of the whole society is the Romanian Communist Party." The basic national policy decisions are made in the ruling bodies of the party and subsequently communicated to the government for adoption and implementation. [Illustration: _Figure 7. Structure of the Government of Romania, 1971._] The Grand National Assembly The Grand National Assembly, which supervises and controls the functions of all other state organs, consists of 465 deputies elected from an equal number of electoral districts for a four-year term of office. In the event of exceptional circumstances that prevent the holding of elections, however, the assembly is empowered to prolong its term of office for the duration of these circumstances. Regular assembly sessions are held twice yearly, and special sessions may be convened on the initiative of the Council of State or on demand of one-third of the total number of deputies.