What type of government did the USSR have until 1991?

The USSR had a communist government until its dissolution in 1991.

More precisely, the Soviet Union was a one-party communist state led by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Although it had elected councils, a constitution, and several formal government institutions, the Communist Party controlled political life, state policy, the military, and the economy. The USSR was officially founded in 1922 after the Russian Revolution and the civil war that followed.

The term “communist” describes the country’s ruling ideology and political system, while “Soviet” refers to its system of councils and its national identity. The state’s economy was centrally planned, with most major industries owned and directed by the government. Under Mikhail Gorbachev, reforms such as glasnost and perestroika weakened the party’s control. After a failed coup in August 1991, the Soviet republics declared independence, and the USSR formally ended on December 26, 1991.