At the Conference of the CPSU Central Committee in July 1989, alarm was expressed at the fact that doubt had unambiguously been cast on the essence of Marxist theory in the pages of the press and in a number of statements at the Congress of People's Deputies. Attempts to revise fundamental ideological principles and to cast a shadow over the Leninist legacy have grown more frequent in the journalistic media. Allegations have appeared that the origins of a command-administrative system go back to Lenin. It is natural that questions concerning the organizational structure of the communist party and the principles and norms of its life should be under scrutiny.