韋羅內塞
共產黨(Communist Party)
一種政黨，其成立目的是為促使社會從資本主義（capitalism）過渡到社會主義（socialism）再到共產主義（communism）。俄國是第一個由共產主義者掌權的國家（1917）。布林什維克（Bolshevik）黨在1918年更名為俄國共產黨（All-Russian Communist Party）；取這個名字是為了要跟那些在第一次世界大戰期間支援資本主義政府的第二國際（Second International）社會主義者作區別。該政黨的基本單位是工人會議（蘇維埃，soviet），其上則是區、市、專區、全國等各級委員會。位於最頂端的是全國代表大會，每幾年才舉行一次；大會代表選出中央委員會委員，再由他們選出政治局（Politburo）和書記處（Secretariat）成員，不過這些組織實際上很少有什麼變動。蘇聯在第二次世界大戰期間支配了世界各地的共產黨。南斯拉夫（Yugoslavia）於1948年挑戰這種霸權，中國則在1950和1960年代與蘇聯分道揚鑣。各國共產黨在蘇聯瓦解（1991）後仍存在，但是政治上的影響力小了許多。古巴（Cuba）仍由共產黨統治，北韓（North Korea）也由世襲的共產黨領袖所統治。
English version：
Communist Party
Political party organized to facilitate the transition of society from capitalism through socialism to communism. Russia was the first country in which communists came to power (1917). In 1918 the Bolshevik party was renamed the All-Russian Communist Party; the name was taken to distinguish its members from the socialists of the Second International who had supported capitalist governments during World War I. Its basic unit was the workers' council (soviet),above which were district,city,regional,and republic committees. At the top was the party congress,which met only every few years; the delegates elected the members of the Central Committee,who in turn elected the members of the Politburo and the Secretariat,though those organizations were actually largely self-perpetuating. The Soviet Union dominated communist parties worldwide through World War II. Yugoslavia challenged that hegemony in 1948 and China went its own way in the 1950s and '60s. Communist parties have survived the demise of the Soviet Union (1991),but with reduced political influence. Cuba's party remains in control,as does a hereditary communist party in North Korea.