Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 to 1992. It came into existence following World War I, under the name of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from the merger of the Kingdom of Serbia with the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, and constituted the first union of South Slavic peoples as a sovereign state, following centuries of foreign rule over the region under the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy.
The Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia, commonly abbreviated as the AVNOJ, was a deliberative and legislative body that was established in Bihać, Yugoslavia, in November 1942. It was established by Josip Broz Tito, the leader of the Yugoslav Partisans, an armed resistance movement led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia to resist the Axis occupation of the country during World War II.
After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart in the early 1990s. Unresolved issues from the breakup caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav Wars from 1991 to 2001 which primarily affected Bosnia and Herzegovina, neighbouring parts of Croatia and, some years later, Kosovo.
The Socialist Republic of Serbia, previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia, commonly abbreviated as Republic of Serbia or simply Serbia, was one of the six constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in what is now the modern day states of Serbia and the disputed territory of Kosovo. Its formation was initiated in 1941, and achieved in 1944–1946, when it was established as a federated republic within Yugoslavia. In that form, it lasted until the constitutional reforms from 1990 to 1992, when it was reconstituted, as the Republic of Serbia within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was the largest constituent republic of Yugoslavia, in terms of population and territory. Its capital, Belgrade, was also the federal capital of Yugoslavia.
The Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the collective head of state of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was established in 1971 according to amendments to the 1963 Constitution and reorganized by the 1974 Constitution. Up to 1974, the Presidency had 23 members – three from each republic, two from each autonomous province and President Josip Broz Tito. In 1974 the Presidency was reduced to 9 members – one from each republic and autonomous province and, until 1988, President of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia ex officio.
The Parliament of Yugoslavia was the legislature of Yugoslavia. Before World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia it was known as the National Assembly, while in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia the name was changed to Federal Assembly. It functioned from 1920 to 1992 and resided in the building of the House of the National Assembly which subsequently served as the seat of the Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro and since 2006 hosts the National Assembly of Serbia. The Federal Assembly was the highest organ of state power and the only branch of government in the country, with all state organs subservient to it under the principle of unified power as it was a one-party state, with the League of Communists of Yugoslavia as the sole legal party in the country. Most of the Federal Assembly's actions simply rubber stamp the party's decisions.
The President of the Assembly of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the presiding officer of the Yugoslavian legislature.
Elections were held on municipal, provincial, republican and federal levels in Yugoslavia from its foundation in 1918 throughout its breakup in 1992.
The 1963 Yugoslav Constitution was the second constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It came into effect on April 7, 1963. The constitution was the result of beliefs of the governing structures that Yugoslav self-management relations have been sufficiently overcome in the society that it deserved a new and final constitutional definition and enthroning.
The 1974 Yugoslav Constitution was the fourth and final constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It came into effect on 21 February 1974.
The Federal Executive Council was the executive body of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) responsible for state affairs and for supervising the implementation of laws. It consisted of up to 15 members elected by the Federal Assembly for a four-year term and the presidents of executive councils of republics and provinces. The Federal Executive Council played an important role in the Government of the SFRY from its creation in 1953 until the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992.
Parliamentary elections were held in Yugoslavia in 1969. The Socio-Political Council was elected on 13 April, the three Councils of Working Communities were elected on 23 April, and the Council of Nationalities was elected on 6, 7, 8 and 9 May.
The Central Committee was the highest organ of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY), the ruling party of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, between two congresses, which it was elected by and reported to. An exception to this rule occurred at the LCY 9th Congress in 1969 when the Central Committee was replaced with the Conference, which lasted until the reestablishemtn of the central committee at the 10th LCY Congress in 1974. The central committee oversaw the work of the LCY as a whole and ensured that the guidelines and assignments adopted by the LCY Congress were complied with. It could set policy and formulate a political platform within the parameters set by the last convened party congress. All central committee members were of equal standing, including the presidency members. Specifically, the LCY Central Committee had the right to elect and remove members of its political-executive organ, the LCY Presidency, which led the LCY when the central committee was not in session.
Parliamentary elections were held in Yugoslavia between 10 March and 10 May 1978 through a complicated delegate system which selected delegates to local, republic, and federal assemblies.
The League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) convened the highest forum for its 12th Congress on 26–29 June 1982 at the Sava Centar in Belgrade, Socialist Republic of Serbia. It was the first party congress in four years and the first since the death of Josip Broz Tito, the long-standing leader of the LCY and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) on 4 May 1980. The 12th Congress was attended by 1,570 delegates, 355 guests and 118 foreign delegations. Preparations for the congress began on 29 September 1980, and the exact date of the congress was set at the 25th Session of the Central Committee of the 11th Congress on 8–9 April 1982. The 12th Congress was preceded by the congresses and conferences of the LCY constitutive branches that elected delegates and elected members of the Central Committee, Commission on Statutory Questions and Supervisory Commission of the LCY.
Parliamentary elections were held in Yugoslavia between 10 March and 10 May 1982 through a complicated delegate system which selected delegates to local, republic, and federal assemblies.
Parliamentary elections were held in Yugoslavia between 10 March and 10 May 1986 through a complicated delegate system which selected delegates to local, republic, and federal assemblies.
Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 16 March, 7 April and 21 April 1986 to elect delegates of the Assembly of SR Serbia. In addition to the parliamentary election, local elections in Serbia and federal elections in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were held in the same year. The election was conducted under an electoral system that was established in the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution. Serbia in 1986 was also a one-party state that was governed by the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS).
General elections were held in Serbia, a constituent federal unit of SFR Yugoslavia, on 12 November 1989, to elect the president of the presidency of the Socialist Republic of Serbia and delegates of the Assembly of SR Serbia. Voting for delegates also took place on 10 and 30 November 1989. In addition to the general elections, local elections were held simultaneously. These were the first direct elections conducted after the adoption of the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution and the delegate electoral system, and the last elections conducted under a one-party system.
