The Communist Manifesto was a one-party state under the rule of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Unlike their mass-based counterparts of the Second International, the CPSU and other Leninist parties like it in the Third International expected their members to know the classic works of Marx, Engels and Lenin. Further, party leaders were expected to base their policy decisions on Marxist-Leninist ideology. Therefore works such as the "Manifesto" were required reading for the party rank-and-file. Therefore the widespread dissemination of Marx and Engels' works became an important policy objective; backed by a sovereign state, the CPSU had relatively inexhaustible resources
Il manifesto independent than the party newspaper "l'Unità". The 1991 PCI dissolution that gave birth to the social democratic Democratic Party of the Left was not followed by "il manifesto", a paper which maintains positions closer to those of robustly left-wing parties such as the Communist Refoundation Party while remaining independent. "il manifesto" is known in Italy for its bitter and sarcastic headlines, puns and clever choice of photographs. For example, the day of the election of Pope Benedict XVI, the first page of "il manifesto" featured a large photo of the newly elected pope along with the title "the German shepherd".