The article examines the emergence and functioning of the Soviet institutions of power in Kazakhstan during the period of "war communism". On the basis of archival materials and published works, the author analyzes the activities of Soviets and revolutionary committees. The purpose of the article is to study the main trends and features of the development of local government in Kazakhstan in 1918-1921. The study is based on the principles of historical, scientific objectivity and systemic structural-functional analysis. For this reason, the author used such methods as the method of historical reconstruction for the reorganization of the administration of Soviet, party and other local bodies; the method of isolation for the study of local (regional) features in relation to local phenomena and processes in the energy sector; the method of typology, which made it possible to identify and describe different types of local authorities. The authors come to the conclusion that in 1918-1921, during the period of civil resistance, "war communism" and the beginning of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, bodies of the new Soviet power appeared and operated in Kazakhstan. They are characterized as having an anti-democratic character; strict social orientation; alienation of indigenous peoples; immanent nature for creating conflict situations; choosing non-optimal ways and means of solving a problem situation; unification of party and state. As a result, an overgrown and clumsy class of party classification was formed, which was not provided for by the Constitution of the USSR.