According to the Constitution, the Patriotic People's Front (PPF) "unites the forces of society for the complete building up of socialism, for the solution of political, economic, and cultural tasks." The Constitution adds that the PPF "cooperates in the election and operation of the organs of popular representation." The PPF facilitated broad mass participation in regime policies and generated mass support for party programs. In 1988, according to Imre Pozsgay, at that time head of the PPF, the tasks of that organization included helping to achieve a new social accord in Hungary, consolidating new public thinking in the public consciousness, and helping citizens to participate in building a socialist society from below.

Approximately 130,000 grass-roots committees elected by local citizens carried out PPF policies on the local level. A congress of the PPF met every four years to elect its National Council and to review the activities of the organization. The National Council elected the National Presidency and the National Secretariat, which managed the PPF and set policy for it.

The PPF undertook a variety of tasks. Perhaps most important, it organized national and local elections (see Elections to the National Assembly County and District Government , this ch.). The PPF served as an umbrella organization that united such bodies as the National Council of Hungarian Women, the National Gypsy Council, and other bodies representing national minorities in Hungary. The PPF also provided a framework for cooperation among different classes and strata of society, between religious believers and nonbelievers, and between party members and nonparty members. Finally, the PPF attempted to protect citizens' interests by leading the struggle against the corruption and abuse of power.

Data as of September 1989