nomenklatura

noun, plural no·men·kla·tu·ras.

1. a select list or class of people from which appointees for top-level government positions are drawn, especially from a Communist Party.

noun

1. (formerly, in the USSR and E Europe) a list of individuals drawn up by the Communist Party from which were selected candidates for vacant senior positions in the state, party, and other important organizations

n.Russian, literally “a listing of positions to be filled,” from Latin nomenclatura (see nomenclature).