The designation is not a formal title and does not hold legal weight, but its use in official party documentation gives its holder a precisely defined place in party theory on their relative standing to the rest of the Communist Party leadership. The leadership core operates as part of the Leninist-inspired framework of democratic centralism, and is intended to represent a vital center rather than a hierarchical peak, which differentiates it from the role of paramount leader. Although all core leaders have also been paramount leaders, not all paramount leaders were the leadership core.