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Edited by Stephen White, Alex Pravda and Zvi Gitelman Developments in Soviet Politics Developments in Soviet Politics Edited by Stephen White Alex Pravda Zvi Gitelman M MACMILLAN Selection and editorial matter © Stephen White, Alex Pravda and Zvi Gitelman 1990 Chapter 12 © Progress Publishers 1988; adaptation © Stephen White 1990; translation © Pavel Slavgorodsky and Graham Timmins 1990 Other individual chapters (in order) © Stephen White, Alfred B. Evans, Jr, John P. Willerton Jr, Ronald J. Hill, Jeffrey W. Hahn, William E. Butler, Nicholas Lampert, Zvi Gitelman, Peter Rutland, Mary Buckley, Alex Pravda, David Mandel, Ken Jowitt, 1990 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1990 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 33-4 Alfred Place, London WC1E 7DP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1990 Published by MACMILLAN EDUCATION LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world Phototypeset by Input Typesetting Ltd, London British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Developments in Soviet politics. 1. Soviet Union. Politics I. White, Stephen, 1945 II. Pravda, Alex, 1947 III. - - Gitelman, Zvi Y. (Zvi Yechiel), 1940 320.947 ISBN 978-0-333-52743-6 ISBN 978-1-349-20819-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-20819-7 Contents List of Illustrations and Maps ix List of Tables X Preface xi Acknowledgements xii Notes on the Contributors xiii Glossary of Abbreviations and Terms XV Introduction 1 Part One: The Historical and Cultural Context 1 A New Soviet Politics? Stephen White 10 The Brezhnev Inheritance 12 Gorbachev’s Policy Agenda 18 Gorbachev, Perestroika and Soviet-type Systems 25 2 Rethinking Soviet Socialism Alfred B. Evans, Jr 28 Stagnation and Reform 28 Stalinism and Overcentralisation 31 Alienation and Dogmatism 34 The Market and Socialist Pluralism 37 ‘New Thinking’ in International Relations 41 Conclusion 43 Part Two: The Contemporary Political System 3 The Political Leadership John P. Willerton Jr 48 y Continuities from the Past 50 The Brezhnev Legacy 51 The Recurring Succession and Regime Formation Dilemma 53 V vi Contents The Gorbachev Succession and the Process of Regime Formation 54 Primary Political Institutions of the Soviet System 57 Party actors 57 State actors 62 Contemporary Developments and Future Dilemmas 65 4 The Party Ronald J. Hill 67 The Party in the 1980s 68 The Party’s Political Role 69 Ideology and the party 70 The party and the state 71 Party Structures 72 Primary organisations 72 Conferences and committees 72 The apparat 74 The Apparatchiki 75 Party Discipline and Indiscipline 77 Membership Recruitment 79 The Party and Restructuring 80 Intra-party democratisation 81 The party in the political system 83 The Party and the Future 85 5 The Soviet State System Jeffrey W. Hahn 87 The Background to Reform 87 Elections 92 The New State System: National Level 97 Summary and Conclusions 103 6 The Rule of Law and the Legal System William E. Butler 104 Towards the Rule of Law 104 Towards the Improvement of Legislation 105 The Legal Profession 106 The Courts 108 The judges 109 People’s assessors 110 Guiding explanations 110 The procuracy 111 Police and Investigative Agencies 113 Other Law Enforcement Bodies 115 State Arbitrazh 115 Administrative commissions 116 People’s guards 117 Contents vii Comrades’ courts 117 Citizen Initiative 118 7 Patterns of Participation Nicholas Lampert 120 Participation in the Soviet Union: The Traditional Model 121 Elections and deputies 123 Party membership 124 The controllers 125 Petitioning 126 Challenging the Traditional Model 128 The Development of Informal Groups 131 Conclusions 135 8 The Nationalities Zvi Gitelman 137 The Ethnic Map of the USSR 140 Nationalities Policy: Ideology and History 145 Soviet Nationality Policy 150 Current Issues and Developments 154 Part Three: The Making of Public Policy 9 Economic Management and Reform Peter Rutland 160 Economic Performance 160 The System of Central Planning 164 The origins of the system 164 How central planning works in practice 166 Previous attempts at reform 172 The Gorbachev Reform Programme 173 Decentralising decision-making 175 Promoting new forms of ownership 178 Increased international integration 180 Conclusion: The Perils of Perestroika 181 10 Social Policies and New Social Issues Mary Buckley 185 The Making of Social Policies 186 Social Justice and Gorbachev’s Reforms 187 Welfare Provision 189 Employment 189 Housing 192 Healthcare 195 New Social Issues 199 Crime 199 Drugs 200 viii Contents Prostitution 202 Conclusion 203 11 The Politics of Foreign and Security Policy Alex Pravda 207 Why and How Security and Foreign Policy Matter 209 Policy Institutions and Processes 216 Political Concerns and Debates 222 Part Four: The Future of the Soviet System 12 Perfecting the Political System of Socialism 230 Yevgeny Ambartsumov Economics and Politics Under Socialism 230 Perestroika and the Russian Tradition 234 Informal Organisations and Civil Society 236 State, Party and Perestroika 241 13 The Social Basis of Perestroika David Mandel 247 ‘Revolution From Above’ 248 The Bureaucracy 252 The Workers 257 The Intelligentsia 263 Perspectives 267 14 Gorbachev: Bolshevik or Menshevik? Ken Jowitt 270 Developmental Stages and Phases 270 The Brezhnev Legacy 273 Catalysts for Change 276 From Neotraditional to Semi-modem Leninism 278 Gorbachev’s Novelty 279 Absolutisation, Generalisation and Relativisation 280 Party-state versus Nation-state 283 Political Concern and Opposition 286 Regime Analogies 289 Guide to Further Reading 292 Bibliography 298 Index 305 List of Illustrations and Maps Illustrations 4.1 The structure of the CPSU (simplified) 73 5.1 The USSR Congress of People’s Deputies and Supreme Soviet 99 9.1 The Soviet planning process (simplified) 166 Maps 1. The USSR xvii 2. The Baltic Republics 141 3. The Caucasian Republics 144 ix List of Tables 3.1 The Soviet leadership, January 1990 56 5.1 Social composition of the USSR Supreme Soviet (1984), Congress of People’s Deputies (1989) and the USSR Supreme Soviet (1989) 100 8.1 The major Soviet nationalities 139 9.1 Soviet economic growth, 1951-85 161 9.2 Soviet economic growth, 1981-9 177 10.1 Infant mortality rates in the RSFSR andT urkmenia 196 10.2 Infant mortality rates in selected countries 197 x