scholarly journals The 1982 Reorganization of Agricultural Administration in the Soviet Union: The Role of the Communist Party in Agenda Setting

1992 ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Barbara Ann Chotiner
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Political Scene

Soviet politics under Mikhail S. Gorbachev became the arena for wide-ranging institutional and policy change across a broad spectrum of issue areas. These alterations were supported and opposed by sometimes unpredictable coalitions; victories were engineered using novel as well as familiar techniques. As a consequence, there has often been a tendency to treat the political scene in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from March 1985 through August 1991 as almost sui generis. In many respects, the period of Gorbachev's General Secretaryship of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) has been treated as the antithesis of the political regime during the so-called "era of stagnation" under Leonid I. Brezhnev.

Part 1 The Cold War Era (1945–89), 13 The Intervention in Czechoslovakia—1968

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hafner Gerhard
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Valid Consent ◽  
The Cold War

This contribution discusses the intervention of five member states of the Warsaw Pact Organization under the leading role of the Soviet Union in the CSSR in August 1968, which terminated the “Prague Spring” in a forceful manner. After presenting the facts of this intervention and its reasons, it describes the legal positions of the protagonists of this intervention as well as that of the states condemning it, as presented in particular in the Security Council. It then examines the legality of this intervention against general international law and the particular views of the Soviet doctrine existing at that time, defending some sort of socialist (regional) international law. This case stresses the requirement of valid consent for the presence of foreign troops in a country and denies the legality of any justification solely based on the necessity to maintain the political system within a state.

Government Rulemaking as a Brake on Perestroika

1990 ◽  
Vol 15 (03) ◽  
pp. 419-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Huskey
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Economic Reform ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Political System ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Government

The Soviet political system is made up of three major institutions: the Communist Party, the parliament, and the government. Whereas the first two have changed dramatically under perestroika, the government has continued to function in more traditional ways. Most worrying to reformists, the government–the Soviet Union's “executive branch”–has used its broad rulemaking authority to impede the transformation of Soviet politics and society. This essay examines the role of governmental rules in the Soviet political and legal system. It concludes, following the lead of Soviet reformists, that without a fundamental restructuring of government making authority, legal, political, and economic reform in the Soviet Union cannot be institutionalized.

scholarly journals Russia’s Exogenous Factor in the Donbass Conflict

2020 ◽  
pp. 97-110
Author(s):  
Yevgeny Ryabinin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
The Political ◽  
Direct Impact ◽  
Clash Of Civilizations ◽  
Exogenous Factor ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Military

The hypothesis of this research is that Russia has been imposing its influence on Ukraine since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Before the political and military crisis in 2013, it was an indirect influence, whereas since 2014 it has been a direct impact in many spheres. It is necessary to underline that Ukraine has always been split into two parts in terms of foreign policy priorities, language, religion, and culture. This fact was mentioned by Samuel Huntington, who predicted an intense crisis in bilateral relations between Russia and Ukraine in his work Clash of Civilizations. There were two parties in Ukraine that were widely supported in South-Eastern Ukraine, namely the Party of Regions and the Communist Party. The former never spoke about the integration of Ukraine as part of Russian integrational projects because its politicians were afraid of aggressive Russian capital. So they only used pro-Russian rhetoric to win elections. The Communist Party openly backed integration with Russia, but didn’t get enough support as for this idea. It is also demonstrated that there were no parties that were backed financially by Russia, because the parties that offered a kind of a union with Russia never got any seats in the parliament. Since 2014, Russia has been imposing its influence on Ukraine in various spheres, such as economics, politics, diplomacy, the military sphere, etc. Having signed two cease-fire agreements, Russia and Ukraine have failed to apply them and the crisis continues to this day.

scholarly journals Adrift in Turbulent Seas: The Political and Ideological Struggles of Ivan Kuz'mich Polozkov

1993 ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Jonathan Harris
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Russia

In the winter of 1989-90 the unintended consequences of Mikhail S. Gorbachev's program of political and economic refonn had become obvious to all but his most optimistic spokesmen. The General Secretary's attempt to create a new ideology of perestroika by grafting "bourgeois" and "social democratic" concepts onto the conventional ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) had divided the party, created immense ideological confusion, and led to the formation of non-Communist and anti-Communist political organizations. The attempt to shift authority from party officials to elected soviets on the union and republican levels had led to the emergence of separatist and nationalist movements in many of the USSR's republics, including the RSFSR. The decentralization of the state's administration of the economy and the encouragement of both private and cooperative economic activity had failed to reverse the deterioration of economic conditions. As anxiety swept through the CPSU, orthodox party leaders called for the establishment of an autonomous Communist Party for the RSFSR to counter Gorbachev's policies and to "save Soviet Russia" from destruction.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

2020 ◽  
pp. 331-369
Author(s):  
Michael Goldfield
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Complex Behavior ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Wing Movement ◽  
Left Group ◽  
The Soviet Union

Chapter 8 examines the role of the Communist Party, by far the largest Left group, during the 1930s and 1940s. It looks at the Party’s complex behavior, its many pluses and minuses, and its ties to the Soviet Union. In particular, it examines the role of CP activists as trade union militants and as the unabashed and unrelenting champions of civil rights, a role that distinguished them from the members of all other interracial organizations during this period. Yet it also looks at the Party’s role in demoralizing and destroying the left-wing movement in the 1930s and 1940s, even undermining many of the organizations and movements it had helped create, including those dedicated to civil rights.

scholarly journals Chinese Reaction and Interpretation of 1991 Events in the Soviet Union

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-111
Author(s):  
I. Y. Zuenko
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Negative Experience ◽  
Chinese Leadership ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Large Bulk ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Soviet Experience

The article is timed to coincide with two anniversaries: centenary of the Communist Party of China, and thirty years since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. According to the author’s idea, these two anniversaries correlate: analysis of the reasons and consequences of the USSR dissolution became one of the factors of current policy of Chinese communists. The article brings light to this coherence. A wide range of Chinese sources and literature regarding 1991 events in the USSR was used for the article. Another feature is the attention to historical context of the late 1980s – early 1990s, analysis of which helps to understand domination of conservative view to the USSR dissolution. The article shows how the Chinese state and party interest in the Soviet experience led to creation of a large bulk of works regarding historical, sociological and culturological aspects of the USSR dissolution. The analysis of the most impactful of these works shows a wide range of views regarding certain aspects (fi rst of all, the role of reforms in the fi nal dissolution of the state) and consensus regarding other aspects (negative role of Mikhail Gorbachev, labelling the dissolution of the USSR and the Communist Party as a ‘catastrophe’). Further analysis of the Soviet experience led to such measures by the Chinese leadership like strengthening of partocracy regime, conducting of media-covered anti-smuggling campaigns, establishing of harsh administrative and security control in areas with ethnic minorities, active counterpropaganda and struggling with foreign information infl uence. Appellation to the negative experience of the USSR and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is using by the Chinese leadership in its propaganda as an argument for unacceptability of any political reforms regarding weakening of the party role.

scholarly journals Regime and state breakdown: dissolution of the Soviet Union

2020 ◽  
pp. 309-322
Author(s):  
Fei Haiting
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Science ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Loss Of Control ◽  
National Interests ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
State Breakdown

The mechanism of causality between the breakdown of political regime and the disintegration of a state is an important topic in political science. The dissolution of the Soviet Union is a typical example. The aim of perestroika was the transformation of the political regime by renewing the top elite and inclusion of mass groups in the system of government. The initiators of the reform planned to achieve their goals through the general reconstruction of relations between the CPSU and the Soviet state, the redistribution of power from the party elite to the Soviet one concentrated in the Councils of People’s Deputies at various levels. In practice, the implementation of two reforms at once (distancing the party from the authorities and optimizing governance) led to the split of the entire political elite. The struggle of opposing elite groups for dominance led to the paralysis of state power, the loss of control over what was happening in the country. As a result, the interests of elite groups began to prevail over the national interests and ultimately led to the destruction of the state. Thus the authorsubstantiates the thesis that the destabilization of a regime as a result of the inter-elite struggle leads to the destruction of a state. The problem of elite renewal and consolidation and the transfer powers from the party elite to the state one becomes important.

scholarly journals Sergey Rumyancev, Ускользающая современность: постсоветская модернизация Азербайджана / Vanishing Modernity: The Post-Soviet Modernization of Azerbaijan

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 136-147
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modern State ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
Oil And Natural Gas

The article focuses on the debates situation of post-soviet modernization and transformation of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani economy failed to become a market economy, and remains instead predominantly based on the extraction and sale of oil and natural gas. Cities are being ruralised instead of the urbanization of rural areas. In its turn, industrialization ended together with the Soviet Union. A more or less tangible individualization and fragmentation of social life are not part of the history of post-Soviet Azerbaijan either. The political and economic systems of Azerbaijan are an imitation of a modern state. It is an example of a simulacrum state and a total imitation of modern political institutions and relations. In other words: The political regime in Azerbaijan is a complex of imitative practices, relations and “institutional camouflages” that enable a broad international presentation of Azerbaijan, effectively privatized by a small group of people, as a modern state that exists in reality.

Latin America and the Soviet-Chinese Conflict (the 1960s – mid-1970s)

2021 ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Andrey Schelchkov
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Chinese Communist Party ◽  
New Left ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Movement ◽  
The Chinese Communist Party

The disagreements and rupture between the Chinese Communist Party and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) were the most important event in the history of the International Communist Movement in the 60s and 70s of the 20th century, which had a huge impact on the fate of communist parties around the world. Latin America has become a place of fierce rivalry between Moscow and Beijing for influence on the political left flank. Moscow's tough opposition to any attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to increase its influence in the continent's communist parties without resorting to splitting them caused a backlash and a change in the policy of criticism within the parties to a policy of secession of independent “anti-revisionist” communist parties. Maoist communist parties emerged in all countries of the continent, opposing their policies to the pro-Moscow left parties. Maoism was able to penetrate not only the old communist movement but also the ranks of socialists, leftist nationalists and even Christian democrats. It often became the ideological and political basis for a break with the “traditional” left parties, a kind of transit bridge towards the “new left”. The ideas of Maoism were partly accepted by the trend of the “new left”, which gained special weight among the intelligentsia and students of the continent. This article is devoted to the emergence and development of the Maoist Communist Parties, the reaction of Moscow and Havana in the political circumstances of Latin America in the 60s of the 20th century.

The KGB, Perestroika, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union

2003 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Knight
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Direct Part ◽  
Soviet System ◽  
Direct Control ◽  
Mikhail Gorbachev ◽  
High Ranking ◽  
State Security ◽  
The Soviet Union

This article examines the role of the Committee on State Security (KGB) during the turbulent six-and-a-half years under Mikhail Gorbachev, from March 1985 to December 1991. Contrary to popular impressions, the KGB was never an independent actor in the Soviet system; it acted at the behest of the Communist Party. When Vladimir Kryuchkov replaced Viktor Chebrikov as head of the KGB in 1986, the move signaled what was intended to be a new role for the KGB. But as the reforms launched by Gorbachev became more radical, and as political instability in the Soviet Union became widespread, many in the KGB grew anxious about the possible fragmentation of the country. These concerns were instrumental in the decision by Kryuchkov and other high-ranking KGB officials to organize a hardline coup in August 1991. Even then, however, the KGB was not truly independent of the party. On the contrary, KGB officials were expecting—and then desperately hoping—that Gorbachev would agree to order an all-out crackdown. Because Gorbachev was unwilling to take a direct part in mass repression, Kryuchkov lacked the authority he was seeking to act. As a result, the attempted coup failed, and the KGB was forced onto the defensive. Shortly before the Soviet state was dissolved, the KGB was broken up into a number of agencies that soon came under Russia's direct control.

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