How the Soviet Union is Governed
How the Soviet Union is Governed

Author: Jerry F. Hough

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1979

Total Pages: 702

ISBN-13: 9780674410305

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This is a new and thorough revision of a recognized classic whose first edition was hailed as the most authoritative account in English of the governing of the Soviet Union. Now, with historical material rearranged in chronological order, and with seven new chapters covering most of the last fifteen years, this edition brings the Soviet Union fully into the light of modern history and political science. The purposes of Fainsod's earlier editions were threefold: to explain the techniques used by the Bolsheviks and Stalin to gain control of the Russian political system; to describe the methods they employed to maintain command; and to speculate upon the likelihood oftheir continued control in the future. This new edition increases very substantially the attention paid to another aspect of the political process--how policy is formed, how the Soviet Union is governed. Whenever possible, Mr. Hough attempts to analyze the alignments and interrelationships between Soviet policy institutions. Moreover, he constantly moves beyond a description of these institutions to probe the way they work. Two chapters are devoted to the questions of individual political participation. Other chapters examine the internal organization of institutions and explore the ways in which the backgrounds of their officials influence their policy positions and alliances. The picture that emerges is an unprecedented account of the distribution of power in the Soviet Union.

Governing the Soviet Union's National Republics
Governing the Soviet Union's National Republics

Author: Saulius Grybkauskas

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-11-29

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 0429749295

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Second Secretary of the Central Committee of a Soviet republic does not sound a very important position, but as this book shows it was an extremely important role, one that helped hold the Soviet Union together and helped to keep it going for so long. The key was that Second Secretaries were both members of a Soviet republic’s ruling body and at the same time members of the All-Union ruling elite - they were often characterised as Moscow’s governor generals. This book examines how the position of Second Secretary was established by Khrushchev in the 1950s, explores how it took on increasingly important political functions representing Moscow’s interests in the republics and the republics’ interests in Moscow, and discusses how the conflicts, inherent in the role, developed. The book also provides biographical details of the people who held the position and argues that the role was extremely effective in managing what could otherwise have been very difficult relationships between centre and periphery.

The Rise and Fall of Communism in Russia
The Rise and Fall of Communism in Russia

Author: Robert V. Daniels

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2008-10-01

Total Pages: 493

ISBN-13: 0300134932

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Distinguished historian of the Soviet period Robert V. Daniels offers a penetrating survey of the evolution of the Soviet system and its ideology. In a tightly woven series of analyses written during his career-long inquiry into the Soviet Union, Daniels explores the Soviet experience from Karl Marx to Boris Yeltsin and shows how key ideological notions were altered as Soviet history unfolded. The book exposes a long history of American misunderstanding of the Soviet Union, leading up to the "grand surprise" of its collapse in 1991. Daniels's perspective is always original, and his assessments, some worked out years ago, are strikingly prescient in the light of post-1991 archival revelations. Soviet Communism evolved and decayed over the decades, Daniels argues, through a prolonged revolutionary process, combined with the challenges of modernization and the personal struggles between ideologues and power-grabbers.

Authoritarian Russia
Authoritarian Russia

Author: Vladimir Gel'man

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Published: 2015-07-01

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 0822980932

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Russia today represents one of the major examples of the phenomenon of "electoral authoritarianism" which is characterized by adopting the trappings of democratic institutions (such as elections, political parties, and a legislature) and enlisting the service of the country's essentially authoritarian rulers. Why and how has the electoral authoritarian regime been consolidated in Russia? What are the mechanisms of its maintenance, and what is its likely future course? This book attempts to answer these basic questions. Vladimir Gel'man examines regime change in Russia from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 to the present day, systematically presenting theoretical and comparative perspectives of the factors that affected regime changes and the authoritarian drift of the country. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia's national political elites aimed to achieve their goals by creating and enforcing of favorable "rules of the game" for themselves and maintaining informal winning coalitions of cliques around individual rulers. In the 1990s, these moves were only partially successful given the weakness of the Russian state and troubled post-socialist economy. In the 2000s, however, Vladimir Putin rescued the system thanks to the combination of economic growth and the revival of the state capacity he was able to implement by imposing a series of non-democratic reforms. In the 2010s, changing conditions in the country have presented new risks and challenges for the Putin regime that will play themselves out in the years to come.

Soviet Scientists and the State
Soviet Scientists and the State

Author: Peter Kneen

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 1984-01-01

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 9780873958950

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Soviet Scientists and the State examines the constraints place upon the natural scientist in the Soviet Union. The book brings into sharp relief the social and economic consequences arising from the highly centralized character of Communist Party rule. Because conditions regarded as essential for effective scientific research conflict with the form of political control prevailing in the Soviet Union, the Soviet scientists' working environment provides a fruitful context for assessing the methods adopted by the Communist Party. This study is an excellent base from which to explore some important sources of change in contemporary Soviet politics. The book is also a survey of the present state of natural science in the U.S.S.R. Topics of concern range from the scientists' background and social characteristics, institutions, status, and leadership to their social relations and effectiveness. The relationship of the Communist Party to the scientists is examined in detail.