Redefining the Political System of the USSR: Mass Support for Political Change

1992 ◽  
Vol 86 (4) ◽  
pp. 857-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ada W. Finifter ◽  
Ellen Mickiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political System ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Political ◽  
Opinion Survey ◽  
Core Component ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Cross Tabulation ◽  
Using Data ◽  
New Institutions

Using data from a national public opinion survey carried out in the Soviet Union during November and December 1989, we explore two attitudes relevant to the revolutionary changes there: (1) attitudes toward change and political democracy and (2) attitudes toward a core component of socialist ideology, the locus of responsibility for social well-being (the state or individuals?). These variables are unrelated, with the sample relatively evenly divided among the intersecting cells of a cross tabulation. While social conflict may be mitigated by the small sizes of absolutely opposing groups, consensus may also be hard to reach. Ethnicity, education, income, age, party membership, and life satisfaction have important effects on these attitudes. We discuss how attitude patterns in our data may be related to the disintegration of the Soviet Union and to problems faced by the independent successor states as they develop new institutions and foster new values.

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.

Yiddish Publishing in the Soviet Union, 1953–1991

2020 ◽  
pp. 70-86
Author(s):  
Gennady Estraikh
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Status ◽  
The One

In the fall of 1956, a group of British Communists visited the Soviet Union. As did a number of other delegations and individual visitors of the time, they sought to examine the extent of progress of de-Stalinization in the political system and, in particular, to understand the status of Jews in post-Stalinist society. In their report, the delegation noted that among Jews of the older generation, including the one or two thousand who came to the Leningrad Synagogue to celebrate the festival of Simchat Torah, “the non-existence of a Yiddish paper was regarded as a deprivation and an injustice.”...

Legitimacy and Power in the Soviet Union Through Socialist Ritual

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christel Lane
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Right ◽  
Over Time

Every political system must secure compliance with its commands on the part of the ruled; the methods applied to achieve this vary from society to society and within societies over time. One way of gaining compliance is for political elites to establish the legitimacy of the political system, of their position within it, and of the commands that are issued. Political power can be said to be legitimate when, in the words of Sternberger, it is exercised both with a consciousness on the part of the elite that it has a right to govern and with some recognition by the ruled of that right. Both this consciousness of the right to govern and its acknowledgement by the ruled is derived from some source of authorization which may change over time. This paper will focus on the conscious attempts of Soviet political elites from the early sixties onwards to change their strategy of gaining compliance by reducing reliance on coercion and strengthening political legitimacy. It will draw attention to their efforts to develop a new source of authorization and to employ a new legitimation procedure. In developing the theoretical argument the Weberian typology of legitimate rule will be employed, and this approach to the topic will be contrasted with that adopted by T. H. Rigby in two recent publications.

Dictatorship Over the Proletariat

Worldview ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 36-38
Author(s):  
Vladimir Bukovsky
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political System ◽  
Concentration Camps ◽  
The Political ◽  
The West ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Insane Asylums

Tens of thousands of books have been written about the Soviet Union–about its industry, agriculture, the political system, and its history. Even about prisons, concentration camps, and insane asylums there is a lot of literature. And yet, in talking with various persons in the West, I have realized how little is known here about Soviet life.

Hegemony in Post-Soviet Georgia: Types of Nationalisms and Masculinities

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aia Beraia
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Neoliberal Reforms ◽  
Neoliberal Capitalism ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
Economic Elites

The article concerns the political history of the post-Soviet Georgian state. The new post-Soviet nation-state is being created and gradually transformed into a political economy of liberal democracy and neoliberal capitalism. In this transformation, Georgia moves away from the Soviet Union and its successor Russia and acquires European identity via the discourse and practices of national political and economic elites. The discursive production of this hegemonic pro-Western nationalism is intertwined with the production of hegemonic masculinities. This article analyzes the discourses of these elites and reveals three types of hegemonic masculinity, which acquire their meaning alongside and through the processes of national independence, militarization, and/or neoliberal reforms and policies. These new masculinities aim to replace old, Soviet, hegemonic masculinities in Georgia and thus, a new kind of hegemonic culture and patriarchy is being created. Further, the historical domination of pro-Western nationalism can be interpreted variously: while Georgia is open, nearly from the outset, to the Western-style political system (liberal democracy), one can also look to certain historical moments as the turning points when an active neoliberal transformation and (discursive) attainment of European identity began in Georgia. Keywords: nationalism; masculinities; hegemony; post-Soviet Georgia.

The Soviet Leader Cult: Reflections on the Structure of Leadership in the Soviet Union

1980 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme Gill
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political System ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
The Political ◽  
Soviet Leader ◽  
General Terms ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Party Press ◽  
Structural Aspects

A common feature of authoritarian regimes throughout history has been the creation of an elaborate mystique around the leader. This has consisted, in general terms, of the building up of the leader into a figure of superhuman dimensions dwarfing all the lesser mortals who surround him. Although such a cult often pandered to and was inflated by the egoism of its principal, its presence across millennia and cultural differences suggests a systemic basis for its development. Leader cults have rarely been the result simply of a desire for personal glorification or public worship on the part of a leader, significant though such factors may be in any particular instance, but have resulted in large part from structural features of the political system in question. The Soviet political system is clearly relevant in this regard, having been characterized by the existence of exaggerated cults of the leader for much of its sixty-two-year history. By analysing two of these cults, those of Stalin and Brezhnev as embodied in the images of the two leaders projected through the party press, it will be possible to isolate those structural aspects of the Soviet political system which encourage the emergence and growth of a leader cult.

scholarly journals THE NEO PAN-TURKISM IDEAS IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF TURKEY (THE PROGRAM THESES OF PARTIES)

2018 ◽  
pp. 159-170
Author(s):  
NELLI MINASYAN
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political System ◽  
Interconnected Systems ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Third ◽  
Justice And Development Party ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Political Program ◽  
Cultural Project

At the beginning of 1990s Turkey’s foreign policy activity was connected with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of the Turkic republics. The Pan-Turkism ideas were transformed during this period and they were introduced in a new way. The neo Pan-Turkism ideas were presented by three interconnected systems: the first as a spiritual cultural program, the second as a part of the political system, the third as Turkic component of the Turkic-Islamic synthesis. All Turkish parties attach great importance to the cooperation with Turkic republics in their programs. This especially emphasizes the ruling Justice and Development Party. The Nationalist Action Party is well known for PanTurkism and nationalist ideas. The NAP suggests to establish Pan-Turkic organizations. Neo Pan-Turkism is not only a cultural project, it is also a political program. We can say that the Neo Pan-Turkism is a part of the political system and it will stay in the context of Turkey’s foreign policy.

scholarly journals Wpływ pomarańczowej rewolucji na ukraiński system polityczny 

2011 ◽  
pp. 211-227
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Kozłowski
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
True Nature ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
State And Society ◽  
Orange Revolution ◽  
History Of ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
Post Soviet Space

The article presents an analysis of the Orange Revolution and its influence on the political system of Ukraine. Generally, the events of 2004 are perceived as a democratic breakthrough in the modern political history of this country. In reality it turned out to be a revolution only by name. Behind a democratic façade the socalled revolution turned into an act of disobedience of disappointed clannish and oligarchic structures to the former president, Leonid Kuchma. The international observers had an impression, that Ukrainian events were a continuation of the democratization processes started by the fall of the Soviet Union. The article seeks answers to the questions concerning the true nature of the events of 2004 in Kiev, how were they influenced by the post-soviet experiences of the Ukrainian state and society, and finally was the Orange Revolution truly a step toward democratization of the post-soviet space?

Translation and Transformation: English-Language Children's Literature in (Soviet) Russian Guise

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Inggs
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
English Language ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Socialist Realism ◽  
The Political ◽  
Philosophy Of Action ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Free Translation ◽  
Soviet Russia

This article investigates the perceived image of English-language children's literature in Soviet Russia. Framed by Even-Zohar's polysystem theory and Bourdieu's philosophy of action, the discussion takes into account the ideological constraints of the practice of translation and the manipulation of texts. Several factors involved in creating the perceived character of a body of literature are identified, such as the requirements of socialist realism, publishing practices in the Soviet Union, the tradition of free translation and accessibility in the translation of children's literature. This study explores these factors and, with reference to selected examples, illustrates how the political and sociological climate of translation in the Soviet Union influenced the translation practices and the field of translated children's literature, creating a particular image of English-language children's literature in (Soviet) Russia.

scholarly journals The All-Buryat Congress for the Spiritual Rebirth and Consolidation of the Nation: Siberian politics in the final year of the USSR

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-71
Author(s):  
Melissa Chakars
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
The Political ◽  
Socialist Republic ◽  
Soviet Socialist Republic ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
People's Party ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Russian State ◽  
General Goals

This article examines the All-Buryat Congress for the Spiritual Rebirth and Consolidation of the Nation that was held in the Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in February 1991. The congress met to discuss the future of the Buryats, a Mongolian people who live in southeastern Siberia, and to decide on what actions should be taken for the revival, development, and maintenance of their culture. Widespread elections were carried out in the Buryat lands in advance of the congress and voters selected 592 delegates. Delegates also came from other parts of the Soviet Union, as well as from Mongolia and China. Government administrators, Communist Party officials, members of new political parties like the Buryat-Mongolian People’s Party, and non-affiliated individuals shared their ideas and political agendas. Although the congress came to some agreement on the general goals of promoting Buryat traditions, language, religions, and culture, there were disagreements about several of the political and territorial questions. For example, although some delegates hoped for the creation of a larger Buryat territory that would encompass all of Siberia’s Buryats within a future Russian state, others disagreed revealing the tension between the desire to promote ethnic identity and the practical need to consider economic and political issues.

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