Gorbachev's Double Burden: Economic Reform and Growth Acceleration

The author would Like to thank the following for commenting on an earlier draft of this paper David Dyker , Ronald Hill , Martin McCauley , Alec Nove , Mark Schaffer , Michael Waller and Peter Wiles. Special thanks should also go to Anne Connelly , Jim Dingley , Pandora Geddes , Richard Gillespie , Martin Long and Alan Smith. As always, any errors remaining in the text are the author's sole responsibility.

See, for example, Terry McNeill , 'Mikhail Gorbachev - Just Another Apparatchik? ', Radio Liberty Research Bulletin (hereafter RL) 464/84, 10 December 1984. Most of the early works on Gorbachev tended to be mostly biographical. See, for example, Archie Brown , 'Gorbachev: New Man in the Kremlin', Problems of Communism (Vol. 34, No. 3, 1985), pp. 1-23; Zhores Medvedev , Gorbachev (Oxford: Basil Blackwell , 1986) ; Christian Schmidt-Hauer , Gorbachev: The Path the Power (London: I.B. Tauris, 1986). Later works, which have treated Gorbachev's policies in greater detail, include Archie Brown , 'Gorbachev's Policy Innovations', Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (Vol. 41, No. 10, 1986); Marshall I. Goldman , 'Gorbachev and Economic Reform', Foreign Affairs (Vol. 64, No. 1, 1985); Philip Hanson , 'Gorbachev's Economic Strategy: A Comment ', Soviet Economy (Vol. 1, No. 4, 1985); Edward A. Hewett , 'Gorbachev's Economic Strategy: A Preliminary Assessment', Soviet Economy (Vol. 1, No. 4 1985); Alec Nove , 'What will Gorbachev Do?', Economist Intelligence Unit: Eastern Europe and the USSR (London: Economist Publications, 1986), pp. 5-8; Sidney Ploss , 'A New Soviet Era?', Foreign Policy (No. 62 1986), pp. 46-60; George G. Weickhardt , 'Gorbachev's Record on Economic Reform', Soviet Union/Union Sovietique (Vol. 12, No. 3, 1985), pp. 251-76. Works which appeared after the 27th Party Congress and had more information to draw upon, include Seweryn Bialer and Joan Afferica, 'The Genesis of Gorbachev's World', Foreign Affairs (Vol. 64, No. 3, 1986), pp. 605-44; Archie Brown , 'Change in the Soviet Union', Foreign Affairs (Vol. 64, No. 5, 1986), pp. 1048-65; Walter D. Conner , `Social Policy under Gorbachev', Problems of Communism (Vol. 35, No. 4, 1986), pp. 31-46; David Dyker , 'Soviet Economic Plans and Policies: A Post Congress View', The Journal of Communist Studies (Vol. 2, No. 2, 1986), pp- 192-4; Thane Gustafson and Dawn Mann , 'Gorbachev's First Year: Building Power and Authority', Problems of Communism (Vol. 35, No. 3, 1986), pp. 1-19; Zhores Medvedev , 'Innovation and Conservatism in the New Soviet Leadership', New Left Review (No. 157, 1986), pp. 5-26; Martin McCauley (ed.), The Soviet Union under Gorbachev (London: McMillan, 1987); Boris Rumer , 'The Realities of Gorbachev's Economic Program', Problems of Communism (Vol. 35, No. 3, 1986), pp. 20-31; Michel Tatu , 'Gorbachev: Les limites du renouveau', Politique Internationale, (No. 32, Summer 1986), pp. 233-47. Some excellent writing on Gorbachev has also appeared in Radio Liberty Research Bulletins and the analytical journal Obozreniye edited by Aleksandr Nekrich.

See, for example, Mikhail Gorbachev , 'On convening the 27th Party Congress', April (1985) Plenum, 23 April 1985 in Mikhail Gorbachev , Selected Speeches ( Moscow: Progress, 1986), pp. 15-40. Also, ' Resolutely Forward', Meeting with Leningrad Aktiv , 17 May 1985, in ibid., pp. 81-98, and 'The Key Issue of the Party's Economic Policy', June (1985) Plenum, 11 June 1985 in ibid., pp. 128-60. A full bibliography of Gorbachev's speeches dealing with economic policy is included as an appendix to this article.

See Andreas Tenson , 'A Return to the Kosygin Reforms', RL 34/86 ; Allan Krochner, 'The Fate ofthe Economic Reforms of 1965', RL 115/83, 14 March 1983.

See Alec Nove , The Soviet Economic System, 2nd ed. ( London: George Allen, 1984).

Under Gorbachev's leadership, critisism of the economic system has become even more pronounced. See especially the fascinating discussion of corruption in the system in V. Oleinik , 'Legal Dialogues: Around Store Counters ', Izvestiya, 30 May 1986 translated in Current Digest of the Soviet Press (hereafter CDSP) (Vol. 38, No. 23, 1986), pp, 1-3.

See Alec Nove , The Soviet Economic System, op. cit, pp. 88-123.

For a discussion of the problems created by supply scarcity, see Alec Nove , The Soviet Economic System, op. cit, pp. 102-11. Also, Janos Kornai , The Economics of Shortage (Amsterdam: North-Holland , 1980).

An excellent account of this phenomenon can be found in Hedrick Smith , The Russians (London: Sphere, 1985), pp. 265-95.

CIA data shows that between 1965 and 1980 investment as a percentage of GNP grew from 27.3 per cent to 33 per cent, while consumption as a percentage of GNP declined slightly from 54 per cent to 53.6 per cent in the same period. Throughout this period, central planners tried repeatedly to hold down investment by earmarking fewer funds for investment projects, as is well documented in Myron Rush, 'The Soviet Policy Favouring Arms over Investment Since 1975' in US Congress, Joint Economic Committee, Soviet Economy in the 1980's: Problems and Prospects (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1983). Despite these attempts, investment continued to grow as a percentage of GNP faster than consumption. See US Congress, Joint Economic Committee, USSR: Measures of Economic Growth and Development 1950-80 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1982), pp. 52-4. See also Boris Rumer , 'USSR Investment Policy', Problems of Communism (Vol. 31, No, 5, 1982), pp. 53-68. The author is grateful to Mark Schaffer for a thorough discussion of this issue.

For an excellent discussion of these issues, see Stanislaw Gomulka , 'The Incompability of Socialism and Rapid Innovation', in Mark E, Schaffer (ed.), Technology Transfer and East-West Relations (London: Croom Helm, 1985), pp. 12-31 and Alastair McAuley , 'Central Planning, Market Socialism and Rapid Innovation', in ibid, pp. 32-49.

See Alexander Yanov , Detente after Brezhnev: The Domestic Roots of Soviet Foreign Policy (Berkeley, CA: Institute of International Studies, 1977), pp. 16-20.

Myron Rush , op. cit, p. 327.

These efforts are well-documented in Gertrude E. Schroeder , 'The Soviet Economy on a Treadmill of Reforms', in US Congress, Joint Economic Committee, Soviet Economy in a Time of Change ( Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1979), pp. 312-40.

Ibid, pp. 314-15.

Alec Nove , An Economic History of the USSR (London: Penguin, 1984), p. 213.

Cited in Alec Nove , op. cit, p. 30.

Gertrude Schroeder , 'Soviet Economy on a Treadmill of Reforms', op. cit. pp. 325-31.

Ibid.

See Allan Krochner. 'The Fate of the Economic Reforms of 1965', RL 115/85, 14 March 1983; Gertrude Schroeder , 'The Reform of the Supply System in Soviet Industry', Soviet Studies (Vol. 24, No, 1, 1972), pp. 97-119.

This interpretation differs significantly from the argument put forward by Tatyana Zaslavskaya in 'The Novosibirsk Report', Survey (Vol. 28, No. 1, 1984), pp. 88-108. Zaslavskaya argues that the main impediment to reform has been the ministries' self-interest in preserving the system as it is. Other economists have a different interpretation of the forces which kept the Kosygin from having any appreciable impact. They have argued that the Kosygin reform failed due largely to the fact that the reforms were put forward along with continued political pressure from above for abnormally high growth. In other words, taut planning created a constant incentive working against the introduction of economic levers. See, especially, Fyodor Kushnirsky , Soviet Economic Planning (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1982); Fyodor Kushnirsky , 'The Limits of Soviet Economic Reform', Problems of Communism (Vol. 34, No. 4 1984), pp. 34-7. Also, Allan Krochner , op. cit

Allan Krochner , op. cit

For a discussion of the 1979 decree, see Morris Bomstein , 'Improving the Soviet Economic Mechanism', Soviet Studies (Vol. 37, No. 1, 1985), pp. 1-30; Philip Hanson , 'Success Indicators Revisited: The July 1979 Decree on Planning and Management', Soviet Studies (Vol. 35, No. 1, 1983), pp. 1-14; Gertrude Schroeder , 'Soviet Economic Decrees: More Steps on a Treadmill, in US Congress, Joint Economic Committee, Soviet Economy in a Time of Change, op. cit., pp. 65-88.

Gertrude Schroeder , 'Soviet Economic Decrees', op. cit, p. 72.

Gertrude Schroeder , 'The Reform of the Supply System', op. cit.

Alexander Yanov , op. cit: Victor Zaslavsky , The Neo- Stalinist State (London: M.E. Sharpe , 1982).

Geoffrey Hosking , A History of the Soviet Union (London: Fontana, 1985), pp. 389-90.

Seweryn Bialer , The Soviet Paradox: External Expansion, Internal Decline (New York: Knopf, 1986). pp. 41-80.

These are the figures cited in Tatyana Zaslavskaya , 'The Novosibirsk Report', Survey (Vol. 28, No. 1,1984), pp. 88-108.

In January of 1986, the Sociological Research Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences published the results of a poll of people's opinions of how their living standard had changed in the last ten years. Typically, the results were reported with the best face forward: 75 per cent reported an overall increase in the standard of living; 55 per cent said medical care had improved; 48 per cent reported an overall improvement in consumer services and 46 per cent in public transportation. But if these figures are interpreted slightly differently, they reveal a growing popular discontent: Twenty-five per cent saw their living standards the same or declining; 45 per cent saw no improvement in medical services; 52 per cent reported no improvement in consumer services and 54 per cent in public transport. See, Elizabeth Teague , 'Lifestyles of the Elite Called into Question', RL 79/86, 14 February 1986 , p. 3.

Philip Hanson , 'Andropov's First Year. Economic Performance', RL 407/83, 31 October 1983.

Elizabeth Teague , 'Crackdown on Discipline Proposed', RL 302/83, 10 August 1983.

Keith Bush , 'Andropov's Industrial Reform', RL 290/83, 1 August 1983. David Dyker , 'Andropov's Industrial Reforms and the Novosibirsk Report', RL 314/83, 18 August 1983.

Mikhail Gorbachev , April (1985) Plenum, 23 April 1985.

Mikhail Gorbachev, Leningrad , 'Resolutely Forward', 17 May 1985 in Selected Speeches, op. cit, pp. 81 -98.

Ibid, p. 86.

See David E. Powell , 'The Soviet Alcohol Problem and Gorbachev's Solution', The Washington Quarterly (Vol. 8, No. 4, Fall 1985), pp. 5-15.

See Mikhail Gorbachev , 'The Key Issue ofthe Party's Economic Policy ', Report by Mikhail Gorbachev , General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 11 June 1985, in Selected Speeches, op. cit, pp. 128-60.

Boris Rumer , "The Realities of Gorbachev's Economic Program', op, cit, p.20.

Mikhail Gorbachev , Political Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 25 February 1986 (Moscow: Novosti, 1986).

Ibid, pp. 49-50.

Ibid, p. 43.

Ibid., p. 47.

Ibid., p. 45-6.

Ibid, p. 45.

P. Katsura , 'The Three Pillars of AvtoVAZ: Independence, Paying ItsOwn Way and Economic Accountability', Izvestiya , 28 July 1985, p. 2 translated in CDSP (Vol. 37, No. 30, 1985), pp. 1-4.

Mikhail Gorbachev , 27 Party Congress, op. cit, 25 February 1986, p. 45.

Ibid., p. 43.

For a short description ofthe East German economic system, see David Childs , The GDR: Moscow's Ally (London; George Allen, 1983), pp. 160-2.

Mikhail Gorbachev , 27th Party Congress, op. cit, p. 44.

See George G. Weickhardt , op. cit,- Mikhail Gorbachev , 27th Party Congress, op. cit, p. 43.

- Mikhail Gorbachev , 'On the Five-Year Plan of the Economic and Social Development of the USSR for 1986-1990 and the Tasks of Party Organisations in Carrying It Out', Report by Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 16 June 1986 (Moscow: Novosti, 1986), p. 12.

Mikhail Gorbachev , 27th Party Congress, op. cit, p. 44.

TatyanaZaslavskaya , op. cit,; see also note 21 above.

Gorbachev addressed the subject of 'glasnost' at greatest length in his speech to the Khabarovsk Party Active. See Mikhail Gorbachev , 'Restructuring is Urgent; It Concerns Everyone and Everything', Speech at the Meeting of the Activists of the Khabarovsk Territory Party Organization, 31 July 1986 (Moscow: Novosti, 1986), pp. 27-9; Also Vera Tolz , 'Glasnost in the Soviet Media since the Twenty-Seventh Party Congress', RL 391/86, 20 October 1986.

The decree was published in Pravda, 4 August 1985 and is translated in CDSP (Vol. 37, No. 31, 1985), pp. 8-9, 12.

For a description of AvtoVAZ, see P. Katsura op. cit,: also Mike Davidow , 'Auto City on the Volga', Moscow News (No. 42, 1986) p. 5.

A. Chemyak , V. Shalgunov and G. Yastrebtsov , 'M.S. Gorbachev's Stay in Kuibyshev Province', Pravda, 8 April 1986, p. 1. translated in CDSP (Vol. 38, No. 14, 1986), pp. 1-9.

P. Katsura , op. cit, pp. 1-4.

Ibid., p. 3.

Ibid., p. 2.

David Dyker , 'The Fate of Andropov's Industrial Planning Experiment', RL 154/84, 16 April 1984.

'In the Politburo of the Central Committee', Pravda, 28 March 1986, p. I, translated in CDSP (Vol. 38, No. 13, 1986), p. 19.

Ibid.

'On Measures to Fundamentally Improve Foreign Economic Activity ', Pravda, 24 September 1986, p. 1, translated in CDSP(Vol. 38, No. 38,1986), pp. 8-9.

'In the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers ', Pravda, 6 May 1986, pp. 1-2, translated in CDSP (Vol. 38, No.19, 1986), pp. 12, 22-3.

Ibid., p. 1.

Mikhail Gorbachev , 27th Party Congress, op. cit, pp. 51-2.

Celestine Bohlen , 'Soviet Opens War on Unearned Income', International Herald Tribune, 24 June 1986, p. 5.

'On Stepped Up Efforts to Combat Nonlabour Income', Pravda, 28 May 1986, pp. 1-2, translated in CDSP (Vol. 38, No. 21, 1986), pp. 7-8.

V. Brovkin and D. Gorbuntsov , `Is the Cucumber Guilty?', Pravda, 14 July 1986. p. 3 translated in CDSP (Vol. 38, No. 28, 1986).

For a description of the law's contents, see the transcript of a radio discussion with USSR Deputy Procurator General Viktor Naydenov in BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. 1 December 1986, Section C, pp. 1-7.

Paul Hofheinz , 'Neo-Stalinism Hobbles Gorbachev Reform', The Wall Street Journal Europe, 27 November 1986, p. 10.

Christopher Walker , 'Kremlin Opening for Private Busuness ', The Times, 20 November 1986, p. 1.

Philip Hanson , 'Superministries: The State of Play', RL 167/86; Philip Hanson , 'All Quiet on the Reform Front', RL 328/86,29 August 1986.

Philip Hanson ,'All Quiet on the Reform Front', op. cit, p. 3.

Elzabeth Teague , 'The USSR Law on Work Collectives: Worker's Control or Workers Controlled?', RL 184/84, 10 May 1984. George G. Weickhardt , op. cit

GeorgeG. Weickhardt , op cit, p. 273.

Elizabeth Teague , 'Managerial Posts Up for Election', RL 349/85, 21 October 1985.

Ibid, p. 5.

Zhores Medvedev , Gorbachev, op. cit., pp. 44-93.

See Christian Schmidt-Hauer , op. cit, pp. 209-10.

N.I. Ryzhkov , 'On the State Plan For the Economic and Social Development of the USSR in 1986-90', Pravda, 19 June 1986, pp. 1-5 translated in CDSP (Vol. 38, No. 25, 1986), pp. 4-9, and CDSP (Vol. 38, No. 26, 1986), pp. 11-14.

Ibid, in Pravda, 19 June 1986 , p. 1.

Ibid, in CDSP(Vol. 38, No. 25,1986), p. 5.

Keith Bush. 'The Twelth Five-Year Plan: Gorbachev's Blue Print for Acceleration', RL250/86, 2 July 1986.

Mikhail Gorbachev , 'Resolutely Forward', op. cit. , p. 86.

Mikhail Gorbachev , June (1986) Plenum, op. cit., p. 28.

Blair A. Ruble , 'Romanov's Leningrad', Problems of Communism (Vol. 32, No. 6, 1983), pp. 36-48.

Mikhail Gorbachev , June (1986) Plenum, op. cit., p. 29.

Ibid.

A. Yasinsky , 'Volga Automative Plant's Renovation', Pravda 10 March 1986, p. 2, translated in CDSP (Vol 38, No. 10, 1986), pp. 22-3.

Ibid

Yu. V. Zhukov , 'The Quality of an Article and its Price ', Kommerchesky Vestnik (No, 17, September 1985), pp. 2-5, translated in CDSP (Vol. 37, No. 49, p. 12.)

The author would like to thank Peter Wiles for a thorough discussion of this issue.

Mikhail Gorbachev , June (1986) Plenum, op. cit., p. 43.

Boris Rumer , 'Realities of Gorbachev's Economic Program', op. cit, p. 26.

GeorgeG. Weickhardt , op. cit, p. 271.

Nina Maksimova . 'Brigades at a Crossroad: Notes on Economics and Moratity', Ekonomika i Organizatsiya Promyshlennovo Proizvodslva (No. 8, 1983), pp. 151-99, translated in CDSP(Vol. 38, No. 2, 1986), pp. 3-4, 8.

Ibid., p. 3.

Ibid.

Mikhail Gorbachev , June (1986) Plenum, op. cit., p. 15.

V. Kostakov , 'One Person Must Work Like Seven' Sovetskaya Kultura, 4 January 1986, p. 3 translated in CDSP(Vol. 38, No. 3,1986), pp. 1-4.

Ibid.

Yegor Ligachev , 'Along the Course of the October Revolution , in a Spirit of Revolutionary Creativity', Moscow News, Supplement, No. 46 (3242), 1986.

Ibid., p. 1.

For a discussion of this problem, see Janos Kornai , 'The Soft Budget Constraint', Kyklos (Vol. 39, No. 1 1986), pp. 3-30; Alec Nove , The Soviet Economic System, op. cit, pp. 299-303.

See, for example, Roy Medvedev , Khrushchev (Oxford : Basil Blackwell, 1983), p. 158.

See ibid, pp. 165-73.

Ibid.

Peter Reddaway , 'The Fall of Khrushchev', Survey , (No. 56, 1965), pp. 11-30. Michel Tatu , Power in the Kremlin (London: Colling, 1969).

Mikhail Gorbachev , June (1986) Plenum, op. cit, pp. 55-6.

Ibid.

For a description of recriminations in the Cherkassy Party Committee over this incident, see Roman Solchanyk , 'Shcherbitsky Files a Report in Pravda ', RL 378/86, 1 October 1986.

In this context, it is worth noting that Gorbachev apparently approved of Khrushchev's ouster primarily because of his proclivity to intervene in local conflicts. Zdenek Mlynar relates a conversation he had with Gorbachev in 1967 when Gorbachev was First Secretary in Stavropol: ' Gorbachev did not regret the fall of Khrushchev ... he considered Khrushchev's continual interventions to be rather damaging, usually not well thought out and often wholly subjective.... His particular accusation was that Khrushchev had in fact kept to the old ways of arbitrary intervention from the center into the life of the whole country.' See Zdenek Mlynar , 'Il mio compagno di studi Mikhail Gorbaciov', L'Unita, 9 April 1985. It is interesting, in this light, to see Gorbachev committing a similar mistake now that he is General Secretary.

Philip Hanson , 'Superministries: The State of Play', op, cit.

Ibid., p. 5,

Yegor Ligachev , 'Speech by Yegor Ligachev', CDSP (Vol. 38, No. 10, 1986), pp. 8-10.

In light of this discussion, perhaps it is time to revise the paradigm laid down by Stephen F. Cohen in his seminal article 'The Friends and Foes of Change: Reformism and Conservatism in the Soviet Union', in Stephen F. Cohen (ed.), The Soviet Union since Stalin (London: McMillan, 1980), pp. 11-31. Cohen argues, 'Change in the Stalinist system, and stubborn resistance to change, have been the central features of Soviet political life since Stalin's death.' Arguing against the traditional totalitarian model, Cohen asserts that 'the fundamental division between these two poles on Soviet life is best understood as a social and a political confrontation between reformism and conservatism in the sense that these terms convey in other countries'. In light of some of the evidence presented in this paper, perhaps the 'two poles' of Soviet politics are more accurately, if less eloquently, characterised as a conflict between 'mobilisers' and 'welfare statists'. 'Mobilisers' like Khrushchev, Andropov and Gorbachev have sought change through pressure. Their actions have tended to unsettle people both in the Party and among the populace. 'Welfare Statists' like Brezhnev, Chemenko and, to a certain extent, Ligachev have tried to solve problems largely by throwing money at them. They have pursued far less confrontational policies and tended to stress social stability over 'mobilisation'. See George Breslauer , Krushchev and Brezhnev as Leaders: Building Power and Authority in Soviet Politics (London: George Allen, 1982); George Breslauer , 'Khrushchev Reconsidered', in S. Cohen (ed.), The Soviet Union since Stalin, op. cit, pp. 50-70; Medvedev , Krushchev : The Years in Power. op. cit

See, especially, Gorbachev , June (1986) Plenum, op. cit., and 'Reconstructuring is Urgent', op. cit Gorbachev also made this claim in an impromptu talk with Soviet writers in Moscow on 19 June 1986. For a summary of the samizdat account of this meeting, see Aaron Trehub , 'Gorbachev meets Soviet Writers: a Samizdat Account', RL 399/86, 23 October 1986.

Khruschev , after all, was able to abolish the ministries entirely in 1956. See Alec Nove , An Economic History of the USSR. op. cit, pp. 344-6.

Central Statistical Board , ' Ob Itogakh Vipolneniya Gosudarstvennova Plana Ekonomicheskova i Sotsial'nova Rasvitiya SSSR v 1976 Godu'. Izvestiya 19 January 1987, p. 1.

See, for example, 'Ob Itogakh Vipolneniya Gosudarstvennova Plana Ekonomicheskova i Sotsial'nova Razvitiya SSSR za Devit' Mesitsev 1986 Goda'. Ekonomicheskaya Gazeta (No. 44, 1986), p. 6.

V. Filippov , 'Kachestvo - Zadacha Politicheskaya', Ekonomicheskaya Gazeta (No. 49, 1986), p. 6.

'The USSR this Week', RL 371/86,26 September 1986, pp. 7-8.

Mikhail Gorbachev , 'Gorbachev's Speech at Conference on State Product Acceptance', Tass, 15 November 1986, translated in BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, Section C, 18 November 1986, pp. 1-6.

For an example of official praise for NEP, see Fyodor Burlatsky , 'Lenin and the Strategy of Complete Change', Literaturnaya Gazeta, 16 April 1986, p. 2, translated in CDSP (Vol. 38, No. 22, 1986), pp. 5-7. See also Elizabeth Teague , 'Symbolic Role Ascribed to the NEP', RL 415/86,3 3 November 1986.

For an example of recent official praise for Stalin and his approach to economic mobilisation see Pyotr Studenikin and Ivan Taranenko , 'Pages From History: In View of the State of Emergency', Pravda, 30 June 1986, p. 7, translated in CDSP (Vol. 38, No. 26, 1986), pp. 9-10. The article discusses the way Stalin ran the Defence Committee during the war in very approving terms. The Chairman of the Defence Committee, which was organised to mobilise industry, is depicted smiling and 'puffing on his pipe'. When Lieutenant-General I. V. Kovalyov arrives for a meeting in the Kremlin several minutes behind schedule, Stalin turns on him. 'Why are you late', he asks.

Many Western commentators have depicted Gorbachev as the first Soviet leader to have come of age in the post-Stalin Soviet Union, but it seems that, in fact, the latter days of Stalin had a formative impact on the young Gorbachev. During one of his walkabouts in Vladivostock, Gorbachev reminisced about that time with a member of the Communist Youth League: 'My YCL time coincided with the post-war years. Those who remember those years know that the difficulties were incredible. When I was travelling to study at Moscow University, I passed through devastated Stalingrad and devastated Voronezh, Rostov and Kharkov. I saw the country in ruins. But I will say that the YCL at that time was militant and sharp-tongued. It did a great deal, a very great deal. There was a thirst for acquiring knowledge and mastering an occupation, and we did a great deal. From the schools or the university, we went to the construction projects and helped improve public services and amenities in the cities. We restored them. We said openly what we thought, The YCL meetings were so militant! The YCL should raise its head. Everything that we are getting underway is for the YCL.' See, 'The Creativity of the Masses is the Basis of Acceleration ', Pravda, 27 July 1986, pp. 1-2, translated in CDSP (Vol. 38, No. 30, 1986), p. 10.

Mikhail Gorbachev , 'Restructuring is Urgent', op. cit, p. 6.

See, for example, Christopher Walker , 'Gorbachev Calls for Secret Soviet Ballots', The Times, 28 January 1987, p. 1.

See Thomas A. Sanction, 'Full Speed Ahead: Gorbachev uses glitz to push glasnost Time, Vol. 129, No. 9, 1987 pp. 6-9.

'Proekt Zakon o Gusudarstvennom Predpriyatii (ob'edinenii) ', Pravda, 8 February 1987, pp. 1-3. Translated in BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 13 February 1987, Section C, pp. 1-24.

Otto Lacis , 'Legal Basis for Radical Reform', Moscow News, No. 7 (1987) p. 4.

'Proekt Zakon', op. cit., p. 1.

Ibid., p. 3.

Ibid., p. 9.

Ibid., p. 16.

Ibid., p. 15.

Ibid., p. 24.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Ibid., pp. 6-7.

Ibid., p. 19.

Ibid., p. 17.

See Gertrude Schroeder .'The Reform of the Supply System in Soviet Industry', Soviet Studies, (Vol. 24, No. 1, 1972), pp. 97-119.

The phrase is Gorbachev's. See Gorbachev , 'Political Report', 25 February 1986, op. cit., p. 77.

'Proekt Zakon' BBC, op. cit., p. 5.

Ibid., pp. 3-4.

For some examples of discontent over the new shift work regimen, see the interviews with workers in Thomas Sanction, 'Full Speed Ahead...' op. cit, p. 9. The rumored rioting at Kama is reported in Marshall 1. Goldman , 'Two Years On, Gorbachev Faces Growing Resistance', International Herald Tribune, 11 March 1987, p. 4.

See Mikhail Gorbachev , 'Report to the CPSU Central Committee ', 27 January 1987, found as supplement to Soviet Weekly, 7 February 1987.

Ibid., p. 14.

Ibid., p. 15.

See, for example, Louise Branson , 'Rumors point to the Axe for Kremlin Rebel', The Sunday Times, 14 December 1987 .

Gorbachev , January (1987) Plenum, p. 23.

Khruschev's attack on the party went much further than Gorbachev's. Khrushchev wanted to put an actual limit on the amount of time party officers could serve. Gorbachev, by contrast, wants party officers to face elections which, presumably, will allow candidates able to obtain a majority in their favor to hold their offices indefinitely. For a discussion of Khrushchev's attempt to introduce a systematic rotation of cadres, see Roy A. Medvedev and Zhores A. Medvedev , Khrushchev : The Years in Power ( New York: Columbia, 1976).