Soviet Elections as a Measure of Dissent: The Missing One Percent

1968 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 814-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome M. Gilison
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political System ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Value Judgments ◽  
Public Display ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Positive Side ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Masses

A few questions are still hotly debated among students of the Soviet political system, but certainly the nature of Soviet elections is not one of them. Everyone agrees that they are more interesting as a psychological curiosity than as a political reality. They are seen by various writers as ritualized affirmations of regime legitimacy, as methods of involving the masses in supportive activity, as a means of publicly honoring model citizens, and as a crushing display of unanimity designed to isolate the potential nonconformist. Both Western and Soviet writers see Soviet elections from the positive side, from the side of the dutiful 99 percent who invariably vote for the single candidate on the ballot.In fact, Soviet and Western writers are in very close agreement on the major functions of elections in the Soviet Union, although their value judgments tend to differ along the lines one would expect. Taking one typical example from the general Western literature on the Soviet political system, we find the purposes of a Soviet election defined as “a public demonstration of the legitimacy of the regime … an invaluable educational and propaganda exercise … and perhaps most important of all, … proof that the system of control is unimpaired.” In the more detailed Western works on Soviet elections we find the same approach. Thus, Howard Swearer, in a very insightful and valuable article on Soviet local elections, states that “in the Soviet Union, the formal act of voting is comparable in purpose to such civic rituals as singing the national anthem or saluting a country's flag. It is a public display of personal reaffirmation of the Soviet way of life and the party leadership.”

Citizen Demands and the Soviet Political System

1969 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 465-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Domestic Environments ◽  
The Masses ◽  
Western Democracies

Political scientists interested in non-Communist systems have paid considerable attention to demands (expressions of opinion that an authoritative allocation with regard to particular subject matters should or should not be made by those responsible for doing so) coming from the intra-societal (domestic) environments of these political systems. The importance of intra-societal demands, including citizen demands, for non-Communist systems is well established. Researchers interested in the Soviet political system have paid relatively little attention to intra-societal demands, especially demands coming from those whom David Easton would call citizen gatekeepers, i.e., citizens who convert their wants into demands by articulating them.The reasons for the neglect of research in this area are obvious enough. Quite apart from the problem of gathering useful data, there exists the question of whether demands from the intra-societal environment, and in particular citizen demands, are really important for a “totalitarian” system. Nothing like the politically autonomous interest groups of the Western democracies exist in the Soviet Union. Whatever demands come from the intra-societal environment are therefore largely grassroots demands from the populace, and there is reason to doubt that Soviet authorities feel compelled to heed such demands when formulating policy. Lenin's assertion that the Party is the vanguard of the proletariat was clearly a rejection of the idea that the masses should direct the Party. His successors have continued to assert that the Party leads the masses, and not the masses the Party.

scholarly journals Отражение ранних вариантов советских национальных языков в московских русско-иноязычных словарях

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 91-108
Author(s):  
Jolanta Mędelska ◽  
Marek Cieszkowski
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Scientific Terminology ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Russian State ◽  
The Right ◽  
National Languages

Reflection of early Soviet dialects of national languages in Russian bilingual dictionaries published in MoscowAfter the October Revolution, over half of the citizens of the new Russian state were non-Russians. The historical homeland of some of them was outside the Soviet Union. The experiences of two largest national minorities: the Germans (1 238 000) and the Poles (782 000) were similar in many respects. Members of both nations were persecuted, suffered massive repression, and were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan. The new cultural and political reality (separation from the historical homeland and national languages, influence of Russian and other languages of Soviet Union nations, necessity to use new Soviet lexis and technical/scientific terminology on a daily basis) forced changes in German and Polish used in the Soviet Union. Soviet dialects of national languages were reinforced in books, handbooks, the press, and propaganda materials etc. published in German and Polish in huge number of copies. The Soviet dialects of German and Polish were reflected on the right side of Russian-German and Russian-Polish dictionaries published in the 1930s by “Sovetskaya Entsyklopedia”. The analysis and comparison of the language material excerpted from the dictionaries show that Soviet dialects of both languages were characterized by the presence of orientalisms (result of the constant contact with the nations and nationalities of the Soviet Union and their culture) and unique lexis related to the Russian way of life (Russian culinary lexis, names of musical instruments, names of garments) and Sovietisms (i.e. new political terminology and words related to the Soviet way of life). The Germans found it more difficult to adapt their native code to life in the Soviet Union.

A Critique of Neo-Malthusian Marxism: Society, Nature, and Population

1998 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Burkett
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Free Market ◽  
New Left ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
End Of History ◽  
Positive Side ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Marxist Ideology

AbstractRecent decades have seen a rethinking and renewal of Marxism on various levels, beginning in the 1950s and 1960s when New-Left movements in the developed capitalist countries combined with Maoist, Guevarist, and other Third-World liberation struggles to challenge the ossified theory and practice of Soviet-style communism and traditional social democracy. More recently, the rethinking of Marxism has been driven largely by the collapse of the Soviet Union and its official Marxist ideology, and by the movement toward neoliberal ‘free market’ policies on a global scale, which together have brought forth a tidal wave of frankly pro-capitalist as well as ‘postmodern’ left varieties of ‘end of history'-type thinking. The contemporary challenge to Marxism, however, also has a positive side in the form of popular revolts against the neoliberalisation of the global economy – the Chiapas rebellion in Mexico, the December 1995 public sector upheavals in France, and many others, not to mention the heroic struggle of the Cuban people against the threat of recolonisation by US and global capital. Here the challenge is to incorporate the changing forms of working-class movement, and their new prefigurations of post-capitalist society, into the theory and practice of Marxian communism.

Will the Rise of China Transform the International System?

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Fall 2021) ◽  
pp. 231-258
Author(s):  
Kemal İnat ◽  
Melih Yıldız
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political System ◽  
International System ◽  
Military Policy ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Global Status ◽  
Chinese Policy ◽  
Rise Of China ◽  
The Rise Of China ◽  
The U.S

In this article, the rise of China is discussed in the light of economic and military data, and what the challenge from China means for the global leadership of the U.S. is analyzed. Changes in the indicators of the U.S. and China’s economic and military power over the last 30-40 years are examined and an answer is sought for the following question: What will the consequences of China’s rise be in terms of the international political system? To answer this question, similar ‘rise and challenge’ precedents are discussed to contextualize and analyze and the present challenge China poses. This article concludes that while improving its global status, China has been taking the previous cases’ failed challenges into consideration. China, which does not want to repeat the mistakes made by Germany and the Soviet Union, is hesitant to pursue an aggressive military policy and tries to limit its rivalry with the U.S. in the economic area. While Chinese policy of avoiding direct conflict and focusing on economic development has made it the biggest economic rival of the U.S, the rise of China initiates the discussions about the end of the U.S. and West-led international system.

scholarly journals The problems of the formation of a democratic regime in post-Soviet Russia

nauka.me ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Ilya Volostnov
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political System ◽  
Democratic Regime ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Russia

The discussion about the development of democracy in Russia does not lose relevance 30 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Constitution proclaims the formation of a democratic regime, but political scientists note the development of autocratic tendencies in post-Soviet Russia. It's necessary to study its origins, consider the process of formation for a deeper analysis of the modern political system. it will be possible to study the factors that hindered the development of democracy in our country. It was at that time that the trends of authoritarian development were laid.

scholarly journals Philosophical-political comprehension of Eurasia in the context of the Russian project of civilizational development

2021 ◽  
pp. 119-138
Author(s):  
Bogdan Grachev
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Eurasian Economic Union ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
Silk Road Economic Belt ◽  
Nationalist Sentiment ◽  
Economic Union ◽  
The Silk Road

This article attempts to “objectify” and conceptualize the concept of “Eurasia”, determine its ontological characteristics as the sociopolitical space of development of the Russian civilizational project, as well as delineates the contours of this space within the framework of a project-constructive methodological orientation. The author refers to the history of formation of holistic representations on Eurasia within the scientific thought, giving special attention to the contribution of geopoliticians, and emphasizing the implementation of theoretical provisions in real politics. The empirical basis relies on the two megaprojects that are implemented in practice: the Silk Road Economic Belt initiated by China and the Eurasian Economic Union (which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Russia), as well as the “Greater Eurasia” as a potential way of their interlink and development of the space for cross-civilizational dialogue on the continent. The main conclusions are as follows: 1) Eurasia is determined both as the goal of the Russian project of civilizational development and as the space it can be realized within. At the same time, the space for the development of Russia-Eurasia is described as the natural environment of the Russian civilizational project, the space of the “primary circle”. Special role is played by the creation and development of the Eurasian Economic Union, which unites the countries that have faced the escalation of nationalist sentiment after the dissolution of the Soviet Union; 2) The “Greater Eurasia” is designated as the “secondary circle” of the Russian civilizational project, a space for continental cooperation, determines by new political reality.  3) Certain zones of civilizational confrontation and contradictions on the continent have been identified. The author believes that the need for conceptualization of the concept at hand lies in the significant sociopolitical formative potential.

African Studies in the U.S.S.R.

1966 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-366
Author(s):  
V. G. Solodovnikov
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Special Interest ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
African Studies ◽  
Arts And Crafts ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Deep Roots ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union

African studies in the Soviet Union have deep roots in the past. The nature of Africa, the African peoples' way of life, their culture, arts, and crafts have long been of special interest to scholars in the Soviet Union. We have never had any mercenary motives, for our country never had colonies in Africa and never aimed at seizing African lands. No Russian soldier has ever been to Africa. Moreover, many Russian progressive intellectuals strongly protested against any form of exploitation and slavery. More than once they spoke in support of Africans and attacked the slave trade and the policy of turning the vast regions of Africa into what Karl Marx called ‘field reserves’ for the hunting of Africans.

The Collapse of East European Communism and the Repercussions within the Soviet Union (Part 3)

2005 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Kramer
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Political System ◽  
Mikhail Gorbachev ◽  
East European ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
External Context ◽  
Final Segment ◽  
Extended Analysis ◽  
The Impact

This is the concluding part of a three-part article that discusses the transformation of Soviet-East European relations in the late 1980s and the impact of the sweeping changes in Eastern Europe on the Soviet Union. This final segment is divided into two main parts: First, it provides an extended analysis of the bitter public debate that erupted in the Soviet Union in 1990 and 1991 about the “loss” of Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. The debate roiled the Soviet political system and fueled the hardline backlash against Mikhail Gorbachev. Second, this part of the article offers a concluding section that highlights the theoretical implications of the article as a whole. The article, as the conclusion shows, sheds light on recent literature concerning the diffusion of political innovations and the external context of democratization and political change.

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.

ISAAK RUBIN: HISTORIAN OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT DURING THE STALINIZATION OF SOCIAL SCIENCES IN SOVIET RUSSIA

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Boldyrev ◽  
Martin Kragh
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political System ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
History Of Economic Thought ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fundamental Uncertainty ◽  
Soviet Russia

Research within the history of economic thought has focused only little on the development of economics under dictatorship. This paper attempts to show how a country with a relatively large and internationally established community of social scientists in the 1920s, the Soviet Union, was subjected to repression. We tell this story through the case of Isaak Il’ich Rubin, a prominent Russian economist and historian of economic thought, who in the late 1920s was denounced by rival scholars and repressed by the political system. By focusing not only on his life and work, but also on that of his opponents and institutional clashes, we show how the decline of a social science tradition in Russia and the USSR as well as the Stalinization of Soviet social sciences emerged as a process over time. We analyze the complex interplay of ideas, scholars, and their institutional context, and conclude that subsequent repression was arbitrary, suggesting that no clear survival or career strategy existed in the Stalinist system, due to a situation of fundamental uncertainty.

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