UNIT 1: REVISION DECK Flashcards
What are the three criteria for Communist government in the USSR, 1917–85?
1) The structure of the government - how centralised the government is and the role of the Party and the State
2) The overall power and accountability - degree of Internal Party democracy (higher IPD means more democratic)
3) Balance of power between the leader and officials
What are the key overall arguments for structure of government under Lenin?
- Highly centralised and bureaucratic state, encouraged by need to win the civil war
- All key decisions made by the party in Moscow
- Dual government structure: Party and State
- Power was shifted from the State to the Party
What are the key overall arguments for structure of government under Stalin?
- USSR continued to be a highly centralised and bureaucratic state
- All key decisions made by the Party and government bodies in Moscow
- For example: Gosplan and Commissariat of Heavy Industry
- Dual government structure remained
- Power shifted further from State to the Party
What are the key overall arguments for structure of government under Khrushchev?
- De Stalinisation changed the nature of government considerably
- Attempts made to decentralise decision making
- Regional councils set up like the sovnarkohzy
What are the key overall arguments for structure of government under Brezhnev/Andropov/Chernenko?
- Some aspects of de Stalinisation were reversed
- Centralised government again: abolished regional councils
- Communist Party held the most power
What are the key overall arguments for overall power and accountability under Lenin?
- Lenin created a one party state
- Other parties were banned: this gave the communist party great power
- In theory, the party was held accountable to the people through democratic socialism
- In reality the Communist Party held total power and control
- The Soviets became rubber stamps for decisions made in the politburo
- Nomenklatura system ensure only loyal members were promoted
- Great reduction in Internal Party Democracy
What are the key overall arguments for overall power and accountability under Stalin?
- Communist party became even more powerful
- 5YPs and Collectivisation concentrated power to the centre
- Party was not accountable to the people in any way
- Soviet constitution of 1936 was a fraud
- Very little IPD
What are the key overall arguments for overall power and accountability under Khrushchev?
- Party and State became more accountable: subject to laws and rules under socialist legality
- Khrushchev attempted to make officials more accountable: divided Party into sectors and limited tenure of office
- Party officials still retained high degree of power
- One party state remained: limited IPD and public accountability
- Nomenklatura system remained
What are the key overall arguments for overall power and accountability under Brezhnev/Andropov/Chernenko?
- (Brezhnev) some Party accountability: membership grew from 6.9 million to 17 million by 1980, indicating mass involvement in politics
- Soviet constitution 1977: right of citizens to criticize party officials
- Party remained very powerful and unaccountable
- Absence of innovation due to Nomenklatura system
- Andropov recognised need for reform making Party more accountable
- Chernenko did nothing
What are the key overall arguments for balance of power between leader and officials under Lenin?
- Lenin held in high esteem by the Party/Great deal of power
- Not a personal dictator
- Degree of collectivism
- He consulted the politburo on key decisions
What are the key overall arguments for balance of power between leader and officials under Stalin?
- Stalin was a personal dictator of the Party with complete power
- Terror and Purges were used to control Party Officials
- Collective leadership under Lenin disappeared
-Politburo only met 3 times a year and no Party congresses between 1938 and 1952 - Key decisions made by Stalin and his friends not the Politburo
What are the key overall arguments for balance of power between leader and officials under Khrushchev?
- Collective leadership of Lenin restored
- Regular meetings of Politburo (Presidium) and Central Committee
- Leader accountable to Party bodies: anti Party coup in 1957 and removal from power in 1964
- Leader no longer used terror to control Party
- NKVD brought under Party control
- Khrushchev still maintained a large amount of personal power
What are the key overall arguments for balance of power between leader and officials under Brezhnev/Andropov/Chernenko?
- Brezhnev uninterested in earl power
- Left governing to Party Officials (shift in power)
- Brezhnev was ‘first amongst equals’
- Scrapped tenures and ‘trust in cadres’ let Party officials get on with their jobs
- More stable government
- More oligarchy, stagnation and corruption
- BY 1980 the communist party was an unaccountable, self serving gerontocracy
