Composition of the Council of Ministers of ASSR at a time of reform of 1985–1991: changes and main features (on the example of Mordovia)

Abstract

In the article the senior management of the regional executive and administrative authority as an example of the supreme body of State governance of an autonomous republic the Council of Ministers of the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic is considered. The changes in the Council of Ministers in the last years of the existence of the USSR is analyzed. The reforms initiated by the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee M.S. Gorbachev affected practically all sectors of society, including the functioning of public administration. Meanwhile, the system of power in Mordovia had some peculiarities, largely associated with the conservatism and external cohesion of the regional elites, which have had to respond to processes in the country at the same time. In the chronological period selected in the article, there were two compositions of the Council of Ministers, which were formed on March 15, 1985 at the first session of the MASSR Supreme Council of the 11th convocation and on April 10, 1990 at the first session of the MASSR Supreme Council of the 12th convocation. The authors provide information about age, social origin, nationality, educational level, tenure for members of the MASSR Government. In preparing the article, materials from the funds of the Central State Archives of the Republic of Mordovia, the regional press, published memoirs of participants in the events, as well as biographical information about the Soviet, Party and economic leaders from open sources were used.