«LIFE» VS«ИЗВЕСТИЯ»: АМЕРИКАНО-СОВЕТСКАЯ ДИСКУССИЯ О ВЫБОРАХ В ВЕРХОВНЫЙ СОВЕТ СССР 1958 ГОДА

Abstract

The article discusses an attempt to use the elections to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR as a tool to promote the political advantage of socialism. The turn of the 1950s and 1960s was marked by a desire to build a dialogue between East and West. The USSR demonstrated its openness and willingness to compete with the West not only with tanks, planes and missiles, but also on a symbolic field. One such aspect of the competition, which was supposed to prove the superiority of socialism, was the Soviet elections. Soviet propaganda actively emphasized that genuine democracy existed only in the USSR. At the same time, the Soviet leadership did not at all seek to hide the features of Soviet elections (such as almost 100% turnout and no alternative elections), but rather tried to show the progressive nature of the Soviet electoral system. The articles by American journalist Hedley Donovan in the “Life” magazine and by Soviet journalist Vladimir Kudryavtsev in the “Izvestia” newspaper, which show the perception of the principles of democracy by representatives of different systems, serve as material in the paper. They show that for an American, having one candidate on the ballot overrode all the advantages of the Soviet elections, while for the Soviet side, it was an important sign of democracy. The desire to use Soviet reality as a basis for propaganda, and disappointment in the outcome of the exchange show that for the Soviet side, the election campaign for the USSR Supreme Soviet was seen not only as a political spectacle, but rather as a real manifestation of the Soviet understanding of democracy. The Soviet leadership adopted the idea of the need to lift the iron curtain, and then the very reality of the Soviet system would be the best argument to confirm the advantages of socialism. The article analyzes the political language of the description of the Soviet electoral system and the problems of modern studies of this issue.