Political Developments, 1975–1977

Abstract

Looking back in the summer of 1977 on the period since the conclusions on Soviet politics to the first edition of this book were completed,1 it is, on balance, the continuities in Soviet policy and lack of radical changes which strike one more forcibly than the discontinuities and new departures. Yet, though the XXV Party Congress in 1976 produced neither important policy shifts nor far-reaching leadership changes, there have already in 1977 been two developments of political significance — the publication of the draft of the long-awaited new Soviet Constitution and the accession to the Presidency of the Soviet state of Leonid Brezhnev (an office which he now holds in addition to his general secretaryship of the party).