The Hazards of Half-measures: Perestroika and the Failure of Post-Soviet Democratization

Abstract

Abstract: Perestroika was the most dramatic chapter in the political history of the world in the late twentieth century. Yet, it did not fulfill what was arguably its loftiest promise--to lay firm foundations for lasting popular rule in Russia. The failure of democratization in post-Soviet Russia may be traced in part to two fateful shortcomings in perestroika: the tepidity of Gorbachev's economic reforms and Gorbachev's failure to empower popularly elected legislatures. Key words: democracy, democratization, economic reform, liberalization, national legislature, perestroika ********** Perestroika was the most dramatic chapter in the political history of the world in the late twentieth century. For citizens of the USSR, it brought both hope and trauma. For the rest of the world, it provided liberation from the scourge of the cold war's apocalyptic endgame scenario, which had defined international relations for four decades. Despite its momentousness, however, perestroika did not fulfill what was arguably its loftiest promise: to lay firm foundations for lasting popular rule in Russia. Mikhail Gorbachev may not have intended his reforms to lead to democracy, but by the time the Soviet regime unraveled in late 1991, democratization is what perestroika had brought about. At the dawn of the post-Soviet era, the three Baltic states had already forged open polities. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Armenia, and Moldova had experienced significant democratization as well. Yet, in the ensuing decade, Russia, among other post-Soviet countries, underwent a powerful political reversal. In the early and mid-1990s, elections in Russia were raucous affairs. They were never entirely clean, but they were competitive. Political parties operated freely. The media were animated and diverse, and they pummeled the powerful. Today, most elections have become charades, choreographed by officeholders who obtain their desired outcome through falsification, intimidation, and manipulation. Most parties and other organizations have withered under official pressure or been taken over by the state. Independent media have been hushed. Some of the explanation for Russia's return to authoritarianism is found in developments of the post-Soviet period and in structural factors that the architects of perestroika could not possibly have altered. Yet, the failure of democratization in post-Soviet Russia may be traced in part to two fateful shortcomings in perestroika. The first was the tepidity of Gorbachev's economic reforms. The second was Gorbachev's failure to empower popularly elected legislatures, even as he touted the bodies as the vanguard of his reforms. The Economics of Perestroika Economic Reform: Some Changes, but Little Market Creation Gorbachev did undertake initiatives in economic policy that were bold by Soviet standards, but he bequeathed to post-Soviet leaders an economy that lacked even the rudiments of a market system. Gorbachev carried out three major economic reforms. The first was a revocation of the ban on private enterprise. The measure stimulated the emergence of cooperatives, or small-scale private enterprises. Some cooperatives were cottage industries that had previously operated on the black market. Others were new enterprises that emerged in small-scale retail, trade, or production. Still others were pockets of private production established within state enterprises by managers who set aside a portion of the material inputs they received and labor they controlled to produce for profit. The second reform was a new on joint ventures that ended the traditional Soviet ban on foreign investment. The third reform was the law on state enterprises, which provided for what were dubbed self-management and self-financing. Gorbachev unveiled these reforms with fanfare. Yet, he failed to put teeth in the policy changes and, to the extent that he did pursue his reforms, he was unable to overcome the entrenched bureaucratic apparatus that was jealous of his prerogatives. …