The social background and political allegiance of the political elite of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR: The terminal stage, 1984 to 1991

Abstract

OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF POWER in the Soviet Union, the popularly elected soviets were undoubtedly the weakest prior to the reforms instituted by Gorbachev. They were representative and affirmative bodies, rather than decision-making ones. Gorbachev's reforms in 1989, however, strengthened the soviets and weakened the other two pillars of power in the USSR-the party's apparat and the government executive, the Council of Ministers. The Supreme Soviet and a new body, the Congress of People's Deputies, became a springboard for radical political change and an arena for political opposition to the Gorbachev leadership. Most of the discussion of the Supreme Soviet has been in terms of the role of deputies and the rise of political factions (parties) and interest groups outside the Communist Party. And studies of the 1989 Congress and Supreme Soviet have been devoted to an analysis of the institutional power of the parliament and its law-making powers and functions.1 This article has as its frame of reference the elites of the Supreme Soviet as they developed between April 1984 and August 1991.2 Our discussion therefore focuses on two distinct time-periods: that from 1984 to spring 1989, when the traditional structures and processes were in place, and that from spring 1989 to 1991, which was a period when the Supreme Soviet became a major actor in the process of political change.3 The article considers the changes in origin and composition of the positional legislative elite in the terminal period of the USSR.