Work Ethics and the Collapse of the Soviet System

Abstract

The goal of this historical survey at ten sites in Russia was to increase our understanding of changing work attitudes and behaviours during the Brezhnev and Gorbachev eras, and to assess how they were related to political loyalty to the Soviet system. A questionnaire was administered by Russian interviewers to 625 respondents at selected work sites in Moscow, its outlying regions, Samara, and St. Petersburg. We determined that there was evidence of diminishing support for the communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) among ordinary workers beginning already in the Brezhnev period, but reaching a low of 27.6% under Gorbachev. Negative behavioural patterns included drinking on the job (50.5%) and moonlighting (38.5%); while 20.2% expressed overt alienation from the system. But the picture was not all negative: 53.9% of respondents found their work to be creative; and 55.8% thought their salary was satisfactory. Those with the better jobs were most likely to remain loyal to the CPSU; moreover, for them the nature and quality of their work was more important than pay.