Description
Book SynopsisWhy did the Soviet system fail? How is it that a political order, born of revolution, perished from stagnation? What caused a seemingly stable polity to collapse? This title provides answers to these questions in the Bolshevik "constitution" - fundamental rules of the Soviet system that evolved from revolutionary times into the post-Stalin era.
Trade Review"This is fashionable political science theory applied to what will surely be one of the great social science puzzles of the twentieth century-why the Soviet system collapsed... Although the book's primary audience is in the universities, the general reader will gain insight into the ultimate weaknesses of the Soviet system and a good idea of how 'new institutionalism' stacks up as an explanation against traditional alternatives, particularly those stressing the importance of political culture."--Foreign Affairs
Table of ContentsList of FiguresList of TablesPrefaceCh. 1Why Did Soviet Bolshevism Fail?3Ch. 2The Authoritarian Constitution22Ch. 3Creating the Constitution of Bolshevism, 1917-195341Ch. 4Reciprocal Accountability, 1953-198666Ch. 5Balanced Leadership, 1953-198694Ch. 6Institutionalized Stagnation119Ch. 7The Domestic Policy Spiral144Ch. 8The Dialectics of Military Planning177Ch. 9The Failure of Constitutional Reform, 1987-1991210Ch. 10Can Authoritarian Institutions Survive?246Notes255Select Bibliography307Index311
