Description
Book SynopsisSolnick argues that the Soviet system fell victim not to stalemate at the top nor to revolution from below, but to opportunism from within. In case studies on the Communist Youth League, the system of job assignments for university graduates, and military conscription, he tells the story from a new perspective, testing Western theories of reform.
Trade ReviewAmid lamentations over 'reforms' stymied by Communist troglodytes, the repudiation of socialism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union seemed to come out of the blue. An institutional loss of confidence turned into a self-fulfilling spiral. 'Soviet institutions,' explains Steven L. Solnick, 'were victimized by the organizational equivalent of a colossal bank run.' Soviet officials sensed the impending doom, and they 'rushed to claim...assets before the bureaucratic doors shut for good.' Of course, 'unlike [in] a bank run, the defecting officials were not depositors claiming their rightful assets, but employees of the state appropriating state assets.' And they grabbed everything that was 'fungible.' (From the wreckage Solnick himself plucked a valuable book.) -- Stephen Kotkin * New Republic *
A rigorous account of how the Soviet system fell apart. Using three different Soviet youth organizations as examples--the Komsomol, military conscription, and the job assignment program--Solnick illustrates how Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms rechanneled the self-seeking behavior of bureaucrats in directions that destroyed rather than revived soviet institutions. He bases his compact and accessible explanation on recent general institutional theory. Seen from this angle, structures collapsed not because ideology failed, politicians quarreled, or interested groups rose to challenge sterile authority. Instead, the system imploded because bureaucrats at all levels made off with state assets at the first opportunity, hollowing out the state or 'stealing' it...[The book's] underlying argument will fascinate most. * Foreign Affairs *
Solnick addresses one of the most important questions about the breakdown of the Soviet Union: Why did seemingly stable Soviet institutions disintegrate so rapidly during Gorbachev's reforms? In constructing his answer, Solnick uses a neo-institutional conceptual framework, which focuses the analysis on authority structures of institutions and incentives for individual bureaucratic actors. This is an original, richly documented and engagingly written study that reconceptualizes our understanding of major elements of the Soviet collapse. -- Linda Cook, Brown University
Solnick makes a strong case for taking seriously the role that the collapse of institutions internally played in the overall collapse of the Soviet Union.
Stealing the State is a major contribution to our understanding of one of the great events of the twentieth century. -- William Zimmerman, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan
Table of ContentsIntroduction Objectives of This Book The Approach The Basic Argument Outline of the Book 1. Control and Collapse: Reformulating Traditional Approaches A Framework for Analyzing Institutional and Policy Change Power and Control in Soviet Institutions: "Traditional" Theories Summary 2. Control and Collapse: Neoinstitutional Approaches Neoinstitutional Approaches to Hierarchy Explaining Institutional Change Behavioral Theories: "What's So Neo about Neoinstitutionalism? Summary 3. Testing Theories of Institutional Change: The Soviet Youth Program A Strategy for Hypothesis Testing Comrades and Sons: Generational Conflict and Soviet Policy Summary 4. The Communist Youth League Background Institutional Dynamics within the Komsomol Crisis and Collapse of the All- Union Komsomol Summary 5. Job Assignments for University Graduates Background Institutional Dynamics of Raspredelenie The Collapse of the Job Assignments System Summary 6. Universal Military Service Background Institutional Dynamics of Conscription Policy Crisis and Breakdown of the Conscription System Summary 7. The Breakdown of Hierarchy: Comparative Perspectives Reviewing the Case Study Evidence Additional Manifestations of Soviet Institutional Breakdown Chinese Reforms: Successful Decentralization 8. Conclusions and Extensions: Control and Collapse in Hierarchies Hierarchical Control and Collapse in Non-Communist Environments After the Collapse: institutions in the Post-Communist States Appendix: Data Sources Notes Glossary and Abbreviations Index
