Review by Choice Review
In this fully revised and updated edition of his 1979 book, the author's approach is historical, reaching into the early Soviet and czarist past. He bases his analysis on the role and behavior of the socioeconomic semiautonomous structures that arose after Stalin's personal dictatorship. He follows the pioneering work of H. Gordon Skilling and Franklyn Griffiths (editors of Interest Groups in Soviet Politics, 1971), who first noted that Soviet politics are largely dominated by a struggle between interest groups, most of them represented by entrenched and self-serving bureaucracies. The organized oligarchical character of Soviet politics is very well depicted in this book, the Communist party shown less as an absolute sovereign than a mediator and peacemaker, constantly under pressure from a variety of sources, each pursuing its institutional and selfish goals highly incompatible with those of its competitors. By portraying the Soviet Union as an all-too-human hive of politics (in which Gorbachev is far from being able to play a role comparable to that of queen bee), the author dissipates a good deal of the mystery and enigma with which Kremlinologists tend to surround Soviet politics. Bibliography at the end of each chapter; index. Recommended for college and university libraries.-L.K.D. Kristof, Portland State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
