Decline of a Regional Hegeman: The Gorbachev Regime and Reform in Eastern Europe
Decline of a Regional Hegeman: The Gorbachev Regime and Reform in Eastern Europe

Summary/Abstract: Leadership succession in the Soviet Union has always been a double edged sword. On the one hand, the failure to develop an institutionalized mechanism for the transfer of political power jeopardizes Soviet political stability. Whenever the General Secretary leaves the scene, the Soviet Union faces a crisis. Suddenly, the authoritarian state lacks someone at the top; suddenly, elites are battling over power and policy; and suddenly, a system which prides itself on control lacks direction and faces serious challenges from within and sometimes from below. On the other hand, if Soviet successions are "a source of system strain," they are also a source of system rejuvenation. Struggles for power in Moscow expose the Soviet system to critical and much-needed evaluations of system performance. Moreover, with new leaders come new interests, new ideas, and expanded possibilities for new directions in public policy. Suddenly, the Soviet system has the opportunity to correct itself. [...]

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