USSR vs Russia

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For half a century two of the world's greatest superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, were locked in bitter rivalry, which became known as the Cold War. When the Cold War was over, the Soviet Union no longer existed, even though the war never turned hot. What emerged were several republics broken apart, the main being Russia, to form independent states. Therefore we will examine the cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and compare it with the current Russian state.

The Soviet Union was a Federal system on paper, made of republics that supposedly joined voluntarily. There was a Politburo, twelve to fifteen members with another five to six nonvoting candidate members, which acted like a cabinet in a parliamentary system. Also, there was the Secretariat, twenty-five members who oversaw the work of the entire party. The General Secretary served as both the head of the Secretariat and chair of the Politburo, equivalent to a Prime Minister. This made up the main pieces of the formal government.

The functioning of the government in reality was much different. The party controlled everything inside the government and also much in the personal lives of the people. Positions inside the party were filled by the Nomenklatura, a list of names of those determined by the party hierarchy to be able to fulfill certain positions. The totalitarian nature of the party provided for a command economy, one where the government decides what goods and services will be produced, how much will be produced, and the cost.

When Gorbachev came to power he knew that the Soviet Union needed to change. Gorbachev was, "convinced that they could not breathe new life into Soviet institutions without changing the country's political culture." (Hauss 65) Therefore, according to Gorbachev, in order to reform the economy, they must first reform the political system. This reform of the political system was known as Glasnost.

Cheap University Papers on USSR vs Russia

Glasnost was intended by Gorbachev to bring about a Western-style political culture by giving the people more freedoms and bigger say in what took place in the government. This was the main focus of Gorbachev so that he could lay the foundation for further reforms in other aspects of the Soviet system. However Glasnost backfired for Gorbachev because the people vented their frustrations caused by the government, rather than feel better about it. Added to this the fact that most people felt that economic reforms were taking place too slowly, and very few people approved of the job Gorbachev was doing.

Perestroika, total restructuring of the economy, is what Gorbachev felt was needed to revitalize the Soviet economy. Gorbachev was able to bring about a few initiatives in his attempt at perestroika including introducing market mechanisms, privatizing certain small businesses, agricultural reforms, and easing restrictions on foreign firms. However, these attempts at economic reform were too little too late.

With the loosening of the government's control over the people and a more educated population, the unrest became too much. On August 1, 11 eight hard-liners, which were concerned over the decaying power of the party, executed a coup attempt. The coup failed, but the union was not restored. Thus, the political pressures unleashed by Gorbachev's Glasnost were too much and caused the collapse of the Soviet Union. The collapse of the Soviet Union brought the birth of the Russian Federation.

Russia is new country, very different from the Soviet Union. Russia has made real attempts at establishing a true democracy with a parliamentary form of government. There are two houses that make up the parliament, the Federation Council, and the State Duma. Most of the power however lies with the president and the executive branch, but the power is much more dispersed than compared with the Soviet Union.

One problem that the new Russia has faced is that many of the same Soviet officials run the bureaucracy today simply because there is no one else qualified to do so. This feeds into the political culture in Russia, where the people do not have much trust for authorities because of seventy years of oppression. Although there is now a choice between political parties in Russia, open and voluntary political participation is a new phenomenon for the people.

Though there has been a long history of oppressive rule in that part of the world, there is hope for the new Russia. With a foundation of democracy in place, there is reason to believe that Russia will have a better outcome than the Soviet Union. I believe that as Russia's economy grows, so to will the spirit and principles of democracy. The quirks will be worked out, and the people of Russia will lead themselves to a great future.

Works Cited

Hauss, Charles. Comparative Politics; Domestic Responses to Global Challenges 4th ed. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning Belmont, CA 00

Parenthetical citations (Hauss 65)

USSR

Head of stateGeneral Secretary

Head of governmentGeneral Secretary

Political cultureDeclining view of governments legitimacy in late 80's

Political partiesCommunist Party of Soviet Union had all control

Russia

Head of statePresident

Head of governmentPresident

Political cultureDistrust for people of authority

Political partiesVarying parties, no major continuous parties

Works Cited

Hauss, Charles. Comparative Politics; Domestic Responses to Global Challenges 4th ed. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning Belmont, CA 00

Parenthetical citations (Hauss 65)

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