PLURALISM IN THE SOVIET UNION Pluralism in the Soviet Union offers an illuminating and original discussion of a popular but controversial approach to the study of the Soviet Union. There is much debate in this volume. Each of the contributors takes a distinctive stand on the usefulness of the concept 'pluralism', broadly defined, for the understanding of Soviet politics and society. The book begins with a study by Susan Gross Solomon of the history of the concept of 'pluralism' in Western political science. She finds that there has been no prototypical usage of the term within the discipline and suggests that Sovietologists need not be concerned, therefore, about whether the use of pluralism in their field extends the concept beyond its accepted meaning in American studies. Jerry F. Hough laments the fetish of Sovieto logists with model-building, which in his view deflects attention from the critical task of empirical research. But if there must be models, pluralism still has some advantages over its now fashionable competitor 'corporatism'. Archie Brown adds a new dimension to the discussion by contrasting Western and Soviet usages of the concept of pluralism. He shows that while Western scholars pay attention to the influence on government of societal groups, some of their Soviet counterparts focus on the relative autonomy of the state from society. WJodzimierz Brus examines the implications for Soviet politics of the growing marketization of the economy in the USSR. Unlike proponents of convergence Brus does not expect that political pluralism will evolve directly from the new economic relations. In the concluding chapter Frederick C. Barghoorn performs a test for the litmus of pluralism in any society by examining the Soviet regime's treatment of dissent. He provides fascinating new evidence about the ways in which the regime's relationship with the dissidents constrains not just the dissidents but the regime itself. This volume of essays is a tribute to H. Gordon Skilling - distinguished pioneer in the field of Soviet and East European studies. The contributors are drawn from three countries, and appropriately so. For Skilling was born in Canada, did his graduate work in England, taught in the United States, and then returned to his native Canada, there to found and direct for its first decade the well-known Centre for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Toronto. Gordon Skilling Photograph by Rudolf L. Tt>kes Pluralism in the Soviet Union Essays in Honour of H. Gordon Skilling Edited by Susan Gross Solomon Selection and editorial matter and Chapters 1 and 2 © Susan Gross Solomon 1983 Foreword© John N. Hazard 1983 Chapter 3 ©Jerry F. Hough 1983 Chapter 4 © Archie Brown 1983 Chapter 5 © Wl'odzimierz Brus 1983 Chapter 6 © Frederick C. Barghoom 1983 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1983 978-0-333-34582-5 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission First published 1983 by 'THE MACMILLAN PRESS L ill London and Basingstoke Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-1-349-06619-3 ISBN 978-1-349-06617-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-06617-9 Contents H. Gordon Skilling frontispiece Note on the Contributors V1 Acknowledgements vm Foreword John N. Hazard IX 1 Introduction Susan Gross Solomon 1 2 'Pluralism' in Political Science: The Odyssey of a 4 Concept Susan Gross Solomon 3 Pluralism, Corporatism and the Soviet Union 37 Jerry F. Hough 4 Pluralism, Power and the Soviet Politicial System: 61 A Comparative Perspective Archie Brown 5 Political Pluralism and Markets in Communist Systems 108 Wlodzimierz Brus 6 Regime-Dissenter Relations after Khrushchev: 131 Some Observations Freden"ck C. Barghoom Major Publications of H. Gordon Skilling 169 Index 173 v Notes on the Contributors John N. Hazard is Nash Professor of Law Emeritus at Columbia University, New York. Susan Gross Solomon is Associate Professor of Political Science, at the University of Toronto. Jerry F. Hough is Professor of Political Science at Duke University, North Carolina. Archie Brown is a Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford, and Lecturer in Soviet Institutions at the University of Oxford. Wlodzimierz Brus is a Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, and Lecturer in Modern Russian and East European Studies at the University of Oxford. Frederick C. Barghoorn IS Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Yale University. Vl Acknowledgements In the course of preparing this Festschrift, I have benefited im measurably from the support of individuals and institutions. First and foremost, Professor Gleb Zekulin, Director of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies of the University of Toronto, was a constant source of encouragement from the inception of this project to its completion. My colleagues Timothy J. Colton, Richard B. Day, Franklyn J. Griffiths, Donald V. Schwartz and Peter H. Solomon, Jr, offered sage counsel on a wide range of matters. Archie Brown of Oxford University took more than a contributor's interest in this venture. I have no doubt that these individuals gave of their time the more graciously because the volume was in honour of H. Gordon Skilling. The same was surely true of the contributors. Each and every one responded with warmth to the invitation to be pait of the volume and endured with unfailing good humour the queries and red pencillings of the editor. Generous financial assistance for this volume was provided by the Centre for Russian and East European Studies and the Office of Research Administration, both of the University of Toronto. Edith S. Klein was an invaluable assistant. She did research, editing and correspondence with a rare intelligence. On numerous occasions, she served as sounding board. Only she knows how much I depended on her. Gloria Rowe typed the final manuscript with speed and accuracy. The assistance of Jana Oldfield of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies was also much appreciated. Finally, a special word of thanks to my children, Rafi and Rachel, who took pleasure in the involvement of their mother in this project. S.G.S. Toronto, May 1982 Vll Foreword Few scholars seeking understanding of Soviet and Eastern European politics have sampled as many countries or inquired as deeply into the social structures of polities as H. Gordon Skilling. Born a Canadian and educated at the University of Toronto in the early 1930s and immediately afterwards, in England, first as a Rhodes Scholar at Christ Church, Oxford, and then at the University of London, he seems to have absorbed something of the famed English sense of scholarly balance in probing to the bottom of things without passion. It has never been his practice to crusade in the popular mode of the day, nor has he permitted his work to be swayed by the winds of the time. Skilling has demonstrated the courage necessary to strike out in new directions, to explore the possibility that popular North American analyses of communist-oriented systems have been misdirected, and to develop something novel as an approach. In no area has this inquisitive bent been so marked as in his call to a re-evaluation of the wellsprings of Soviet politics and the impact of these politics upon the USSR's neighbours. This volume is testimony to his adventure. It has been devised by its dis tinguished editor to honour Skilling's innovative approach. Friends and colleagues from the international scholarly com munity have presented essays which reflect the influence of his innovative explorations begun at the outset of the 1960s. Skilling's presence has been characterized by modesty. He carries his torch high, but without fanfare, presenting in his lectures often quite novel ideas with a quietness of voice and understatement that seem to conceal from his listeners the full impact of his ideas until they appear in print. Some scholars of prominence have been stimulated to combat his ideas with vigour, marshalling what they conceive to be the relevant facts differently from Skilling. Such a conflict of views was most evident after Skilling attacked the thesis so popular in the 1950s that the Soviet system of government could be best analysed as lX Foreword X totalitarian, guided by one man with a few comrades-in-arms oblivious to popular pressures. In an innovative study, Skilling suggested that the 'group theory' could be used to examine Soviet politics, even though that theory was not totally compatible with the monopoly party system in the USSR. For the post-Stalin phase of Soviet history, Skilling found public manifestations of the influence of special interests in policy formulation and interpreted these as clear proof of the correctness of his approach. And he raised the possibility that even Stalin had been unable to rule a polity in disregard of the interests of all save himself and his immediate coterie. Even as he put forward his novel view, Skilling made clear his reservations in using group theory. He declared unequivocally, 'To avoid misunderstanding, it should be stated at once that this is not an attempt arbitrarily to apply to the Soviet system interest group theories which have been developed in the West in the past sixty years.' And a few pages later in his introduction to Interest Groups in Soviet Politics he added, 'The application of the group concept to political behaviour in the USSR, it should be stressed, does not necessarily involve an interpretation solely in terms of interest groups and group conflict.' Not all scholars agreed with even this careful formulation. Skilling's willingness to listen to the arguments of his critics rather than to enter into polemics with them is characteristic of his nature. Thus he was content to work on his innovative study of Soviet interest groups with a colleague who questioned his position, proposing another term to explain Skilling's findings. Skilling did not approach the study of the USSR from the West, vaulting over Central Europe as so many other scholars have done. He came to the study of Soviet politics across the bridge of Central Europe. His articles in the early 1950s concerned Czechoslovakia. Undoubtedly his interest was fired by his study in England with the legendary R. W. Seton-Watson, from whom he learned to admire the Czechs and Slovaks for their struggle against the forces of the Habsburg Empire, and for their continuing struggle to survive as an independent entity in Central Europe between the two great wars. If Skilling were asked today to identify his great love, I suspect the answer would still be Czechoslovakia. His many scholarly works, and most especially his magnum opus, Czechoslovakia's Interrupted Revolution, testify to that.