ABSTRACT

This book traces the evolution of Soviet and East European responses to the multifaceted pressures of a rapidly changing world and looks at the implications of ideological developments in the Soviet bloc for economic reforms, general policymaking, and political and social change. The authors discuss the concept of developed socialism and its essential components as seen in communist societies; analyze current policy and likely future policy directions in the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland, and Yugoslavia in light of the concept; and assess the impact that ideological trends have had, and are likely to have, on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in general.