ABSTRACT
The concept of the Communist party's leading role in society has long been the guiding principle of political organization in the Soviet Union. Clearly the Soviet structure is vulnerable to the law of change. The unusual developments were accompanied by less insistence on the necessity of bolstering Soviet military power in the statements of party chiefs. Search for proper definition of party role has lurked behind the clashes of viewpoints about industry, agriculture, and defense. Radicals wanted to replace the kolkhoz by "voluntary cooperatives of individual peasants" and the creation of "democratic trade unions and peasant organizations" that could play a major role in deciding economic policy and administering production." The internal processes are relatable to conciliatory and hardline thrusts in Soviet foreign policy. The essential feature of Stalinism was one leader's right to make policy decisions and senior appointments on his own without fear of effective challenge.
