ABSTRACT
The Guardian reported on the proposals put forward by the seminar "Democracy and Humanism," one of which was to abolish the one-party system and to introduce political pluralism in the Soviet Union. In Poland, with its large and multifarious network of independent organizations which never ceased to operate, the pressure for labor union pluralism increased. The presentation of alternative political programs for the country from outside the top echelons of the one-party state had become commonplace, with a strong emphasis on the need for economic and political pluralism. Taking advantage of the moderate political climate and of the official efforts to secure greater public participation in reform programs, groups independent of the political establishments were being set up throughout the Soviet bloc. These groups could be seen as embryonic components of a civil society in which citizens were free to organize themselves in order to exert influence on decisions made by the state's political leadership.
