ABSTRACT
In Chapter 6, I described the ways in which the unfolding of Gorbachev's economic policy was portrayed initially as reform of state socialism, whereas in practice policy led to its replacement by the market. The same ambiguity is revealed by Gorbachev's policy to reform the political system. His stated intention was not to undermine the principles of state socialism. At a speech to the Central Committee on 18 February 1988, Gorbachev reiterated: ‘We are not departing by one step from socialism, from Marxism-Leninism’. The stated objective was for a more open political system to operate within the hegemony of a responsive and responsible Communist Party. At the outset, it was not intended by Gorbachev to legitimate a multi-party system which, it was recognized, would lead to dissention and to the rise of national parties, which would demand greater independence for the regions and republics and would undermine the central powers of the USSR.
