ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the elements of the Stalinist system to identify which, if any, elements of centrally administered socialism should be retained during the transition process. It attempts to develop an analytical framework to aid understanding the relationship between the economic, political, and ideological structures. The chapter argues that, while the economic, political, and ideological structures are interconnected, they must be consistent. It develops the method that is applied to an examination of the interrelationship between the economic, political, and ideological structures of the Stalinist economic system. To understand the collapse of the Stalinist economic system, it is imperative to analyze all the relationships that influence economic choices. The chapter argues that the Stalinist economic system was once a consistent economic system: the economic–political–ideological structures were developed in such a way as to give rise to an economic system which facilitated the economic development of the Soviet Union in the 1930s and 1940s.
