ABSTRACT
Khrushchev was obviously expanding his commitments to appease as many political interests as possible, but he did so within the confines of his larger commitment to demonstrating that his inexpensive approach to increasing consumer satisfaction could work. One gets the impression that Khrushchev was in charge, for the correlation between policies adopted and his stated priorities was very strong indeed. One way to specify the extent to which Khrushchev exercised power over policy is to examine the correlation over time between his distinctive policy priorities and regime policies actually adopted. A Soviet leader may have sufficient power or authority to gain Politburo acquiescence in the adoption of major policies, but may not choose or be able to apply sufficient power to get those policies faithfully implemented. The author's description of policy trends regarding budgetary priorities and incentive policy during the succession struggle after Stalin is based on: Schwartz, Soviet Economy since Stalin.
