ABSTRACT
The introduction of Gorbachev’s reformist policies, following his ascent to power in 1985, dramatically transformed the face of Soviet politics, and within six years the Soviet empire was unravelled by the very policies originally intended to reassert the legitimacy of its central authorities.1 His programme of liberalisation was merely intended to rectify several problematic areas in the existing political system, such as a failing economy and corrupt administration, not destroy communist rule. Nevertheless, democratisation, which Gorbachev stated was the aim and also the means of perestroika, irreparably weakened the hegemony of the Communist Party.
