The Consolidation of Gorbachev's Political Power — a Springboard for Reform?

The XXVII Party Congress did little to answer the question which had most concerned observers of the Soviet scene since the accession of Mikhail Gorbachev: would the new man initiate radical reform of the system, or merely introduce a change of style? In the months which followed, Gorbachev seemed to confirm in some remarkable waiy both the hopes of the over-optimistic and the fears of the hardened sceptic. Much, of course, would depend on the time scale permitted Gorbachev to prove himself.