ABSTRACT
In March 1989, for the first time since 1918, contested elections to a Soviet legislative body, specifically to a Congress of People's Deputies (CPD), took place in the Soviet Union. Five hundred forty-two Supreme Soviet members have been chosen from 2,250 members of the CPD. These delegates survived the weeding out process at several preceding stages. According to official data on the results of the nomination process across the country, most of them were people with established positions in the Soviet political and economic hierarchy: first party secretaries, directors of enterprises, and Soviets' functionaries. The corporate delegates are definitely representatives of the existing cultural and political establishment. According to electoral law, collectives at enterprises, citizens groups of residents, and individuals had a right to nominate candidates. A new kind of political life is emerging in the Soviet Union. Organized protest groups, like in Nizhnii Tagil or Iaroslavl, began appealing to voters about issues that concerned them directly.
