ABSTRACT
Major theoretical innovations emanating from the Soviet Union are regarded throughout Warsaw-Pact officialdom as universally valid, so when Secretary Brezhnev introduced the notion of developed socialism, it was inevitable that the leaders of Czechoslovakia and Hungary would pursue the implications for their own societies. The importance of qualitative conditions notwithstanding, the theory implies that certain quantitative indices might be useful as benchmarks of maturing socialist societies. Central to the institutional development foreseen in the new historical phase are the twin goals of improving management techniques and "perfecting" socialist democracy. Official Hungarian statements on the subject of socialist democracy have a ring of seriousness to them that may not be fully born out in practice but sound more persuasive than Czechoslovak statements. In the political superstructure, developed socialism implies efforts to perfect the institutions of socialist democracy and draw all workers into a participatory role.
