ABSTRACT
Mikhail Gorbachev's unprecedented quick election caused a further deviation from tradition. Gorbachev did not emerge as a loser from the succession struggle after Andropov's death. Under Konstantin Chernenko, Gorbachev's areas of responsibility increased significantly to include ideology, the economy, and foreign affairs—almost every area of Soviet political life. Gorbachev repeatedly expressed his support for expanding the private plots of collective farm workers, describing them as an important source of increased output and a legitimate part of the socialist system. Promoted by Gorbachev's patron Andropov and sharing economic views and, aversion to personal corruption, Gorbachev could safely count on Vitaly Vorotnikov's support in the Politburo. The close association of Gorbachev's faction with the session's proceedings was further demonstrated by the participation of Yegor Ligachev and Nikolay Ryzhkov in the session of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic Supreme Soviet Council of Elders.
