ABSTRACT

This chapter demonstrates that a strong correlation between Leonid Brezhnev's ideology and policy throughout his tenure as General Secretary. Though his approach to various policy areas changed over time in recognition of the shifting limits of permissible change, Brezhnev's overall agenda remained for the most part consistent. Archie Brown has pointed out that there was a growing revulsion among the post-Khrushchev leadership against many of Nikita Khrushchev's policies, particularly those emphasizing de-centralization of party control. Brezhnev's speech to the Twenty-sixth Party Congress in 1981 indicated that certain aspects of his policy agenda had already been called into question. The speech was a curious mixture of praise of past accomplishments and clear hints that change was necessary. Brezhnev's death in November 1982 provided the impetus for a broad re-examination of policy in all areas. During the transitional regimes of Yurii Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, it was clear that the leadership consensus had shifted.