ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an historical context for subsequent analysis by discussing Lenin's view of the soviets, Stalin and the post-Stalin consensus on the soviets, and soviet-style government in the early 1980s. It presents a Leninist benchmark to measure the depth and breadth of change. The chapter outlines some contemporary thought on democratization and suggests how such work can be applied to the Soviet case. In 1935, Stalin decided to institutionalize the status quo with a new constitution. L. I. Khrushchev claimed it was necessary "to put an end to the defects in the work of the soviets, to strengthen their ties with the electorate, and to observe strictly all the provisions of the constitution." Brezhnev argued that the soviets could be improved through a process that he called demokraiizatsiia: longer, more significant sessions, strengthened standing commissions, and more active deputies. The formal activization of the soviets continued throughout the tenures as General Secretary of Iurii Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko.
