ABSTRACT
Local soviet elections in March 1990 revealed how low the legitimacy of the Communist Party really was. If Vladimir Ilich Lenin was the father of the Soviet State, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev was its gravedigger. On taking office Gorbachev was unaware of the parlous state of the Soviet economy. There was no revolt by provincial party officials against Gorbachev. However, Russian communists forced Gorbachev to concede the formation of a Russian Communist Party which would be dominated by the apparat. Lack of economic success forced Gorbachev to contemplate more radical policies. As a product of the Khrushchevian era he instinctively rejected the Stalinist legacy and searched for a more humane socialism. Gorbachev's new role as Chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet clashed with that of party leader. If Gorbachev's domestic policy failed, his foreign policy was a brilliant success, that is, from the West's point of view.
