ABSTRACT
The perestroika political reform, analyzed in this chapter, aimed to democratize the Soviet system while rejecting Western-style democracy. The unclear division of competence, constant amendments to the constitution, and the undetermined status of the Communist Party led to erosion of the new government system, making the USSR Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Soviet quickly lose popularity. Challenges in transforming the Supreme Soviet into a functional legislature included issues with absenteeism, deputy competence, imperative mandate, and contention over parliamentary exchanges. The failure of central Soviet assemblies to resolve the economic and nationalities crises contributed, first, to the popularity of parliaments of union republics and, then, to the predominance of presidential systems across the USSR. The popularity of the universalist approach to political institutions in conceptual debates within and outside Soviet assemblies put additional pressure on the Soviet assemblies. At the same time, it contributed to the inclusion of parliaments into the state systems of all post-Soviet states, even though some of them ended up being eclipsed by authoritarian presidencies.
