A 

Abortion
Accounting
Advertising
Africa
African-American Studies
Aging
Agriculture
American Indian Studies
Anthropology
Archaeology
Architecture
Argumentative
Art: Artists (Alphabetized)
Art: General
Become an Affiliate and Earn $$$
Biographies (Alphabetized)
Book Reviews (Non-Fiction) (Alphabetized)
Business: Companies (Alphabetized)
Business: General
Business: Industries (Alphabetized)
Business: International
Business: Small
California
Canada
Caribbean
Child Abuse
China
Communication: Journalism
Communication: Language & Speech
Communication: Media
Communication: Non-Verbal
Communication: Television
Communication: Television & Children
Communism
Computer Science
Consumerism
Criminal Justice: General
Criminal Justice: Juvenile Delinquency
Criminal Justice: Police Science
Criminal Justice: Prisons
Cuba
Death & Dying: Euthanasia
Death & Dying: General
Death & Dying: Suicide
Drama: American
Drama: English
Drama: World
Drugs: Alcohol
Drugs: General
Economics: Banking
Economics: Economists (Alphabetized)
Economics: General
Economics: Inflation
Economics: International Trade
Economics: Macroeconomics
Economics: Microeconomics
Economics: Taxation
Education: Administration
Education: Curriculum
Education: General
Education: Higher
Education: Physical
Education: Psychology
Education: Reading
Education: Special
Education: Teaching Methods
Education: Theory
Energy: General
Energy: Nuclear
Energy: Solar
Environmental Studies
Evolution
Family & Marriage
Films: Artists (Alphabetized)
Films: General
Finance: Companies (Alphabetized)
Finance: General
Former Soviet Union: Post-1990
France
Gender & Sexuality
Geography
Germany
History: Ancient Greek & Roman
History: European
History: Great Britain
History: U.S. (After 1865)
History: U.S. (Before 1865)
History: U.S. Presidency
History: U.S. Presidents (Alphabetized)
Homosexuality
Immigration
India
Indonesia
International Relations: Arms Control
International Relations: Cold War
International Relations: Non-U.S.
International Relations: U.S.
Japan
Jewish Studies
Korea
Labor
Latin America
Law: Business
Law: Capital Punishment
Law: General
Law: International & Non-U.S.
Law: Supreme Court
Leadership
Literature, American: Authors (Alphabetized)
Literature, American: Faulkner
Literature, American: Fitzgerald
Literature, American: General
Literature, American: Hawthorne
Literature, American: Hemingway
Literature, American: Melville
Literature, American: Poe
Literature, American: Steinbeck
Literature, American: Twain
Literature, English: Authors (Alphabetized)
Literature, English: Chaucer
Literature, English: Conrad
Literature, English: Dickens
Literature, English: General
Literature, English: Joyce
Literature, English: Lawrence
Literature, English: Shakespeare
Literature, English: Swift
Literature, General: Children
Literature, General: Classic (Greek & Roman)
Literature, General: Russian
Literature, General: World
Management: General
Management: Japanese
Management: Motivation
Management: Theory
Management: Women
Marketing: Companies (Alphabetized)
Marketing: General
Marketing: Plans
Mathematics
Medical: Aids
Medical: Dentistry
Medical: Diseases & Disorders (Alphabetized)
Medical: General
Medical: Nursing
Mexican-American Studies
Mexico
Middle East: Egypt
Middle East: General
Middle East: O.P.E.C.
Military
Music: Classical
Music: General
Mythology
Nutrition
Parapsychology/Occult
Philosophy: Ancient Greek
Philosophy: Descartes
Philosophy: Eastern
Philosophy: General
Philosophy: Kant
Philosophy: Sartre
Poetry: American
Poetry: English
Poetry: Milton
Poetry: World
Political Science: Elections & Campaigns
Political Science: Foreign
Political Science: Lobbyists & Pressure Groups
Political Science: Machiavelli
Political Science: Mill
Political Science: Political Theory
Political Science: U.S.
Psychology: Behaviorism
Psychology: Child & Adolescent
Psychology: Disorders
Psychology: Dreams
Psychology: Experimental
Psychology: Freud
Psychology: General
Psychology: Jung
Psychology: Physiology
Psychology: Piaget
Psychology: Rogers
Psychology: Social
Psychology: Testing
Psychology: Therapies
Public Administration: General
Public Administration: Government Agencies (Alphabetized)
Racism
Real Estate
Recreation & Leisure
Religion: Eastern
Religion: General
Religion: Islam
Religion: The Bible
Research: Completed Studies (With Statistics & Results)
Research: Designs & Proposals
Research: Statistics & Methodology
Russia: Pre-1917 Revolution
Science: Astronomy
Science: Biology
Science: General
Science: Genetics
Sociology: Durkheim
Sociology: General
Sociology: Marx
Sociology: Social Problems
Sociology: Social Theory
Sociology: Social Welfare
Sociology: Weber
Soviet Union: 1917-1990
Sports: Drugs
Sports: General
Technology
Transportation: Automotive
Transportation: Aviation
Transportation: General
Transportation: Railroads
Urban Studies
Vietnam
Women Studies
 

Russian Revolution   Term Paper ID:27134 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Argues that the recent Russian Revolution, like that of 1917, is an attempt to restructure Soviet society. States that new revolution attacks complex bureaucratic structure & the stagnation & personal invasion created by it.... More...

7 Pages / 1575 Words 4 sources, 16 Citations, APA Format $28.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Argues that the recent Russian Revolution, like that of 1917, is an attempt to restructure Soviet society. States that new revolution attacks complex bureaucratic structure & the stagnation & personal invasion created by it. Paper Introduction: The Russian Revolution in 1917 was accomplished through the violent overthrow of the existing government, followed by the complete restructuring of Soviet society. The recent revolution in the Soviet Union was largely bloodless up until the aborted hard-liner response, an attempt to retake the government from the liberal forces then in power. The result of this aborted take-over was quite the opposite of what was intended. Instead of returning conservatives to power, the attempt assured power to even more liberal forces. Once again, Russian society is being restructured, along with the dissolution of the union of the various Russian republics. The seeds of this new revolution can be found in the society of the Soviet Union over its history, a society that was tightly controlled by a growing and complex bureaucracy which intruded into every facet of life. The new Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. In the mid-198 s,the Communist leadership decided to dilute its absolute authority and tobring society into a limited partnership to help it overcome problems ofpolitical and economic stagnation. The new revolution has attacked this bureaucraticstructure, showing an awareness that much of the stagnation in Sovietsociety derived from this central core and from the way in which it movedoutward to include practically everything in Soviet society. People get hired because the papa of some political friendsprotect them. Brooks (1992) finds that what developed was aclash of elites, with the Party elite on the one side and the intellectualelite on the other during the last days of the Communist Party rule. We have to get rid of them. Gorbachev rightly saw aneed to institute reforms and to change much of the system in order to dosomething about the growing economic, political, and social problemsbesetting a country bound by a bureaucracy that could give orders but thatcould not make things work or bring about any improvements. The economy wasalso run by a bureaucracy that increasingly strangled commerce. 32). In thismore extensive survey, 57 percent cited corruption and drunkenness, 42percent cited technological backwardness, and 41 percent cited the hatedbureaucracy (Smith, pp. . Simes (1991) notes that the situation when Gorbachev assumed powerwas already in deterioration. Smith notes that the bureaucracy under the Communist Party worked topresent a united front, keeping its internal problems private. Everywhere there are extra people inthose jobs. Pipes says the leadership found thatthere was no society and thus no partner: "There were only millions ofatomized individuals--some alienated and angry, the majority indifferent--whom 7 years of Communism had taught to take care of themselves and leavepublic affairs to their betters" (p. 2 2). 28-33.Simes, Dimitri, "Gorbachev's Time of Troubles," Foreign Policy (Spring 1991), pp. Pipes finds that this is whathappened in the 16th century in what is known as the time of Troubles, in1917 after the abdication of Nicholas II, and again in 199 -1991 followingthe dissolution of the Communist party, which Pipes calls the truegovernment of the Soviet state. The Soviet Union disintegrated because it was always anartificial union of different peoples, and given the opportunity, theseseparate groups went their separate ways. 1 5). From subsequent events, itwould seem that the democratic intellectuals suffered the same fate as theParty elite--they were ejected once the people were aroused to such a statethat they could eject their "betters." Pipes notes that for 7 yearsRussia's political system was structured vertically, "with shafts of stateauthority sunk into society to serve as stabilizers. The Communist Party so controlled the infrastructureof the nation from a centralized position that the newly independent statesare having difficulty developing and controlling their own systems withoutthe participation of the party, even if that participation today has beenreduced to a shadow of what once was: "Hence the anomaly of the presentsituation: Communism has been abolished and the country is committed todemocracy, and yet the civil service remains largely and the militarycommand exclusively in the hands of one-time Communists" (Pipes, p. Theintellectual elite formed in the days of glasnost and challenged thecontinuing rule of the existing bureaucracy, and though they promoted theidea of democracy, they were not really of the people but were insteadabove the people: "Their democratic movement, which coalesced under theumbrella group Democratic Russia, became the driving force of anti-Communism. Pipes says these issues relate to economics as well. The Russian Revolution in 1917 was accomplished through the violentoverthrow of the existing government, followed by the completerestructuring of Soviet society. 28). . Simple reformof the bureaucracy was not enough, and Gorbachev did not see this: "Gettingrid of bureaucratic deadwood would make sense if paired with an effort toreplace it with new institutions and procedures" (p. What Gorbachev did do was remove the ability of the bureaucracy tointimidate, but by doing this while keeping the same managers, Gorbachevcreated a problem that would lead to his downfall and to the disintegrationof the Soviet Union itself. 2 1-2 2). by shifting all political authority andproperty to the state, the Communist regime eliminated every semblance ofan equilibrium between government and society" (p. The seeds of this new revolution can be found in thesociety of the Soviet Union over its history, a society that was tightlycontrolled by a growing and complex bureaucracy which intruded into everyfacet of life. 1 7). 43-45.Pipes, Richard, "Russia's Chance," Commentary (March 1992), pp. Now what?," National Review (March 2, 1992), pp. The results of the poll were as follows: 63% the dominance of bureaucrats 6 % corruption and thievery from the state 56% technological backwardness 45% mistaken strategy of national development 35% loss of faith in the ideals of socialism 33% consequences of StalinismA second survey was conducted to test the results of the first. Once the bureaucracy was de-fanged, the system could not operate as ithad and could not find a new approach in time, with bureaucrats at alllevels unable to display initiative and unwilling to accept responsibility:"The weakening of oppressive controls meant that the Soviet system, thewhole way of governing, started to unravel" (p. In other words, they continue to think in the way that led to thechange in the first place and thus hinder progress. throughout its history Russiahas had autocratic regimes which sacrificed individual rights to collectivesecurity. In 1985 he inherited a country with astagnating economy, an ambitious but self-defeating foreign policy, and acorrupt and inept elite short of energy and ideas. Thecentralized economy has fallen apart, and the people now must find a newone to take its place. Simes defines the Soviet Union in a way that also shows the seeds ofits ultimate destruction, noting that Gorbachev "failed to see that hiscountry was not a voluntary federation based on common laws, culture,tradition, values, and interests, but rather a multiethnic empire built byforce and sustained largely by repression" (p. Smith finds that the anger directed toward the bureaucracy extendedto anyone who rose above the crowd, which is why developing anentrepreneurial class has been difficult since the dissolution of theCommunist Party (p. Gorbachev alsomisunderstood the nature of Soviet bureaucracy. And the only way isrevolution" (pp. Therevolution is a major shift in thinking about the bureaucracy and about thevalue of centralized control. Such regimes, however, were the product not of an innate capacityfor self-rule but rather of inadequately developed social and politicalinstitutions that made arbitrary authority the only alternative tosomething even worse, namely anarchy" (p. Thebureaucratic structure accustomed the people to taking orders from above.The people survived individually by operating outside the bureaucracy, butwhat they did not learn was how to organize laterally to get things done.This is what Pipes sees to be a pressing need today. Pipes (1992) notes that the problem of bureaucratization in Sovietsociety extends back long before the development of the communist state.He finds that since the 14th century Russian society has been distinguishedless by absolutism such as was common to much of early Europe and more by adistinctive type of unlimited authority that combined sovereignty withownership. The people had achoice of 19 different reasons and a blank space to fill in another if theyso desired. The bureaucrats 'sit' onour backs. It was being held together bythe Communist Party. We haveto get rid of those high mucky-muck bureaucrats. The people had longhated the bureaucracy, but it was not until Gorbachev instituted partialreforms that also challenged the power of the bureaucracy that the systembegan to disintegrate, its power to coerce reduced and eventuallyeliminated. The West, Pipes says, has had difficulty grasping this becauseWestern analysts have viewed the Soviet state as one organized alongfamiliar lines, with government and citizenry coexisting in a certainbalance. They never had practical power, but with their speeches andwritings they undermined the morale and self-confidence of the rulingapparatus" (p. This patrimonial regime used the state to mold society and togive it its sense of identity: "A country ruled in this manner heldtogether only as long as government was firm and decisive; the instant itweakened, society fell apart" (p. Smith (1991) cites a newspaper survey in Russia that asked the peoplewhat they saw as the source of the nation's current difficulties, and theoverwhelming answer was the government bureaucracy. . TheSoviet Union was not being held together by its institutions in any case,at least not its governmental institutions. 89-9 ). Simes finds that thecrisis facing Soviet society as the union disintegrated came from the samesources noted by Pipes: "The Soviet crisis goes far beyond empty shelves, acrime wave, rampant corruption, inter-ethnic violence, and the paralyzingstruggle between the remnants of the old order and the new politicalforces; All these problems are symptoms of a much deeper crisis: thelegitimacy of Soviet political institutions and the identity of the Sovietpeople" (Simes: p. That legitimacy was being called into question in the mid-198 s inpart because the bureaucracy had reached a point of near immobility. 43). This hasbeen seen during the period of the breakup as well as the leadershipclaimed to be in unity even though their individual speeches indicatedconsiderable differences of point of view (pp. The recent revolution in the Soviet Unionwas largely bloodless up until the aborted hard-liner response, an attemptto retake the government from the liberal forces then in power. The breakup of the Russian union came after the challenge to theauthority of the bureaucracy became official policy. Once again, Russian society is beingrestructured, along with the dissolution of the union of the variousRussian republics. This mistrust, says Pipes, has become an instinct. 493-494). It was a mechanicalcontraption, awesome and seemingly indestructible when intact but worsethan useless once the pillars supporting it rotted" (p. This was but another manifestation of the essentialnature of traditional Russian society: ". Smith finds againand again that the people saw the centralized bureaucracy as the enemy, onethat they would try to circumvent on the one hand and ignore on the other.Smith quotes one man on the problem of the elite on top against the peopleon the bottom--the Russians call the elite the vertushka: "People see howthe vertushka live--not one dacha, but two!. They produce nothing. This, however, was not the case: "Whatever its theoretical claimsand propagandistic slogans, the Communist regime in fact enforced in themost extreme form the principles of Muscovite 'patrimonialism,' deprivingthe citizenry of all rights, notably the right to form independentorganizations and to own property. New York: Avon Books, 1991.----------------------- 1 1 6). 28). Gorbachev had wanted to change the systemwhile keeping the union together, and this was impossible as he went aboutit. The Russian people were accustomed to being ruled by elites, just asthey were accustomed to despising those elites. 31). They are incompetent. 98). Gorbachev,however, tried to change the bureaucracy while keeping the old personnel.He shows the people that the bureaucracy was not sacrosanct, and then hedid not go far enough in purging it of the influences they hated. 28). The Communistbureaucracy also created mistrust among the people, seeing it as easier torule that way. 97-117.Smith, Hedrick, The New Russians. . ReferencesBrooks, David, "Without Marx or Chekhov: free intellectuals undermined Gorbachev and elevated Yeltsin. 31).The country is still run by thousands of bureaucrats who no longer receivetheir orders from the Central Committee of the party but who today continueoperating as they did before, knowing what to do because of years ofconditioning: "Like czarist and Soviet bureaucrats, these apparatchikiview society as an enemy; they despise democracy in all its manifestations;they hate and fear the West as the source of subversive ideas": (Pipes: p.31). The resultof this aborted take-over was quite the opposite of what was intended.Instead of returning conservatives to power, the attempt assured power toeven more liberal forces. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.