Vladimir Solovyov and Elena Klepikova
INSIDE THE KREMLIN
The existence and coexistence of different factions, the
struggle among them, and the constant shakeups within the Politburo
make it possible to regard the Soviet system as a multiparty one, even
though the plurality of parties is manifested only on an elitist level and
has nothing to do with (indeed, has no need of) such mechanisms as
elections. Yet most of the decisions made at the top are not arbitrary.
Rather, they reflect the political mood of the ruling elite and the
ideological shifts in the society. In the Soviet Union, along with at least
three main focuses of power (the Politburo, the top military echelon,
and the top echelon of the KGB), there exists an ideological apparatus
which is one of the most unusual fruits of the totalitarian system.
Newspapers, magazines, and books whose printings run into many
millions-the prestige and magic of the printed word in a semic10sed
society-and the fact that the country is entirely covered by the radio
and television network-these things transform that apparatus from a
tool of the regime into one that is relatively autonomous.
The ideological apparatus functions on two fronts: as a medium
through which the regime influences the people and as one through
which the people influence the regime. For example, the new upsurge
of national chauvinism and anti-Semitism began in the press. Only
afterward did the authorities pick up on it, and make it a matter of
official policy. Until 1977 and the fall of Podgorny, the most important
battles had taken place within the Politburo, where the hard core neo–
Stalinists were in a minority, and were gradually put
hOTS
de combat.
Once Carter's rhetorical campaign against the USSR got under way,
however, there was a sharp increase in external pressure on the
Politburo from the KGB and the armed forces, which had been given
an ideological fillip by the nationalist neo-Stalinist party. In other
words, it was the ideological apparatus which, with the help of the
KGB and the armed forces, brought about an abrupt swing to the
right.
It
is becoming more and more obvious, then, that the power
struggle is moving beyond the confines of the Politburo-a fact which
