communism

The article analyzes the policy-making process and implementation mechanisms of the social development strategy of the Soviet Union in 1953–1985. It claims that the main ideological components of the Soviet strategy of social development during the period concerned were fully established after the XXII Congress of the Communist Party, and show which role the institutions of the Communist party played in the policy-making and realization of the Soviet social development strategy.

In the 1960s, Soviet ideology came face to face with new challenges and threats, both internal and external. The leadership of the USSR was aware of these challenges and decided to rework the ideology on the basis of the concept of ‘Developed Socialism’ created in the socialist countries of Eastern Europe. In the Soviet Union, this concept became the ideological basis of the ‘Brezhnev’s society’ and was used to respond to domestic and foreign policy challenges faced by the Soviet Union.