The Study Of The Privileged Bureaucrat Stratum In The USSR

The issue of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the socialist countries is not a new one but has been put forward over and over again in the history of socialism whether theoretically or practically. It has aroused a lot of thoughts and controversies among scholars of different schools who hold different positions in the world. From the early period of the nineteenth century to the disaggregation of the USSR, many people probed into the issue, among whom are the following representatives: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Trotski Lev Davidovich, Milovan Djilas, Mikhail Vaslensky, and etc. Their careful reflections of the issue provide much help for us to understand the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR.However, these representatives attacked the problem from different perspectives, thus achieving different understanding levels and conflicting conclusions. They have different ideas concerning the matter whether the nature of the privileged bureaucrat stratum is a social class or just a stratum. They even used different names / terms for it, such as bureaucrat group, special stratum, bureaucrat stratum, "new class", privileged stratum, the "muster roll" officials and etc. Despite these differences, we can still find something in common that is they all described the same object—the party bureaucracy or political bureaucracy in the socialist countries constructed in accordance with hierarchy, although the approaches to the problem suggested by them vary a lot such as the Principles of the Paris Commune, the multiparty system, the commissioner system, the soviet democracy, and etc.In the late 80s and the early 90s of the 20th century, the world's communism movement brought drastic changes of the era: there were upheavals in most socialist countries in the Eastern Europe and the USSR early or late. One may wonder whether the study on the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR would not be as important as it was when the USSR was a superpower. Obviously, it is not necessary to worry about that. The careful study of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR can help us to find the real reason for the disaggregation of the USSR, learn the lessons in the cause of socialist revolution and development, and even contribute to the eliminating of the problem of bureaucracy. Besides, the contemporary history of China bears a lot of similarities with the development of the former USSR. In order to prevent the disaster of the party and the country, China needs to analyze the roles played by the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR during the disaggregation of the USSR. Therefore, it is of theoretical and practical significance to study the subject.In recent years the scholars in China have concerned themselves about the issue of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR, producing a variety of papers that deepen the study itself and develop the research scope. Most of their views set people thinking while there are still some aspects to be improved, which can be seen as follows. One is that most of the articles produced tend to be on a special topic; another is that some of them are even on other subjects with only some paragraphs or sections concerning the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR. It is rare to find some monographs with a comprehensive and systematic review of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR. Scholars even have disagreements concerning the specific problems such as the time, the members, the numbers, the nature (whether it is a stratum or a class), the social factors, the scientific definition, and etc. Therefore, it is of great necessity to make a deep study and discussion about the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR so that we can have objective observations about it and at a theoretical level learn lessons from the cause of the socialist revolution and construction.This is why I choose the study of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR as the subject of my dissertation under the instruction of my supervisor, based on my interest and language advantage. This dissertation tries to achieve the following goals: one is to make a full analysis of the concerned issue and give a scientific definition. With the method of exemplification and historical analysis, it will be practical and realistic, dialectic and analytical based on the former studies and the latest first-hand data. Another goal is to provide answers to the following questions: how did the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR come into being? What are the social aspects of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR? What is the origin? What is the nature? How to give it a historical review? What lessons does its development bring to the socialist countries and their party in power?The issue of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR has been a significant subject in the study of USSR's politics and history. However, it is kept from the majority that Russian has not a proper noun corresponding to the term "the privileged bureaucrat stratum" referred to by Chinese scholars. Since the disaggregation of the USSR, scholars in Russia normally have used the word "номенклатура" to mean the idea. The original meaning of the word "номенклатура" was "beadroll", "name lists". The political meanings were derived during the development later. The Soviet communists first used it to describe the different functions of the governments at separate levels after the establishment of the Soviet government. Later, this meaning gradually disappeared and was replaced by others. In classifying the functions, some of the higher positions were designated and the persons holding the positions should be appointed by the governments. Thus the word "номенклатура" became a new political term with the following two new meanings. One is about the name lists of the positions designated by the higher governments; the other is about the name lists of the appointed members and the members in support. It had another well-known name—the so-called "muster roll". This dissertation holds that it was the officials on the "muster roll" who were appointed by the USSR's Committees of Party Members at all levels that led to the development of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR.This dissertation argues there are three criteria to identify the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR. Namely, they are the direct appointment from the country, the power to control the national resources, and the legitimate privileges entitled according to the official hierarchy in the country. The definition of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR in this dissertation is like the following: the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR refers to the whole group of people who have a certain position in the country's political and economic society, perform the function of regulation or management and are entitled to certain big or small privileges in accordance with their positions in the official hierarchy. Its appearance is the inevitable result of the given historical situations of the USSR. This stratum is the real ruler of the Soviet society.The dissertation consists of four chapters and the conclusion part besides the introduction. Chapter One introduces the development of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR. It is proposed that privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR was produced and later developed itself under the Stalin's pattern of ruling that was lack of democracy and highly centralized. The process may fall into three stages: First, the germination stage, from the birth of "The organization of professional revolutionists" to the death of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. "The organization of professional revolutionists" originated in old Russia. After the October Revolution, as the core leader of the Bolsheviki Party, it came in power to lead the Party to conduct the explorations of proletariate dictatorship and construct the framework of the Soviet government system. Due to the backward Russian politics, economy, culture, the severe home and abroad circumstances, and especially the influence of the highly centralized and absolutely obedient organization forms and principles, the Bolsheviki Party and its government system featured the centralized power. After three years of the civil war, the Russian Communist Party became the Party in power, thus the Soviet government got more stability and development. With the expansion of the party organizations and governments, bureaucratism began its appearance in the governments and the Bolsheviki Party and soon spread widely. Here came the germination of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR. Second, the early development stage from the death of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin to 1929. The symbol is the "muster roll" system created by Stalin and his government. With the appearance of the "muster roll" officials, two strata in power came into being: the higher was the "Lenin's guardsmen" formed by the professional revolutionists; the lower was the "muster roll" officials elevated by Stalin, who fought for their reigning power by eliminating the rivals in the Party. Finally, the shaping of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR stage, it appeared in the 1930s. The symbol was the highly centralized political system created by Stalin and his government, which put an end to the "Lenin's guardsmen" physically and mentally. The "muster roll" officials grasped all the power firmly to control the society, in consequence the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR came into history.Chapter Two is about the social aspects of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR. It gives an introduction of its kinds, quantity and distribution. In addition, it discusses the functions and the features. Although the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR tried to conceal their presence with a lot of pains, we can easily find the construction of the stratum with the "muster roll" since the "muster roll" officials compromised the privileged bureaucrat stratum, and we can also estimate that the numbers ranged from 700,000 to 750,000. Their functions include controlling the system of decision-making, monopolizing the economic resources and manipulating the society. They were integrated, political, and hierarchical with relatively stable status and certain particularities.Chapter Three explores the origin of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR. Any significant social phenomenon in history is the product of all kinds of historical factors. It is usually caused by the combination influence of certain subjective or objective conditions. In this sense, the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR is also the product of the comprehensive factors. Its development may be due to both the historical reasons and the system factors.Chapter Four is the historical review of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR. With the ups and downs of the Communism Movement, different countries, classes, parties, and people with different beliefs have distinct, even contrasting views concerning the issue due to their different opinions, political attitudes and interests. After the disaggregation of the USSR, more and more people think the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR should take the responsibility for the disaster of the Party and the country. Once the opinion that totally denied the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR was prevalent. However, it is argued in this dissertation that it is mistaken to totally accept or totally deny the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR. Only after we understand the nature of it and analyze it from both aspects in the given historical backgrounds can we achieve a comprehensive and scientific review of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR.The conclusion part probes into the relationship between the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR and the disaggregation of the USSR. It concludes that the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR is one of the important factors that trigger the disaggregation. This part also summarizes the historical lessons from the germination and development of the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR. It points that the following measures should be taken by the socialist countries and their party in power to avoid bureaucratism: separating the party from the government in terms of reigning; maintaining and perfecting the principle of democratic dictatorship in terms of decision-making; constructing a sound system of selecting, preparing, training officials in terms of official system, for instance, replacing appointment with election; establishing a practical system of supervision in terms of power restriction.What should be mentioned here is that the study of the subject has a certain degree of difficulty. One is all the information about the privileged bureaucrat stratum in the USSR at that time was confidential to the Soviet people and the other countries during the Soviet time. After the disaggregation, some new related data became public one after the other. Yet, most of them are still kept confidential, which make the study somewhat difficult. In addition, it has always been a big and difficult problem.There must be certain aspects that need to be improved owing to my limited knowledge. Any suggestion and criticism is welcome and appreciated.