This 1988 collection is derived from the Third World Congress for Soviet and East European Studies, and provides a comprehensive survey of Soviet political and economic problems. It concentrates upon three major themes; the Soviet party apparat, socialization and political discourse, and social policy, all which have been the subject of considerable and at times confusing fluctuations during the past decade. The first section focuses on party organization within the Soviet ministries, and examines the changes within the elite during the last years of Brezhnev's rule. In Part 2 the emphasis is upon processes of political socialization, and the nature of political language in the Soviet Union, whilst in the concluding part the contributors examine the mechanism and impact of social policy, and its ethnic and nationalist implications.