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The “Withering” of the State Under Khrushchev

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

George A. Brinkley
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Extract

Khrushchev has by now made an undeniable reputation for himself as a clever man. He has credit for the “de-Stalinization” of the Soviet system and a return to “Leninism,” but he also holds the reins to a system of controls largely created by Stalin. It is perhaps a bit early for judgments, but Khrushchev seems indeed to be having his cake and eating it too. A survey of the question of the transition to communism, for example, reveals that his position is nothing less than a synthesis of a most remarkable sort, and one well calculated to gain the benefits of both Stalinism and Leninism. He has apparently set out to achieve a wedding between controls and ideals which will both mark him as the builder of communism in the manner of Lenin and at the same time retain in his hands the power of a dictator.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , January 1961 , pp. 37 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1961

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References

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