The Soviet Administrative Elite - by Kenneth C Farmer & Walter Orebaugh (Hardcover)

About the Book

The Soviet elite has undergone two major transformations in the twentieth century: Stalin's purges and replacement of old elite by Soviet trained proletarian modernizing managers; and, under Gorbachev, the current displacement of the modernizing managers by politicians. This book is an analytical study of the Soviet political elite as a body, from 1917 to 1990. Focusing on the changing structure of the elite, it is based partly on Kenneth C. Farmer's database consisting of biographical and career data on over 1500 high-level leaders. Farmer also synthesizes the work of four classical theorists--Gaetano Mosca, Vilfredo Pareto, Max Weber, and Alexis de Tocqueville--with more contemporary theorists. The book's unique features include its scope, the central database (the largest on which any work has been published), and its creative theoretical approach.

Farmer concludes that the dismantling of the personnel selection system with competitive elections deprives the elite of the ability to reproduce itself. New voluntary associations make possible the emergence of genuine strategic elites. In examining the ramifications of this new system, this book is one of the first studies to apply a structural-anthropological theoretical framework to the phenomenon of Soviet elites. Scholars in the Soviet studies field will find this unique theoretical approach refreshing and thought provoking.

Book Synopsis

The Soviet elite has undergone two major transformations in the twentieth century: Stalin's purges and replacement of old elite by Soviet trained proletarian modernizing managers; and, under Gorbachev, the current displacement of the modernizing managers by politicians. This book is an analytical study of the Soviet political elite as a body, from 1917 to 1990. Focusing on the changing structure of the elite, it is based partly on Kenneth C. Farmer's database consisting of biographical and career data on over 1500 high-level leaders. Farmer also synthesizes the work of four classical theorists--Gaetano Mosca, Vilfredo Pareto, Max Weber, and Alexis de Tocqueville--with more contemporary theorists. The book's unique features include its scope, the central database (the largest on which any work has been published), and its creative theoretical approach.

Farmer concludes that the dismantling of the personnel selection system with competitive elections deprives the elite of the ability to reproduce itself. New voluntary associations make possible the emergence of genuine strategic elites. In examining the ramifications of this new system, this book is one of the first studies to apply a structural-anthropological theoretical framework to the phenomenon of Soviet elites. Scholars in the Soviet studies field will find this unique theoretical approach refreshing and thought provoking.

Review Quotes

?. . . it is helpful toward understanding the entrenched bureaucracy that plagues reformers today throughout the former Soviet Union. The most useful section is the last chapter, concerning reforms under Gorbachev, in which the breakup of horizontal patronage bonds and creation of vertical ones closer to the centers of power drove reforms more quickly and comprehensively.?-Demokratizatsiya

?Students of Soviet politics will find many interesting recommendations and insights in Farmer's book.?-Slavic Review

"Students of Soviet politics will find many interesting recommendations and insights in Farmer's book."-Slavic Review

." . . it is helpful toward understanding the entrenched bureaucracy that plagues reformers today throughout the former Soviet Union. The most useful section is the last chapter, concerning reforms under Gorbachev, in which the breakup of horizontal patronage bonds and creation of vertical ones closer to the centers of power drove reforms more quickly and comprehensively."-Demokratizatsiya

About the Author

KENNETH C. FARMER is Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department of Political Science at Marquette University. He is the author of Ukrainian Nationalism in the Post-Stalin Era and numerous articles on Soviet nationalities policies, and on elites in the Soviet Union.