The Gorbachev Reform: A Maximal Case

Assumptions that major reform in the Soviet economy cannot be realized are challenged. Beliefs that Gorbachev is unable or unwilling to take necessary political risks, that bureaucratic resistance will forestall efforts at incremental change, and that Communist ideology lacks themes that can be used to mobilize support for innovation are analyzed. Assessment of reform should be based on an awareness of the advantages (as well as risks) of a strategy tying Gorbachev's political fate to reform and of the effectiveness of a timetable that consolidates gains in services and agriculture before confronting an entrenched industrial bureaucracy. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 113, 124.     

Gorbachev at Two Years: Perspectives on Economic Reforms

This article examines how the Putin leadership, inspired by the example of Yuriy Andropov, has carried out a comprehensive "sovietization" of the Russian political system by systematically eliminating all alternative sources of power (governors, competitive elections, the media, and private business). Drawing on legislation, the press, and data about the backgrounds and career paths of the post-Soviet elite, the central institutions are compared with their Soviet predecessors and the implementation of this strategy is examined. The roles of military, security and other backgrounds are analyzed. The degree of influence likely to be wielded by the siloviki is also considered.     

Charles Tilly's Understanding of Contentious Politics: A Social Interactive Perspective for Social Science

[Stinchcombe's essay on my work] gives you jaz and science at the same time. I don't know whether to call his work “jazzy science” or “scientific jazz”. Maybe it doesn't matter. In real life, after all, smart human beings follow more than one road from past to future     

Jerusalem: The Spatial Politics of a Divided Metropolis

Jerusalem: The Spatial Politics of a Divided Metropolis. By Anne B. Shlay and Gillard Rosen (Cambridge: Polity, 2015), £15.99 (pb).