Staffing USSR incorporated: The origins of the nomenklatura system

Rigby, T. H.

doi:10.1080/09668138808411777

Cited by 36 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, a department head of an enterprise had to be approved by the Party executive body located in the enterprise; the appointment of its respective manager had t o be cleared through the district or county Party executive committee; a minister had to be approved by the Central Committee of the Party. Thus regardless of the subject matter, key positions could be controlled by the Party at any part of the non-Party hierarchy (Csanadi, 1984;Fainsod, 1958;Rigby, 1988;Walder 1988).…”

Section: Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural network formalization of the hungarian party-state system

Csanádi

Lörincz

1992

Syst. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A description of the decision-making structure of the Hungarian Partystate system, based on empirical studies, is offered. The structure is divided into three parts: the formal hierarchies, the interlinking threads, and the feedback connections. The working mechanism, the sources of cohesion, and the maintenance of the system are explained. The working mechanism of the structure reveals pattern-recognition-type decision making and close similarity to the adaptive resonance theory (ART) of competitive learning. The observed analogy is followed throughout the structure. Based on the ART model, we offer a mathematical description of the properties of the structure that could, in principle, be quantified if the model parameters were to be determined by further empirical studies. Properties of the structure are qualitatively analyzed with the help of this mathematical model. The selfsimilar or fractal property of the structure makes it possible to analyze some features of other Party-state systems.

show abstract

Section: Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural network formalization of the hungarian party-state system

Csanádi

Lörincz

1992

Syst. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There is an elaborate division of responsibility among the various party committees (groups) in the exercise of this authority. As did its Soviet counterpart, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses a nomenklatura system to regulate and centralize managerial authority over cadres in all sectors (Burns, 1994; Chan, 2004; Manion, 1985; Rigby, 1988). This means that partisan affiliation and political loyalty take precedence over administration.…”

Section: The Situation In China Prior To the Launching Of The Civil Service Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Making of Chinese Civil Service Law

Chan

2016

The American Review of Public Administration

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The goal of Chinese civil service reform is an appropriate balance in the relationship between politics and administration. This article examines the interaction between Chinese reformers and bureaucrats by raising two key questions: “What problems did Chinese reformers identify?” and “What measures did Chinese bureaucrats use to address these problems?” The article discusses three approaches that reformers took toward establishing a civil service system in China as they attempted to define, arrange, and interpret priorities to meet political and policy challenges. Core to the endeavor is the question of how far measures can be taken to reduce the power and authority of the Communist Party of China such that a state civil service can fully function. The article finds that, although some bureaucrats did want to adopt certain Western principles in civil service (as they understood or misunderstood them), for the most part they relied on an examination of the national political systems to define reform problems and formulate solutions. In the final analysis, because the reformers decided to write politics into the law, the bureaucrats needed to find ways through the legislation to formalize the leading role of the party, to make description fit with facts (i.e., comport with reality), and to unify personnel management power by merging a statutory civil service law with a nonstatutory personnel management system.

show abstract

“…These legitimate ties helped in privatising whatever resources could be diverted, further promoting traditionalisation and undercutting rationalisation. Notably, the nomenklatura kept its parallel networks from coalescing into formal organisation so as to evade the organs of coercion (Rigby 1988, Ahlberg 1991. In the USSR of the 1970s and 1980s there were about 400,000 persons eligible for appointment in the core organisations: these included people in the party organs, state administration and military.…”

Section: Legacy: Soviet Illegitimacy and Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Quality of Democracy in Europe: Soviet Illegitimacy and the Negotiated Revolutions of 1989

Armbruster¹

2008

SSRN Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The 'Quality of Democracy' is a meta-level research programme, the rise of which is tied to the events of 1989 in a structural and ideational sense. Democracy, as a concept, has spread widely and external threats have become almost nonexistent. Thus, research of democracy has turned inward in attempting to appraise its quality. Upon examination, however, it is clear that the research programme falls short of its promise. It is insufficiently comparative both conceptually and historically. Proponents seem captivated by the 'end of history' narrative in their adherence to a single standard 'liberal' democratic quality by which all regimes are assessed and ranked. Symptomatically, observers both East and West imagine Eastern European democracies as backsliding, claiming that new democracies must be externally assisted. Singular notions of good democracy lead to poor research. Consequently, it is suggested that the 'Quality of Democracy' research programme must become more reflexive. Methodologically, this implies a reckoning with the different types of democratic substance and procedure that exist as ideas and institutions. With regard to 1989, it is argued that the key to understanding the transition to democracy and the failures of democratization in Eastern Europe lies in, firstly, reckoning with the Soviet legacy; and, secondly, establishing whether a negotiated revolution occurred or not. In conclusion, the foundations for an analysis of the institutional types of Eastern European procedure and substance are offered. Thus, a historical and comparative analysis of the quality of democracy in Europe is outlined.

show abstract

Staffing USSR incorporated: The origins of the nomenklatura system

Cited by 36 publications

References 8 publications

Neural network formalization of the hungarian party-state system

Neural network formalization of the hungarian party-state system

The Making of Chinese Civil Service Law

The Quality of Democracy in Europe: Soviet Illegitimacy and the Negotiated Revolutions of 1989

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About