Soviet Public Opinion and the Effectiveness of Party Ideological Work

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Thomas F Remington, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 1983-01
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh, University Library System: 3 year embargo
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Author
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://carlbeckpapers.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/cbp/article/view/7
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Carl Beck Papers in Russian and East European Studies
• ISSN: 0889-275X
• Volume: 204
• Start Page: 1
• End Page: 40
• Grant/Funding Information: The author wishes to express his appreciation to the Emory University Research Fund for supporting the research upon which this paper is based
• Research Categories: Political Science, General

Abstract

Comprehensive and centralized control of the means of communication has been a hallmark of Soviet party rule since early in the existence of the regime.1 The party's monopoly over what a Soviet writer has called "the ideological process" covers the elaboration of theory, guidance of culture, and political education and communication.2 The latter functions are performed by a dense and differentiated network of oral, print, and broadcast media, all under the immediate direction of territorial party commitees situated in each administrative jurisdiction of the country. Through them, the leadership endeavors to shape popular consciousness and to prevent the dissemination of facts or ideas antithetical to the regime's doctrinally-based legitimacy.