Product Description This book analyzes the relationship between economic power and political authority in the Soviet system. Stephen Whitefield argues that Soviet politicians' efforts to build their authority in the industrial sector were a key source of political instability, and that perestroika was the last ina series of failed attempts by Soviet leaders to gain control of the behavior of the institutions they had created. The dilemma for Soviet politicians was that their attempts to build authority over industrial actors destabilized society and ultimately resulted in the collapse of the Soviet stateitself. But industrial power has outlived the Soviet Union, and this book concludes by showing how industry continues to exert a crucial influence on Russian government and society. Review `This is one of those rare books that challenges a whole paradigm. In the first full-length Western study of the ministries of the Soviet Union ... The argument is persuasive. It needs to be read and absorbed by all who are attempting to understand the nature of the Soviet system and the reasons for its collapse.' Political Studies About the Author Stephen Whitefield, Lecturer in Russian and East European Politics, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London.