Political Science in the USSR

Abstract

This article presents an overview of the development of political science as a discipline in the Soviet Union over the last 20 years. Such an overall perspective is not easily accessible to political scientists who do not read Russian because only a small percentage of the work appears in translation. Furthermore, many scholars believe that restrictions on publication in the USSR make Soviet academic writing unworthy of perusal—a view I strongly refute here. Trends in growth and influence of Soviet political science have a bearing on the intellectual climate of the USSR and, to a certain extent, on the politics practiced there.