The political elite of the USSR regions and the restructuring of the administrative mechanism: Trends, controversies, results

The article examines the restructuring of the administrative mechanism and the role which the political elite of the USSR regions played in this process in the 1980s and 1990s. We analyze the key socio-economic challenges and the contradictions that arose in the course of their overcoming. The causes for many failures of the state socioeconomic initiatives, the responsibility of the regional political elite as well as the sociopolitical results of these processes are revealed.

References
[1] Radzinskiy E.S. Stalin [Stalin]. Moscow, Vagrius Publ., 1997, 336 p.
[2] Eltsin B.N. Zapiski Prezidenta [President’s notes]. Moscow, Ogonek Publ., 1994, 336 p.
[3] Voslenskiy M.S. Nomenklatura [Political establishment]. Moscow, Politicheskaya literatura Publ., 1990, 473 p.
[4] Zaslavskaya T.I. O sovershenstvovanii sotsialisticheskikh proizvodstvennykh otnosheniy i zadachakh ekonomicheskoy sotsiologii [About improving the socialistic industrial relations and the problems of economic sociology]. Moscow, Ekonomicheskaya literatura Publ., 1991, 89 p.
[5] Lipetskaya oblast. Zolotoy yubiley. 1954 - 2004 [Lipetsk region. Golden jubilee. 1954-2004]. Lipetsk, 2005, 443 p.
[6] Solomin V.Kh. Sozidateli. Stroiteli [Creators. Builders]. Lipetsk, 2004, 332 p.
[7] Zyuganov G.A. Uroki zhizni [Life lessons]. St. Petersburg, Neva Publ., 1997, 288 p.
[8] Popov G.Kh. Perestroyka Mikhaila Gorbacheva [Perestroika of Mikhail Gorbachev]. Moscow, International University Publ., 2011, 434 p.
[9] Gaydar E.T. Gosudarstvo i evolyutsiya [State and evolution]. Moscow, Evraziya Publ., 1995, 87 p.
[10] Kalinichenko V.I. Sledstvie i vlast [Investigation and power]. Moscow, Akademiya Publ., 2013, 223 p.
[11] Manaenkov Yu.A. Partiynaya rabota - delo tvorcheskoe [Party work is a creative activity]. Moscow, Ogonek Publ., 1988, 170 p.
[12] Ryzhkov N.I. Perestroyka. Istoriya predatelstva [Perestroika. The history of betrayal]. Moscow, Novosti Publ., 1994, 287 p.
[13] Berger M. Izvestiya - Izvestia, 1995, April 4, p. 4.
[14] Dvuzhinova I.V. Istoriya tambovskogo kraya. 20 vek [The history of the Tambov region. The twentieth century]. Tambov, Tambov State University named after GR. Derzhavin Publ., 2011, p. 355.
[15] Materialy aprelskogo 1985 g. Plenuma TsK KPSS. (Stenogramma) [Materials the April 1985 plenary assembly of the CPSU central committee. (Transcript)]. Moscow, Politicheskaya literatura Publ., 1985, 84 p.
[16] Solomentsev M.S. Zachistka v Politbyuro. Kak Gorbachev ubiral "vragov perestroyki" [Crackdown in the Politburo. How Gorbachev removed the "enemies of perestroika"]. Moscow, Algoritm, Eksmo Publ., 2011, 335 p.
[17] Ligachev E.K. Kto predal SSSR? [Who betrayed the USSR?] Moscow, Algoritm, Eksmo Publ., 2009, 288 p.
[18] Istoriya Volgograda 1589-2005. Pervye shagi perestroyki [The history of Volgograd in 1589-2005. The first steps of perestroika] Available at: http://www.volgograd-history.ru (accessed April 27, 2017).
[19] Antialkogolnaya kampaniya v SSSR [The antidrinking campaign in the USSR]. Available at: http://dic.academic.ru (accessed May 03, 2017).
[20] Grushko V.F. Sudba razvedchika [The intelligence officer’s destiny]. Moscow, Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya Publ., 1997, 281 p.
[21] Gorbachev M.S. Zhizn i reformy. Kn. 1 [Life and reforms. Book 1]. Moscow, Novosti Publ., 1995, 440 p.
[22] Eltsin B.N. Ispoved na zadannuyu temu [Testimony on a given topic]. Moscow, Ogonek Publ., 1989, 117 p.