Toward a Model of Soviet Decision Making: A Research Note

This research note offers a partial model of decision making in the Soviet Union cast in terms of the level of conflict intensity within the political system, the identity of the major participants, and the corresponding mode of decision-making behavior. It also deals with the rationalization of decision making in the post-Stalin era and the role of interest groups in policy formation.Recognizing the multifunctional nature of decisions made within politicized bureaucratic structures, the model outlines three levels of conflict intensity and decision-making behavior:(1) Analytic conflict occurs over maximizing (technical) decisions and elicits a decision-making style described as research and persuasion. The most influential actors are specialists and technicians.(2) Organizational conflict occurs over mixed maximizing and integrative decisions and calls forth a combination of analytic and bargaining techniques. Key actors are institutionalized interest groups.(3) Systemic political conflict is associated with integrative (political) decisions reached either through informal high-level bargaining or voting within higher party bodies. The most important actors are leadership factions and interest groups with political resources.