The Communist Party and Soviet Science

One of the most important features of the Soviet system is the Com-munist Party of the Soviet Union, not just as the single ruling party,but also as a ubiquitous apparatus of management and control. The intention in this book is to analyse the role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the management of Soviet science. An attempt is made to determine the place the party gives science in the Soviet system and the general cultural and psychological conditions it creates for its conduct. But there is also a considerable amount of detailed study of the day-to-day management of science. No firm definitions of what science is are offered or employed, nor is any distinction made between science and technology. For the purposes of this study it could be said that anything that is done in a research institute is science or part of the scientific process. The empirical work is based on civilian research, and the conclusions probably are not applicable to the defence sphere. Both the natural and social sciences feature in the analysis. I have generally drawn out the differences in their treatment in the Soviet Union, although not in a rigorous way. The time focus is also vague. I have tried to be aware of the historical background, but the study is essentially concerned with the contempor-ary situation.