REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN POLITICAL RECRUITMENT IN THE SOVIET REPUBLICS*
In: European journal of political research: official journal of the European Consortium for Political Research, Band 6, Heft 2, S. 181-201
ISSN: 1475-6765
ABSTRACTThe article presents an overview of differences between the fifteen Soviet republics in the field of political recruitment. The indicators of recruitment chosen are membership of the Communist Party and the Komsomol. The study covers the period 1956–73. The existence of significant differences is established. These differences tend also to remain over time. In the field of political recruitment, the western republics situated in the European part of the USSR behave differently from those of Central Asia. Finally, a connection between the differences in political recruitment and the differences in socio‐economic development is suggested. The political organizations tend, on the average, to have more members in the economically advanced areas and vice versa.