On the transition from a command economy to a free market system : a case study from Eastern Europe.

Abstract

The economy is only one aspect (albeit of great importance) of societal life. The various systems that exist within a society and particularly, the economical, social and political orders are very much interdependent, and especially so in a power setup that is characterized by very strict central controls. This would lead to the assumption that extensive liberal reforms to a centrally planned and tightly regulated economy within a society that is subjected to strict political control could not succeed without contemporary measures being undertaken to reform also the social and political systems towards the same end. This very brief study will try to explore this assumption in the light of the events leading to, and following, the implementation of the "Perestroika" economic reform programme undertaken in the former Soviet Union under the leadership of President Mikhail Gorbachev.