First Published in 1986. The papers in this volume were originally delivered at a series of seminars held at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London, between January and May 1984. The inspiration for the scheme was the Soviet succession struggle of 1982 but further reflection indicated that the problem of elderly leaderships, and the apparent absence of legitimate succession mechanisms, applied to nearly all communist systems.

Stephen Carter is Senior Lecturer in Russian Government at the City of London Polytechnic. Martin McCauley is Lecturer in Russian and Soviet Institutions at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London.

Map of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, Introduction 1 The Soviet Union 2 Soviet Leadership Profiles 3 Poland 4 The German Democratic Republic 5 Czechoslovakia 6 Hungary 7 Romania 8 Bulgaria 9 Albania 10 Yugoslavia 11 China 12 Regime and Citizen in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and China