[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-37568-en":3,"doc-seo-37568-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},37568,2336464648322,"Aria","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/2200025388227c56fec?_k=1778556882303663488",2,"Literature","Practicing Stalinism: Bolsheviks, Boyars, and the Persistence of Tradition","The book examines Stalinist power through the interplay of Bolsheviks and older elite traditions, focusing on how organizational systems, personnel selection, and informal social networks shaped political authority. It argues that rational structure and institutional interactions can explain patterns of control in Stalin’s era while acknowledging the lasting persistence of earlier practices. Material and experiential evidence from years of archival and library research is used to frame the study’s questions about conflict, clanship, and governance.","PRACTICING STALINISM  \nThis page intentionally left blank  \nPRACTICING STALINISM  \nBOLSHEVIKS, BOYARS,  \nAND THE PERSISTENCE  \nOF TRADITION  \nJ . A R C H G E T T Y  \nNew Haven and London  \nPublished with assistance from the Louis Stern Memorial Fund.  \nCopyright © 2013 by Yale University.  \nAll rights reserved.  \nThis book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.  \nYale University Press books may be purchased in quantity for educational, business, or promotional use. For information, [please e-mail sales.press@yale.edu](please e-mail sales.press@yale.edu) ([U.S. office](U.S. office)) or sales @[yaleup.co.uk](yaleup.co.uk) ([U.K. office](U.K. office)).  \nSet in Sabon type by Westchester Book Group, Danbury, Connecticut.  \nPrinted in the United States of America.  \nLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data  \nGetty, J. Arch (John Arch), 1950–, author.  \nPracticing Stalinism : Bolsheviks, boyars, and the persistence of tradition / J. Arch Getty.  \npages ; cm  \nIncludes bibliographical references and index.  \nISBN 978-0-300-16929-4 (cloth : alkaline paper) 1. Politics, Practical—Soviet Union. 2. Politics, Practical—Social aspects—Soviet Union. 3. Soviet Union—Politics and government—1917–1936. 4. Soviet Union—Politics and government— 1936–1953. 5. Kommunisticheskaia partiia Sovetskogo Soiuza—Party work. I. Title. JN6581.G48 2013  \n324.247'07509041—dc23 2013000343  \nA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.  \nThis paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper) .  \n10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1  \nContents  \nPreface vii  \nAcknowledgments xiii  \nSoviet Organizational Acronyms and Abbreviations xv  \nNote on Transliteration and Party/Government Terms xvii  \nIntroduction 1  \n1. The Old and the New 25  \n2. Cults and Personalities, Politics and Bodies 67  \n3. The Party Personnel System: Upstairs at the  \nCentral Committee 96  \n4. The Party Personnel System: Downstairs at the  \nCentral Committee 122  \n5. Principled and Personal Conflicts 147  \n6. Stalin and the Clans I: The “King’s Men” 182  \n7. Stalin and the Clans II: Who Can Vote? Who Can Shoot? 206  \nvi Contents  \n8. Stalin and the Clans III: The Last Stand of the Clans 237  \nEpilogue. The New and the Old 269  \nNotes 293  \nIndex 351  \nPreface  \nFor more than twenty years I sat first in Soviet libraries and then in Soviet and Russian archives studying the political history of Stalin’s time. As was common at that time, I was trained in “Soviet studies” by a few historians and several political scientists. My peers and I cut our teeth on Merle Fainsod’s How Russia Is Ruled, and we knew everything there was to know about the hierarchical pyramids and structures of the “pattern of political controls.” Although my intellectual path eventually led me to reject much of the totalitarian approach of such works, I remained convinced that there was a modern rational structure to Stalinist and Soviet power and that understanding the organization and interaction of institutions could reveal that structure, much as it could for Western countries and my native USA.  \nI visited Russia every year from 1987 and, like a good political historian, I assiduously pored through Soviet books, journals, newspapers, and eventually archives looking for the keys to this strange but recognizably modern society. The research difficulties we faced in those early years at the hands of hostile archivists, discouraging rules, pointless surveillance, and restrictions on access to materials brought the well-known forbidding power of ubiquitous Soviet bureaucracy home to us every day. For those of us studying politics, that seemed to provide a daily confirmation of the importance of understanding the history of that bureaucracy.  \nviii Preface  \nBut for ma","cbCaig2PQTUc92qi","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaig2PQTUc92qi","pdf",1159000,4,1,379,"English","en",105,"# Preface\n# Introduction\n# The Old and the New\n# Cults and Personalities, Politics and Bodies\n# The Party Personnel System: Upstairs at the Central Committee\n# The Party Personnel System: Downstairs at the Central Committee\n# Principled and Personal Conflicts\n# Stalin and the Clans I: The “King’s Men”\n# Stalin and the Clans II: Who Can Vote? Who Can Shoot?\n# Stalin and the Clans III: The Last Stand of the Clans\n# Epilogue. The New and the Old\n# Notes\n# Index","[{\"question\":\"What central focus does the book place on Stalinist power?\",\"answer\":\"The study emphasizes how Stalinist authority was organized and operated through institutional interactions, personnel systems, and the way older traditions persisted within Soviet governance.\"},{\"question\":\"How is the party personnel system analyzed?\",\"answer\":\"It is examined across two levels of the Central Committee—“Upstairs” and “Downstairs”—to show how appointments and control worked in practice.\"},{\"question\":\"What role do informal networks and social groups play in the book’s perspective?\",\"answer\":\"The author highlights learning about “clans” and informal favors, arguing that these everyday connections helped individuals navigate scarcity and also influenced how power and influence functioned.\"}]",1783052494,584,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":85,"head_meta":87,"extra_data":89,"updated_unix":28},"practicing-stalinism-bolsheviks-boyars-and-the-persistence-of-tradition","",{"@graph":36,"@context":84},[37,52,67],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/practicing-stalinism-bolsheviks-boyars-and-the-persistence-of-tradition/37568/",{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":53,"author":54,"headline":13,"publisher":56,"fileFormat":59,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":60,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":59,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":55},"Person",{"url":41,"name":57,"@type":58},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-07","2026-07-03",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"What central focus does the book place on Stalinist power?","Question",{"text":74,"@type":75},"The study emphasizes how Stalinist authority was organized and operated through institutional interactions, personnel systems, and the way older traditions persisted within Soviet governance.","Answer",{"name":77,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":78},"How is the party personnel system analyzed?",{"text":79,"@type":75},"It is examined across two levels of the Central Committee—“Upstairs” and “Downstairs”—to show how appointments and control worked in practice.",{"name":81,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":82},"What role do informal networks and social groups play in the book’s perspective?",{"text":83,"@type":75},"The author highlights learning about “clans” and informal favors, arguing that these everyday connections helped individuals navigate scarcity and also influenced how power and influence functioned.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":86,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":57,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":88,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":91},[92,96,99,103,108,113,118,123,128,131,135],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},80,"literature",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":104,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]