Work with party personnel in the second half of the 1980s (based on the materials of the Penza region)

The subject of the study is the system of training party personnel in the Penza organization of the CPSU. A brief overview of domestic and foreign historiography on the issue under study is given. The author's special attention is drawn to the fact that in order to successfully solve the tasks of "perestroika" to improve the socialist state, new knowledge and skills were required from party workers to work effectively in conditions of democratization of Soviet society and glasnost while maintaining control from party organizations. Whereas the majority of Soviet party leaders continued to act with the usual "stagnant" methods, which did not correspond not only to the appeals proclaimed from the rostrums of party forums (for example, the January 1987 plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the XIX All-Union Party Conference), but also did not meet the demands of workers on the ground. The study was conducted on the basis of generalization and analysis of materials from the State Archive of the Penza region – funds of the Penza Regional Committee of the CPSU, the Kuznetsk City Party Committee). The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time the reasons and prerequisites for changing the personnel policy of the CPSU at the regional level are considered – on the example of the Penza region. Innovative forms are being introduced into political practice: the election of senior staff on a competitive basis, discussion of candidates in grassroots collectives, changes in the principles of forming a personnel reserve, etc. The development of the system of training and advanced training of Soviet party workers (courses, universities of the appropriate profile, reserve schools, conferences, etc.) continued. Nevertheless, the sociological 1989 survey in Kuznetsk showed the obvious dissatisfaction of ordinary citizens with the processes of democratization and glasnost in the region, the inability of the Kuznetsk Party organization to lead the necessary renewal of party life and the socio-economic situation at that time.

USSR, CPSU, Marxism-Leninism, perestroika, democratization, glasnost, personnel, advanced training, regional party committee, Penza region