Russian Reform And Economics: The Last Quarter Of The 20th Century :: essays research papers fc

Russian Reform and Economics: The Last Quarter of the 20th Century Outline Thesis: As the reformation of the USSR was becoming a reality, Russia's economy was crumbling beneath it. Russia began its economic challenge of perestroika in the 1980's. The Russian people wanted economic security and freedom, while the government was trying to obtain democracy. The previous management styles needed to be changed along with the way that most businesses in Russia operated. I. Reformation of USSR A. The change from communism to democracy. B. The change in government has had a great effect on the Russian people and workers. C. The reformation left the Russian economy upside down. II. Post-Reform economy versus Pre-Reform economy. A. There were many steps in the reformation of the economy. B. What are some of the effects of a reforming economy? C. There are many changes that are still needed in order for the Russian economy to grow. III. What will be the future of Russia's Economy? Main Body As the reformation of the USSR was becoming a reality, Russia's economy was crumbling beneath it. Russia began its economic challenge of perestroika in the 1980's. The Russian people wanted economic security and freedom, while the government was trying to obtain democracy. The previous management styles needed to be changed along with the way that most businesses in Russia operated. The Russian Federation consists of 17,075,400 square km, which is roughly 76.2 percent of the former USSR, and covers about 12 percent of the earth's land surface. The Russian Federation's population in 1991 was 147.3 million (Smith, A., 7). During the 1980's the Russian government started a reformation process called "perestroika," meaning restructuring (Aganbegyan, 1). Perestroika signifies qualitative changes and transformation in the government and in the economy. The four stages of perestroika are the "Preliminary stage (March 1985- February 1986)," the "Stabilizing stage (March 1986 - January 1987)," the "Expansive stage (January - November 1987)," and the "Regrouping stage (November 1987 onwards)" (Hill & Dellenbrant, 140). The government also identified two other processes. "Glasnost," which means openness, supported the strong economic reform (Aganbegyan, 1; Hill & Dellenbrant, 54). The acceleration of economic reform was called "uskorenie" (Aganbegyan, 1). Many changes took place during the years contained in each of the stages of perestroika. This changes ranged from government policies and structure to industrial production procedures to economic policies. The major change came in 1991 with the breakup of USSR. This freed the individual states and allowed them to become independent countries. All of these new countries went through radical government changes. Many of them, including Russia, chose to implement democracy. This change from a central military based structure into democracy