PREFACE<br >The first edition of this work， which appeared in 1971， was well<br >received， and I have sought to improve it by adding a number of new<br >or enlarged sections. My aim has been to provide a reasonably thor-<br >ough but relatively brief general exposition and discussion of Soviet<br >politics. I have attempted to provide an essentially eclectic approach<br >to the subject， emphasizing institutional structures， functional<br >analysis， the nature of the Soviet leadership， the principal components<br >of Soviet political life， and the definition of the major problems con-<br >fronting the Soviet polity. I have also sought to convey something of its<br >ethos and have endeavored to deal with the question of the Soviet<br >political culture. An effort has been made to enable the reader to relate<br >the Soviet polity to other political systems--especially in Chapter 12，<br >where six relevant systemic models are analyzed and compared.<br > Where possible and relevant I have attempted to treat the Soviet<br >polity in terms of problems and issues that are comparable to those<br >confronted by other political systems. However， I have eschewed the<br >ix<br >