The USSR remained politically and socially stable in the years 1964 to 1982 despite the policies of the Brezhnev era.' How far would you agree with this view?

During the Brehznev era, there was a huge deterioration of the economic capacity of Russia, marked by food shortage, lack of agricultural produce, antiquity of Russian production system etc. Inspite of such a terrible position of the economy, there was no sign of  political and social instability. Brehznev did not take any initiative in bringing about a reform in the policy, but was rather persuaded by following the same policies established by Khrushchev. But his government was very intolerant to any criticism or dissent that could threaten stability of the system. Independent thinking was stifled to a great extent and keeping the nomenklatura (ruling state elite and bureaucrats) happy was the prime concern of his government. Due to these stances, no dissent in the society was voiced during his regime.

Topics: GS-I: World Wars, Cold War and Other Major Events of 20th Century