perestroika Table of Contents Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics Images & Videos Related Questions Who was Mikhail Gorbachev? How did Mikhail Gorbachev become president of the Soviet Union? What is Mikhail Gorbachev known for? What did Mikhail Gorbachev do after the fall of the Soviet Union? Why is Vladimir Putin still in power? Read Next Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse? 25th Anniversary of the End of the Soviet Union Timeline of the 1990s “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!”: Reagan’s Berlin Speech Pro and Con: Cancel Culture Discover The Top COVID-19 Vaccine Myths Spreading Online Why New York Is Called "The Big Apple" and How 8 Other Famous Cities Got Their Nicknames Titanosaurs: 8 of the World's Biggest Dinosaurs How Did the Rainbow Flag Become a Symbol of LGBTQ Pride? Estimated Battle Casualties During the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944 12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written” 6 of the First Women to Become Heads of State Contents Politics, Law & Government Politics & Political Systems perestroika Soviet government policy Actions Cite verified Cite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/perestroika-Soviet-government-policy Give Feedback External Websites Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. External Websites Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine - Perestroika Foundation for Economic Education - Why Perestroika Failed Trinity College Dublin - Perestroika Alpha History - Glasnost and Perestroika GlobalSecurity.org - Perestroika Seventeen Moments in Soviet History - Perestroika and Glasnost Academia - Glasnos't' and perestroika BBC News - Perestroika: Reform that changed the world Econlib - Perestroika Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. perestroika - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) Print Cite verified Cite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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External Websites Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine - Perestroika Foundation for Economic Education - Why Perestroika Failed Trinity College Dublin - Perestroika Alpha History - Glasnost and Perestroika GlobalSecurity.org - Perestroika Seventeen Moments in Soviet History - Perestroika and Glasnost Academia - Glasnos't' and perestroika BBC News - Perestroika: Reform that changed the world Econlib - Perestroika Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. perestroika - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Jun 8, 2024 ? Article History Table of Contents postage stamp commemorating perestroika See all media Russian: “restructuring” (Show more) Key People: Vladimir Putin Mikhail Gorbachev Yevgeny Primakov Nikolai Ryzhkov (Show more) On the Web: Trinity College Dublin - Perestroika (June 08, 2024) (Show more) See all related content → Mikhail Gorbachev's legacy: What are glasnost and perestroika? Learn about the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev, his policies of glasnost and perestroika, and the end of the Soviet Union. (more) See all videos for this article perestroika , program instituted in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid-1980s to restructure Soviet economic and political policy. Seeking to bring the Soviet Union up to economic par with capitalist countries such as Germany, Japan, and the United States , Gorbachev decentralized economic controls and encouraged enterprises to become self-financing. The economic bureaucracy , fearing the loss of its power and privileges, obstructed much of his program, however. Gorbachev also proposed reducing the direct involvement of the Communist Party leadership in the country’s governance and increasing the local governments’ authority. In 1988 a new parliament, the Soviet Congress of People’s Deputies, was created. Similar congresses were established in each Soviet republic as well. For the first time, elections to these bodies presented voters with a choice of candidates, including noncommunists, though the Communist Party continued to dominate the system. ( See also glasnost .) The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn .