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Abstract

This paper covers the rise, fall, and ultimate destruction of the twin policies of Glasnost and Perestroika in Russia as they existed under the regimes of Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin. After ascending to the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to liberalize the USSR through his policies of Glasnost and Perestroika. While these policies were not always followed under Gorbachev, it is clear that they were relatively successful at creating a freer society and state. However, these policies began to whither under Yeltsin, as the state, particularly the office of President, began to amass greater power alongside a society which saw the slow encroachment of censorship. Finally, Glasnost and Perestroika would perish under Vladimir Putin with his monopoly on state power accompanied by the full return of state censorship.

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