Perestroika

Perestroika is the Russian term for ‘restructuring’. This term was introduced, along with Glasnost, as a policy in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s by Mikhail Gorbachev, who called for reformation within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Perestroika allowed more independent actions from various ministries within the CPSU as well as introducing some market-like reforms. Perestroika also attempted to make socialism show more economic efficiency in order to meet the needs of the Soviet consumer. Ultimately it has been said to have, along with Glasnost, exacerbated existing political, social and economic tensions within the Soviet Union in the late 1980s.