Below this top governing structure, on a second 

 level, are the specialized and relatively autonomous 

 "product" divisions and "line" agencies which are re- 

 sponsible for directing all activities of a collec- 

 tion of performing establishments which operate in a 

 particular area. In the Soviet context there are 

 three such major divisions or institutional subsys- 

 tems. Each tends to concentrate on specific stages 

 of the R&D process. Academies of sciences special- 

 ize in basic research while industrial branch minis- 

 tries focus on applied research, design, development, 

 and production assimilation. The Ministry of Higher 

 and Specialized Secondary Education constitutes the 

 third performing network and includes universities 

 and independent R&D facilities. Such organizations 

 engage in fundamental or applied research, depending 

 upon the orientation of the facility or individual 

 researcher. Finally, at the base of the structure 

 are the individual units which actually conduct re- 

 search, development, education, and production ac- 

 tivities. 



At each level operating policy tends to be set 

 with the direct or indirect participation of the 

 functional agencies in their respective domains. The 

 nature and role(s) of pertinent specific or generic 

 types of organs noted in Figure 9-1 are described 

 briefly in the following discussion. 



To be sure, the highly centralized pattern of or- 

 ganization and conduct of R&D is the most distinctive 

 feature of Soviet science policy. This characteris- 

 tic also clearly distinguishes the Kremlin's approach 

 from the American format. However, our understanding 

 of the basic functioning and fundamental problems of 

 scientific R&D in the USSR will be imperfect if we 

 see only the dominant hierarchical lines of the for- 

 mal organizational blueprint. 



Though strongly centralized, the Soviet system is 

 far from being a monolith. The institutional world 

 of R&D is, indeed, a highly complex and compartmen- 

 talized structure. Power is dispersed and authority 

 is divided among a myriad of organizational centers. 



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