is no evidence that the distribution of power among 

 the central agencies concerned with administering R&D 

 has changed significantly during the last 10 years. 

 At the performing level, on the other hand, consider- 

 able experimentation and some change have taken place 

 in the organization of R&D in this interval. In gen- 

 eral, though, institutional continuity and stability 

 have been distinct hallmarks of Soviet science and 

 technology. 



At the same time, science analysts and political 

 leaders in Moscow have begun increasingly to take a 

 second look at basic organizational approaches in re- 

 sponse to complaints that R&D institutions suffer 

 from too much stability, that they have become struc- 

 turally rigid and unresponsive to changing conditions 

 and new demands. Subsequently, some efforts are un- 

 derway to create new, or at least modified, institu- 

 tional arrangements and more effective organizational 

 forms linking and integrating the innovation process. 

 We return to a discussion of these contemporary or- 

 ganizational issues in the final part of this study. 



For the moment, our task is to present the formal 

 organizational chart and to outline the main entities 

 managing and supporting Soviet research and develop- 

 ment. This panoramic sketch helps orient subsequent 

 discussions of the formulation and implementation of 

 R&D plans. The latter, in turn, provide explanations 

 of the terminology employed in the brief descriptions 

 of the roles of the participating organizations. 



THE TOP GOVERNING MACHINERY 



All threads of decision making in science policy, 

 as in other major issue areas, come together at the 

 peak of the Soviet political pyramid. Though power 

 tends to be highly concentrated, there is, even at 

 the top, structural and functional differentiation, 

 which is reflected in separate institutions charged 

 with executive, legislative, and administrative func- 



22 



