OCEAN POLICYMAKING IN THE SOVIET UNION: 
BUREAUCRATIC INTERESTS AND INTERACTION 
(By Terese Sulikowski'!) 
SUMMARY 
The theory and formal organization of the Communist Party of 
the Soviet Union and the Soviet government provide for and even 
require unified policy on ocean affairs and on any major issue. A 
hierarchical policymaking structure is set up to consider the multiple 
components of ocean policy, such as naval, merchant shipping, fishing, 
offshore mining, scientific research, and water pollution aspects. 
Ideologically, the principles of party primacy and democratic central- 
ism are maintained. The party is the authoritative source of values. 
The government has the legal powers for enforcement, and the minis- 
tries manage their respective fields. This formal centralization and 
coordination of Soviet ocean policy differs sharply from that of the 
United States or any Western nation. The interplay of interests and 
promotion of individual or group goals is officially denied in the 
Soviet Union. 
However, the actual organization of Soviet ocean policymaking and 
the bureaucratic operations involved in ocean uses are far from 
unified, centralized, or coordinated. The decisionmaking behind ocean 
policy is fragmented with various institutions commanding marginal 
spheres of authority. The role of the party directive has been 
degraded. The need for technical knowledge and expertise is very 
evident in ocean affairs. Most ocean issues in the Soviet Union have 
not been crisis issues and are resolved through the standard operating 
procedures of the bureaucracy. Policies are frequently the result of 
bureaucratic infighting or of institutions’ independent and uncoor- 
dinated activities. 
Usually, by the time ocean issues as major policy matters reach 
the top policymaking levels in the party, their parameters are drawn 
and the choices defined. Policy debates are allowed to take place, 
though at times they are settled by the intervention of the top leader- 
ship. Admiral Gorshkov, for example, was permitted in the early 
1970’s to argue for and against established policies; whereas 
Khrushchev removed the Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Kuznet- 
sov because he argued against naval cutbacks. Similarly, Sholokhoff, 
a famous writer, participated in a public environmentalist attack 
against the Minister of Fisheries in 1966 for his role in the pollution 
of Lake Baikal. Even where the party does act to issue guidelines 
or directives, the results may be ambiguous. Implementation is often 
the heart of the policymaking process. 
‘The author is a Visiting Scholar at The Brookings Institution. This paper is based upon her doc- 
toral dissertation for the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. 
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