Personally I think no matter who it was any deviation from the institutional norm of the buerucratic oligarchy to a genuine worker democracy was doomed to fail. That the moment the Soviet people where given their self determination they would look to walk away since the USSR had just been nothing but a boot on their neck.
There were certainly periods when genuine enthusiasm for the Soviet Union - or hope for what it could be, at least - did express itself. And people are willing to endure a lot, so long as they still have hope.
But given the downturn of the 70s, the deteriorating situation of the 80s, and the sudden revelation by glastnost that capitalist countries were actually living much freer and materially better lives and that the Soviet structure was (as ordinary Soviet citizens suspected, but none of them could previously prove) mega-fucked, there was no hope left.
Personally I think no matter who it was any deviation from the institutional norm of the buerucratic oligarchy to a genuine worker democracy was doomed to fail. That the moment the Soviet people where given their self determination they would look to walk away since the USSR had just been nothing but a boot on their neck.
There were certainly periods when genuine enthusiasm for the Soviet Union - or hope for what it could be, at least - did express itself. And people are willing to endure a lot, so long as they still have hope.
But given the downturn of the 70s, the deteriorating situation of the 80s, and the sudden revelation by glastnost that capitalist countries were actually living much freer and materially better lives and that the Soviet structure was (as ordinary Soviet citizens suspected, but none of them could previously prove) mega-fucked, there was no hope left.