Dissolution of the Soviet Union new policy of "demokratizatsiya" throughout Soviet society. He proposed that future Communist Party elections should offer a choice between multiple candidates, elected by secret ballot. However, the CPSU delegates at the Plenum watered down Gorbachev's proposal, and democratic choice within the Communist Party was never significantly implemented. Gorbachev also radically expanded the scope of "Glasnost", stating that no subject was off-limits for open discussion in the media. Even so, the cautious Soviet intelligentsia took almost a year to begin pushing the boundaries to see if he meant what he said. For the first time, the Communist Party leader had appealed
The Age of Openness Journalist Jonathan Fenby argues that while Dikötter sometimes built his cases on fragile foundations, he nevertheless ""marshals a good case that China in this period was much more vibrant, innovative and open than has been generally supposed."" The Age of Openness The Age of Openness: China Before Mao is a 2008 book by historian Frank Dikötter. It provides an account of the Republican era of Chinese history, spanning from the early 20th century to the Communist Party takeover in 1949. In it, Dikötter describes a period of unprecedented openness during which China was actively pursuing engagement with the world, as