Changing requirements for the training of party and Soviet personnel in the USSR in the period of “developed socialism” (based on the materials of the Leningrad higher party school)

The study is aimed at expanding the knowledge available in Russian history about the requirements for the training of party and Soviet personnel in the period of “developed socialism”. The author introduces into scientific circulation a number of archival documents, analyzes them in the context of historical events and offers new interpretations of the history of Party and Soviet cadres training in Leningrad. The research problem is to theoretically justify and interpret the extended basis of the functioning of the Soviet nomenklatura, which was formed by the higher party schools through the system of ideas about the requirements for students and graduates. The study relies on the methodology of theoretical analysis by M. Voslensky and historiographical analysis of archival documents of the Leningrad Higher Party School, which have not been previously studied in the domestic literature. The main conclusion of the study is that party schools in the period of “developed socialism” emphasized the formation of ideologically loyal nomenklatura workers, often to the detriment of the development of their potential managerial qualities. The requirements for students and graduates of Party schools did not meet the needs of Soviet society and did not provide an opportunity to improve the efficiency of party-state governance of the country.