Introduction: The legal impact of modernization in the USSR

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book outlines the importation of techniques of sociological jurisprudence by the Soviet Union from the West via Poland and the revolution wrought in Poland when popular organizations were able to gain access to the mass media for exchanging information. It describes the crash program for the development of an institutional structure capable of supporting nationwide computerized information network. The book discusses the restructuring of foreign trade institutions and the broadening of the circles with access to information on foreign trade transactions. It shows that the beginning of an awareness of the necessity of including the costs associated with safety and the risks of catastrophe in calculating the comparative advantage of nuclear energy. The book provides a nascent awareness of the importance of environmental quality controls, and realization that it may be worth trading some growth in industrial output for better environmental quality.