TRANSFORMATION OF THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM IN THE KAZAKH SSR IN THE 1960S: HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE AND CONTRADICTIONS OF THE SOVNARKHOZ REFORM

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comprehensive historical and political analysis of the transformation of the industrial and construction management system in the Kazakh SSR in the 1960s–1970s. The focus is on the sovnarkhoz (Councils of National Economy) reform, which represented a massive attempt to decentralize and transition from strict sectoral management to territorial management. The article examines the processes of creation and functioning of the Councils of National Economy, their dual nature, and the political and economic contradictions that arose in the relations between the republican administrative apparatus and the Moscow union center. The author highlights the positive impact of the reform on the regional development of Kazakhstan, the expansion of its economic rights and autonomy, while also revealing the resulting problem of "localism" and bureaucratic barriers. Furthermore, the reasons for the union center's termination of decentralization in 1965, due to the fear of losing control, and the restoration of the former system of sectoral ministries, are analyzed in depth. It is consistently substantiated how this reversal influenced the shift of Kazakhstan's economy towards a raw-material orientation, the slowdown of development rates, and the onset of the latent crisis of the administrative-command system during the era of "developed socialism" (1970s). The article is based on the principles of historicism, scientific objectivity, and a systematic approach, drawing extensively on legislative acts, archival documents, and modern historiographical sources.