The change of leadership in 1964 made it possible to mitigate the excesses that were characteristic of Khrushchev's policy. There came a period of moderate politics, lasting almost twenty years, which was called the "era of Brezhnev stagnation."
The policy of the new leader was sustained in the same vein of the "demobilization program", in which the main emphasis was placed on a shift towards tolerance and an increase in the well-being of the country.
However, the general state doctrine of economic liberalization has not been developed. In 1965, reform in the economic and social sphere was initiated and started, the emphasis was placed on commodity-money relations, and profit was considered as criteria for the effectiveness of enterprises. This meant a rejection of the fundamental principles of Soviet economy formulated by Stalin. But the economic system did not respond to innovations as expected. Orientation to profit caused an increase in prices, so in order to avoid the collapse of the economy, it was decided to temporarily abandon this line of development.
The economy of the USSR, however, during this period was developing quite rapidly. The main indicators of life of people and the country as a whole have improved. The era of stagnation is a time of large-scale road and housing construction. Everyday life of people in the city has reached a modern level, and in the village it has improved significantly.
Unified transport and energy systems were created, large poultry farms were built to solve the problem of protein in the diet, soil conditions (liming and irrigation) were improved, and extensive forest plantations were carried out. The state apparatus and the economy were saturated with qualified personnel, the demographic situation became stable (there was a constant population growth). The era of stagnation became a time for the USSR when it turned into a self-sufficient country that was able to provide itself with all the basic resources for a long time.
In order to reliably ensure proper nutrition of all citizens in 1982, the "Food Program" was adopted, which was well implemented according to real indicators.
In 1977, a new Constitution was adopted, proclaiming the Soviet state nationwide. The dictatorship of the proletariat officially ended. The Constitution secured the Supreme Council of the USSR the right to be called the supreme authority. New types of civil rights were introduced: housing and health. The document also stated that justice in the country can be carried out only by the court.
It was the era of stagnation that made the USSR a union federal state (as was officially prescribed in the documents). The Union republics retained the right of free exit from the federation. Nevertheless, the concept of "Soviet people" continued to exist in the official language.
The years 1965-1985 are a period of prosperity in the history of the USSR, a real “era of stagnation” - a time when, despite a number of existing turmoil and minor problems, life was calm and confident in the future. However, the Soviet system was slowly responding to the challenges of our time, poorly responding to the new needs of the urban population. Toward the mid-80s, the gap between the Soviet system of life and the new social type, which became the objective cause of growing discontent, was clearly marked.
At the same time, a general feeling of trouble was brewing. The obvious symptoms of this were the spread of alcoholism, vagrancy, petty corruption, bureaucratic arbitrariness. The intelligentsia gradually shifted to anti-Soviet positions (dissidents).
The crisis and planned economy were going through. The economy of the USSR needed to use a spontaneous regulator, which was the free market.
The state system has ceased to be holistic, it has begun to fall apart into a number of subsystems (departmentalism). This led to the division of the people into groups and corporations. The state gradually became less and less Soviet. The stagnation in the USSR was to be replaced by a new order.