There is no democracy, nor can there be, without glasnost.
Meaning
Gorbachev wrote that open discussion and honest information were the base of any real democracy. Glasnost meant letting citizens see problems and criticize those in power. The same holds in everyday settings: a team, club or family only governs itself well when people can speak plainly and hear uncomfortable facts.
Source: Perestroika: New Thinking For Our Country and the World (1987)
About the author
Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022) was the last leader of the Soviet Union, serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1985 to 1991. His reforms of glasnost and perestroika helped end the Cold War, and he received the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize.
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