When Mikhail Gorbachev took the helm of the Soviet Union in March 1985, he began the process of introducing reforms such as glasnost, perestroika, and democratization in the Soviet Union. the Soviet system. Glasnost, or openness, encouraged the free flow of ideas and information, but this flow came at the price of making many people lose their fear of the Communist Party. Perestroika, or economic restructuring, was designed to jump-start the flagging Soviet economy by injecting a small amount of capitalism into the Soviet planned economy; however, that small decline only served to destabilize the economy and create further stagnation. Ultimately, democratization pushed the USSR in a more democratic direction by allowing elections with more candidates, but this shift to a new course ultimately helped to overthrow the Soviet government and power structure. Taken together, these and other political changes instituted by Gorbachev helped bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1985, not long after taking office as General Secretary of the Communist Party and leader of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev unveiled a policy known as glasnost, or openness. This policy was designed to encourage a greater flow of information and ideas within the Soviet Union in order to revive the dead Soviet society and rejuvenate the failing Soviet economy. This policy arose from Gorbachev's belief that any significant social or economic reform could not take place in the totalitarian Soviet state that encouraged closed lips. The immediate goals of this policy were achieved without serious problems, as demonstrated by the media that began to scrutinize and even criticize public officials, the government that began to reveal some truths of Soviet history, and the people that began... paper.. .the government's iron control over the Soviet people. With these and other factors cooperating inside and outside the Soviet Union, the USSR had no choice but to collapse, as it did so spectacularly in the early 1990s. Works Cited Beck, Roger B. "Ch. 35 Sec. 3." Interaction models of world history. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2007. 1046-047. Print.Cayton, Andrew RL, Elisabeth I. Perry, Linda Reed, and Allan M. Winkler. "Ch. 33 Sec. 3." America: Paths to the Present. Needham, MA: Prentice Hall, 2003. 1112-113. Print.Heuvel, Katrina V. and Stephen F. Cohen. "Gorbachev in 1989." The nation. Network. November 26, 2011. .Rempel, Gerhard. "Gorbachev and Perestroika." WNEC STAFF/FACULTY HOME PAGES. February 2, 1996. Web. November 26. 2011. .