Political Stagnation
Brezhnev's policy of restoration led to political stagnation.
Gerontocracy
Government officials stayed in their jobs for many years, sometimes for life.
Young people did not take on government jobs, so the average age of state employees went up.
1964-71: Only two new members of the Politburo. Its average age was 75 in 1982.
People joked that the government had become a "gerontocracy" - a ruling class of old people.
Aging and inefficiency
Older officials became increasingly inefficient.
There were few opportunities for promotion. This was bad for motivating workers.
There was no incentive to work hard.
Corruption
With little opportunity to progress, some public officials turned to corruption.
One way to do this was by selling goods.
Brezhnev himself was involved in corruption with luxury goods.
His daughter Galina Brezhneva was able to get hold of diamonds. Her lover smuggled the diamonds out of the Soviet Union.
No more revolution
The government no longer had a utopian vision as it had done under the USSR's previous leaders.
Brezhnev no longer persuaded people to work hard to reach socialism.
He only encouraged revolution in other countries.
People were angry that corruption was such a big problem, even after socialism had supposedly been reached.