Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev became the Communist Party General Secretary. He was elected by popular choice .The last three leaders before him were all elderly, sick, old-school communists. All three of them ruled to their deaths. Gorbachev, at the age of 54, was younger and fitter. He was more suitable for the job. He spoke about change for the Soviet Union.
He introduced two Russian words to the SU international vocabulary: "perestroika", meaning restructuring, and "glasnost", meaning openness. Both concepts were revolutionary in Soviet terms, until now the system has been at a standstill and closed. Gorbachev idea of glasnot ended the totalitarian government that was established by the past leaders and made the government open. People had the freedom to say what was on there mind to make the country better. This glasnost system allowed churches to become open again, libraries could print banned books, and reporters had the right to freedom of speech. They could publicly view there thoughts and critize the government. Under his policy of perestoika mangers were allowed to rein freely over their farms and factories. Civilians were able to open there own small businesses. Before perestokia people were demotivated because no matter how productive they were they still weren't making enough money. But this policy helped to make the country more efficient.
