Which among the following statements are correct about the reasons for disintegration of the Soviet Union?

(A) The internal weaknesses of the Soviet political and economic institutions.
(B) Economic progress led to consumer surplus and large section of Soviet society accepted the system openly.
(C) The Soviet Union became stagnant in an administrative and political sense.
(D) The unwillingness to allow more openness in government and the centralisation of authority lacked popular backing.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

(A), (C) and (D) only

The correct answer is Option (3) → (A), (C) and (D) only

(A) The internal weaknesses of the Soviet political and economic institutions. (Correct). The Soviet economy was a planned economy that was highly inefficient and technologically stagnant, leading to shortages of consumer goods and poor living standards. The political system was authoritarian and corrupt, lacking popular support.
(B) Economic progress led to consumer surplus and large section of Soviet society accepted the system openly. (Incorrect)  because the Soviet economy did not achieve consumer surplus; instead, it suffered from chronic shortages of consumer goods, which created public dissatisfaction.
(C) The Soviet Union became stagnant in an administrative and political sense. (Correct). The Communist Party had ruled for 70 years and was highly centralized and bureaucratic. There was a lack of accountability and a widespread sense of political paralysis.
(D) The unwillingness to allow more openness in government and the centralisation of authority lacked popular backing. (Correct). The Soviet system's lack of transparency and its highly centralized, one-party rule were major grievances for the people, who desired more freedom and participation. Gorbachev's reforms of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) were an attempt to address these very issues but they ultimately accelerated the system's collapse.