It surely depends on the time and the country, but for late 80s in Poland this stuff was available to regular party people, not “elite”. Party membership essen

It surely depends on the time and the country, but for late 80s in Poland this stuff was available to regular party people, not “elite”. Party membership essentially meant you had to sign up and then avoid conflicts with the law and not get drunk too often, and that’s pretty much it. The party membership was less about party in a western, political sense, and more like being a good Boy Scout. I believe that’s also what party membership means today in China. (Disclaimer: my grandpa was a party member, he managed local part of the polish power grid.)