In Stalin's USSR, that was not true. Generally there were folks (or even a lone soul) in every village answering to the state, expected to keep that area toeing

In Stalin's USSR, that was not true. Generally there were folks (or even a lone soul) in every village answering to the state, expected to keep that area toeing the party line. Absurd meetings on party ideology would be held in the most remote of places, with a close eye kept on those who could be some threat to the state. The Gulag Archipelago, Vol 2 discusses the intersection of the surveillance state and everyday life at length.