A dissident, broadly defined,'s a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When individual dissidents unite in a common cause they may become known as a dissident movement. The noun was first used in the political sense in 1940, with rise of totalitarian systems, in particular to the Soviet Union. Soviet dissidents The term dissident was used in the Soviet Union during the period of 1965–1985, including Brezhnev stagnation, for citizens who overtly (… (More on Dissidents)