Revised 6-26-11
AP Comparative Gov’t Term Lists
China
1. Autonomous region: in the People’s Republic of China, a territorial unit equivalent to a province that contains a large concentration of ethnic minorities. These regions have some autonomy in the cultural sphere but in most policy matters are strictly subordinate to the central government
2. Communist party-state: cadres may or may not be Communist Party members
3. Communism: a system of social organization based on the common ownership and coordination of production. According to Marxism (the theory of German philosopher Karl Marx, 1818-1883) communism is a culminating stage of history, following capitalism and socialism. In historical practice, leaders of China, the Soviet Union, and other states that have proclaimed themselves seeking to achieve communism have ruled through a single party, the Communist Party, which has controlled the state and society in an authoritarian manner, and have applied Marxism-Leninism to justify their rule.
4. Confucianism: a social philosophy based on the teachings of the Chinese sage Confucius (c, 551-479 B.C.) that emphasized social harmony, righteous behavior towards others, and deference to one’s superiors. Confucianism remains a major source of cultural values in the countries of East Asia, including China and Japan.
5. Dual Rule: a system of administration used in China (adapted from the Soviet Union) that places a government body under the authority of both a higher-level.
6. Four Cardinal Principles: First enunciated by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979 asserting that all policies should be judged by whether they uphold the socialist road, the dictatorship of the proletariat, the leadership of the Communist Party, and Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought. The main purpose of the Four Cardinal Principles was to proscribe any challenge to the ultimate authority of the Chinese Communist Party, even during a time of far-reacting economic reform. The Principles have been reaffirmed by Deng’s successors and continue to define the boundaries of hat is politically permissible in China.
7. Fulong Gong - a persecuted religious group that attacks communist party rule in China.
8. Great Leap Forward: a movement launched by Mao Zedong in 1958 to industrialize China by modeling Soviet development. The Leap fell short and ended with a catastrophic famine in 1960.
9. Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution: the political campaign launched in 1966 by Chairman Mao Zedong to stop what he saw as China’s drift away from socialism and toward capitalism. The campaign led to massive purges in the Chinese Communist Party, the widespread persecution of China’s intellectuals, and the destruction of invaluable cultural objects. The Cultural Revolution officially ended in 1976 after Mao’s death and the arrest of some of his most radical followers
10. Household Responsibility System: beginning in the early 1980’s, this system allowed individual farm families to define their own production goals based on profit rather than by government
11. Iron Rice Bowl: A feature of a socialist economy that provided guarantees of lifetime employment, income, and basic cradle to grave benefits to most urban and rural workers. Economic reforms began in the early 1980’s that were aimed at improving efficiency and work motivation sought to smash the iron rice bowl and link unemployment and income to individual effort
12. People’s Communes: large scale rural communities that were in charge of nearly all aspects of political, social, and economic life in the countryside from the late 1950’s until the early 80’s.
13. Social Democracy: or democratic centralism; The official view is that this type of system under the leadership of the Communist Party, provides democracy for the overwhelming majority…a true egalitarian society that benefits all
14. Command Socialism: China’s current economic system. It is meant to convey the mix of state control (socialism) and market forces (capitalism). The implication is that socialism will promote equality, while the profit motive will encourage people to work hard and for foreign companies to invest in China.
14. Three Principles: Zaing Zemin’s proposal to incorporate the Chinese “technocrat” into the Communist party.
15. Vanguard party: a political party that claims to operate in the “true” interests of the group or class it purports to represent, even if this understanding doesn’t correspond to the expressed interests of the group itself. The Communist parties of the Soviet Union and China are good examples of vanguard parties where they became the dictatorship of elite for their respective societies.
Russia
1. Autonomous republic: a territorial unit in the Soviet Union that was a member of the USSR They were populated by a large national (ethnic) of which it drew its name. They enjoyed little actual autonomy in the Soviet period. Upon the fall of the USSR, these republics became sovereign states within the Russian Federation.
2. Collectivization: Stalin in the late 1920s and early 1930s and in China under Mao in the 1950s, took over privatized agricultural land and turned them into State Owned Enterprises (SOE’s).
3. Command economy: a strict form of socialism where governmental decisions dominate the economy with a myriad of central planning institutions.
4. Democratic centralism: An organized state designed by Lenin to control all aspects of the political system. Discipline and adherence to party dogma is “central” to running the state organization .
5. demokratizatsia: the policy of democratization led by. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987 It was as an essential part of perestroika. The dictatorship of the elite was left behind in what eventually evolved into a multiparty state.
6. Federal system (state) A distribution of power between national and state governments, usually outlined in a formal document.
7. glasnost: Gorbachev’s policy of “openness” or “publicity” which mirrored Deng’s Democracy Movement of 1981.
8. Krai: one of six territorial units in the Russian Federation that lies in vastly unpopulated areas. . Its political status equals the Oblasts (non Russian territories) and became a member of the 89 member federation.
9. rule of law: a state where the law prevails without party interference; a fundamental principle of Gorbachev’s revolution.
10. Market reform: A move toward a capitalistic society in a democracy like Russia or a “market” initiative in a country like China, where a central party still dictates movement within the economy.
11. Marxism-Leninism: Marxism promotes the class struggle between workers and owners. Proletariat versus the bourgeoisies. `Lenin added the ingredients to how a central party would become a dictatorship of the elite and move the Marxist society along as a first step on the road to communism.
12. nomenklatura: The selection process for the chosen few who command the communist bureaucracy within communist party circles in Russia and China.
13. Okrug: one of ten territorial units of the Russian Federation that are defined by the constitution of 1993 to be among the eighty-nine members of the federation with a status equal to that f the republics, oblasts and krai.
14. Oligarchs: Russian Captains of Industry who wield tremendous economic power but politically have been cut off from political power by Vladimir Putin. Most seized power during the Shock therapy session of Yeltsin in the 1990.s
15. Perestroika a decentralization of economic decision making, that also encouraged a lessening of tensions with other adversarial nations including the United States.
16. Privatization voucher: a certificate worth 10,000 rubles issued by the government to each Russian citizen in 1992 to be used to purchase shares in state enterprises undergoing the process of privatization. Vouchers could also be sold for cast or disposed of through newly created investment funds.
17. proletariat: the industrial working class, under Marxist’s communist state.
18. Proportional representation (PR): Political representation is determined by party lists according to voting results..
19. Shock therapy: the state simultaneously imposing a wide range of radical economic changes, with the purpose of “shocking” the economy into a new mode of operation. Russia attempted this in the early 1990s and led to massive inflation and a ruble crisis.
20. Spontaneous privatization: a process that occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s in Russia which existing managers or ministry bureaucrats transformed promising state-owned enterprises into privatized entities in their own hands, without the existence of a clear legal framework for doing so.
21. Statist: the state takes control of all economic and social policy within a country.
Great Britain
1. Civil society: Voluntary associations outside the state governmental
2. Franchise: the right to vote which came to Britain in the mid 1800’s.
4. Fusion of powers: is a constitutional principle that merges the authority of the executive, legislative and even the judicial branches of government. This is in contrast to the separation of power principle. In Britain, for example, Parliament and the cabinet is the supreme legislative, and executive, authority and parliament can also assume the judicial capacity.
5. Import substituting industrialization (ISI): The domestic industries take over private development of goods and services that at one time were imported, increasing the drive to a market economy..
6. Legitimacy: According to a state’s citizens, the state has a rightful authority to exist.
7. Monetarism: The private sector will control the economic development of a country instead of the government’s attempt to pursue growth through increasing the debt load.
8. nongovernmental organization (NGO): a private group similar to a special interest group but takes on issues of an international level.
9. Parliamentary democracy: system of government in which the chief executive is answerable to the legislature and may be dismissed by it. Parliamentary democracy stands in contrast to a presidential system, in which the chief executive is elected in a national ballot and is independent of the legislative branch.
10. Parliamentary sovereignty: provides the sole initiative to keeping a government legitimate by extending votes of no confidence to undermine the legitimacy of the executive branch.
11. Quangos: quasi-nongovernmental organizations that influence policy making in numerous social arenas.
12. Single-member plurality (SMP) electoral system: The winning candidate attains the most votes (a plurality) in his district. A majority is not necessary to win the election..
13. Socialism: the state plays a major role in organizing the economy, with the public (state) owning the business. are publicly owned. Some economic sectors can be privately owned or managed.
14. Welfare state: are economic policies provided to benefit the masses, including education, and primarily health care
Mexico
1. Corporatist state: Business and labor interest groups become key players in making economic policy along with government.
2. Democratic corporatism: a set of institutions or forums that bring representatives from employers, trade unions, and government together to negotiate issues affecting workplaces, industry structure, and national economic policy.
3. Indigenous groups: Native Americans in Mexico.
4. Informal sector (economy): A Black market economy
5. Macquiadora: factories that produce goods for export, often located along the U.S.-Mexican border.
6. Mestizo: a person of mixed white, indigenous (Amerindian), and sometimes African descent.
7. North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): a treaty among the United States, Mexico, and Canada implemented on January 1, 1994, that largely eliminates trade barriers.
8. Clientelism: (or patron-client networks) An established political elite maintains control through an elaborate network of contacts, co-opting his adversaries with varies perks.
9. Mordida: Kick-back or bribe
10. Co-optation. Influencing adversaries with political or economic incentives.
11. Machismo: Masculine or paternal influence on cultural attitudes.
12. Praetorism- Significant leadership in an authoritarian society.
Nigeria
1. Acephalous societies: Societies that were ruled without executive leadership but instead a committee was established to make key political decisions.
2. Autocracy: A few rulers govern w/ absolute power, Similar to authoritarianism.
3. Bicameral: a legislative body with two chambers that represent the masses.
4. Clientelism: (or patron-client networks) An established political elite maintains control through an elaborate network of contacts, co-opting his adversaries with varies perks.
5. Corporatism: Interest groups are given priority in decision making, usually involved ties with business, labor, and government over economic policy.
6. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS): The organization established in 1975 among the sixteen governments in West Africa. Its goals are to strengthen and broaden the economies in the region through the removal of trade barriers
7. Emir: Traditional Islamic ruler who rules over a kingdom in northern Nigeria.
8. Hegemonic power: A state that can control the pattern of alliances and terms of the international order, and often shapes domestic political developments in countries throughout the world.
9. Indirect Rule: Traditional ruler and political structures were used to rule existing colonial territories in assisting the governing mother country.
10. Prebendalism: State offices are used for the personal benefit by officeholders as well as of their support group or clients. Patron-client networks keep these ideas alive.
11. Warrant Chiefs:. British colonial officials selected chiefs to assist in political matters and enforcing laws. Chiefs were co-opted to and were used much like puppet rulers.
12. Westminster Model: A Parliament is the dominant institution.
Iran:
1. Islam – Submission
2. Mohammad: Last prophet sent by God
3. Muslim/Moslem: One who submits to God
4. Pillars of Faith: Five foundations of a Muslim’s life
5. Mosque: Temple of worship
6. Hajj: Pilgrimage
7. Jihad: Holy War
8. dar-al-Islam: realm of Islam
9. Dar-al-harb: realm of war
10. Hadith: Traditions
11. Shari’a: God’s law
12. Fatwa’s: Legal opinions by high ranking clerics.
13. Harams – Forbidden actions
14. Chador: Women’s coverings
15. Purdah: Veil
16. Imams: leaders found in mosques.
17. Mullahs: Key religious + political leaders
18. Ulama’s: Islamic scholars
19. Assembly of Experts: This body is comprised by clerics who are elected. They nominate the Supreme Leader and can remove him from this post.
20. Ayatollah: A high ranking cleric, means “sign of God.”
21. Co-optation: Bring adversaries under one’s system by providing necessary economic or political incentives.
22. Expediency Council: A political body that mediates disputes between the Majles + the Guardian Council.
23. Guardian Council: A constitutional body that oversees the Majles.
24. Maslahat: What is best for the Iranian state. . .
25. Qur’an – Holy book
26. Shi’ism – Followers of Ali
27. Sunnis – Followers of tradition.
28. Theocracy – a political ideology dominated by clergy