Final Flashcards
workers or working-class people, regarded collectively (often used with reference to Marxism)
Proletariat
the social class that came to own the means of production during modern industrialization
Bourgeois
Economic Community of West African Studies; the organization established in 1975 among the sixteen governments in West Africa
ECOWAS
Islamic law derived mostly from the Qur’an and the examples set by the Prophet Muhammad
Shari’a
The Muslim term for recognized religious minorities, such as Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians
People of the Book
Arabic term for “assembly”; used in Iran to describe the parliament
Majiles
Literally, “sign of God”. High-ranking clerics in Iran. The most senior ones – often no more than half a dozen – are known as Grand Ayatollahs
Ayatollahs
Highest ranking cleric; Head of state & government; Serves a life term; Decides who runs for President; appoints Chief Justice and directors of Radio and TV broadcasting
Supreme Leader
Political, economic, and social reforms aimed at modernizing Iran
White Revolution
former soviet state; borders Iran to the north
Azerbaijan
“The Nationalists” or the KMT (Kouming Tang)
KMT
Party- directed campaign designed to mobilize the population (“the masses”) in support or execution of major policies
Mass Campaigns
A feature of China’s socialist economy that provided guarantees of lifetime employment, income, and basic cradle-to-grave benefits to most urban and rural workers.
Iron Rice Bowl
A Chinese term that means “unit” and is the basic level of social organization and a major means of political control in China’s communist party-state. A person’s danwei is most often his or her workplace, such as a factory or an office
Workunit or Danwei
A person who occupies a position of authority in a communist party-state; cadres may or may not be Communist Party members.
Cadre
A system of personnel selection under which the Communist Party maintained control over the appointment of important officials in all spheres of social, economic, and political life. The term is also used to describe individuals chosen through this system and thus refers more broadly to the privileged circles in the Soviet Union and China.
Nomenklatura
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries; an organization dedicated to achieving stability in the price of oil, avoiding price fluctuations, and generally furthering the interests of the member states
OPEC
the committee made up of the top twenty-five leaders of the Chinese Communist party
Politburo
Traditional Islamic ruler. The emir presides over an “emirate,” or kingdom, in northern Nigeria.
Emir
a term used to describe the British style of colonialism in Nigeria and India in which local traditional leaders and political structures were used to help support the colonial governing structure
Indirect rule
Government officials control the funding for these public contracts and licenses. The term used to describe the government control over the use of licenses and contracts is rents; Companies or organizations will attempt to take advantage of the government regulations and contacts
Rent Seeking
The right of a sovereign state or an ethnic or other group that shares cultural and historical ties to live together in a given territory and in a manner they desire.
Self-determination
Shi’a Islam is still the official religion of Iran; Shi’a means “Shiat Ali,” or “the people of Ali”
Shi’a
A state dominated by the clergy, who rule on the grounds that they are the only interpreters of God’s will and law.
Theocracy
a committee created in the Iranian constitution to oversee the Majles (the parliament)
Guardian Council
August 1953; Coup d’état instigated by the United States CIA under Eisenhower and backed by the United Kingdom; Conditions for US help: open up Iranian oil to US companies; Overthrow of the democratically-elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadeq
Operation Ajax
Persian term for guards, used to refer to the army of Revolutionary Guards formed during Iran’s Islamic Revolution
Pasdaran
former Soviet state; borders Iran
Armenia
Large-scale rural communities that were in charge of nearly all aspects of political, social, and economic life in the Chinese countryside from the late 1950s until the early 1980s, when they were disbanded and replaced by a system of household and village-based agricultural production
People’s communes
A label used by the Chinese Communist Party during the late Maoist era (1965–1976) to refer to the ideology of those political parties (including the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) or individuals judged to have betrayed what they believed to be the true meaning of the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism.
Revisionism
A form of socialism in which government decisions (“commands”) rather than market mechanisms (such as supply and demand) are the major influences in determining the nation’s economic direction; also called Central Planning.
Command Economy
The economic plan that allows the private business to operate parallel to Central Planning (or the Command Economy).
Dual Track System
