Government and Politics in CHINA Flashcards
Dynastic cycles
Long periods of rule by a family punctuated by times of chaos, when the family looses its power and was challenged by a new, and ultimately successful, ruling dynasty.
Mandate of Heaven
The right to rule as seen by the collective ancestral wisdom that guided the empire from the heaven above.
Legitimacy in China
Legitimacy in China was established from the Mandate of Heaven, and power passed down from one hereditary ruler to the next.
Sun Yat-Sen
The first president of the Chinese Republic after the revolution in 1911.
Mao Zedong
The first leader of the Maoism ( Mao + communist) party in China
Maoism
Mao Zedong’s version of authority. A mix between his own ideology and communism.
It endorsed centralized power exercised through the top leaders of the party, it stressed the importance of staying connected to the peasants through a process called mass line.
Democratic centralization.
Vision of ideal society based on self reliance and struggle .
Loyalty to the state.
Egalitarian social structure; mass line between rulers and subjects
The People’s Republic of China
Established in 1949, Mao lead the communist party until his death in 1976.
Mass line
Requires leaders to listen to and communicate with ordinary folks, and without it, legitimacy of the rulers was questionable.
Central military commission
How the military is represented in the government. The military played an important role in the rise of the Communist Party.
Authoritarian power
A huge land based empire ruled from a central place by either an emperor or a small group of people.
Citizens are subjects of, not participants in the government.
Confucianism
Emphasizes the importance of order and harmony, encouraged Chinese citizens to submit to the emperors power, and reinforce the emperors responsibility to fulfill his duties conscientiously
Mandate of Heaven
Loyalty to family
Bureaucratic hierarchy based on scholarship
Emperors surrounded themselves with highly organized bureaucrats. Government jobs are highly coveted an extremely competitive.
Middle Kingdom
The center of civilization.
Deng Xiaoping Theory
A practical mix of authoritarian Political control and economic privatization
Dynastic rule as an historical era
Superior and subservient positions. The political culture inherited from centuries of dynastic rule centers on Confucian value such as order, harmony, and a strong sense of hierarchy.
Confucian values
Order, harmony, and a strong sense of hierarchy
Resistance to imperialism
During the 19 century China’s strong sense of cultural identity blossomed into nationalism as it resisted persistent attempts by imperialist nations.
Foreign Devils
Imperialist nations such as England France Germany and Japan
Collectivism
Seen in Maoism. Valuing the good of the community above that of the individual suited to the peasant communities.
Struggle and activism
Mao encouraged the people to actively pursue the values of socialism something he understood would require struggle and devotion.
Mass line
Mao conceptualized A line of between party leaders, members and peasants that would allow all to struggle toward realization of the goals of a communist state.
Egalitarianism
Hierarchy was the key organizing principle in Chinese 1949, and Mao’s emphasis on creating an egalitarian society was in complete opposition to it.
Self-reliance
Instead of relying on the elite to give directions, people under Maoist rule were encouraged to rely on their own talents to contribute to their communities.
Deng Xiaoping Theory
He didn’t worry to much about whether a policy was capitalist or socialist as long as it improved the economy.
Long march
A cross-country trek led by Mao Zedong
Patron clientelism
Informal relationships define each change in leadership
Hegemony
Control of surrounding countries
spheres of influence
spheres of influence where areas in China controlled by imperialist nations
Nationalism in China post impearialism
Revolution in 1911 successfully reestablished China as a independent nation.
Chiang Kay-Shek
founded the nationalist party in China
Mao Zedong
founder of the Chinese communist party
Two Chinas
Taiwan and China
because Chiang Kay-Shek fled to taiwan
The Soviet model(1949-1957)
The soviet union had supported Mao for a long time, and when he won they had a lot of influence on the chinese government.
Land reform
redistributed property from the rich to the poor and increased productivity in the countryside
Civil Reform
Tried to free people from opium addiction, and enhanced women’s rights. These things helped to legitimize Mao’s government.
Five year plans
between 1953, the CCP launched the first of its soviet style five year plans to nationalize industry and collective agriculture, implementing steps toward socialism.
The great leap forward
a utopian effort to transform China into a radical egalitarian society. Based on 4 principles = 1. All around development 2. Mass mobilization 3. Political unanimity and zeal 4. Decentralization
All-around developmemt
Not just heavy industry, but almost equal emphasis in agriculture.
Mass Mobilization
An effort to turn sheer numbers of people into an asset-better motivation, harder work, less unemployment
Political unanimity and zeal
An emphasis on party workers running government, not bureaucrats.
Decentralization
Encouraged more government on the local level, less central control. The people can do it!
Radicals
After Mao died this was one of the factions of his followers. This group was led by Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing, one of the gang of four, who supported the radical goals of the cultural Revolution.
Military
After Mao died this was one of the factions of his followers. A powerful group because of the importance of military in the 20th century.
Moderates
After Mao died this was one of the factions of his followers. Led by Zhou Enlai. Emphasized economic modernization and limited contact with other countries
Factions of Mao’s followers after Mao’s death in 1976
Radicals
Military
Moderates
Four Modernizations
Industry, Agriculture, Science, and Military.
Open Door trade policy
Willingness to trade with anyone, boosted China’s Economy
Reforms in Education
Higher Academic Standards, Expansion of higher education and research
Institutionalization of the Revolution
restoring the legal system and bureaucracy of the Old Chin, decentralizing the government, modifying elections, and infusing capitalism
Han Chinese
The people that historicaly formed the basis of China’s identity.
Autonomous Regions
Where most of China’s minorities live. Chinese constitution grants these areas the right of self government in some matters such as cultural affairs, but their autonomy is limited.
EX: Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Tibet, and Xinjiang
Ethnic Cleavages
Tibetans, Uyghurs, Linguistic Diversity
TIbetans
Long history of seperate ethnic identity.
Uyghurs
Muslim and Turkish decent living in Xinjiang, wich is close to the borders of pakastan and afghanistan. They want to create a ceperate islamic state. Willin to use violence
Linguistic Diversity
Lots of different languages being spoken, even among the Han Chinese. Mandarin the official language.
Urban Rural Cleavages
Major divide between the urban parts of china and the rural parts. economic and cultural divide.
“a new socialist countryside”
a program to lift the lagging rural economy.
Political Participation
Communist party redefined political participation with the citizen by creating a relationship between citizens and the government. governed political ties and relationships still mold China’s political processes and influence the actions and beliefs of elites and citizens.
Chinese communist Party
CCP largest political party, in terms of formal members, in the world. 83 million people.6% of pollution. 73 million in youth league.
Cadres
Most were peasants or factory workers. there carreers depended on party loyalty and idealogical purity.
Technocrats
people with technical training who climbed the ladder of the ladder of the party bureaucracy
Non-governmental organizations
Chinese political system allowed ngos to start happening in the 1990s. Today China has thousand of NGOs ranging from ping pong clubs to environmental groups
Xinhua
china’s official news media
decentralization
devolution of power to subnational governments
Plenums
central committees meetings
nomenklatura
a system of choosing cadres from lower levels of the party hierarchy for advanced based on their loyalty and contributions to the party
guanxi
personal connections / Patron-Client network
Fang-Shou
a tightening up, loosening up cycle.
Dual Role
vertical supervision by the next higher level of the government and horizontal supervision of the communist party at the same level
President and vice president
5 year terms
must be at least 45
the premier
the head of government, appointed by the president, always held by a member of the standing comittee
Rule of Law
Based on the belief that rulers should not have absolute power over their subjects
Procuratorates
officials who investigated and prosecuted official crimes
Iron Rice Bowl
cradle to grave health care, work and retirementsecurity.
Socialist Market Economy
Gradual infusion of capitalism while still retaining state control.
Peoples Communes
during the great leap forward farms merged into gigantic people’s communes with several thousand families
Household Responsibility System
The replacement of the people’s communes. Is still in effect today. Families take full control of the production and marketing of crops
Private Business
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Township and village nterprises
Rural factories and businesses that vary greatly in size, and are run by the local government and private entrepreneurs.
Floating Population
rural migrants seeking job opportunities in cities
Pump-priming
Based on Keynesian economic theory that a faltering capitalist economy can be rescued by government spending.
