Unit 3: Russia and China

Question 1

Bourgeoisie

Answer 1

Owners of factories and other means of production; Opposite of proletariat.

Question 2

BRIC

Answer 2

an acronym for Brazil, China, India, and Russia. The economy will be dominated by the four BRIC economies by 2050.

Question 3

The Communist Manifesto

Answer 3

It formed the basis for the modern communist movement as we know it, arguing that capitalism would inevitably self-destruct, to be replaced by socialism and ultimately communism.

Question 4

Marxism

Answer 4

the struggle between social classes—specifically between the bourgeoisie, or capitalists, and the proletariat, or workers—defines economic relations in a capitalist economy and will lead inevitably to a communist revolution.

Question 5

Marxism/Leninism

Answer 5

a two-stage communist revolution is needed to replace capitalism. A vanguard party, organized through democratic centralism, would seize power on behalf of the proletariat and establish a one-party socialist state, called the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Question 6

Nomenklatura

Answer 6

a list of influential posts in government and industry to be filled by Communist Party appointees.

Question 7

Proletariat

Answer 7

workers or working-class people, regarded collectively (often used with reference to Marxism).

Question 8

Asymmetric federalism

Answer 8

found in a federation or other types of union in which different constituent states possess different powers: one or more of the substates has considerably more autonomy than the other substates, although they have the same constitutional status.

Question 9

Bolsheviks

Answer 9

Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party, which, led by Vladimir Lenin, seized control of the government in Russia (October 1917) and became the dominant political power.

Question 10

Central committee

Answer 10

executive leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, acting between sessions of Congress. directed all party and governmental activities. Its members were elected by the Party Congress.

Question 11

Collectivization

Answer 11

The policy of transferring the ownership of private farmland to the state

Question 12

Constitution of 1993

Answer 12

abolished the Soviet system of government.

Question 13

Constitutional court

Answer 13

verifies laws and other acts of the highest bodies of state power of the Russian Federation and its constituent entities for compliance with the Constitution

Question 14

Cultural heterogeneity

Answer 14

differences in cultural identity related to, for instance, class, ethnicity, language, traditions, religion, sense of place, and many other cultural aspects. These differences can make it more or less difficult for people to communicate, trust and co-operate with each-other.

Question 15

De-stalinization

Answer 15

a process of political reform in the Soviet Union that took place after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953

Question 16

Duma

Answer 16

a legislative body in the ruling assembly of Russia and of some other republics of the former Soviet Union.

Question 17

Federation council

Answer 17

the upper house of parliament representing the interests of regions at the federal level and reflecting the federative nature of the Russian state

Question 18

Five year plans

Answer 18

created in order to initiate rapid and large-scale industrialization across the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Question 19

Glasnost

Answer 19

increased openness and transparency in government institutions and activities in the Soviet Union, created by Gorbachev

Question 20

Gosplan

Answer 20

central board that supervised various aspects of the planned economy of the Soviet Union by translating into specific national plans the general economic objectives outlined by the Communist Party and the government

Question 21

Liberal democrats

Answer 21

draws on both the liberal and social democratic traditions. The party is primarily social liberal, supporting redistribution but sceptical of increasing the power of the state, emphasising the link between equality and liberty.

Question 22

Mensheviks

Answer 22

member of the non-Leninist wing of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party, which evolved into a separate organization

Question 23

Oligarchy

Answer 23

business oligarchs of the former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Russian privatization that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Question 24

Perestroika

Answer 24

reconstruction”, referring to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system, in an attempt to end the Era of Stagnation

Question 25

Politburo

Answer 25

the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states.

Question 26

Presidential-parliamentary system

Answer 26

the prime minister and cabinet are dually accountable to the president and to the parliament

Question 27

Proportional representation

Answer 27

an electoral system in which parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them

Question 27

Shock therapy

Answer 27

a program intended to economically liberalize a mixed economy or transition a planned economy or developmentalist economy to a free-market economy through sudden and dramatic neoliberal reform.

Question 28

State corporatism

Answer 28

political culture and a form of corporatism whose adherents hold that the corporate group, which forms the basis of society, is the state. The state requires all members of a particular economic sector to join an officially designated interest group.

Question 29

Statism

Answer 29

the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation and the means of production.

Question 30

United Russia Party

Answer 30

appeals mainly to pro-Putin and non-ideological voters, and is often classified by political scientists as a “big-tent party”, or as a “party of power”. In 2009, it proclaimed Russian conservatism as its official ideology.

Question 31

Yobloko

Answer 31

One of the most high-profile opposition parties in Russia, Yabloko (meaning ‘apple’ in Russian) strives to follow the European model of political development by supporting a strong civil society and market economy.

Question 32

Autonomous regions

Answer 32

the right of a geographical area to exercise State power on its own account within constitutionally prescribed limits.’

Question 33

Cadres

Answer 33

a group of committed, active, and experienced intellectuals who share political beliefs and participate in the revolutionary movements they see the most promise in

Question 34

Central military commission

Answer 34

is the highest national defense organization in the People’s Republic of China

Question 35

Chinese Communist Party

Answer 35

“Practise socialist core values”, including Marxism-Leninism, Communism and “socialism with Chinese characteristics”. “Improving people’s livelihood and well-being is the primary goal of development”.

Question 36

Cultural revolution

Answer 36

campaign in China ordered by Mao Zedong to purge the Communist Party of his opponents and instill revolutionary values in the younger generation

Question 37

Danwei

Answer 37

The Chinese urban society was organized as a hierarchy, in which each work organization functioned as a social “unit” in a system dominated by the state. Indeed, membership in a danwei was an important sign of social status and an important vehicle for status attainment and social mobility

Question 38

Decentralization

Answer 38

has been historically tempered by a unique blending of political centralization with economic and administrative decentralization—another distinctive feature of the Chinese governance system.

Question 39

Dual rule

Answer 39

a system of administration used in China that places a government body under the authority of both a higher-level government organization and a Communist Party organization

Question 40

Egalitarianism

Answer 40

favors equality of some sort: People should get the same, or be treated the same, or be treated as equals, in some respect

Question 41

Ethic of struggle

Answer 41

one of the principles of the Cultural Revolution; people should work hard for their country

Question 42

Four modernization

Answer 42

were goals first set forth by Deng Xiaoping to strengthen the fields of agriculture, industry, defense, and science and technology in China.

Question 43

Free market socialism

Answer 43

the economic system and model of economic development employed in the People’s Republic of China. The system is a market economy with the predominance of public ownership and state-owned enterprises.

Question 44

Gang of four

Answer 44

a Maoist political faction composed of four Communist Party of China (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes.

Question 45

Guanxi

Answer 45

having personal trust and a strong relationship with someone, and can involve moral obligations and exchanging favours.

Question 46

Great Leap Forward

Answer 46

a five-year economic plan executed by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party, begun in 1958 and abandoned in 1961. The goal was to modernize the country’s agricultural sector using communist economic ideologies.

Question 47

Han Chinese

Answer 47

ethnic group native to china, make up about 92 percent of the population

Question 48

Hegemony

Answer 48

the consistent dominance of one state or ideology over others

Question 49

Mandate of heaven

Answer 49

invoked by philosophers and scholars in China as a way to curtail the abuse of power by the ruler, in a system that had few other checks. Chinese historians interpreted a successful revolt as evidence that Heaven had withdrawn its mandate from the ruler.

Question 50

Maoism

Answer 50

form of communism developed by Mao Tse Tung. It is a doctrine to capture State power through a combination of armed insurgency, mass mobilization and strategic alliances

Question 51

Mass line

Answer 51

Economic policy of Mao Zedong; led to formation of agricultural cooperatives in 1955; cooperatives became farming collectives in 1956.

Question 52

Mass mobilization

Answer 52

the process of involving large numbers of people in a social movement

Question 53

Nationalist party

Answer 53

One common goal of current Chinese nationalists is the unification of mainland China and Taiwan.

Question 54

National Party Congress

Answer 54

the national legislature and constitutionally the supreme state authority of the People’s Republic of China. With 2,980 members in 2018, it is the largest legislative body in the world.

Question 55

Politburo/Standing committees

Answer 55

a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party

Question 56

Special economic zones

Answer 56

designated geographical spaces where special policies and measures support specific economic functions

Question 57

Technocrats

Answer 57

individuals with technical training and occupations who perceive many important societal problems as being solvable with the applied use of technology and related applications.