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Test 3
Russia
61
Political Studies
Undergraduate 1
03/14/2012

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Term
Oligarch
Definition
former high-level Soviet officials & their allies who emerged as extremely rich and powerful elites
Term
Negative definition concept
Definition
a characterization or classification based on the absence rather than the presence of distinguishing characteristics
Term
Residual categories
Definition
classification based on the absences rather than the presence of distinguishing traits
Term
Polyarchy
Definition
a political system in which power is dispersed among multiple actors
Term
Democratic
Definition
1. Executive & legislative are elected
2. Universal suffrage
3. Protections for civil & human rights
4. Elected officials are not only de jure policy makers but also de facto ones as well
Term
De Jure v. De Facto
Definition
by law v. by actually/in practice
Term
Authoritarian
Definition
1. State captured by non-democratic leaders
2. Wholesale marginalized & disenfranchisement of population
3. Widespread use of state violence as a mechanism of control
Term
Junta
Definition
a ruling committee made up of a country’s military leadership; originally used in reference to Latin American dictatorships
Term
Divine right
Definition
a legitimacy formula based on a claim to authority that results from the leader’s alleged favor in the eyes of god(s)
Term
Tsar
Definition
the title given to Russian monarchs; derived from the German word meaning ‘emperor’
Term
Caesaropapism
Definition
political system in which the head of the state is also the head of the official state religion
Term
Red October
Definition
the successful overthrow of Russia’s Tsarist regime in 1917; also known as the Russian Revolution
Term
Bolshevik
Definition
communist revolutionaries under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin
Term
Three functions of Soviet Political Structures
Definition
• Party: Control
• Bureaucracy: Implement
• ‘State’: Legitimize
Term
Characteristics of One-party rule in USSR
Definition
1. Constitutional monopoly
• Only a single party allowed by constitutional provision
2. Closed decision making process
• Democratic Centralism & Party Line
3. Interlocking membership with Bureaucracy & State
Term
Democratic Centralism
Definition
style of decision making where discussions/debate is allowed at highest level, but once policy is chosen, everyone follows the ‘party line’
Term
Party line
Definition
principles of a political party to which loyal members are expected to adhere
Term
Nomenklatura
Definition
system for filling sensitive positions within bureaucracy with trusted Party members
Term
Apparatchik’
Definition
in USSR, referred to a full-time Party functionary; now used to describe blindly devoted member of an organization, such as a political party
Term
‘Centralized Federalism'
Definition
centralized system in which states/provinces are given powers on paper which they cannot actually exercise
Term
Social apace
Definition
any virtual or physical place within which individuals and groups congregate and interact with each other
Term
CPSR Youth Organizations
Definition
1. Komsomol: Communist Union for Youth for those from 14-28 years old
2. Pioneers: Party group for those aged 9-14
3. Little Octobrist: for all the wee little Commies
Term
Pravada
Definition
newspapers that served as the official organ of the Communist Party
Term
Samizdat
Definition
the clandestine copying & distribution of literature banned by the state
Term
Gulag
Definition
a network of forced labor camps in the former Soviet Union
Term
Dissident
Definition
one who actively opposes official rules & policies, particularly in an authoritarian state
Term
KGB
Definition
the intelligence & internal security agency of the former Soviet Union
Term
Boris Yeltsin
Definition
the first democratically elected post-Soviet leader
Term
'Delegative Democracy'
Definition
a type of authoritarian regime in which an elected executive governs unilaterally & without constraint
Term
Horizontal accountability
Definition
ability of various branches of government to hold other branches accountable
Term
Why did early democratization efforts fail?
Definition
1. Dislocation caused by economic reform
• Introduction of ‘shock therapy’ reforms caused enormous pain & dislocation (e.g. losing jobs, housing, health care, etc.) for most Russians
2. Runaway corruption & crime
• Most of the reforms benefited a tiny majority, the oligarchs through corrupt deals, most especially in an area of privatization
3. Fears of balkanization
• Weakened central government & nationalist aspirations in non-Russian republics created deep fear of balkanization
Term
Shock therapy reforms
Definition
rapid transition from state-controlled to free market economy
Term
Privatization
Definition
selling of state-owned assets to private interest
Term
Balkanization
Definition
fragmentation or breaking of a country into small, ethnically-based territories
Term
Managed Democracy
Definition
means of controlling society while maintaining the appearance, but not practice, of democracy
Term
‘personalismo’
Definition
a Latin American term describing practice of subordinating laws, ideologies & parties to an individual leader
Term
‘Institutionaliztion'
Definition
the primacy of laws, rules & formal structures over informal sources of power
Term
Rule of Law
Definition
the doctrine that no individual is above the law & that everyone must answer to it
Term
“Potemkin”
Definition
a term that describes something designed to give an illusion of something else; a façade
Term
Autocracy
Definition
government in which one or a small number of leaders exercise unrestrained power
Term
Duma
Definition
the lower house of the Russian Parliament
Term
Judicial Review
Definition
the ability of a court to evaluate laws/acts by other branches of government & nullify them if deemed unconstitutional
Term
Appellate court
Definition
a court empowered to hear appeals of decisions made by lower courts
Term
'party of power'
Definition
parties created solely as vehicles for capturing control of the state, not for governing
Term
Characteristics of parties of power
Definition
1. Lack ideological foundation
2. Absence of organization
3. Reliance on clientelism to rule
Term
Clientelism
Definition
a system of governing in which politicians directly offer tangible benefits (like jobs) in return for political support (like votes) form individuals or networks
Term
Recentralization
Definition
taking away powers of subnational governments & giving it to national government
Term
Putin’s 3 major recentralizing ‘reforms’
Definition
1. Creation of 7 new federal ‘super districts’
• All are headed by Presidential appointees; new layer of control
2. Reform of the Federation Council (upper house of parliament)
• Removal of governors (potential competitors) from the Council
3. Created a new presidential power to appoint & dismiss governors and to dissolve regional assemblies
Term
Power agencies
Definition
ministries or agencies relating to national security
Term
Power agencies
Definition
1. FSB (Former KGB)
2. Foreign Ministry
3. Defense Ministry
4. Interior Ministry
• Border police, state broadcasting, etc.
Term
Public chamber
Definition
a body that supposedly represents civil society but whose members are appointed directly or indirectly by President
Term
NGO
Definition
non-profit, voluntary group that serve as citizen advocates and government watchdogs
Term
Command economy
Definition
an economic system in which the state, not the market, determines what will be produced; opposite of a market economy
Term
Neoliberal
Definition
an economic philosophy or policy which advocates sharply curtailed role for the state and a virtually unfettered private sector
Term
Crony capitalism
Definition
corrupt system of business in which family & friends are favored for government or company contracts, even if better candidates are available
Term
Civil society
Definition
the aggregate of organizations & institutions unaffiliated with the state that voice the interest & will of citizens
Term
Totalitarian Regimes
Definition
1. A universalist ideology
2. Single mass party personality cult
3. Personality cult
4. Information monopoly
5. Extreme collectivism
6. State terror
Term
Universal ideology
Definition
ideology in which distinctions between public/political & private/social spheres are rejected
Term
Collectivism
Definition
philosophy which emphasizes the primacy of the needs & rights of the group over those of the individual
Term
Authoritarian
Definition
1. Concerned with ‘public’ sphere
2. Repression of behavior
3. Predictable & targeted state terror with gain of control
Term
Totalitarian
Definition
1. Concerned with ‘public’ & ‘private’ spheres

2. Repression of beliefs/thoughts
3. ‘Random’ & indiscriminate state of terror with goal of atomization
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