AP Comparative Politics Russia Vocab

Rza Mollaev Pioneer Academy
Mr. Triolo Grade Ten
AP Comparative Politics April 27, 2015
Russia Vocabulary

Asymmetric federalism: a system where power is devolved unequally across the country and its constituent regions, other than result of specific laws negotiated between the region and the central government.

Boris Berezovsky: Russian who became a rich Oligarch by buying up Russian industries after the fall of Communism and the beginning of "shock therapy." He was exiled by the Russian government.

bolsheviks: Led by Vladimir Lenin it was the Russian communist party that took over the Russian government during WWI

boyars: Russian landholding aristocracy; possessed less political power than their western European counterparts

Catherine the Great: This was the empress of Russia who continued Peter's goal to Westernizing Russia, created a new law code, and greatly expanded Russia

Central Committee: most important top government officials, a group of 300 party leaders that met twice a year

civil society in Russia: Despite high voter turnouts, participation in other forms of political activity is low. Russians usually don't attend church, or belong to any clubs or groups of any kind. Only 1% belongs to a political party. Ethel describes civil society in Russia to be "undeveloped"

collective farms: government owned farms, workers were paid by government and they shared profits from products

collectivism: Putting group goals ahead of personal goals and defining one's identity in terms of the groups one belongs to.

Confederation of Independent States: unites the fifteen former republics of the Soviet Union, has little power over its members, Russia, trade agreements bind them, nationality issue divide them, Putin's involvement in elections in Ukraine was controversial, controversy in Estonia

conflict in Chechnya: A region in Russia, primarily Muslim, fought for years for independence, still strong, Russia is having trouble holding onto the region, been involved in terrorist acts, murders, kidnapping, explosions, bombings, etc.,
Constitution of 1993: Created the publicly-elected office of President, held in check by the Duma. It created a three-branch government. It is a semi presidential system and has a Constitutional Court

Constitutional Court: nineteen members are appointed by president; evaluate the constitutionality of all laws and decrees

Crimean War: A war fought in the middle of the nineteenth century between Russia on one side and Turkey, Britain, and France on the other. Russia was defeated and the independence of Turkey was guaranteed

CPRF: The Communist Party of the Russian Federation, it is the second-strongest party. The party emphasizes centralized planning and nationalism, and implies an intention to regain territories lost when the Soviet Union broke apart.

cultural heterogeneity in Russia: diversity in Russia; the name "Russian Federation" reflects this, with countless "republics" and "autonomous regions" based on ethnicity, but with borders impossible to draw because of the blend and locations of people

Decembrist Revolt: The 1825 plot by liberals (upper-class intelligentsia) to set up a constitutional monarchy or a republic. The plot failed, but the ideals remained.

decrees: official decisions or laws; can be made by the president

democratic centralism: a form of democracy in which the interests of the masses were discovered through discussion within the Communist party, and then decisions were made under central leadership to serve those interests

de-Stalinization: social process of neutralizing the influence of Joseph Stalin by revising his policies and removing monuments dedicated to him and renaming places named in his honor

Duma: lower house with 450 deputies, passes bills, approves budget, confirms president's appointments, very limited powers, impeachment process is cumbersome

equality of result in Russia: the Communist regime instilled in the Russian people an appreciation for equality; this is very different from western "equality of opportunity" that sees "getting ahead" as a sign of initiative, hard work, and talent; as a result, the Russian political culture is not conducive to the development of capitalism

federal government structure in Russia: 89 regions, each bound by treaty to the Federation, most regions are called "Republics", many ruled themselves independently, authoritarian,

Federation Council: The 178-seat upper house of Russia. Yields relatively little power and represents local interests. It must approve bills that involve certain issues, and can reject legislation, but only within certain parameters.

Five Year Plans: Plans that Joseph Stalin introduced to industrialize the Soviet Union rapidly, beginning in 1928. They set goals for the output of steel, electricity, machinery, and most other products and were enforced by the police powers of the state.

general secretary: Office created by Stalin in the Communist Party. Came to dominate the entire structure of the party. Power and authority flowed from the top down. Had authority over appointments and assignments at all levels.

glasnost: Policy of openness initiated by Gorbachev in the 1980s that provided increased opportunities for freedom of speech, association and the press in the Soviet Union.

Mikhail Gorbachev: Head of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His liberalization effort improved relations with the West, but he lost power after his reforms led to the collapse of Communist governments in eastern Europe.

Gorbachev's three-pronged reform plan: glasnost, which allowed criticism of the government, democratization, which inserted democracy into the Communist Party with a president and elected representatives, and perestroika, which transferred economic powers held by the central government to private hands and the market economy

Gosplan: the State Planning Commission which oversaw Stalin's series of five year plans

head of government: the prime minister which is Dmitriy Medvedev, but it is said that Putin rules everything.

head of state: the president which is Vladimir Putin

Nikita Khrushchev: ruled the USSR from 1958-1964; lessened government control of soviet citizens; seeked peaceful coexistence with the West instead of confrontation

kulaks: Rich peasants in the Russian Empire who owned large farms and used hired labour. They were their own class.

Alexander Lebed: A former paratrooper in the Russian Army, served briefly as Russia's national security chief under president Boris Yeltsin before moving on to become one of Yeltsin's most probable successors, fierce nationalist and an outspoken critic of corruption in Russian business and government

Lenin V.I.: was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist, leader of the Russian SFSR from 1917, concurrently as Premier of the Soviet Union from 1922, until his death. Politically a Marxist, his theoretical contributions to Marxist thought are known as Leninism, which coupled with Marxian economic theory have collectively come to be known as Marxism-Leninism.

Liberal Democrats: the neo fascist and racist opposition party led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Nationalistic.

Russian mafia: this interest group controls much more than underworld crime - they control local businesses, natural resources, and banks. They thrive on payoffs from businesses ("protection money," money laundering, and deals that they make with Russian government officials, including members of the former KGB. They have murdered bankers, journalists, businessmen, and members of the Duma.

Marxism-Leninism: a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of an international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party presiding over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship of the proletariat

Dmitry Medvedev: Served as Putin's prime minister and Putin appointed him as president; when he was president, appointed Putin as his prime minister; handled domestic and social affairs while Putin handled foreign affairs

Mensheviks: Means "minority". Group created from the split of the SDs, led by Martov. Tried to take power from Bolsheviks in Civil war beginning in 1918, but did not succeed.

Nationality: biggest cleavage in Russia—80% Russian, the rest are Tatars, Ukranians, Armenians, Bashkis, Chuvashes, Belyorussians, and Moldavians.

near abroad: Russian term to describe the other fourteen republics of the former Soviet Union.

New Economic Policy: Policy proclaimed by Vladimir Lenin in 1924 to encourage the revival of the Soviet economy by allowing small private enterprises. Joseph Stalin ended the N.E.P. in 1928 and replaced it with a series of Five-Year Plans.

nomenklatura: an ordered path from local party soviets to the commanding heights of leadership

oligarchy: form of government in which a few people have the power, Yeltsin created one using family

Patriots of Russia: a left-wing nationalist and socialist political party in Russia.

perestroika: a policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev that involved restructuring of the social and economic status quo in communist Russia towards a market based economy and society

Peter the Great: wanted to "modernize" Russia with a stronger army, navy, roads, communication, "Window on the West", intrigued by the west, learned shipbuilding, brought engineers, carpenters, etc.

politburo: the chief executive and political committee of the Communist Party

presidential-parliamentary system: In such systems there is both a directly elected president with substantial executive powers and a presidentially appointed prime minister, who must retain majority support in the legislature.

proportional representation in Russia: all Duma seats are now assigned exclusively by proportional representation; parties must get at least 7% of the total vote to get any seats; this system was instituted by Putin; reduces number of parties in Duma

Vladimir Putin: President of Russia 2001-2008; reestablished the strong structure of the old regime; currently prime minister

Red Army/ White Army: two Russian factions that fought in a Civil War in 1918; the White Army was led by Russian Military Leaders and funded by the allied powers; the Red Army (a.k.a. Bolsheviks) was led by Lenin; Red Army won and Lenin came to power

Russian Orthodox Church: The church of Russia, branch of; supported the Tsar; There was a gap between poor parish peasants and rich bishops

secret speech: Khrushchev revealed the existence of a letter written by Lenin that was very critical of Stalin; used to denounce Stalin's rules & practices

"shock therapy": rapid transition to capitalism adopted by Yeltsin in 1992, which was supposed to involve liberalization of prices, privatization of state property, and stabilization of the Russian currency that had disastrous economic and social results

Slavophile vs. Westernizer: conflict over where the political sphere and social mentality of Russia is headed, either more democratic or more historically Russian

Stalinism: Stalin's government system that was achieved in the name of Communism but was more like totalitarianism; benefited only government and relied on terror tactics, secret police, bogus trials and assassination

state corporatism: a political system in which the state requires all members of a particular economic sector to join an officially designated interest group

statism in Russia: Russia's value of a strong state that could protect them from their geographic vulnerabilities in contrast to a taste for individualism and civil society; the expectation that the state will take an active role in the lives of its citizens

totalitarianism: government control over every aspect of public and private life

tsars: A Russian term for "Caesar" or ruler; the authoritarian rulers of the Russian empire before its collapse in the 1917 revolution

United Russia Party: Political party put together by the oligarchs of Russia to support Putin. Currently the dominant party in Russian politics, although it lacks a coherent ideology.

"Window on the West": After the great Northern war, in the Treaty of Nystad, Russia made important gains in Latvia and Estonia in the Baltic Sea. (St. Petersburg)

Yabloko: a reformist party which stands for pro-democracy and is at risk of disappearing; lost all representation in the Duma due to the switch to proportional representation in 2007

Boris Yeltsin: Was the first President of the Russian Federation from 1991 to 1999. The Yeltsin era was a traumatic period in Russian history—a period marked by widespread corruption, economic collapse, and enormous political and social problems. In June 1991 Yeltsin came to power on a wave of high expectations. On June 12 Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic with 57% of the vote, becoming the first popularly elected president in Russian history. But Yeltsin never recovered his popularity after endorsing radical economic reforms in early 1992 which were widely blamed for devastating the living standards of most of the Russian population. By the time he left office, Yeltsin was a deeply unpopular figure in Russia, with an approval rating as low as two percent by some estimates.

zemstvas: organ of rural self-government in the Russian Empire and Ukraine; established in 1864 to provide social and economic services, it became a significant liberal influence within imperial Russia

Vladimir Zhirinovsky: leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, arguing for ultranationalist solutions to face postcommunist problems, envisioning the expansion of Russia to the Indian Ocean

Gennady Zyuganov: leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF); lost 1996 & 2000 elections