AP Comp Gov't - Unit 4 Vocab (China)

Economic liberalization

Changes consistent with liberalism that aim to limit the power of the state and increase the power of the market and private property in an economy

Human Development Index

A statistical tool that attempts to evaluate the overall wealth, health, and knowledge of a country's people

Gini Index

A statistical formula that measures the amount of inequality in a society; its scale ranges from 0 to 100, where 0 corresponds to perfect equality and 100 to perfect inequality

Purchasing power parity (PPP)

A statistical tool that attempts to estimate the buying power of income across different countries by using U.S. prices as a benchmark

Parastatals

An industry owned partially (or fully) by the state

Mercantilism

A political-economic system in which national economic power is paramount and the domestic economy is viewed as an instrument that exists primarily to serve the needs of the state

Neocorporatism

A structure in which business, labor, and state engage in bargaining over economic policies.

Quotas

A nontariff barrier that limits the quantity of a good that may be imported into a country

Tariffs

Taxes on imported goods

Comparative advantage

One country's ability to produce a particular good/service relatively more efficiently than another country

Regulations

A rule/order that establishes a given procedure's boundaries

Deflation

A period of falling prices and values for goods, services, investments, and wages

Hyperinflation

Having inflation of more than 50% a month for 2 months in a row

Central bank

The state institution that controls how much money is flowing through the economy, as well as how much it costs to borrow money in that economy

Public goods

Goods provided/secured by the state, available to society, and no private person/organization can own

Social expenditures

State provision of public benefits, such as education, health care, and transportation

Property

Goods or services that are owned by an individual or group, privately or publicly

Political economy

Studying the interaction between states and markets

Beijing consensus

Neomercantilist model of state-led capitalist development adopted by China and proposed as alternative to Western neoliberal model known as the Washington consensus

Cultural Revolution

Launched in 1966, Mao's radical movement to regain political control from rivals; this event resulted in a decade of political and social chaos

Maoism

Marxism-Leninism in theory and practice by Mao Zedong which states that a continuous revolution is needed for communist state leaders to remain in contact

Floating population

China's roughly 150 million itinerant peasants who have been leaving the countryside seeking urban employment since the 1990s

Hukou system

Maoist program that tied all Chinese to a particular geographic location

Danwei system

Work unit; Maoist program providing all Chinese citizens lifetime affiliation with a work unit governing all aspects of their lives

Household responsibility system

Deng's highly successful 1980s rural reform program that lowered production quotas and allowed the sale of surplus agricultural produce on the free market

Iron rice bowl

Mao's promise of cradle-to-grave health care, work, and retirement security that has largely disappeared under reform and opening

Special economic zones

Since 1980, the Chinese gov't established enclaves that offered tax breaks and other incentives to lure foreign investment

Three represents

Jiang Zemin's 2001 policy co-opting private entrepreneurs into the CCP (China's Communist Party)

May Fourth movement

A student-led anti-imperialist cultural and political movement originating from student demonstrations in Beijing on May 4, 1919

One country, two systems

Term describing China's guarantee to Hong Kong of 50 years of domestic autonomy as a "special administrative region" after China received the British colony (again) in 1997

Elitists

A faction of CCP officials who are the offspring of former high-ranking cadre and who favor economic growth and market liberalization

Populists

A faction of CCP officials who have risen from relatively humble backgrounds and who favor decreasing inequality levels