Ap Co-Po: China

Beijing Consensus

Beijing Consensus

Neomercantalist model of state led capitalist development adopted by China and proposed as alternative to western neoliberal model known as the "Washington consensus"

CCP

Authoritarian party that has ruled China from 1949 to the present

Confucianism

Philosophy attributed to Chinese sage Confucius emphasizing social harmony and order

Cultural Revolution

Mao's radical movement launched in 1966 to regain political control from rivals and resulting in a decade of social and political chaos

Danwei system

Maoist program providing all Chinese cities lifetime affiliation with work unit governing all aspects of their lives

Falun Gong

Meditative martial arts movement founded in 1992 and banned by Chinese government in 1999 as an evil cult

Floating population

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

Great Leap Forward

Mao's 1958-60 effort to modernize China through localized industrial production and agricultural communes

Harmonious society

CCP propaganda term for the continuation of economic reform but with more concern for the growing wealth and welfare gap between urban and rural China

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

hukou system

Maoist program that tied all Chinese to a particular geographic location

Hundred Flowers Campaign

Program (1956-57) in which Mao encouraged intellectuals to offer criticism of national policy, followed by crackdown on critics

Iron rice bowl

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

Jingping Xi

China's current paramount leader as general secretary of the CCP and anticipated head of state (in 2013) and head of military (2014)

Kuomintang (KMT)

China's nationalist party founded by Sun Yat-sen and led by Chiang Kai-shek, who was overthrown by Mao's Communists in 1949 and forced to flee to Taiwan

Long March

The CCP's 3,000 mile heroic retreat (1934-35) to northwestern China during the country's civil war with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Mao used it as a way to deepen the CCP's connections with peasants and to increase their popularity so they could win the civil war.

May Fourth movement

Student led anti-imperialist cultural and political movement growing out of student demonstrations in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Members went on to work in CCP and KMT.

National Party Congress

Chinese Communist Party's legislative body; more akin to a national political party convention

National People's Congress

China's national unicameral legislature branch, elections are held every 5 years, 3000 delegates represent both geographic and functional constituencies, delegates are indirectly elected by provincial people's congress and typically convene annually for about 2 weeks to elect a standing committee of 150 members.

One country, two systems

term for China's guarantee to Hong Kong of 50 years of domestic autonomy as a "special administrative region" after the British colony was returned to China in 1997

PLA

People's Liberation Army: China's military; a key Chinese political institution

Red capitalists

private entrepreneurs who are also members of the CCP and whose interest generally align with those of the party-state

Red Guards

radicalized youth who served as Mao's shock troops during the Cultural Revolution

Reds versus experts

term describing Mao's policy favoring politically indoctrinated party cadres (reds) over those people who had economic training (experts)

Reform and reopening

Deng's economic liberalization policy, starting in the late 1970s

Special economic zones (SEZ)

enclaves established since 1980 by the Chinese government that have offered tax breaks and other incentives to lure foreign investment

Tiananmen Square

historic plaza in Beijing where the Chinese government crushed the 1989 pro-reform/democracy demonstration

Xiaoping Deng

China's paramount leader from 1978-97 who launched China's policy of economic reform and opening

Yat-sen Sun

founder of Chinas nationalist party (Kuomintang)

Normenklatura

the Soviet system of lists that facilitated the CPSU's appointment of trusted people to key positions, adopted by other communist regimes including China

Lenin

Influenced Chinese communism through his ideas of the dictatorship of the proletariat

Stalin

influenced Mao's understanding of how to lead a planned economy to develop a communist country

Civil society

the web of membership in social and political groups that some analysts believe is needed to sustain democracy

Non-governmental organizations

non-profit, private groups that exert political influence around the world and are playing a role in China

Politburo of the CCP

26 members, leadership of the Communist Party

Organizational parellelism

all government executive, legislative, and administrative agencies are matched or duplicated at every level of organization in the corresponding party organ

Authoritarianism

China's regime

Patron-client system in China

an informal network of leaders whose factions compete for power

Democratic reforms

Anti-Corruption campaign, relaxing the one child policy, letting capitalists join the CCP, & judicial reform

Mass line

Communist principle that stressed "learning from the masses", a key principle of Maoism

Standing Committee of the CCP

9 members, unlike is the Soviet Union, the day to day work of the Politburo is done by this smaller group; subcmte that runs the Politburo

Deng Xiaoping (1904-97)

promoted reform and opening in China and took China in a different direction from Mao

president

China's head of state, an entirely titular office but during the reform era the paramount leader or his designee has always held this office.

state council

China's executive branch, the primary organ of daily government activity and is led by the premier

premier

head of the Chinese government, is recommended by the party's Central Committee and then formally elected by the NPC, which has never failed to choose the recommended candidate.

judiciary

this remains subservient to the party hierarchy which routinely protects officials from the law.

GONGO

the party-state has created a number of mass organization to control society and mobilize social groups to fulfill its own national goals; are lead by party officials & assist the party-state in disseminating info & implementing policies. Examples include: All-China Federation of Trade Unions

Han Chinese

China's largest ethnic group

autonomous areas

many ethnic minorities reside in these, China uses them as a way to control and appease these minority groups. Example: Tibetans

Turkic Uighur minority

in the northwest province of Xinjiang, Muslim minority in China

Tibetans

in the southwest of China, Buddhist minority groups in China, has semi-autonomous area

Tactics China uses to pacify ethnic minorities

co-optation, assimilation & repression

Communist ideology

still popular in the countryside

Maoism

promotes class struggle, the collective over the individual, loyalty to the larger community including the CCP, and egalitarianism.

Populist faction within the CCP

favor equality and the need to address China's growing economic disparities, unemployment and the tattered social safety net.

Elitist faction within the CCP

known as the "princelings" because they are the offspring of former high ranking officials; they call for economic freedom and efficiency over equality.

charismatic legitimacy

Legitimacy built on the force of ideas embodied by an individual leader

Authoritarianism

A political system in which a small group of individuals exercises power over the state without being constitutionally responsible to the public.

civil society

Organizations outside of the state that help people define and advance their own interests

Civil Liberties

freedoms to think and act without government interference or fear of unfair legal treatment

Demography

The scientific study of population characteristics.

command economy

An economic system in which the government makes all economic decisions.

parallel organization

the organization of the Chinese Communist Party has corresponding positions that these leaders will have in the Chinese government. For example the General Secretary of the CCP will be the President of the People's Republic of China.