comp gov: russia

Asymmetric Federalism

Russia's constitutional principle that gives uneven amounts of power and autonomy to the lower regional governments, particularly giving more local power in republics populated by non-Russian ethnic groups

Brezhnev Doctrine

a foreign policy of the Soviet Union during the administration of Leonid Brezhnev that asserted the right to intervene militarily within neighboring communist states if the Communist Party was in danger of losing power in those states

Central Committee

a body of the Communist Party that is chosen by the larger Party Congress and is ostensibly empowered to choose the Politburo and senior leadership positions

Cold War

a period of prolonged but generally nonviolent conflict, lasting from the mid-1940s to the late 1980s, between the Soviet Union and its allies and the United States and its allied European powers

Command Economy

a centrally planned and controlled economy like the kind of economy that operated in the former Soviet Union and other communist countries.

Communism

political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Communist Manifesto

a political pamphlet, published by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848, calling upon the world’s proletarian workers to organize a revolution against the bourgeoisie (the property-owning middle class that came to wealth and political power during the Industrial Revolution)

Constitution of 1993

Russia's constitution, drafted after the collapse of the Soviet Union and ratified by referendum, establishing a federal presidential republic

Constitutional Court

a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law.

Democratic centralism

Vladimir Lenin’s model of making political decisions centrally within the inner party elite, though ostensibly for the benefit for the majority of the people

De-Stalinization

Nikita Khrushchev’s program of ending purges and the cult of personality around the Soviet Union’s leader in the aftermath of Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953

Duma

the lower and more powerful house of Russia’s legislature, representing the people of Russia based on population.

Federation Council

the upper house of Russia’s legislature, wherein each regional government has equal representation

Federal Public Chamber

a bureaucratic agency empowered to approve or block NGOs from operating in Russia

Federal Security Service

a federal executive body with the authority to implement government policy in the national security of the Russian Federation.

Five-Year Plan

Soviet plans for industrial development establishing production goals and quotas for a designated five-year period

Glasnost

Mikhail Gorbachev's program of opening Soviet society to allow the formation of independent groups and reduce controls on freedom of expression

Illiberal democracy

a governing system in which citizens are cut off from knowledge about the activities of those who exercise real power because of the lack of civil liberties

Iron Curtain

a metaphor used to describe the division of Europe between communist countries and liberal democracies

Kulaks

landowning peasants who were persecuted in Joseph Stalin’s collectivization program

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)

an extreme right-wing nationalist minority opposition party in Russia

“Loans for share” Scandal

a scandal in the 1996 Russian presidential election in which Boris Yeltsin’s campaign received loans and favorable media coverage from wealthy Russian oligarchs, after which the Russian government sold shares in state-owned companies to the oligarchs at apparent discounted prices

Marxism

a political and economic philosophy, based on the ideals of Karl Marx, that seeks to create a classless society through shared ownership of the means of production

Nashi

a youth group created and funded by the Russian state that worked for the election and agenda of Vladimir Putin and Dmitiri Medvedev

Nomenklatura

the process of elite recruitment in communist systems, whereby leaders at higher levels of the power hierarchy provide the names of those they would like to see promoted form the lower levels

Oligarchs

a small number of individuals controlling a massive amount of wealth and potentially controlling political processes through their wealth, particularly regarding Russia

Perestroika

Mikhail Gorbachev’s economic reforms allowing a limited role for markets, rather than the state, to determine what would be produced

Politburo

the senior leadership group in communist parties that also acts as the executive branch in most cases

Proletariat

a Marxist concept of working-class laborers who are exploited by capitalism for the benefit of the bourgeoisie

Purges

Joseph Stalin’s program of eliminating potential opposition figures within the Communist Party through arrest or murder

Siloviki

people who have worked in the Russian security services, such as the military or police forces

Slavophile

a description of a Russian who opposes the westernization of their culture and prefer to protect and preserve Russian traditions

Soft authoritarianism

a political system in which there are minimal components of democracy such as elections and political parties.

Statism

a belief that the state should take a central role in protecting and providing for the society

United Russia

the largest party in Russia since 2004, often characterized as a party of power