comp gov: china

Cadres

people in positions of authority who are paid by the government or party (about 30 million cadres around China see that the leaders’ policies are carried out everywhere)[

Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

founded in 1921 and came to power in 1949; it continues to be the ruling party of China. It is organized into the National Party Congress (2000 delegates that meet every five years), the Central Committee (340 members who meet annually for about a week), and the Politburo/Standing Committee (most powerful group at the top with 25 members in the Politburo and 7 in the Standing Committee)[

Collectivism

valuing the good of the community above that of the individual[

Confucianism

an ancient system of thought and behavior originating with the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 BCE); it emphasizes social harmony by means of duty, loyalty, and ethical behavior.[

Cultural Revolution

a sociopolitical movement in China from 1966 to 1976 launched by Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Communist Party of China, designed to preserve Chinese Communism by purging remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society[

Danwei

social units located in urban areas usually based on a person’s place of work; social control is maintained through these units as people have depended on the units for their jobs, income, and promotion, but also for medical care, housing, daycare centers, and recreational facilities[

Deng Xiaoping Theory

based on a famous statement by the leader (“It doesn’t matter whether a cat is white or black, as long as it catches mice.”), it reflected the view that as long as a policy improved the economy, it didn’t matter whether it was capitalist or socialist[

Dual Role

refers to the vertical supervision of the next higher level of government and horizontal supervision of the Communist Party at the same level[

Fang Shou

literally means “letting go, tightening up” and refers to cycles of political/economic flexibility and liberalization followed by increased repression and control[

Great Firewall of China

the combination of legislative actions and technologies enforced by China’s government to regulate the Internet domestically[

Great Leap Forward

a utopian effort by Mao Zedong to transform China (in 1948) into a radical egalitarian society (and to free China from Soviet domination); its emphasis was mainly economic and based on four principles: all-around development, mass mobilization, political unanimity and zeal, and decentralization[

Guanxi

personal connections through which Chinese leaders communicate with one another through a patron-client network; they underscore the importance of personal career ties among individuals as they rise in bureaucratic or political structures[

Household Responsibility System

a system where in the early 1980s Deng dismantled the people’s communes and created a way where individual families could take full charge of the production and marketing of crops; after paying government taxes and contract fees to the villages, families could consume or sell what they produced[

Iron Rice Bowl

Mao Zedong’s policy (from 1948 to 1978) that followed a command economy, providing citizens with cradle-to-grave health care, work, and retirement security[

Mandate of Heaven

a Chinese political and religious teaching that was used in ancient and imperial China to justify the rule of the King of Emperor of China; it embodies the natural order and will of the universe and confers legitimacy upon a ruler[

Mass Line

Mao Zedong’s concept of a line of communication between party leaders, members and peasants that would allow all to struggle toward realization of the goals of the communist state, involving teaching and listening on everyone’s part[

One Child Policy

program instituted by Deng Xiaoping in 1979 that included both incentives and penalties to assure that couples produced only one child[

One Country, Two Systems

an agreement signed by the UK and China in 1984 where the British ceded control of Hong Kong to mainland China. Under this policy, Hong Kong is subject to Chinese rule, but was promised “a high degree of autonomy,” meaning that it could maintain its capitalist system, legal system, and way of life.[

People’s Daily

the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the CCP[

People’s Liberation Army

encompasses all of the country’s ground, air, and naval armed services[

Premier

head of the Chinese government, formally appointed by the president; the position is always held by a member of the Standing Committee[

Princelings

many of China’s recent leaders who come from the “princeling” class, an aristocracy of families with revolutionary credentials from the days of Mao Zedong[

Procuratorates

officials who investigate and prosecute official crimes (playing a large role in Hu Jintao’s crackdown on corruption within the Communist Party)[

Special Economic Zones

are areas in China (particularly along China’s east coast) designated by the government as regions where private businesses could attract foreign direct investment[

Tiananmen Square Protest (or June Fourth Incident)

student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing during 1989; troops armed with assault rifles and accompanied by tanks fired at the demonstrators who were upset over inflation, corruption, and limited preparedness of graduates for the new economy; the protesters called for greater accountability, constitutional due process, democracy, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech.[

Tuanpai (Chinese Communist Youth League)

faction led by former President Hu Jintao, whose allies come from the CCYL, the party’s nation-wide organization for youth aged 14-28; the tuanpai faction are usually thought to promote the concerns of the urban and rural poor, but others see few ideological commonalities among its leaders[

Umbrella Revolution

protests that began in 2014 in Hong Kong demanding greater citizen input in elections that Beijing would allow[

Xinhua

official press agency of the government, employing more than 10,000 people who are stationed not only in China but abroad as well[