Anarchism
Radical ideology seeking to overthrow all conventional forms of government.
Apparatchik
"Man of the apparatus"; full-time CPSU functionary.
Asset stripping
Selling off firm's property and raw materials for short-term profit.
Authoritarianism
Dictatorial rejection of democracy, but milder than totalitarianism.
Autocracy
Absolute rule of one person in a centralized state.
Bolshevik
"Majority" in Russian; early name for Soviet Communist Party
Caesaropapism
Combining the top civil ruler (caesar) with the top spiritual ruler (pope), as in Russia's tsars.
Capital goods
Implements used to make other things.
Caucasus
Mountainous region between Black and Caspian seas.
Central Asia
Region between Caspian Sea and China.
Central Committee
Large, next-to-top governing body of most Communist parties.
Civil society
Associations larger than the family but not part of government, and the pluralistic values that come with them.
Cold war
Period of armed tension and competition between the US and the Soviet Union, approximately 1947-1989.
Communism
Economic theories of Marx combined with organization of Lenin.
Constantinople
Capital of Byzantium, conquered by Turks in 1453.
Consumer goods
Things people use, such as food, clothing, and housing.
Contradiction
In Marxism, a big, incurable problem that rips the system apart (current equivalent: dysfunction).
CPSU
Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Cult of personality
Personal glorification of a dictator.
Current account balance
A country's exports minus its imports.
Cyrillic
Greek-based alphabet of Eastern Slavic languages.
Default
Country announces that it cannot pay back a loan.
Duma
Russia's national parliament.
Exclave
Part of country separated from main territory.
Five-Year Plans
Stalin's forced industrialization of the Soviet Union, starting in 1928.
Flight capital
Money that the owner sends out of the country for fear of losing it.
Gensek
Russian abbreviation for "general secretary"; powerful CPSU chief.
Geopolitics
Influence of geography on politics and use of geography for strategic ends.
Glasnost
Gorbachev's policy of media openness.
Gosplan
Soviet central economic planning agency.
Gulag
The Soviet central prisons administration.
Hard currency
Noninflating, recognized currencies used in international dealings, such as dollars and euros.
Imperialism
Powerful countries turning other lands into colonies.
Infant Mortality rate
Number of live newborns who die in their first year, per thousand; standard measure of nation's health.
Input-output table
Spreadsheet for economy of entire nation.
Kleptocracy
Rule by thieves.
Middle way
Supposed blend of capitalism and socialism; also called "third way."
Narodniki
From Russian for "people," narod; radical populist agitators of late nineteenth-century Russia.
New Economic Policy
Lenin's economic policy that allowed private activity, 1921-1928.
Nomenklatura
List of sensitive positions and people eligible to fill them, the Soviet elite.
North Caucasus
Mountainous region north of Georgia and Azerbaijan, including Chechnya.
Oligarchy
Rule by a few.
Paranoia
Unreasonable suspicion of others.
Perestroika
Russian for "restructuring"; Gorbachev's proposals to reform the Soviet economy.
Politburo
"Political bureau"; small, top governing body of most Communist parties.
Proletariat
According to Marx, class of industrial workers.
Public finances
What a government takes in, what it spends, and how it makes up the difference.
Purge
Stalin's "cleansing" of suspicious elements by firing squad.
Republic
First-order civil division of Communist federal systems, equivalent to U.S. states.
Rump state
Leftover portions of a country after dismemberment
Runaway system
Influential people use their resources to amass more resources.
Shock therapy
Sudden replacement of socialist economy by market economy.
Socialize
To teach political culture, often informally.
Siberia
That part of Russia east of the Ural Mountains.
Siloviki
"Strong men"; security officials who now control Russia (singular silovik).
Slavophiles
Nineteenth-century Russians who wished to develop Russia along native, non-Western lines; also known as "Russophiles."
State Duma
Lower house of Russia's parliament.
Tatar
Mongol-origin tribes who ruled Russia for centuries. (Not Tartar.)
Totalitarianism
Attempts to totally control society, as under Stalin and Hitler.
Tsar
From "caesar"; Russia's emperor; sometimes spelled old Polish style, czar.
Tyranny
Coercive rule, usually by one person.
Ukraine
From Slavic for "borderland"; country south of Russia
War communism
Temporary strict socialism in Russia, 1918-1921.
Weak state
One unable to govern effectively; corrupt and crime-ridden.
Westernizers
Nineteenth-century Russians who wished to copy the West.
Zemstvo
Local parliament in old Russia.