Review Sheet for Test #3: Authoritarianism and Iran

Authoritarianism

Small group of individuals exercise power over the state, Government is not constitutionally responsible to the public. The public has little or no role in selecting leaders, individual freedom is restricted. Nondemocratic regimes may be institutionalized and legitimate.

Totalitarianism

A relatively rare form of government. The regime seeks to control and transform all aspects of the state, society, and economy. The use of violence is a tool for remaking institutions and institution compliance with a strong and overarching ideological goal.

Populism

Not a specific ideology, draws power from an approach that is anti-institutional. led by a charismatic leader

Coercion

The use of fear to discourage opposition. Public obedience is enforced through violence and surveillance. Can be targeted or indiscriminate violence.

Selective Targeted Violence

Arresting protest leaders rather than indiscriminate violence. Can incur much higher risk for those who dissent.

Co-optation

Members of the public are brought into a beneficial relationship with the state and government, often through corporatism or clientelism.

Methods of Political Control

coercion, propaganda, and co-optation.

Personality Cult

A political system where a leader is presented as an extraordinary figure, often through propaganda, to gain public loyalty and support.

Patrimonialism

A form of governance in which all power flows directly from the leader, often leading to nepotism and favoritism in political appointments.

Bureaucratic Authoritarianism

A type of authoritarian regime characterized by a strong bureaucratic structure and limited political participation.

Illiberal/Hybrid Regimes

Political systems that combine elements of democracy and authoritarianism, often with elections that are not fully free or fair.

Corporatism

A political system in which various interest groups are integrated into the political process, often used by authoritarian regimes to control society.

Clientelism

A political system where goods or services are exchanged for political support, often seen in authoritarian contexts.

Corporatism

Create a sanctioned or limited number of organizations to represent the interests of the public.

Clientelism

State provides specific benefits/favors, highly targeted to individuals or small groups.

Kleptocracy

Rule by theft, exemplified by situations like Zimbabwe and Russian oligarchs.

Personality Cult

The public is encouraged to obey the leader based on extraordinary qualities or ideas.

Patrimonialism

A form of co-optation often relied on by personal and monarchical rule, exchanging political benefits for popular support.

Ahmadinejad

President of Iran from 2005 to 2013, known for increased conservatism and confrontation abroad.

Rouhani

President of Iran from 2013 to 2021, known for seeking reforms.

Raisi

President of Iran from 2021-2024, a hard-line cleric.

Pezeshkian

President of Iran from 2024.

Qajar dynasty

Ruled Persia from 1794 to 1925 after overthrowing the Zhan dynasty.

Constitutional Revolution

1905-1906 uprising against Qajar dynasty by secular and religious leaders to limit the power of the monarchy and resist Western imperialism.

Majlis

The legislature of Iran.

Erosion of Sovereignty

1907: UK and Russia divide Persia into formal spheres of influence.

Reza Shah Pahlavi

Monarch of Iran from 1925 to 1941.

White Revolution

Reforms enacted by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, beginning in 1963, to rapidly modernize and Westernize Iran.

Operation Ajax

U.S.—and the UK—backed the overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mosaddeq in 1953.

SAVAK

Secret police of prerevolutionary Iran created by the Shah to consolidate power.

Mohammad Mosaddeq

Prime minister of Iran; nationalized oil industry in pursuit of national sovereignty and was deposed in 1953 by Operation Ajax.

National Front

Political party in Iran following World War II; opposed the monarchy and favored greater Iranian control over natural resources; outlawed after Operation Ajax.

Supreme Leader

Chief spiritual and political leader of Iran; has numerous powers derived from institutionalized practices.

Assembly of Experts

Elected body that chooses the supreme leader; comprised of 88 members, all men and Islamic scholars.

Guardian Council

Controls the vetting of presidential and legislative candidates in Iran.

Martial Law

Declared by the Shah during the Iranian Revolution, resulting in more violence and repression.

Cinema Rex Fire

A fire started by protest radicals but blamed on the government, which contributed to the Iranian Revolution.

Human Rights Emphasis

U.S. President Jimmy Carter put greater emphasis on human rights and criticized the Shah for repressive practices.

Legislature

Majlis: a unicameral body with 290 members.

Powers of the Supreme Leader

Includes commander in chief of armed forces, controls Guardian Council, appoints chief justice, and controls state-owned economic assets.

Guardian Council

Appointed body that vets candidates for office and can overturn legislation.

Expediency Council

Appointed body that mediates between the Majlis and the Guardian Council over legislative disputes.

Revolutionary Guard

Paramilitary force charged with defending the regime from domestic and internal enemies, significant in domestic and international affairs.

Basij

People's militia which serves as a public morals police, used to enforce public conduct and deployed to break up protests.

People's Republic of China (PRC)

Established in 1949 after the CCP strengthened by WWII and the KMT weakened.

Republic of China

Established by the KMT after fleeing to Taiwan.

Hundred Flowers Campaign

A campaign (1956-1957) where Mao encouraged intellectuals to criticize national policy, followed by a crackdown on critics.

Great Leap Forward

Mao's disastrous effort (1958-1960) to modernize China through localized industrial production and agricultural communes.

Red Guards

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

Cultural Revolution

Period during which Mao encouraged supporters to attack CCP authorities whom he accused of becoming too bourgeoisie.

China's Economic Development

Recent and rapid economic development that challenges conventional modernization and growth models.

Cultural Revolution

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

Deng Xiaoping

Paramount leader (1978-1997) who launched China's policy of economic reform and opening.

Economic Pragmatism

Deng Xiaoping replaced communism with this

Centralized, Authoritarian Rule

Power held by a small group of leaders who are not accountable to the citizenry and not bound by the rule of law.

Political Authority

Flows from the party elite to party members (and downward).

Nomenklatura System

A system used by the CCP to exercise control.

Organizational Parallelism

Also called 'parallel bureaucracy', a method of control by the CCP.

Danwei System

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

Hukou System

Maoist program that tied all Chinese to a particular geographic location.

Floating Population

China's roughly 300 million itinerant peasants who have been leaving the countryside to seek urban employment since the 1990s.

National Party Congress (NPC)

Chinese Communist Party's cumbersome representative body; more akin to a national political party convention.

Central Committee (CC)

Elected by the National Party Congress, which then elects the Politburo.

Politburo

A body that is determined by party leaders before any ballots are cast.

Politburo Standing Committee (PSC)

Seven members who do most of the real governing.

Secretariat

Party bureaucracy.

Central Military Commission (CMC)

Maintains tight control over armed forces.

Central Commission for Discipline Inspection

Maintains party loyalty and fights corruption.

Head of State-China

Held by the paramount leader or his designee, often also serving as the general secretary of the CCP and/or the head of the CMC.

State Council-China

China's executive branch that oversees work of China's ministries and commissions.

National People's Congress (NPC)

China's national legislature; unicameral with roughly 3,000 delegates and a 150-member standing committee, indirectly elected every 5 years by provincial people's congresses.

People's Liberation Army (PLA)

Composed of an army, navy, and air force.

Political Violence

Violence outside the control of states that is politically motivated.

Institutional Explanations

Some institutions create violence by excluding, marginalizing, or polarizing populations.

Ideational Explanations

Ideas set out a worldview, diagnose problems, provide resolutions, and describe the means for achieving goals.

Individual Explanations

Individual experiences drive people to violence.

Forms of Political Violence

Includes revolution and terrorism, where terrorism is the use of violence by nonstate actors against civilians to achieve a political goal.