AP COGO final review

Russian pals

Joseph Stalin

Vladimir Lenin

• ideological founder of Marxism-Leninism, a form of Communism
• democratic centralism through leadesrhip of a vanguard
• universal social welfare - education and healthcare, etc
• abolishment of private property, social classes, and the inequality of genders
• state serves as economic coordinator through a command economy planned through scientific methods
• organized the vanguard (Bolsheviks) which acted as a catalyst to the 1917 Revolution
• established a Bolshevik government
• Cheka were his powerful police unit, similar to Putin's FSB
• under the Bolsheviks, the Red Terror, a mass execution campaign to get rid of the elite ruling class, swept Russia
• died in 1924 of debilitating health issues

• General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR from the mid 1920s until 1953.
• Had close relationships with Mao Zedong and Kim Il-sung, two other major communist world leaders.
• Stalin is responsible for at least 20 million civilian deaths within his own Russian population.
• many millions more were exported to forced labor camps called gulags for imagined crimes
• Stalin was fond of regular purges, and paranoid of all threats to his power
• his policies were later subject to de-Stalinization by his successor Khruschev

Mikhail Gorbachev (Gorbie)

Gorbie spent some time modeling for Louis Vuitton.

• First and last president of the USSR - he established the office, and then helped bring about the fall of the USSR.
• perestroika - process of privatization and modernization of the Soviet economy, unpopular with hardline communists
• perestroika was part of the reason Gorbachev fell out of favor and was eventually driven from office
• demokratizatsiya - democratization of Soviet political systems, primarily through multi-candidate elections to the Party
• glasnost - called for increased openness and transparency about government policies and activities in the USSR
• greater freedom of speech, relaxed censorship of books
• forced to resign after his power was decimated by a failed coup in 1991 in which he was held under house arrest illegally, in order to halt the signing of the Union of Sovereign States treaty
• Gorbie resigned as General Secretary of the Communist party, and dissolved all party units inside the government, effectively ending the USSR.

Current issues/cleavages

Vladimir Putin

Boris Yeltsin

• first president after the dissolution of the USSR
• responsible for "shock therapy," rapid liberalization of the Russian economy
• set up a western-style democracy with the Constitution of 1993
• Yeltsin's resignation allowed Vladimir Putin to step up to the presidency in 2000 from the prime ministership

• Current President of the Russian Federation
• utilises a vast network of Siloviki (ex-KGB and FSB) to increase the reach of his political power
• has significantly increased the centralization of power in the federation, taking powers back from the sub-units
• there is a huge cult of personality surrounding him today
• the concentration of power follows him wherever he goes - while he served as Prime Minister, he still held all the weight of the presidency

Issues

Cleavages

the Basics

• Recentralization of power in the Kremlin has taken off under Putin. A reverse-devolution phenomenon has occurred under Putin, with many powers being taken back for the executive, such as appointment of governors, control of major television stations, and the creation of 7 super districts run by Putin appointees.
• Russia's relations with former USSR republics is really fucking awful. In 2008, Russia staged a small scale invasion of Georgia to support secessionist regions, and the situation had to be diffused by France. Now, in 2014, Russia's invasion of the Ukraine spoke to Russia's growing aggressiveness.
• Russia's membership in supranational organizations has been developing. In the early 2000s Russia became a member of the G-8 (then G-7), an economic and political summit of world powerhouses. Also, in 2012, Russia finally succeeded in becoming a member of the WTO, a huge milestone in Russia's emergence as a major player in the global economy.

• As the largest country in the world by land area, Russia is made up of hundreds of different ethno national groups. 80% of all citizens are Russian, but there are significant numbers of Tatars, Ukrainians, Armenians, etc. The most visible and violent national cleavage is in the Muslim republic of Chechnya, which has been fighting a bloody war for independence since the dissolution of the USSR.
• The number of practicing Muslims in Russia is nearly equal to practicing Christians. The Muslim population is further stratified from the rest of Russia by their geographic concentration in three regions: Moscow, the Caucasus (Chechnya), and Tatarstan. The Caucasus region is home to many radical Islamists, while Tatarstan has much more peaceful relations with Russia.
• Since the end of the USSR, wealth disparity between Russia's richest and the rest of the population has skyrocketed. Without the forced egalitarianism of the communist model, entrepreneurs were able to amass fortunes in business, especially under Yeltsin. Putin has recently been cracking down on the super-rich oligarchs for corrupt business practices.

Institutions/branches

Russia has a mixed presidential-parliamentary system, which means that it has a president and a prime minister. The president is officially the head of state, while the prime minister is officially the head of government. Putin, however, often exceeds his powers as president.

regime type: illiberal or hybrid democracy

current President: Vladimir Putin (PM Dmitry Medvedev)

federal government

bicameral legislature

party system: one-party dominated (United Russia)

civil society: under developed, high government control

citizens' rights: moderate

media freedom: moderate

military: civilian-controlled (President)

corruption level: medium (Siloviki)

Russia has a bicameral legislature, with a lower elected house and an upper appointed house. The lower Duma is elected by proportional representation with a 7% threshold. The upper Federation Council are appointed two delegates by each of the 83 federal districts.

Russia does not have an independent judiciary. More often than not, the courts are used by the government to attack private citizens, and not to defend citizens' rights from the government. There is a Constitutional Court who are supposed to exercise judicial review, but they generally avoid crossing Putin.

Russia has been divided into seven mega districts, which Putin appoints the governors of. Moreover, Putin has eliminated the direct election of the 83 federal district governors, instead appointing them himself.

Economy

In reality, the legislature is a very weak check on presidential power. The Duma must confirm the presidential appointment of the Prime Minster, but the president may dissolve the Duma if his choice is

rejected three times. Moreover, Duma votes of no confidence in the Prime minister have no legal holding over the president, who may decide whether or not to dismiss the Prime Minister.

Russia suffered many difficulties during their transition from a command economy to a free market economy in the 1990s. Yeltsin's "shock therapy" gave way to the rise of the oligarchs, and helped the growth of a huge wealth gap.

It was Gorbie's perestroika reforms that were responsible for the economic failure of the USSR. Perestroika introduced some market reforms meant to improve socialist function, but caused dissent in the Politburo that led to the coup attempt that destabilized Gorbachev's government.

Mother Russia

"Shock therapy" caused unemployment to skyrocket, and the value of the ruble to inflate ridiculously. Without the job security afforded under communist structures, the standard of living suffered considerably.

Britain Vocabulary

Russia's economy is fueled by enormous oil and gas reserves. The oil and natural gas industries are mostly controlled by state-owned enterprises such as Rosneft and Gazprom.

• parliamentary sovereignty
• devolution
• loyal opposition/shadow cabinet
• collective responsibility
• quangos (neo-corporatism)
• noblesse oblige
• solidarity
• gradualism
• Euroskepticism
• Keynesianism

Under Putin, trends of privatization have been reversed. It has become increasingly difficult for small businesses to form and grow. The emphasis has shifted

back to a state-capitalist model, in which the government undertakes ecomonic activity for profit,

Political culture

Russia Vocabulary

the collection of political beliefs, values, and practices that the government is based on

United Kingdom

• Russia has a long and bloody history of statism (the belief that the government is responsible for and capable of protecting the wellbeing of their citizens).
• Communism and statism went hand in hand; the government was expected to provide everything.
• There is still a lingering sense of holding the government accountable for care, housing, etc.
• There is less value on freedom and democracy than in the UK; nevertheless, Russia still has a participant political culture.
• Change in Russia happens in the form of revolutions and coups: quickly and violently.
• Russians are used to having power rest in the hands of one or a few people: the tsars; Stalin; Putin. This is autocratic (single) or oligarchic (multiple, i.e. Politburo.
• Russians believe in equality of result, rather than equality of opportunity, which causes resentment of wealth inequality
• skepticism about power and distrust of government institutions

Current Issues and Cleavages

Cleavages

Issues

• Transparency in government has been called into question by the 2009 expense scandal. The Daily Telegraph published expense records for a number of MPs revealing misuse of parliamentary funds for personal use. This caused public outrage and increased skepticism over the actions of public officials.
• The UK's membership in the EU remains a hotly debated issue. Though the UK entered into the EU with certain exceptions (such as keeping the pound), Euroskepticism is still a popular stance, particularly in the UK Independence Party, as the future of the EU is called into question.
• Terrorism and violence is a domestic as well as a foreign problem for the UK. UK support for the US War on Terror continues in the Middle East while the issue is debated at home. However, major terrorist attacks have occurred in the UK as recent as car bombs in 2007 and beheadings in 2014.

• Strong national sentiments have persisted in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland since the formation of the United Kingdom. Recently, these national cleavages have asserted themselves through devolution of powers in the form of sub-national parliaments, and the Scottish referendum of 2014 and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
• Social class distinction is also a politically salient cleavage. Though these lines have recently started to blur in terms of voting behavior, it is still fair to say that working class people tend to vote Labour, while middle and upper class people vote Conservative. Classes are divided by education and income; the north tends to be less wealthy than the urban south.
• Ethnic minorities in the UK account for 7.1% of the population. Minorities, especially Muslims, are not well integrated into the population, and are more distinct from the majority than in many other countries. Many British Muslims are not well off economically, and as whites move out of urban areas, more any more minorities are left in the cities.

• collectivization
• democratic centralism
• glasnost
• perestroika
• shock therapy
• demokratizatsya
• nomenklatura
• oligarchy

Institutions/branches

Executive branch and legislative branch are fused in Parliament. The head of the executive branch is a Prime Minister, who is selected by the majority party in the House of Commons.

the Basics

Bicameral parliament with lower House of Commons and upper House of Lords. MPs in the lower house are elected by single-member district plurality. Hereditary peers in the House of Lords gain seats by heredity or appointment. Elections for the lower house of Parliament must be called within every 5 years.

Britain has an independent judiciary, with a common law form of judicial review. Britain's civil and criminal courts operate much the same as those in the United States. Because Britain operates on a common law system, laws can only be reviewed on the basis of whether or not they violate past laws or Acts of Parliament.

Economy

Britain has a liberal free-market economy. Though some national industries exist in the healthcare and health insurance sectors, the vast majority of UK business is private-owned.

Britain's head of state and head of government are separate. The Queen acts as the head of state, but she has no real powers in lawmaking or governing. Most of her traditional powers have been adopted by the head of government, the PM

regime type: substantive democracy

current Prime Minister: David Cameron (Conservative)

unitary government

bicameral Parliament

party system: multiparty, two-party dominated

civil society: well-developed, pluralism

citizens' rights: good

media freedom: good

military: civilian-controlled (Prime Minister de facto)

corruption level: low

From the end of WWII to the 1970s, the prevalent trend was Keynesianism. This way of structuring the economy made the gov't responsible for employment, social services, and economic stability. Under Keynesianism, large amounts of government spending are used to jump-start the economy.

Bureaucracy is comprised of thousands of civil servants with discretionary power. Higher-level bureaucrats directly advise cabinet ministers on policy in their area of expertise.

With Thatcherism in the 1970s, the trend turned towards neo-liberalism. Thatcher promoted privatization, and decreased government involvement in the economy.

Political Culture

Now, it is the popular belief in the UK that there must be a "middle way" that combines liberalism and Keynesianism. The NHS is the government's largest nationalized industry, intended to provide healthcare to those who cannot afford private healthcare. One major debate in the UK today is whether to keep the NHS, which increases the expenses of the government greatly, and is bogged down by red tape.

the collection of political beliefs, values, and practices that the government is based on

rational-legal legitimacy

UK Homies

David Cameron advocates his "Big Society," which would move towards bigger roles for private companies. He believes that the government has become to large, and

wants to return some power to individuals.

Margaret Thatcher

• Coservative party majority leader (Prime Minister) from 1970-90.
• Thatcherism: promotion of capitalist values in government policy.
• significantly curbed the power of labor unions
• privatized many national industries
• Harsh Eurosceptic - did not support the United Kingdom's membership in the European Union, resisted the idea of a single EU currency.
• Because she was so staunch in her views, and unwilling to compromise, Thatcher's popularity was never very good.
• by 1990, Thatcher was more of a burden to the conservatives than a benefit, who were better off without her for that election
• she was forced to resign after eventually losing a vote that challenged her party leadership

• The United Kingdom has a long history of rational legal legitimacy, based on their acceptance on the right of the government to govern, and on the constitution.
• The principle of noblesse oblige (the obligation of the rich to take care of the poor) is a strong factor in the history and modern state of the UK.
• England has had a long history of gradualism; change happens slowly, not abruplty as in Russia.
• Consensual political culture: everyone agrees on the right of the rulers to rule.
• Participant political culture: people have a high ability to act in politics and potentially influence the government.
• Democracy has a high value placed on it in the UK.

David Cameron

• Current Conservative majority leader (Prime Minister) 2010-present.
• became Prime Minister after Gordon Brown's resignation
• formed the first coalition government since WWII with the Liberal Democrats
• LibDem leader Nick Clegg serves as Deputy Prime Minister
• Agreed to holding the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, and promised to consider the results, which were nonbinding
• his administration has also seen the phone hacking scandal

Tony Blair

• Labour party majority leader (Prime Minister) from 1997-2007.
• Many of his policies had conservative tilts to them, despite his being a member of the Labor party.
• devolution of legislative powers back to the sub-units (Good Friday Agreement)
• removal of most of the hereditary peers in the House of Lords (democratization of the upper house)
• Human Rights Act of 1998 - gave further effect to the EU convention of human rights in UK courts.
• economic policy was very strictly Labour - raised taxes and set a National Minimum Wage

Current issues/cleavages

Issues

Cleavages

• The debate over the fusion of religion and politics is still very much alive. The religious scholars centered in the holy city Qom believe that the only true fusion of politics and religion will come with the Twelfth Imam. They view jurist's guardianship as invalid, because the SL and other major religious and political leaders have no inherent divine authority.
• Iran's nuclear program has been a hotbed of contention on the global stage. In 2006, official sanctions and embargoes from the UN went into play against Iran until they agree to stop their uranium enrichment program; these sanctions took heavy tolls on Iran's economy. The sanctions have recently come under re-evaluation, though Iran has made no change in its nuclear program, which is f*cking dumb.

• With 90% of the population being Shia Muslim, religious minorities have few de facto protections. Religious minorities are subject to significant persecution, especially members of the Baha'i faith. Baha'i leaders have been executed and imprisoned, with Baha'i schools and businesses forcibly closed or vandalized. Even Sunni Muslims are sometimes subject to discrimination.
• Ethnically, only 51% of Iranians are Persian. Major groups include Azeris, Gilaki and Mazandarani, Kurds, and Arabi; Kurds and Arabi have their ethnic differences enhanced by religious differences, as many are Sunni. Though the Kurds have made efforts to establish an independent Kurdistan, in general most ethnic cleavages do not come with national sentiment, as many Iranians identify first as Iranian.
• Social class tends to coincide with the reformist vs. conservative cleavage. The conservative view of clerics (to keep the theocratic regime) garners support from the lower class, who receive many benefits from the gov't's social programs. Upper and middle-class people tend to support secularization and democracy.

Iran

Economy

Iran Vocabulary

Economy

From 1949 to 1978, China had a strict command economy directed through democratic centralism. This was the period of the "iron rice bowl," in which job security and benefits were assured. The people's communes were also in use during this time.

Iran is a rentier state dependent on oil revenue. Its economy is not diversified, and so whether it is in good or bad conditions depends largely on the world market for oil.

A revolution of rising expectations occurred in the late 1970s. Iranians were used to doing better than the once had, and when oil revenues fell slightly, the expected conditions did not meet the actual conditions, and public happiness fell.

Under Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s, a number of reforms were introduced. He replaced the communes with the household responsibility system, in which families produced a quota to be given to the gov't, and were free to use or sell the extra (this encouraged improvement). He also created TVEs, collective enterprises which were responsible for their own profits and losses.

• bonyads
• equality-with-difference
• vilayat-e faqih/jurist guardianship
• fundamentalism
• khordad front
• qanun
• shari'a
• people of the book
• rentier state
• revolution of rising expectations
• basij

The Iranian oil industry is nationalized under the National Iranian Oil industry. Profit from oil accounts for 60% of government income, and there is a divide between those elites with close ties to the oil industry and the upper clergy over the value of oil production. Ayatollah Khomeini famously stated that "economics is for donkeys."

The creation of special economic zones has helped economic growth in the eastern coastal regions of China. In these zones, conditions are better for business, with tax breaks for foreign investors, greater independence in international trade, etc.

Under Ahmadinejad, spending on government supsidies accounted for about 25% of Iran's GDP. Subsidized products included food, housing, bank credit, and gasoline. In 2010, many subsidies were ended, after only 5 years since their institutions, and policies were put in place

so that the more basic utilities consumed, the more expensive they become.

China has ended up with a weird hybrid economy, which is sometimes referred to as "bamboo captialism." Private industry remains heavily controlled by the government, though the importance of her national sector is diminishing.

Embargoes and sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear activities have inhibited Iran's development and competition in the global market in industries

other than oil.

China recovered quickly from the global recession of 2008 by pump priming. Large

amounts of money were poured into the economy through gov't spending, as in

Keynesianism.

Political Culture

the collection of political beliefs, values, and practices that the government is based on

*not Iran

• Iran has a long history of authoritarianism, first under the shahs, now under the Supreme Leader and his theocracy
• theocratic union of political and religious authority since the Revolution of 1979
• importance of shiism, and use of shari'a law for national government
• traditional legitimacy based on theocracy, authority of officials derived from God (Allah)
• strong sense of Iranian nationalism - more likely to identify as Iranians first and Muslims second, possibly due to their being Shiite, and set apart from the rest of the Middle Eastern countries

Political culture

the collection of political beliefs, values, and practices that the government is based on

Current issues/cleavages

Institutions/branches

The Supreme Leader can do whatever the fuck he wants. Constitutionally there are checks on his power, but in reality, as leading Islamic jurist, he has broad reaching powers. He can dismiss the president, command the armed forces, appoint and remove judges, etc.

• China has a long history of patron-clientilism, guanxi, in which jobs in the government are gained by having connections, not by merit.
• China's consensual political culture originates from the lack of a choice given to her citizens.
• Fang-shou, the give and take, is present as far back as record goes in the struggle for power between different factions. This can be seen from dynastic times to present day.
• Under Mao, China was united in legitimacy by the cult of personality which had grown around him.
• China has a participant political culture, though it is very difficult for citizens to participate in many areas such as interest groups, large-scale organization, etc.
• NGOs can only be formed as non-political entities.
• Internet usage is highly censored.
• legitimacy today is largely traditional, based on the power of the CCP

Issues

Cleavages

The majles is essentially unimportant compared to the oodles of councils (too many f*cking councils). Guardian Council exercises jurist's guardianship, and makes sure every law follows shari'a, as well as vetting electoral candidates. Assembly of Religious Experts in theory has the right to dismiss the SL, but the SL controls the Guardian Council, which controls the ARE. The Expediency Council referees disputes between the majles and the Guardian Council, and can even make its own legislation, which makes its impartial arbiter function moot.

• Rapid urbanization in China's east has created a "floating population." People coming from rural areas to find work in cities often do so without the proper documentation, which means that there are large numbers of people living unaccounted for in urban areas. Children of these migrants have no rights to education in cities, and these migrants themselves may not have access to healthcare or adequate housing.
• Pressure to democratize has resulted in more competitive elections on the village level. These elections may not yet be free and fair, and China is certainly a long way from holding national democratic elections, but there is hope that democratization may take hold from the bottom up.
• The Chinese government practices extreme levels of censorship. Many major websites are blocked, and all major tv and news stations (such as Xinhua) are controlled by the government. Those who speak out against the government are often jailed. A major example of censorship in China is the absence of any reports or records of the Tiananmen Square protests available to the public.
• China's population control policy is all over the place. Most famously, China instituted the one child policy in order to control its exponential population growth, but that created a number of issues, such as the abandonment and infanticide of baby girls, and an uncared for elderly population. They are now starting to reverse some of their population policies, allowing more and more people to have two or more children.

• China's most salient cleavage is between rural and urban populations. The rural people in the west of the country are extremely poor, most of them employed in agriculture. Great numbers of rural people have moved east to China's cities in order to find work in factories. Economic growth has centered in cities, and rural areas have been largely left out of China's wealth, and protests have occurred often in the countryside.
• Ethno national cleavages have also been very volatile in China. The Han Chinese are the ethnic majority in China, and often receive preferential treatment in government aid programs. China's autonomous regions, specifically Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet, are home to ethnic groups with strong national identities, which has resulted in demands for greater autonomy and even violence.

The President functions constitutionally as a Prime Minister. He is only kind of elected (all candidates must be approved, the SL can pick and choose freely). Supervises the budget, proposes legislation, signs treaties, selects VP and cabinet.

Iranian overlords

Muhammad Mossadegh

Iran's courts must rule on both shari'a and qanun. Judicial review exists, as laws must be seen to adhere to shari'a. Judiciary is

headed by a chief justice, who must be a cleric (with a 5 yr term),

and who oversees the rest of the judiciary.

• led the opposition National Front during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
• advocated nationalizing the British oil industry that controlled oil in Iran
• wanted to remove the armed forces from shah's control
• elected prime minister in 1951, power growing until the shah fled the country in 1953
• deposed by US and UK forces, who reinstalled the shah because of his pro-western views

Ayatollah Khomeini

The military includes the Revolutionary Guard and the basij, closely controlled by the shah. The guard

is used to control issues within the country,

such as protests.

China Vocabulary

• leader of the Revolution of 1979 against the shah
• dominant ideology was pro-religion (shiism), against shah's secularism
• established a theocracy with himself as Supreme Leader, head cleric for 10 yrs before death
• shah was percieved as becoming more and more totalitarian, which fueld Khomeini's revolution
• emphasized literal translation of Koran
• called the US the "Great Satan"
• re-defined jurist's guardianship
• campaigned a Stalin-esque purge against the shah's regime leftovers
• really a bad dude

Ayatollah Khamenei

• succeeded Khomeini as Supreme Leader in 1989
• does not have the same cult of personality as Khomeini
• appointed for life, as are all Supreme Leaders
• does not have the credentials as the Koranic scholar that Khomeini did

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

• elected president in 2005 and 2009
• succeeded Khatami, a liberal reformist, and worked to reverse many of his reforms
• a sucky president
• closed down newspapers, banned books and websites
• limited opposition political activity of protests, as well as limiting the political participation of opposition candidates who lost the 2009 presidential election
• did not get along/agree with SL Khamenei, and had a legislative tug of war thing going on

Institutions/branches

Mir Hossein Mousavi

• opposition candidate to Ahmadinejad in 2009
• lost by an official 34% to Ahmadinejad's 63%
• loss sparked a huge protest movement known as the Green Movement
• was expected to either win or lose by a small margin, which caused allegations of fraud
• basij sent to disperse Green Movement, with violence
• mostly supported by students and young people, middle class

China is governed by three parallel hierarchies: the government, the CCP, and the military. The government and CCP are virtually indistinguishable, as all policy comes from the CCP and is passed without issue through the government. The head of the government (the president) is also the head of the CCP (general secretary), and commander in chief of the military.

The unicameral National People's Congress has no power compared to the National Congress of the CCP. All legislation comes from the Politburo and the Standing Committee of the Politburo, and meets no opposition in either legislature.

• cadres
• mass line
• democratic centralism
• danwei
• egalitarianism
• fang-shou
• floating population
• guanxi
• household responsibility
• hukou
• iron rice bowl
• nomenklatura
• "reds" and "experts"

the Basics

China has no independent judiciary. Because of the authoritarian nature of the Chinese Communist Party, China's judiciaries act as arms of central CCP power. Rule of law exists in theory, but not in practice, with China's courts having a 99% conviction rate on criminal cases.

People's Republic of China

The only direct elections in China are held at the local level by the CCP in order to provide legitimacy.

regime type: authoritarian theocracy

current President: Hassan Rouhani (Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei)

unitary government

too many fucking councils (plus unicameral majles)

party system: many parties, none influential

civil society: underdeveloped, infringed upon by government

citizens' rights: bad

media freedom: bad

military: controlled by Supreme Leader

corruption level: high (inherent in authoritarianism)

Mexicanos

Chinese buddies

Enrique Peña Nieto

Porfirio Diaz

• dictatorial president from 1876-1911 in the "Porfiriato"
• staged a coup in 1876 to install himself as president
• established an authoritarian, but stable state
• believed in bringing scientific and economic progress to Mexico
• encouraged foreign investment and economic growth
• regime ended with a coup from within the elite in 1910

• current president of Mexico
• PRI party leader
• has been governing without a PRI majority in the legislature
• cabinet mixes business technocrats with veteran PRI party members
• married to a lovely telenovela star

Mao Zedong

• Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China from 1945 until his death in 1976
• ideological founder of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, communism with Chinese charactersistics
• mass line - party must not separate from the popular masses
• Cultural Revolution - purging of China's customs and tradition, viewed ideologically as a constant struggle against the elite
• sought to industrialize the countryside (viewed it as equalizing rural and urban), with the Great Leap Forward
• "iron rice bowl" - guaranteed support from the government
• Mao's cult of personality grew to insane proportions
• *responsible for 40 to 70 million deaths through starvation and forced labor

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

• PRD candidate for the presidency in 2006
• lost by 0.5% of the vote
• has a huge following among the nation's poor
• following the 2006 election, Obrador's supporters staged a huge sit-in protest in Mexico City to demand a recount (recieved a 9% recount)
• declared himself the rightful president even after the recount (loco)

Deng Xiaoping

• Mao's successor as paramount leader of China (without titles)
• proponent of market economic reforms (better "expert" than "red") and economic liberalization (to an extent)
• TVEs, Special Economic Zones, invited foreign investors into Chinese business
• combined CCP socialist policies with market economic principles
• was a close ally of Mao's, and accompanied him on the Long March

Ernesto Zedillo

Vincente Fox

• tried to emphasize rule of law during his sexenio from 1994-2000
• first PRI president not to choose his successor for PRI candidate, which played a big part in letting PAN win in 2000
• refused to interfere in the court
• the best Mexican president (imho)

• PAN candidate in 2000
• first non-PRI president to win the presidency
• PAN is the business-oriented party, but also supports the Catholic Church
• succeeded by fellow PAN Felipe Calderon
• criticized for a dinner party in which he treated President Bush better than Fidel Castro

the Basics

Hu Yaobang

• General Secretary of the CCP from 1982-87.
• publicly rejected Mao's policies, and supported liberalization and certain westernizations
• started wearing western business suits
• suggested eating in the western way to prevent communicable diseases
• his death was what initially prompted thousands of students to gather in Tiananmen Square in 19

Xi Jinping

• Current President of China and General Secretary of the CCP.
• has tended towards more traditional communist party values in governing (fang-shou after Hu Jintao's belief in consensus-based rule)
• has initiated a new and sweeping campaign against corruption in the government and the party.

Institutions/branches

regime type: transitional democracy

current President: Enrique Peña Nieto

federal government

bicameral legislature

party system: multiparty, three-party dominated

civil society: developing, pluralism

citizens' rights: good

media freedom: good

military: civilian-controlled (President)

corruption level: moderate

President Xi visits President Obama. They resemble some popular children's characters.

regime type: authoritarian

current President: Xi Jinping

unitary government

unicameral legislature (bicameral CCP legislature)

party system: one party dominated (CCP)

civil society: corporatist (tight party leash)

citizens' rights: bad

media freedom: bad

military: Chairman of Central Military Commission (President)

corruption level: high (guanxi)

Because of the PRI's historical dominance, policymaking has always centered on the president.

Through the camarilla system, the president with PRI support was essentially a dictator. With PAN, that absolute control has decreased.

Bicameral legislature with lower Chamber of Deputies and upper Senate. The Chamber of Deputies has 500 members, with 300 elected from single member districts and 200 from proportional. Senate is elected: 3 senators directly in each of the 31 states (first two seats to plurality winner, third to runner-up), remaining selected by proportional representation nation-wide.

*this is Taiwan, a strong independent island who don't need no People's Republic of China (because technically Taiwan is the rightful "China")

Mexico has neither an independent judiciary nor judicial review. The courts have been historically controlled by the executive, an though the Supreme Court has de jure judicial review, they rarely if ever overturn acts of the government. In practice, judges resign at the end

of every sexenio, allowing the new president to appoint his own.

The military is under the civilian control of the government. However, corruption surrounding the drug trade is rampant within the ranks of the military.

The bureaucracy is overstaffed and undereffective. Many para-statals such as PEMEX still exist, and gov't workers staff schools. An estimated 1.5 million people

staff the bureaucracy centered in Mexico City.

Mehico

Political Culture

the collection of political beliefs, values, and practices that the government is based on

• Catholicism: many Mexicans are devout catholics, although the influence of the Church was curbed under the PRI's control
• patron-clientilism or "camarilla" system: extends from national leaders down to village level, huge factor of PRI's absolute control. corrpution as a by-product
• strong admiration for revolutionary leaders based on a history of popular revolutions
• most believe in rational-legal legitimacy of the government, but drug violence has challenged the gov't's authority
• strong sense of national identity as Mexican based on shared language, religion, and history.

Mexico Vocabulary

• pendulum theory
• sexenio
• camarillas
• caudillos
• ejidos
• neoliberalism
• technicos and politicos

Economy

The Mexican Miracle lasted from 1940 to 60, in which her economy grew by 6%/year. This grh occurred under ISI, and with the boom of oil production.

Mexico's high rates of borrowing eventually caused a crisis with the price of oil's decline in 1982. Mexico had borrowed as if the price of oil would stay high forever, and when it fell, her debt was $107 billion. In order to recover, she needed to convert to structural adjustment under de la Madrid.

Mexico narrowly avoided becoming a rentier state by diversifying her economy. The maquiladora zone created in the north of Mexico to encourage foreign development helped to grow the industrial sector and provide further job opportunities.

40% of the Mexican budget still comes from PEMEX revenue. PEMEX is the last stronghold of Mexican para-statals, and has been defended against many reform attempts, including resisting privatization.

Current issues/cleavages

NAFTA was an important factor in the diversification of the Mexican economy. However, it also created a Mexican dependence on the prosperity United States economy because of high levels of interconnectedness.

Muchos pesos. Muchos, muchos pesos.

Issues

Cleavages

• Mexico has a large urban population which grew to around 75% during rapid urbanization. Mexico's industrialization was focused largely in northern cities, which caused a migration of agricultural workers from the south. Rural voters are more likely to vote PRI, as the PRI was created to appeal to the peasant classes, while urban voters tend more towards the PAN (upper class) and the PRD (lower).
• Though Mexico's middle class is growing, there is still high inequality between Mexico's rich and poor. Poor Mexicans experience higher infant mortality rates, lower levels of education, and lower life expectancies. Mexico's poor citizens can be found in both rural and urban areas, but her rural lower class are concentrated largely in the south, which has been left out of economic development.
• The mestizo vs. indigenous Amerindian cleavage also divides the north and the south. Mexico's marginalized Amerindian population are concentrated in the rural south, and are more likely to live in poverty. This is the cleavage that gave rise to the Zapatista movement in the southernmost state of Chiapas, which demanded more rights for indigenous peoples.

• Mass unplanned urbanization has put a huge strain on Mexico's inefficient infrastructure. Along with industrialization and migration into urban areas has come overpopulation in many of Mexico's cities. There are large numbers of people living without utilities in huge slums. Pollution from car traffic has also become a major issue.
• Drug trafficking and the violence that comes with it has impeded the Mexican government's authority and endangered the lives of her citizens. The "War on Drugs," which escalated during the presidency of Felipe Calderon, when he sent thousands of troops to patrol the streets in the most affected areas. Mexico's inability to protect her people against this violence has called her legitimacy into question.
• Pressure to improve democratic processes has led to electoral reform. Election monitoring has increased, and the IFE is now functioning more independently of the PRI. The 2006 election seemed to bring hope for competitive elections, with electoral review processes being followed, but the 2013 local elections saw the deaths of six candidates, which was a clear step backwards.

Nigeria (a.k.a. a hot fucking mess)

TERRORISM

Economy

Political Culture

the collection of political beliefs, values, and practices that the government is based on

Nigeria is a rentier state dependent on oil revenue. Nevertheless, much of the revenue from oil never makes it into government funds, instead going into the pockets of "big men."

Current Issues/cleavages

Nigeria Vocabulary

A culture of rent-seeking behavior has developed through the patron-client system. Those with access to the government or government officials through personal ties have access to "rent" from oil revenue, while the rest of the country exists mostly in the informal economy of small, unreported revenue, trade, and subsistence agriculture.

• patron-clientilism or "prebendalism" - the president is the head of a huge patron clientilist network, which continues from the time of military rule
• history of ethno religious conflict and violence - differences in belief between Muslim north and Christian south, and between three major ethnic groups, because of favoritism
• georgraphic influences - the major ethnic groups are concentrated in certain geographic regions; also, the northern and southeastern regions are now the areas torn by violent groups
• legitimacy is not certain in Nigeria
• this is where the "national question" comes from - whether or not Nigeria ought to remain as one country

Issues

Cleavages

• prebendalism
• patrimonialism
• rent-seeking behavior
• "federal character"
• national question
• hausa-falani
• igbo
• yoruba
• kinship-based politics
• shari'a

70% of Nigerians are employed in the agricultural industry. Nigeria is in the process of modernizing, and has attempted to do so via structural adjustment, but they are impeded greatly by corruption levels.

• 60% of all Nigerians live in poverty, without access to basic necessities like food, water, and electricity. Most Nigerians are employed in subsistence agriculture, making barely enough to get by in Nigeria's informal economy. The most impoverished citizens are in the un-industrialized north and the violence-torn south east Niger delta region.
• Terrorism and violence from Boko Haram and MEND are Nigeria's most pressing problems. In the north, and more and more in the interior of the country, the radical Islamist group Boko Haram has been responsible for terrorist attacks, massacres, kidnappings, and numerous other atrocities. The government is unequipped, and under Jonathan apparently unwilling to combat these terrorists, whose power has only grown in recent years. In the Delta region, MEND has wreaked havoc against the oil companies.
• Nigeria has high rates of HIV/AIDS. There are only a small number of clinics, that are only to treat only a few thousand out of the country's millions of HIV positive citizens. Despite this, the government has not given adequate effort into addressing the health issues in the country.

• Nigeria has hundreds of ethnic groups, with three large groups dominating. The Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba are separated by language, ethnicity, religion, and geography, and they have very little in common. Politics is very affected by the divide between these three ethnic groups, as officials give preferential treatment to their ethnic group, and coalitions and parties tend to form along ethnic lines.
• Nigeria's north has a high concentration of Muslims, while her south is mostly Christian and indigenous religions. The Hausa-Fulani in the north have a very different way of life from those in the south, with shari'a law built into their local courts and governments. Muslim schools also exist in the north, including schools teaching radical Islamist doctrine.
• Those with access to the gov't controlled oil money represent a wealthy elite that is stringently divided from the country's poor. Nigeria's rent-seeking culture means that those with the right personal ties have the ability to become extremely wealthy; nevertheless, there are some educated elites who believe it is necessary to modernize and democratize Nigeria.

Nigeria's private sector is much smaller than its puclic sector, which oil is an enormous part of. Since their attempts to enact structural adjustment in the 1980s, Nigeria's private

sector has not grown considerably.

Despite high levels of corruption, Nigeria has the highest GDP in Africa. This is due entirely to oil

revenue, as well as the vast success of Lagos as

a center of development of entertainment

and a wealthy upper/middle class.

SORTA OKAY

Institutions/branches

Nigeria has followed the US presidential federal model for organization. They have a single executive, a bicameral legislature with a Senate and House of representatives, and courts at federal and state levels.

The president is the head of a vast patron-client network. Every appointed government job is ultimately a part of this network.

Many para-statals still exist in the Nigerian government. They are in theory privately-run, but their boards are appointed by government ministers. They are intended to provide a public service, but, as seen by the Power Holding Company (Please Hold Candle), they often fail to deliver utilities.

the Basics

House of Representatives are elected by single-member plurality, amd three Senators are directly elected from each of the 36 states. Nigeria has one of the lowest rates of female representation in the legislature in the world. The legislature is as corrupt as the rest of the

gov't, but they have become an effective check on the executive.

A complicated court structure exists because of shari'a in the north. Shari'a is only enforced on the state level.

The military has traditionally been a huge force in policy making. It has often blocked democratic

progress, but has been said to transcend cleavages

as one of the few truly national institutions in

Nigeria.

Nigerian Dudes

regime type: substantive democracy

current President: Muhummadu Buhari (was Goodluck Jonathan)

federal government

bicameral National Assembly

party system: multiparty, one-party dominated (PDP)

civil society: well-developed, competitive

citizens' rights: good

media freedom: good

military: civilian-controlled (President)

corruption level: HIGH (patron clientilism)

Olusegun Obasanjo

• originally a military dictator, but an awesome one
• voluntarily stepped down in 1979 for a democratically elected president
• when democratic elections were held again in 1999 (after several more coups), Obasanjo was elected president; re-elected in 2003
• set a precedent for peaceful transition when he stepped down in 2007 to Umaru Yar'Adua

Goodluck, Jonathan

• pretty much a useless president
• replaced Yar'Adua upon his death in 2010, was re-elected in 2011
• slightly less corrupt than the rest of Nigeria, worth an estimated $100 million (accused of squandering $25 billion in oil revenue, spending 1 million in aid money to entice Beyoncé to perform in Nigeria)
• most important and notable decision has been to wear a stupid hat all the time

(Gen.) Muhammadu Buhari

• former military dictator, elected president as of 2015, after failed campaigns in 03,07,11
• candidate of the All Progressive Congress party
• endorsed by MEND, which is slightly worrying
• takes a harsh stance against Boko Haram
• supported by former president Obasanjo
• hails from the Muslim north

ANARCHY

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AP COGO final review

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