AP Comparative Government & Politics

Study Guide: Russia

Jacob Martinez
Period 4

VOCABULARY

Concepts:
Democratic Centralism – Leninist organizational structure that concentrates power in the hands of the party elite
Glasnost – under Gorbachev, Soviet policies that opened up the political system and allowed for freedom of
expression
Nomenklatura – Soviet system of lists that facilitated the CPSU’s appointment of trusted people to key positions
Oligarch – business and political leaders with what some think is undue influence in Russia
Perestroika – ill-fated program to reform and open up the Soviet economy in the late 1980’s (also under
Gorbachev)
Power Ministries – the most important departments in the Russian government
Privatization – the selling off of state-owned companies
Purges – the systematic removal of people from a party, state, or other office (used by Stalin)
Shock Therapy – policies in formerly communist countries that envisage as rapid a shift to a market economy as
possible

People:
Brezhnev, Leonid – General Secretary of the CPSU, 1964-82; largely responsible for the stagnation of the USSR
Gorbachev, Mikhail – head of the CPSU and last president of the Soviet Union; came up with Glasnost and
Perestroika, wanting democratization in Russian.
Khrushchev, Nikita – successor of Stalin who decided to reform Russia from 1953-1964 where he was ousted due
to the Cuban missile crisis
Lenin, V.I. – the architect of the Bolshevik revolution and the first leader of the Soviet Union
Putin, Vladimir – Russian president since 2000
Stalin, Joseph – ruthless leader of the CPSU and Soviet Union, 1924-53 (killed 20 million-60 million people, used
purges and gulags)
Yeltsin, Boris – former reformist communist leader and president of Russia (1991-2000, first president of Russian
Federation)

Acronyms:
CPRF – Communist Party of the Russian Federation
CPSU – Communist Party of the Soviet Union
KGB – the Soviet Secret Police (Putin was a part of this)

Organizations, Places, and Events

Bolsheviks – Lenin’s faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party; later came to mean anyone who subscribed to
his views and/or organization
Central Committee – supposedly the most important body in a communist party; its influence declined as it grew
in size and the party needed daily leadership
Cheka – the secret police in communist Russia
Comintern – organization that tried to promote communism in other places around the world
Federation Council – the largely powerless upper house of the Russian parliament
Five-year plan – in the former Soviet Union, the period for which GOSPLAN developed goals and quotas
GOSPLAN – the Soviet central planning agency appointed by Stalin
Mensheviks – the smaller and more moderate faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party before WW1
Politburo – generic term used to describe the leadership of a communist regime (small, older, elite group of men)
Provisional Government – temporary government that came in to moderate Russia before democracy finally came
in after the fall of communism
Russian Federation – formal name given to Russia
Secret Speech – given by Krushchev in 1957, apologizing for Stalin’s leadership; seen as the start of the “thaw”
Secretariat – oversaw the party business AKA bureaucratic leaders of the communist party
State Duma – lower house of the Russian parliament
Third International – Moscow-dominated organization of communist parties around the world between the two
World Wars
United Russia – the political party led by current Russian president, Vladimir Putin
Yabloko – one of the leading reformist parties in Russia

BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT

Executive: PRESIDENT
.The most powerful by far
.Current President is VLADIMIR PUTIN
.Used to be called Secretary General in the former Soviet Union
-Very similar to president
-Gorbachev was the last Secretary General
.The president is ELECTED
-Uses a two-ballot system
-If no one gets more than 50% of the vote, there is a run-off election
.Prime Minister is also included, but is APPOINTED by the president
.Can be in office for two CONSECUTIVE six-year terms
.Powers include: issuing decrees, can dissolve the Duma, and he runs an extremely centralized
administration giving him ultimate authority over nearly everything

Legislative: STATE DUMA & FEDERATION COUNCIL

.Bicameral legislature known as the Federal Assembly
.Federation Council
-Upper House w/ less power
-APPOINTED by territorial officers; terms are set by the territories
-Cannot stop laws but can delay them
-Consists of 176 members, 2 people per republic/state AND per region (currently 21 republics,
and 67 regions)
.State Duma
-Lower house w/ more power
-Gives “permission” to who’s in power
-Consists of 450 members, ELECTED by proportional representation
-Usually good for small parties, but NOT in Russia because the needed percentage to win is too
high (7%)
-The legislature CAN override presidential veto
Judicial: SUPREME COURT (115 Members) and Constitutional Court (19 Members)
.Typically less powerful than other branches
.Supreme Court/Constitutional Court
-Deals w/ laws conflicting with the constitution
.Members/judges are APPOINTED by the president and heads of the two houses of parliament
.No term limits
.Civil Liberties
-Right to speak, right to a lawyer, etc. (BASIC RIGHTS)
-People who live in the cities tend to have more rights than those in urban areas

SIGNIFICANT PEOPLE

Peter the Great – early 1700’s

.Attempts to westernize/modernize Russia
.Not the president, but the Tsar/Czar (monarch)
.Had absolute power

Alexander II – 1880’s
.Attempts to reform/globalize Russia
.Gets assassinated because people didn’t want change
.His son, Alexander III, becomes leader and doesn’t change anything

Nicholas II – early 1900’s

.The last Tsar/Czar
.1906 – Russia attacks Japan (Russo-Japan War)
.Russia loses and Nicholas looks weak so he and his family are killed

Lenin – 1921-24
.Marxist and communist (1st communist leader of Russia)
.Uses democratic centralism
.Bolsheviks (his people)
.NEP (New Economic Policy)
-pushed for privatization

Stalin – 1924-53
.“Man of Steel”
.Killed between 20 mil-60 mil of his own people
.GOSPLAN – government agency
-Sets up the first 5-year plans
.Comintern
-Tries to promote communism around the world using money and propaganda
.Purges & Gulags
-When he specifically killed political figures
-Gulags = forced labor camps
Krushchev – 1953-64
.Decided to reform and change Russia
-Wants to get along with other countries
-Russian people thinks this will make them look weak
.Secret Speech
.Cuban Missile Crisis
-Russia moves nukes into Cuba to attack the U.S. quickly
-Pres. Kennedy puts of a naval blockade in from of Cuba and Russia backs down
-Krushchev looks incredibly weak and is kicked out

Brezhnev – 1964-82
.No reforms
.Economy goes down/No real improvement whatsoever
.Established the Politburo

Gorbachev
.Reformer who tried to change Russia but they resist change
.Young leader/updated image
.Glasnost
-Opens up the government/transparency
.Perestroika
-Opens up the economy
-Least successful
.Democratization
.Foreign Policy
-Unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing
-No more nuke testing because it is too much money

Boris Yeltsin
.First president of Russian Federation

Putin (Current President, in his 3rd term)

.Super popular
-Won two consecutive terms after Yeltsin w/ majority
-Won again after Medvedev’s first and only term
.Former member of KGB
.Has NEVER had a run-off election
.Limits freedom (attacking the media)
.Oligarchs were put in prison for resisting Putin’s policies; others left in fear
.Putin then handpicks Medvedev as next President
-Putin takes the Prime Minister position where many people believe he still had power
ECONOMICS
.Not Good
.Shock Therapy
-Rapid shift from communism/nationalism to capitalism/privatization
-Didn’t really work because they don’t like change
.Bottom-Up
-They privatized the small businesses first THEN bigger businesses
.Ruble = their currency
-In 2012, 31 rubles = 1 U.S. dollar
.GDP (per person)
-In 2012, GDP = $17,500 per year
.Poverty Level
-In 2012, 30% DEEP POVERTY
.Unemployment Rate
-In 2012, 5.5%
.Tons of oil and natural gas
.Economy does not compare well w/ other European countries
-They don’t like change so they don’t reform their economic policies
.Corruption
-More corruption associated with business and economy, not politics and government

SOCIAL
.Population = 145 million people
-6th largest pop.
.Diversity
-Lots of diversity
-Lead to ethnic fighting
-Chechnya = sort of like Biafra, wanted to separate from Russia (Muslim area)
.Life Expectancy
-In 2012, 69-years old
-76 for women, 64 for men
-One of the only places where life expectancy is decreasing
-Only place where AIDS isn’t a factor of decreasing
.Lack of productivity
-People don’t work hard
-No incentives to work hard
.Religion
-#1 religions group is Orthodox Christians (conservative Christians)
.Hardliners
-People who would rather go back to communism/the Soviet Union
-They want POWER AND PRESTIGE so they can be a superpower again
.Lack of Legitimacy
-No trust in the government
-Government isn’t very transparent and censorship is an issue
.Voter Turnout
-Higher percentage than in the U.S.
.Suspicion of Power and Low Expectations
-Low trust of who’s in power
-Low expectations of leaders and the improvement of lives
.Powerless
-People feel like victims
-They feel like they can’t change anything
.NGO’s (Non Governmental Organizations)
-Consist of people who try to do good things in the world
-They have to register w/ the GOVERNMENT (Ironic?)

OTHER

Political Parties

.United Russia
-Putin’s party
-In ’07 election, they won 315 seats in the Duma

.Just Russia
-Follows Putin on mostly every vote

.CPRF (previously CPSU)

-Most organized party
-Have become less powerful because their members are dying

.Yabloko
-chief reform party
-a lot of people who join are intellectuals (people who are academically elite)

.Union of Right Forces

-To the right – conservatives, business, capitalism, etc.

.Liberal Democrats
-To the left