Democratic Centralism
➔ The Leninist organizational structure that concentrates power in the hands of the party elite.
Nomenklatura
➔ An ordered path from local party Soviets to the commanding heights of leadership.
Vladimir Putin
➔ President of Russia 2000-08 and 2012-present. He consolidated power and crushed any opposition.
Dmitri Medvedev
➔ Elected president in 2008 after Putin stepped down to stay on as Prime Minister.
Marxism-Leninism
➔ Variation of communism based on the ideas of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.
Stalinism
➔ A brutal form of communism imposed by a small group of party leaders.
Totalitarianism
➔ A political system in which the government has total control over the lives of individual citizens.
Constitution of 1993
➔ Provided for strong president, checked by popular election and lower house of legislature.
Duma
➔ Russian national legislature ... lower house.
Glasnost
➔ A policy of the Soviet government allowing freer discussion of social problemsGorbachev policy.
Russian Orthodox Church
➔ Church that was the main target of religious persecution under Stalin's regime.
V. Lenin
➔ Led the communist revolution, was the leader of the Bolsheviks, ruled Soviet Union
Politburo
➔ A seven-member committee that became the leading policy-making body of the Communist Party in the USSR.
General Secretary
➔ Head of the Politburo, assumed full power as dictator of county.
Five Year Plan
➔ Plans outlined by Joseph Stalin in 1928 for the development of the Soviet Union's economy.
Nikita Khrushchev
➔ Aggressive Soviet leader whose failed to put missiles in Cuba
Destalinization
➔ Kruschev's program attempt to remove Stalin influences.
Democratization
➔ The process of creating a government elected by the people.
Perestroika
➔ A policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev that involved the restructuring of the social and economic status quo in communist Russia towards a market based economy and society.
Boris Yeltsin
➔ President of the Russian Republic in 1991. Helped end the USSR and force Gorbachev to resign.
Constitutional Court
➔ Highest body in the Russian legal system, responsible for constitutional review.
"Shock Therapy"
➔ An abrupt shift to free-market economics. Yeltsin lowered trade barriers, removed price controls, and ended subsidies to state-owned industries.
Asymmetric Federalism
➔ A system where power is devolved unequally across the country and its constituent regions.
CPRF
➔ The Communist Party of the Russian Federation and is the second-strongest party. The party emphasizes centralized planning and nationalism, and implies an intention to regain territories lost when the Soviet Union broke apart.
Decrees
➔ Rulings that have the force of law but do not need the approval of the legislature.
Federation Council of Russia
➔ The upper house of the parliament of Russia.
Liberal Democrats
➔ The neofascist and racist opposition party led by Vladmir Zhirinovsky. (Nationalistic)
Proportional Representation (PR)
➔ An electoral system in which political parties compete in multimember districts. Voters choose between parties, and the seats in the district are awarded proportionally according to the results of the vote.
Single-member district
➔ An electoral district in which voters choose one representative or official.
United Russia Party
➔ Political party put together by the oligarchs of Russia to support Putin. Currently the dominant party in Russia.