As post-communist countries struggle to modernize and adopt a democratic regime, Russia and China each face obstacles unique to their own political and historical context. The main findings of this paper reveal that economic and political liberalism are closely linked and that economic liberalization facilitates democratization. Thus the shortage (rather than surplus) of economic liberalization has contributed to Russia’s deficit of democracy and has been one of the major obstacles of democratization for Russia. However in China, only economic reform took place under a total political dictatorship. Without political reform, there would be no democracy, even if economic modernization booms rapidly. Both nations ceased to let go of the communist bureaucratic regime, instead they incorporated market economy with heavy bureaucratic control. This persistence of bureaucratic control over the economy hinders democracy in both countries.
One of the most contentious and politically significant debates in social science focuses on the relationship between economic policy and political regime. Political scientists still continue to debate over whether measures that enhance the freedom of private economic actors do or do not promote democracy. This debate is immediately relevant to Russia’s post communist experience. As we have discussed in class, there is some evidence that economic freedom and democracy go together. This makes sense when we consider the market as an ally of open politics. An autonomous economic activity works as a bulwark against despotism. This perspective is consistent with the notion that both capitalism and democracy are based on free choice and that capitalism separates economic power from political power and thereb...
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...itical. The control and governance of a nation as large as Russia would require authoritarian control. This created a forced economic modernization, a half-hearted political reform towards democracy. From this we can conclude Russia’s democracy today is a semi-democracy after all. Very similarly in China, economic reform was carried out under total political dictatorship. Maybe the Chinese learned from the Soviet and its semi-democracy, and saw that economic reform could be carried out without political reform. However, there is evidence of development in both nations. China became the most dynamic and the fastest growing economy in the world in the last ten years. This allows a more extensive degree of freedom and liberty in their economic, social and private lives. These new developments indicate that the transition to political liberalization has begun in China.
Some may say Ukraine was still successful because they did end the Soviet Union gaining some independence for themselves. "The abruptness of the Soviet Union's collapse, as well as the strategic importance that the Ukraine continued to have for Moscow, stunted the Ukraine's democratic transformation"(Pg 142). Because the Union completely disappeared, Ukraine was not given the opportunity at that time to figure out what they can do to become a democracy. Unlike Ukraine, China was less fortunate with their revolution towards democracy. "The easy answer as to why things turned out differently could be that the Chinese dictatorship simply had more backbone"(Pg 157). With China being so much more strict, and the possibility that the students just didn't have enough power (because after all, they are still just looked at as kids), maybe there was just no possibility for reform at that
China and Russia developed similar economies through communist ideals, rapid industrializations, and the creation of free-market economies. The government of China and Russia at the start of the twentieth century were both communist, this was a leading factor in the in the economic and social changes. The twentieth century was the beginning of industrialization throughout the world, China had embraced the change leading to many jobs being created.
The initial proposal of the magnet school as a means to create racial equity among schools has been unsuccessful despite its statement of philosophy and purpose. “By shifting focus toward academic interests…magnet schools are attempting to bring together students who have common interests regardless of race” (www.liberalparty.com). However, despite its attempts, the system of magnet schools has failed to overcome racial segregation. Kozol notes that “very poor children, excluded from this [magnet] system, says the Chicago Tribune, are ‘even more isolated’ as a consequence of the removal of the more successful students from their midst” (Kozol 59). According to Kozol and the
China's transition from the leadership under the iron fist of Mao Zedong to the more liberal Deng Xiao Ping gave the People's Republic a gradual increase in economic freedom while maintaining political stability. During Mao's regime, the country focused on bolstering and serving the community, while subsequently encumbering individual growth and prosperity. Deng advocated a more capitalist economic ideology, which established China as an economic force in the global community while endowing its citizens with more liberties and luxuries than previously granted.
Stalin believed that there needed to be a dictatorship that regulated every aspect of its citizens’ lives in order to industrialize the Soviet Union. “His plans were in 5 year intervals in which the government took control over all businesses
In contemporary times, the rise of capitalism as a dominant economic trend and its ravenous demand to accumulate sources from new markets, has led to the idea of merging political and economic power into one, which is democratic capitalism or otherwise illustrated as “a system where markets allocate income according to efficiency while governments redistribute income according to political demand."(Iversen, 2006). The advancements mentioned earlier, have given ground for questions concerning the possible compatibility of the political ideology which is democracy and the economic ideology capitalism and how would they affect one another. This mergence could be examined in recent times, whereas in the past around the start of the nineteenth century it was considered as inappropriate and unlikely to happen. This paper aims to demonstrate to what degree are democracy and capitalism compatible, by examining the various areas of conflict of the two ideologies, how has capitalism affected the democratic system in the United States and does actually global capitalism have an impact on the developing countries democracies.
Rule of Lenin vs the Tsar The beginning of the 20th century saw a great change in the political structure of the Russia. A country once led under an autocracy leadership. was suddenly changed into a communist state overnight. Dictatorship and communism are at separate ends of the political spectrum. This study so clearly shows both involve the oppression of society and a strict regime in which people are unable to voice their opinions.
E. H. Car and Moshe Lewis. Political undercurrents in Soviet economic debates: from Bukharin to
... This essay critically analyses and examines the effect of Communism on the Chinese Society during the period of 1946-1964. The overall conclusion that can be drawn is that the Chinese Communist Party managed to defeat the Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party and achieve victory in the Civil War, in spite of alienation by the Soviet Union and opposition from the U.S. This was primarily because of the superior military strategy employed by the Communists and the economic and political reforms introduced by this party which brought more equality to the peasants in the form of land ownership and better public services. This increased China’s production and manufacturing, which not only boosted the country’s economy but also provided a more sustainable supply of food, goods and services for the Chinese people.
Exploring the October revolution and the establishment of communism, Richard Pipes concludes that the origin of communism can be traced back to the distant past in Russia’s history. Pipes states that Russia had entered a period of crisis after the governments of the 19th century undertook a limited attempt at capitalisation, not trying to change the underlying patrimonial structures of Russian society. (Pipes, 1964)
The 'Secondary Davies, R.W.. Soviet Economic Development from Lenin to Khrushchev. Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1998. Boettke,Peter J., et al. The political economy of Soviet socialism: the formative years, 1918-1928.
"From Autocracy to Oligarchy." The Structure of Soviet History: Essays and Documents. Ed. Ronald Grigor. Suny. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. 340-50. Print.
The topic of democracy in China is a highly controversial topic. Although China has not democratised, it has done well in the global situation amongst its democratic competitors. Since the path to democracy is different for each country, we cannot expect that China would follow the same path or same model of democracy as the western nations. This essay will look at what democracy is and how it can be placed in a Chinese context as well as looking at the proponents and opponents of democracy in China. It will also look at whether China is democratising by focusing on village elections, globalisation and the emergence of a civil society. These specific topics were chosen because they will help provide good evidence and arguments to the topic of democratisation in China. The main argument in this essay will be that although China is implementing some changes that can be seen as the beginning of a road to democracy, there contribution should not be over estimated. China still has a long way to go before it can be considered that it is democratising. The small changes are good but China still has a long road ahead of itself to achieve democracy.
China's development is praised by the whole world. Its developments are not only in the economic aspect, but also in its foreign affairs. Compared to other developed countries, China is a relatively young country. It began constructing itself in 1949. After 30 years of growth, company ownership has experienced unprecedented changes.
Communism is an original system of society, quite different from Democracy in many ways. While total democracy is not widely spread, many forms of it are prosperous throughout the world today.