Russia Vs China

Whenever people think of communism, Russian SFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) and China, as two biggest communist polity, always come to people’s mind first. Likewise, at any time people mention authoritarianism, they will never miss the two biggest authoritarian regimes: Russia (Russian Federation) and China. The former, with the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991, the world’s first and largest communist polity and the prime facilitator of communist political system came to an end, which creates the modern Russia Federation, a country that still persists in authoritarianism but applies democratic political system and constitution. The latter, after experience multiple destructive invasions and humiliating

The People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation are both indisputably two of the most powerful nations on Earth. For centuries, they have been leaders of their region; dominating in the political realm especially. Communism has been a staple in the history book of each (well, maybe a loose staple in Russia’s). Regardless, in an analysis of the five main “pillars” of comparison for this course1 in respect to both the similarities and differences between these two countries, one will have the ability to understand how the government of each is structured and how that government interacts with the people whom entrust them to carry out the necessary functions of a society.

China and Russia are both countries with strong state traditions who have favored communist systems over the western idea of democracy. But, in the 1990’s, China and Russia began to stray from their communist systems in their own ways. Russia began the shift with rapid political liberalization under Gorbachev followed by the fall of the Soviet Union. China, on the other hand, embarked on a managed transition with step by step introduction of capitalism while the CCP remained the sole political power. China’s transition was hugely successful, experiencing astounding GDP growth and the largest increase in human welfare in history. Russia’s reforms on the other hand was a failure as the soviet lost half its territory and population. Following the fall of the Soviet Union was an economic recession with an increase in crime and death rates. China experienced a huge increase in human welfare while Russia saw a huge downturn. After comparing China’s and Russia’s different path towards modernization, China has seen stronger and stabled growth as opposed to Russia’s shortcomings.

Josef Stalin and Mao Zedong were both very similar and still quite different. Each of these great leaders wished to transform his country into something new and powerful. Though their methods of rule were not the same, they each were extremely effective leaders and had enormous impacts on his own country. Russia, before Stalin, could absolutely be considered as being a weak and peasant country. China, before Mao Zedong, was attempting, but failing, to modernize efficiently under Nationalism. These two countries under Stalin and Mao Zedong advanced quickly and went from being smaller and mostly powerless countries to global powers. These advances, however, did not come without sacrifice. Both countries suffered an astronomical number

The United States and Russia have been battling off pernicious factions menacing the stability of their democracies over the years. Russia has come a long way over the past century, enduring a number of different phases that have completely desecrated any power Russia may have had paralleled to the rest of the world. The United States, however, has been evolving into a prosperous world power that has led to new respect from many other nations. Both Russia and the United States have struggled in the past at maintaining a significant amount of cultural commitment to preservation of specific aspects of their respective democracies. Having a relatively new democracy, Russian citizens have different perceptions and expectations of government from those of United States citizens. With new liberties and freedoms, Russians are struggling to grasp the concept of capitalism and participation in government. In order to preserve strong features of democracy, such as the right to vote or freedom of speech, a country 's constituents must respect and positively view their government. They must have faith in that the government is working for their best interests. Physically, the United States and Russia have been impacted greatly by their geography. Historically, the backgrounds of Russia and the United States are of stark contrast. Traditionally, Russians have a difficult time believing in the stability of their government as it has changed a number of times.

Can democracy work in China? Zakaria feels it cannot be ignored the progress the Chinese economy has had under its state as a free economy. But the problem continues to be the political progress of this country. China still only has a small middle class, which is detrimental towards a functioning liberal democracy. During the 1980s, there were pushes for political reform from members of the

Using Russia; their situation, principles, and perhaps mistakes, as a comparison, we can see how communist China has differed and therefore maintained stability. Several social, political, and economic factors have contributed to China’s stable communist regime and decrease the likelihood that it will succumb to a democratic transition. Therefore, it is with my professional opinion that as long as China’s society remains relatively divided yet content, political actors and institutions abide by political rules, and the economy continues to thrive, China’s regime will remain fundamentally

The USSR had experienced two decades of stability under Brezhnev, but this era was coupled with rising corruption and weighty foreign policy issues like the US arms race and the invasion of Afghanistan. Contrasting economic preconditions of the movement toward market based models also influenced patterns of change and development in Russia and China at the end of the 20th century. For example, by the close of the 1980’s, Russia stood as a seasoned industrial power with a sizeable, well educated, urban labor force. Militarily, it was on par with the United States and had developed a strong presence in science and technology development. Contrastingly, when China began its own transition - almost a decade earlier, at the end of the 1970’s - its economy was still predominantly rooted in agriculture. 80% of the nation’s population (as compared with 15% for Russia) consisted of uneducated agrarian peasantry, and the country had little stake in industry or scientific innovation. In the wake of the soviet state’s collapse, Russia faced a dropping population and a deficit of available labor, while China’s population was considered very large relative to its productivity. Though these demographic factors allowed for cheaper, more readily available labor in China, Russia vastly outstripped China in terms of natural

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, China’s position quickly dwindled from being the dominant power in the East to struggling against encroaching Western powers that desired its territories, one of its main opponents being Russia. After the 1917 Russian Revolution, the newly established Bolshevik regime offered to return various territories seized by the Tsarist empire to China, but they failed to deliver on their promises when they seized Outer Mongolia and $2 billion in machinery soon after. This instance, among many others, contributed to hostile Sino-Soviet relations during the twentieth century.

The Russian state has been characterized by its strong heritage of powerful, autocratic leadership. This domination by small ruling elite has been seen throughout Russia's history and has transferred into its economic history. Throughout the Russian czarist period, to the legacy of seventy years of communism; Russia has been a country marked by strong central state planning, a strict command economy and an overall weak market infrastructure (Goldman, 2003). Self-interest, manipulation and corruption have all been present in the Russian economy, and have greatly helped the few as opposed to the many. To this day, Russia still struggles with creating a competitive and fair market.

Equally important, the Atlantic Revolutions sparked the development of different political institutions. Initially, most revolutions began with the desire for further democracy. But, in some individual societies, this political idea transformed into different systems. After the French Revolution demonstrated the impact of human action, communism began to rise. To illustrate, communism in Russia was inspired by Karl Marx and surfaced with the pursuit of economic and political equality. Socialism stems from democracy because both political parties benefit the general public. However, socialism and communism are like extreme forms of democracy as they are established for the people; democracy is built by the people. In another case, communism also emerged in China. Chairman Mao Zedong’s rule resulted in extractive political and economic institutions. Because of this, China was still able to grow. This “authoritarian growth” can be described as a “bird in a cage”: “China’s economy was the bird; the party’s control, the cage, had to be enlarged to make the bird healthier and more dynamic, but it could not be unlocked or removed, lest the bird fly away” (Acemoglu, Daron, and James A. Robinson, 438). By this, the cage is able to expand but the bird is still limited from achieving true freedom. These political changes fostered equality

During the nineteenth century, Western Europe went through a marvelous era of industrialization and imperialism. This period of social, political, and territorial advancement caused a dramatic ripple-effect around the world, giving other countries such as Russia and Japan motivation to modernize. By 1914 Russia and Japan had managed to launch significant programs of industrialization and to make other changes designed to strengthen their political and social systems. These two nations defied the common pattern of growing Western domination during the nineteenth century. In the process, Japan pulled away from other Asian societies, while Russia ultimately enhanced its power in world affairs. Japan and Russia did have some common

Soviet Union/Russia – The Mikhail Gorbachev Government, in 1991, banned the currency note of Ruble 50 and 100 in Soviet Union in an attempt to end and render valueless the huge amounts of black money that had amassed among the corrupt in the country. The government towards it final moments expected that the implementation of this said plan will decrease the market of black money substantially and give a proper life to common people. The reform failed to halt inflation, and instead served mainly to accelerate a slide in public confidence in the government. As political infighting combined with economic collapse, Gorbachev faced a coup attempt that August which destroyed his authority and led to the Soviet break-up the following year. In the subsequent years however progress in stabilization did not lead to a widely expected rapid expansion of wholesale markets based on the cash Ruble. The share of economic transactions and budget based operations in money surrogates and barter increased sharply despite all efforts by the government towards its prevention, along with specialized non-cash intermediary organizations, a fragmentation of markets, and an elaborate differentiation of prices for the same commodities according to type of transaction. As opposed to the past, when barter prices were commonly decreased below cash prices as a means of tax avoidance, average non-cash prices have become significantly higher than their cash counterparts. This created a problem in the

One of the former Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill said : “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried.” May be he should have seen modern Chinese communism to moderate this passionate rhetoric. If we try to contrast two opposite governmental models like those of the USA and China, we will see that differences between them are not so obvious, as they might seem. American electoral democracy and Chinese communism are different in terms of legitimacy, self-correction and way to power.

Throughout history we have seen staggered periods of rising global democracy. Specifically The third wave is seen as a time of soviet communist satellites and curtain countries turning democratic. We see great success in democratization in the more western European former soviet states. Often times these transitions were remarkably peaceful as in the many colored revolutions. One case that stands out as an example of a failure to democratize is within China. With many communist states questioning their governance it was natural for Chinese citizens to express these same idea concerns. What we see though instead of the European style peaceful transition is a small scale political movement