Glossary

Definitions of terms used throughout CountryReports.

This glossary contains 1,144 terms used throughout CountryReports — political, economic, cultural, historical, and geographic terminology referenced in country profiles and articles. Terms are drawn from authoritative sources including the Library of Congress.

Arab Socialist Union: ASU. The mass organization created in 1971 to provide a framework for popular participation and representation within the political system. Reorganized in 1975 to include the local-level Basic Popular Congresses (BPCs) and the intermediates-level Municipal Popular Congresses, (MPCs) both of which send delegated to the national General People’s Congress (GPC--q.v.); organization was disbanded in January 1976. Not to be confused with the Egyptian political organization of the same name.
balabat: An Amharic term originally referring to any person with a claim to rist (q.v.) land by virtue of membership in a cognatic descent group (q.v.). Commonly used since the establishment of present-day Ethiopia by Menelik II in the late nineteenth century for those local chiefs and other non-Amhara who were assigned low-level administrative positions among their own people and who were allocated substantial landholdings.
coronelismo: Derives from the honorary title of colonel (coronel; pl., coroneis) in the National Guard that was customarily conferred on a locally dominant political boss, usually a substantial landowner or local justice of the peace. The term eventually became applied to local strongmen or political bosses, especially in rural areas and particularly in poorer Northeastern states. Coronelismo thus was a classic boss system under which control of patronage and minor funds was centralized in the coronel, who would dispense favors in return for political loyalty.; Source: Library of Congress
corregidor: The official, usually a white or cholo, in postindependence Bolivia charged with administering local Indian affairs.; Source: Library of Congress
corregidores de indios: Magistrates or chief officers, usually a white or cholo (q.v.), in preindependence Peru charged with administering local native American affairs in corregimientos (q.v.).
crown colony: A system of British colonial administration under which Britain retained control over defense, foreign affairs, internal security, and various administrative and budget matters. Crown colonies were governed internally by a British-appointed governor and a locally elected assembly. Prior to the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica in 1865, crown colony government was limited to Trinidad and St. Lucia. In 1871 in Belize and in 1928 in Guyana, the representative assemblies were dissolved, and the colonies were governed directly by the Colonial Office in London and by a British-appointed governor who was assisted by a local council, most of whose members were appointed by the governor. In time, however, an increasing number of officials were locally elected rather than appointed. Following the report of the Moyne Commission in 1938, the crown colony system was modified to make local councils even more representative and to give local officials more administrative responsibility. Nevertheless, defense, foreign affairs, and internal security remained the prerogatives of the crown.; Source: Library of Congress
dzong: Bhutanese combined administrative and religious complex; a fortified monastery and often the seat of government for the local jurisdiction.; Source: Library of Congress
Golden Horde: A federative Mongol state that extended from western Siberia to the Carpathian Mountains from the mid-thirteenth century to the end of the fifteenth century. Generally, it exacted tribute and controlled external relations but allowed local authorities to decide internal affairs.
judet (pl., judete): Local administrative division corresponding to county or district. There are forty such units plus the municipality of Bucharest and the surrounding Ilfov Agricultural District.
latifundios: Large estates held as private property, which may be farmed as plantations, by tenant sharecroppers, or as traditional haciendas. The latifundio system (latifundismo) is a pattern of land ownership based on latifundios owned by local gentry, absentee landlords, and domestic or foreign corporations.
marabout: In West Africa, a Muslim prayer leader, teacher, and sometimes a healer who is venerated locally and believed to be touched by divine grace, which sometimes conferred the right to rule as well. Frequently called upon to arbitrate disputes. Translation of al murabitun (those who have made a religious retreat). In some locales, the title became the monopoly of certain families, who thus formed maraboutic castes.
mita system: A colonial system whereby all taxpayers had to work a prescribed number of days annually in the mita, or labor pool, to run the households of local leaders. Each taxpayer could be called up by his or her curaca (chief) to work on imperial or local projects at any convenient time.
naziriyah: Formerly, among nomadic and seminomadic Arab groups, an administrative and local court under a nazir, comprising several umudiyat (q.v.). A naziriyah included either an entire tribe or a section of a large tribe.
official development assistance (ODA): Those flows to developing countries and multilateral institutions provided by official agencies, including state and local governments, or by their executive agencies, each transaction of which meets the following criteria: it is administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as its main objective; and it is concessional in character and contains a grant element of at least 25 percent.
patrón: Usually a large landowner who is called on to provide his workers land, water, and sometimes materials and/or equipment and salary payments, as well as protection from outsiders, including local officials, and even from fellow workers.
pir: Successor to the founder of a Sufi (q.v.) order or of a local subdivision of an order; in the Sufi tradition, a religious man considered to have mystic powers.
Rand: Local contraction of Witwatersrand (q.v.).
responsibility system: A practice, first adopted in agriculture in 1981 and later extended to other sectors of the economy, by which local managers are held responsible for the profits and losses of the enterprise. This system partially supplanted the egalitarian distribution method, whereby the state assumed all profits and losses.
Russianization: The policy of several Soviet regimes promoting Russian as the national language of the Soviet Union. Russian was given equal and official status with local languages in most non-Russian republics; it was made the official language of the Soviet Union in state and diplomatic affairs, in the armed forces, and on postage stamps, currency, and military and civilian decorations.; Source: Library of Congress
structuralists: Advocates of structuralism, an economic policy that blames chronic inflation primarily on foreign trade dependency, insufficient local production, especially in agriculture, and political struggles among entrenched vested interests over government contracts. Structuralists advocate encouraging economic development and modernization through Keynesian and neo-Keynesian policies of governmental stimulative actions, accompanied by organizational reforms. Structuralists contend that monetarist (q.v.) policies retard growth and support the status quo.
Three Revolutions Team Movement: Inaugurated February 1973 as ""a powerful revolutionary method of guidance"" for the Three Revolutions (q.v.)-- ideological, technical, and cultural--stressed since the early 1960s. Under this method, the Three Revolutions teams are sent to factories, enterprises, and rural and fishing villages for on-the- spot guidance and problem solving in close consultation with local personnel.
Vellala: Highest Tamil (cultivator) caste, the members of which traditionally dominated local commercial and educational elites and whose values had strong influence on Tamils of other castes. The group comprises more than half of the Tamil population.