The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (31 page)
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cadre
The word cadre originally referred to ‘the permanent skeleton of a military unit, the commissioned and noncommissioned officers, etc., around whom the rank and file may be quickly grouped’ (Chambers Dictionary). Thence it was applied in Russia to ‘a cell of trained Communist leaders, or to a member of such a cell’.
The political use of this military term indicated the intention of the Leninist leadership of the Russian Revolution to create a disciplined, hierarchically organized, and swiftly responsive system of control of the revolutionary movement. The cadre system was also the embodiment of the ‘vanguard party’ which Lenin believed was made necessary by the inability of the working class to achieve class consciousness spontaneously. Cells were established in all neighbourhoods, work places, and social organizations, and their cadres owed their entire loyalty not to the members of the organization within which they worked, but to the Party cadres at the level above. The control from above of appointments and postings of the cadre force was the basis of Stalin's rise to power.
JG
The political use of this military term indicated the intention of the Leninist leadership of the Russian Revolution to create a disciplined, hierarchically organized, and swiftly responsive system of control of the revolutionary movement. The cadre system was also the embodiment of the ‘vanguard party’ which Lenin believed was made necessary by the inability of the working class to achieve class consciousness spontaneously. Cells were established in all neighbourhoods, work places, and social organizations, and their cadres owed their entire loyalty not to the members of the organization within which they worked, but to the Party cadres at the level above. The control from above of appointments and postings of the cadre force was the basis of Stalin's rise to power.
JG
Calhoun , John C.
(1782–1850)
Calhoun has three claims to fame. One stems from his prominence as an American politician between 1811 and 1850. During that period he was, successively, an important member of the House of Representatives (1811–17), Secretary of War (1817–25), Vice-President of the United States (1825–32), senator for South Carolina (1832–44), Secretary of State (1844–5) and, yet again, senator for South Carolina (1845–50). In his lifetime his reputation as a politician was mixed. He was variously described as a patriot, a nationalist, an apologist for the slaveowning South, ‘first amongst second rate men’, an opportunist, and the destroyer of the Union. What is clear is that for the last twenty years of his life he was one of the leaders of the Old South in its attempts to defend its interests in the Union.
As a political theorist his claim to fame rests largely on three works,
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest
(1828),
A Disquisition on Government
, and
A Discourse on the Constitution and Government of the United States
(both published after his death in 1850). The
Exposition
presents the case for state nullification of federal laws, the
Discourse
is a states' right tract incorporating ideas for a plural executive, and the
Disquisition
presses the case for a ruling concurrent majority, that is, one rooted not in numbers but in interests, each of which possesses a ‘mutual negative’. These ideas were all attempts to avoid the South's secession. The problem was that although presented in a scholarly fashion they all suffered from the same crucial weakness-their success depended on acceptance by Northern politicians. For a theorist obsessed with power this was, to say the least, a significant weakness.
Calhoun's final claim to fame rests on the analytical problems he bequeathed to politicians and theorists who followed him. One of these is the role of
pressure groups
. The other, and more important problem, is how, short of secession, the interests of territorial minorities can be defended in wider Unions. Calhoun never resolved these problems, but neither has anyone else. In short, Calhoun remains important because of the problems which defeated him.
JBu
Calhoun has three claims to fame. One stems from his prominence as an American politician between 1811 and 1850. During that period he was, successively, an important member of the House of Representatives (1811–17), Secretary of War (1817–25), Vice-President of the United States (1825–32), senator for South Carolina (1832–44), Secretary of State (1844–5) and, yet again, senator for South Carolina (1845–50). In his lifetime his reputation as a politician was mixed. He was variously described as a patriot, a nationalist, an apologist for the slaveowning South, ‘first amongst second rate men’, an opportunist, and the destroyer of the Union. What is clear is that for the last twenty years of his life he was one of the leaders of the Old South in its attempts to defend its interests in the Union.
As a political theorist his claim to fame rests largely on three works,
The South Carolina Exposition and Protest
(1828),
A Disquisition on Government
, and
A Discourse on the Constitution and Government of the United States
(both published after his death in 1850). The
Exposition
presents the case for state nullification of federal laws, the
Discourse
is a states' right tract incorporating ideas for a plural executive, and the
Disquisition
presses the case for a ruling concurrent majority, that is, one rooted not in numbers but in interests, each of which possesses a ‘mutual negative’. These ideas were all attempts to avoid the South's secession. The problem was that although presented in a scholarly fashion they all suffered from the same crucial weakness-their success depended on acceptance by Northern politicians. For a theorist obsessed with power this was, to say the least, a significant weakness.
Calhoun's final claim to fame rests on the analytical problems he bequeathed to politicians and theorists who followed him. One of these is the role of
pressure groups
. The other, and more important problem, is how, short of secession, the interests of territorial minorities can be defended in wider Unions. Calhoun never resolved these problems, but neither has anyone else. In short, Calhoun remains important because of the problems which defeated him.
JBu
Calvin , Jean
(1509–64)
Swiss theologian and religious leader. Born at Noyon, he studied arts in Paris, and law at Orléans. In 1536 he fled persecution in France. In Basle he published
Christianae Religionis Institutio
, an exposition of Reformation doctrine in which predestination figured prominently. He settled in Geneva in 1537. In 1541 he founded a theocracy-the first in Christendom-where all matters of state and of social and individual life were governed by the Reformed Church.
Calvin's assertion of the supremacy of Church over State far exceeded any papal claims and is akin to that of Israeli and Islamic fundamentalists today. But the theocratic State was democratic, not hierarchical. The Church was to be governed by elders (presbyters-hence, Presbyterianism) all of equal status. Moreover the Church was to play a supervisory role only. Church and State were independent of each other with their own specific roles. Clergy could not be State officials, nor State officials members of the clergy. According to the
Ecclesiastical Ordinances
of 1541 the Church, in a consistory, comprising pastors and elders, supervised the citizens and maintained discipline.
Calvin's political theory was Scholastic. He regarded both Church and State as natural groups; man having a tendency to group. He insisted magistrates should uphold natural law as well as divine positive law. He also held that the purpose of the State is the administration of justice, not only retributive and natural justice (equity), but also distributive justice (fair shares). Whether he allowed subversion for just reasons is unclear.
CB
Swiss theologian and religious leader. Born at Noyon, he studied arts in Paris, and law at Orléans. In 1536 he fled persecution in France. In Basle he published
Christianae Religionis Institutio
, an exposition of Reformation doctrine in which predestination figured prominently. He settled in Geneva in 1537. In 1541 he founded a theocracy-the first in Christendom-where all matters of state and of social and individual life were governed by the Reformed Church.
Calvin's assertion of the supremacy of Church over State far exceeded any papal claims and is akin to that of Israeli and Islamic fundamentalists today. But the theocratic State was democratic, not hierarchical. The Church was to be governed by elders (presbyters-hence, Presbyterianism) all of equal status. Moreover the Church was to play a supervisory role only. Church and State were independent of each other with their own specific roles. Clergy could not be State officials, nor State officials members of the clergy. According to the
Ecclesiastical Ordinances
of 1541 the Church, in a consistory, comprising pastors and elders, supervised the citizens and maintained discipline.
Calvin's political theory was Scholastic. He regarded both Church and State as natural groups; man having a tendency to group. He insisted magistrates should uphold natural law as well as divine positive law. He also held that the purpose of the State is the administration of justice, not only retributive and natural justice (equity), but also distributive justice (fair shares). Whether he allowed subversion for just reasons is unclear.
CB
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
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