Economic+policies+Mao+and+Nasser

Cris Miranda

**Single Party State Leader- Economic Policy**

1. Meaning of this criterion for single party state leaders

a. Economic policy is an effective means of gaining support.

b. A leader may lose support if his economic policy fails to meet the needs of a large amount of his/her constituents (usually the poor and/or religious masses).

c. A leader can obtain the support of the masses through promises of favorable economic reform.

d. Economic reform is a major tool for the implementation of the single party state leader’s political ideology.

2. How this applies to Mao and Nasser

Mao

a. China had what many considered backward industry and agriculture.

b. Leadership was incapable of feeding the Chinese masses, which cause unrest.

c. Mao appealed to the middle class and peasants, primarily due to his plans for reconstructing China (which included restoring communications, controlling inflation, and improving overall health), which would have improved their lives.

d. His five year plans focused on heavy industry and agricultural reform. Modeled after Soviets.

e. Other economic reforms included the Hundred Flowers Campaign, which was meant to produce more professionals in Chinese society.

f. The Great Leap Forward included a shift from cooperatives to larger communes and an emphasis on infrastructure projects and more localized production of steel. Employed unproven agricultural methods. This along with drought resulted in famine. Overall resulted in many deaths and a general lack of production.

g. Under Mao, China exports served primarily to either pay off debt to the Soviets or help assist small communist governments and uprisings.

Nasser

a. Appealed to many lower class Egyptians

b. Socialist in nationalizing industries (suez), some private companies, and banks. By 1962 at least half of all Egyptian business was centrally run.

c. His Agrarian Reform included distribution of land to peasants. He confiscated thousands of kilometers of farm land from rich landowners and redistributed it to peasants.

d. His move to nationalize the Suez was originally to help finance a dam, but was celebrated by the Arab world as standing up to Western Influence in the region.

e. After being turned down by the west for military support, Nasser turned to the Soviets to finance the military.

f. Nationalization of the canal and the construction of the Aswan dam allowed water to get to un-irrigated land

3. Comparisons

a). Both were able to accumulate support through their ideology and promises of economic reform. Without support of lower and middle classes, neither is likely to ever obtain power.

b). Both incorporated socialism as a platform of economic policies, including agrarian reform and nationalization of various assets.

c). Both allied with the Soviet Union, especially as trade partners. Chinese Communists obtained assistance in wining the revolution and setting up a government while Nasser was able to play off the Cold War feud between east and west in order to obtain weapons.