People's Republic

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People's Republic (sometimes Popular Republic) is a title that is often used by Marxist-Leninist governments to describe their state. The motivation for using this term lies in the claim that Marxist-Leninists govern in accordance with the interests of the vast majority of the people, and, as such, a Marxist-Leninist republic is a people's republic. Many of these countries also called themselves socialist states in their constitutions. Opponents of Marxism-Leninism argue that the name "people's republic" is merely used for propaganda purposes. In the West, countries governed by Marxist-Leninists are sometimes referred to as "Communist states," though they never actually used this name for themselves (see the main article on communist states for more information).

Currently, the People's Republic of China (PRC) is the only Marxist-Leninist state in the world that uses the title People's Republic. Western media may sometimes use just "People's Republic" to refer to the PRC.

Two other Marxist-Leninist states include the words People's Republic in their full names:

  • Laos (Lao People's Democratic Republic)
  • North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)

Historical examples include:

Other titles commonly used by Marxist-Leninist states are "Democratic Republic" (e.g. the German Democratic Republic or the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia between 1943 and 1946), and "Socialist Republic" (e.g. the Socialist Republic of Vietnam).

However, neither of the two titles mentioned above, nor the term "People's Republic" itself, are unique to Marxist-Leninists. All three of them have also been used by a number of countries which are/were not Marxist-Leninist. The reason for this is the rather generic nature of the titles in question. Marxist-Leninists are by no means alone in claiming to be democratic, socialist or popular. Thus, at the present time, there are three People's Republics which do not subscribe to Marxism-Leninism: Algeria (People's Democratic Republic of Algeria), Bangladesh (People's Republic of Bangladesh), and Libya (Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya).

[edit] Other uses of the term

Sometimes People's Republic is used sarcastically to refer to any predominantly left-wing or liberal area, especially those cities with a large, leftist, university population. The usage probably derives from the late 1960s, when The People's Republic of Berkeley (California) was used to describe the site of the radical Free Speech Movement. Similarly, the cities of Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colorado; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Toronto, Ontario; and Cambridge, Massachusetts are nicknamed The People's Republic of Austin, The People's Republic of Boulder, The People's Republic of Ann Arbor, The People's Republic of Toronto and The People's Republic of Cambridge respectively, for their left-wing reputations. Attribution of the moniker is particularly prevalent in cases where a municipality represents an island of liberal politics within a more conservative, especially rural, area. Despite the derisive manner in which the term is used, some have come to adopt it, usually in an ironic manner. For example, there is a pub in Cambridge dubbed People's Republik, complete with faux-Cyrillic type on its storefront.

In the 1970s, industrial areas in the north of England were known as the People's (or Socialist) Republic of South Yorkshire." Wadham College, part of the University of Oxford has been called the "People's Republic of Wadham," as a result of its reputation for radicalism.

The city of Cork, Ireland is often jocularly referred to as the "The People's Republic of Cork," due to its sports teams' red shirts and the people's dislike for "jackeens" (residents of the capital, Dublin City). The The People's Republic of Cork is a popular satire website.

[edit] Direct Democracy and Anarchy

Some anarchists use the term People's Republic as meaning any state that not only provides welfare and other public institutions, but also has little or no government. The theory is that a "truthfully named People's Republic" will be run by the people.

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