Glossary — D

Glossary terms beginning with D.

d'Hondt method: Also known as the highest-average method of determining the allocation of seats to political parties after an election. It was devised by the Belgian Victor d’Hondt to be used in electoral systems based on proportional representation. In addition to Portugal, the method has been adopted by Austria, Belgium, Finland, and Switzerland. Under this method, voters do not choose a candidate but vote for a party, each of which has published a list of candidates. The party winning the most votes in a constituency is awarded the area’s first seat, which goes to the candidate at the top of the winning party’s list. The total vote of this party is then divided by two, and this amount is compared with the totals of other parties. The party with the greatest number of votes at this point receives the next seat to be awarded. Each time a party wins a seat, its total is divided by the number of seats it has won plus one. This process continues until all the seats in a constituency are awarded. The d’Hondt method slightly favors large parties. Because there is no minimum threshold for winning a seat, however, small parties can also elect representatives.; Source: Library of Congress
Dalit(s): Sanskrit word meaning burst, split, broken, crushed, or destroyed but, since the nineteenth century, often taken to mean downtrodden; used in reference to Untouchables (Harijans, q.v.), outcastes, Scheduled Castes (q.v.), and others living in a reduced social state.
danwei (work unit): The basic-level organization through which party and government officials control social, political, and economic behavior of residents. The danwei typically controls the allocation of housing, grain, edible oil, and cotton rations; the issuance of permits to travel, to marry, and to bear or adopt children; and permission to enter the army, party, and university and to change employment.
debt service: Cash requirement to meet annual interest and principal repayment obligations on total external debt.; Source: Library of Congress
degredado(s): Exiled convicts; refers to convicted criminals sent from Portugal to Angola. Degredados constituted a very substantial part of the Portuguese who came to Angola from the sixteenth century to the early twentieth century.; Source: Library of Congress
Delhi Sultanate: period of early Indian-based Islamic rule of Bengal (1206- 1341). The Delhi Sultanate continued in India proper until 1526.; Source: Library of Congress
Demarcation Line: Established under the Korean armistice agreement of 1953; marks the actual cease-fire line between North Korea and South Korea.
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ): The four-kilometer-wide buffer zone that runs east and west across the waist of the Korean Peninsula for 241 kilometers, dividing it into North Korea and South Korea. The DMZ was created by the Korean armistice in 1953.
democratic centralism: A system through which the people influence the policies of the government and party members influence the policies of the party; while the government and party maintain centralized administrative power to carry out the policies demanded by their constituents. Within both representative and executive organizations, the minority must abide by the decisions of the majority, and lower bodies must obey the orders of the higher level organizations. The concept, derived from the organizing principles of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was called for as early as 1928 by Mao Zedong.
democratic parties: Eight political parties that have been loyal to the communist government since 1949. They are China Association for Promoting Democracy, China Democratic League, China Democratic National Construction Association, China Zhi Gong Dang (Party for Public Interest), Chinese Peasants’ and Workers’ Democratic Party, Jiusan (September Third) Society, Guomindang Revolutionary Committee, and Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League.
demokratizatsiya (democratization): Campaign initiated in the late 1980s by Mikhail S. Gorbachev to expand the participation of a variety of interest groups in political processes.
DENI: Departamento Nacional de Investigaciones (National Department of Investigations). Undercover secret police.
dependency analysis: A theory that seeks to explain the continuing problems of Latin American underdevelopment and political conflict by positing the existence of an imperialistic, exploitative relationship between the industrialized countries and the developing nations of Latin America and other developing regions.
dependency theory: A theory that seeks to explain the continuing problems of Latin American underdevelopment and political conflict by positing the existence of an imperialistic, exploitative relationship between the industrialized countries and the developing nations of Latin America and other developing regions.; Source: Library of Congress
Derg: Formed in June 1974 and composed of a substantial body of young military officers, none above the rank of major, drawn from the main units of the army, air force, navy, and police. The Derg’s membership ranged from perhaps 106 to 120 or more. New officers were never admitted, whereas original members were continuously eliminated, especially during the Derg’s early years. Its inner workings were almost never disclosed. Known at first as the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, after September 1974 it was known as the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), or simply as the Derg (Amharic for ""committee"" or ""council""), a term derived from Gi’iz and little used before the 1974 revolution. The Derg lasted officially from June 1974 to September 1987, when the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia came into being.
descent group: A group having political, economic, or social functions. Formation of the group is based on actual or putative descent through persons of one sex from a common ancestor of the same sex, and therefore called unilineal descent groups (clans or lineages, q.v.), or through persons of both sexes from a common ancestor of either sex (cognatic descent groups--q.v.).
deutsche mark (DM): The national currency unit, consisting of 100 pfennigs. The value of the deutsche mark has fluctuated with international monetary developments--generally upward since its introduction in the currency reform of 1948. The number of deutsche marks per US$1 averaged 4.20 in 1950, 4.20 in 1960, 4.00 in 1965, 3.65 in 1970, 2.62 in 1975, 1.96 in 1980, 2.94 in 1985, 1.62 in 1990, 1.56 in 1992, 1.65 in 1993, 1.64 in 1994, and 1.43 in 1995.
Devanagari: Literally, ""the script of the city of the gods."" Script used in the written forms of Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Tibetan, Sanskrit, and in some forms of Konkani. In use in North India throughout the second millennium A.D.
development plan: Iran’s development plans have been of varying length and had various names. The plans and their dates under Mohammad Reza Shah were as follows: First Development Plan--September 21, 1948, to September 20, 1955; Second Development Plan--September 21, 1955, to September 20, 1962; Third Development Plan--September 21, 1962, to March 20, 1968; Fourth Development Plan--March 21, 1968, to March 20, 1973; and Fifth Development Plan--March 21, 1973, to March 20, 1978. The Sixth Development Plan, beginning March 21, 1978, was never completed because of the 1979 Revolution. The First Development Plan of the Islamic Republic ran from March 21, 1983, through March 20, 1988.
dey: Originally a junior officer commanding a company of janissaries (q.v.). After 1611 the title of the head of government in Tripolitania (q.v.). Literally, ""maternal uncle.""
dharma: Buddhist teaching or moral law; laws of nature, all that exists, real or imaginary.
dhikr: An Islamic technical term relating to the glorifying of Allah with certain fixed phases, repeated in a ritual order and accompanied by special breathing and movements.
Diaspora: Refers to the Jews living in scattered communities outside Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) during and after the Babylonian Captivity (sixth century B.C.) and, especially, after the dispersion of the Jews from the region after the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70 and the Bar-Kokhba War in A.D. 132- 35. In modern times the word refers to the Jews living outside Palestine or present-day Israel. When the word is applied--usually lowercased--to non-Jews, such as the Palestinian Arab refugees, the word describes the situation of the people of one country dispersed into other countries.; Source: Library of Congress
Diet: The national legislature. From 1890 to 1947, known as the Imperial Diet (in Japanese, Teikoku Gikai) with an appointed House of Peers and elected House of Representatives. Since 1947 has been known as the National Diet, or Diet (in Japanese, Kokkai), with a House of Councillors and House of Representatives, both of which are elected. The word ""diet"" comes from the Latin dies (day), a reference to the period of time for which a court or assembly met. The word has been used as the English name for the Japanese legislature since 1890.
dinar: Basic currency unit consisting of 1,000 fils; created in 1950 as replacement for the Palestinian pound. Dinar’s value was established at parity with the British pound sterling, or a value of US$2.80 equal to JD1. Jordan, as a member of the sterling area, maintained parity with the British pound until 1967 when the British devalued their currency. Jordan did not follow the pound, retaining the dinar at US$2.80 equal to JD1 through 1972. When United States currency was devalued in 1973, the dinar was unlinked from the dollar, since which time the rate has fluctuated. Beginning in February 1975, the dinar was pegged to the special drawing right (SDR--q.v.). According to International Monetary Fund (IMF--q.v.) data, the average conversion rate of the dinar for trade and other purposes was US$3.04 in 1987, US$2.1 in 1988, and US$1.54 in 1989.
Directorate: The eight-member executive board of the Bundesbank (q.v.). Its members sit on the Central Bank Council (q.v.).
discount rate: Interest rate at which the Bundesbank (q.v.) lends to banks by rediscounting trade bills and treasury bills falling due within three months.
district: zila in Bangla (q.v.). One of major administrative subdivisions in Bangladesh; an average of three districts make up each of the twenty-one regions of Bangladesh. In 1988 there were sixty-four districts in Bangladesh.; Source: Library of Congress
divan: Council of senior military officers during the Ottoman period.
Divided Zone: Originally a shared area between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Each country annexed its half of the zone in 1966 but continued to respect the other country’s right to the national resources in the whole zone.
diya: Islamic blood compensation paid by a person who has committed homicide or wounded another, including injuries in traffic accidents.
DMZ (Demilitarized Zone): The 4-kilometer-wide buffer zone along the approximately 241- kilometer-long Demarcation Line (q.v.).
do, or to: Province, used in combined form, as -do for Kangwn-do Province. There are nine provinces in North Korea. Do also means island, as in Mayang-do.
Dominican Republic peso (RD$): Dominican monetary unit, divided into 100 centavos. The Dominican government officially maintained a one-to-one exchange rate between the peso and the United States dollar until 1985, when the peso was allowed to float freely against the dollar for most transactions. In 1988, the exchange rate reached US$1=RD$8.00; it subsequently leveled off to US$1=RD$6.35 by 1989. The government decided in 1988 to reinstitute a fixed exchange rate that it would adjust periodically in accord with prevailing economic conditions.
dong (D): Vietnam’s monetary unit, which in mid-1989 had an exchange rate of US$1 to D4,500.
downstream: The oil industry views the production, processing, transportation, and sale of petroleum products as a flow process starting at the wellhead. Downstream includes any stage between the point of reference and the sale of products to the consumer. Upstream (q.v.) is the converse.; Source: Library of Congress
dram: National currency of Armenia, officially established for use concurrent with the Russian ruble in November 1993, to become single official currency in early 1994. A second national unit, the luma (100 to the dram), was introduced in February 1994.; Source: Library of Congress
Dravidian: Ethnic group; ancient Australoid race of southern India; a language family of India, Sri Lanka, and western Pakistan that includes Tamil, Telugu, Gondi, and Malayalam. See also Tamils.
Druze(s): Member of a religious community that constitutes a minority among Arabic-speaking Palestinians in Israel. Druze beliefs contain elements of Shia (q.v.) Islam, Christianity, and paganism.; Source: Library of Congress
Dual Monarchy: The dual Austro-Hungarian monarchy established by the Compromise of 1867 and lasting until 1918. Austria and Hungary were virtually separate states, each having its own parliament, administration, and judicial system. They shared a common ruler, a joint foreign policy, and finances.
Duma (In full, Gosudarstvennaya duma--State Assembly): Lower chamber of the legislature of Russia, established by Nicholas II after the Revolution of 1905, and functioning until 1917. Unlike advisory bodies such as the boyar (q.v.) dumy of the Kievan Rus’ period and city dumy of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Duma originally was to be a national representative body with the power to approve legislation. The first two Dumy (1905-07) were quickly dissolved because they opposed tsarist policies; the next two (1907-17) were more conservative and served full five-year terms.
duma (pl., dumy): An advisory council to the princes of Kievan Rus’ and the tsars of the Russian Empire.
durable goods: Goods or consumer durables (q.v.) that have a life extending more than three years, such as automobiles, appliances, and manufacturing equipment.; Source: Library of Congress
Durava: Sinhalese lower, minority caste who traditionally worked as toddy tappers.
dzong: Bhutanese combined administrative and religious complex; a fortified monastery and often the seat of government for the local jurisdiction.; Source: Library of Congress