Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) Major political party of Russia and the Soviet Union from the Russian Revolution of 1917 to 1991. It arose from the Bolshevik wing of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party. From 1918 through the 1980s it was a monolithic, monopolistic ruling party that dominated the Soviet Union’s political, economic, social, and cultural life. The constitution and other legal docu¬ ments that supposedly regulated the government were actually subordi¬ nate to the CPSU, which also dominated the Comintern and the Cominform. Mikhail Gorbachev’s efforts to reform the country’s economy and politi¬ cal structure weakened the party, and in 1990 it voted to surrender its constitutionally guaranteed monopoly of power. The Soviet Union’s dis¬ solution in 1991 marked the party’s formal demise.
communitarianism Political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of community in the functioning of political life, in the analysis and evaluation of political institutions, and in understanding human identity and well-being. It was developed in the 1980s and ’90s in explicit opposition to the theoretical liberalism of thinkers such as John Rawls. According to communitarians, liberalism relies on a conception of the individual that is unrealistically atomistic and abstract; it also places too much importance on individual values such as freedom and autonomy. Its chief representatives include Amitai Etzioni, Michael Sandel, and Charles Taylor. See also collectivism.
community centre See settlement house
community college See junior college
Community of Christ formerly Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Faction of the religion founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, whose main body became the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon church. The sect, originally known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, broke away in 1852, rejecting the leadership of Brigham Young in favour of Smith’s son; it also rejected the practice of polygamy and the label Mormon. Its teach¬ ings are based on the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants, a book of revelations received by its prophets. In 2001 the church formally changed its name to Community of Christ. In the early 21st century it had about 250,000 members and was headquartered in Independence, Mo.
community property Property held jointly by a husband and wife. In states having a community property system, property acquired by either spouse during the marriage may be deemed to belong to each spouse as an undivided one-half interest. Some property (e.g., gifts to one spouse) may be classified as separate, but in lawsuits over the classification of property the presumption is in favour of the community category. Some jurisdictions extend community property laws to same-sex unions.
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commutative law ► compiler I 441
commutative law Two closely related laws of number operations. In symbols, they are stated: ci + b = b + a and ab = ba. Stated in words: Quantities to be added or multiplied can be combined in any order. More generally, if two procedures give the same result when carried out in arbi¬ trary order, they are commutative. Exceptions occur (e.g., in vector mul¬ tiplication). See also associative law, distributive law.
Commynes \ko-'men\, Philippe de (b. c. 1447, Comines, Flanders—d. Oct. 18, 1511, Argenton-Chateau, Fr.) Statesman and chroni¬ cler. Brought up in the Burgundian court, he was counselor to Charles the Bold (1467-72) and then to Charles’s former enemy Louis XI. He was implicated in the “Mad War” between Anne of Beaujeu, regent of France, and the duke of Orleans (later Louis XII). He was briefly imprisoned but restored to favour in 1489 by Charles VIII and later helped formulate Louis XII’s Italian policy. His Memoires (1524-28) is an eyewitness account of events that reveals much about the era and its political intrigues.
Como, Lake ancient Lacus Larius Lake, Lombardy, northern Italy. It lies at an elevation of 653 ft (199 m) in a depression surrounded by lime¬ stone and granite mountains. It is 29 mi (47 km) long and up to 2.5 mi (4 km) wide, with an area of 56 sq mi (146 sq km) and a maximum depth of 1,358 ft (414 m). Famous for its natural beauty, its shores have many resorts.
Comoros Vka-mo-.rozV officially Union of the Comoros Island country, western Indian Ocean. Area: 719 sq mi (1,862 sq km). Popula¬ tion (2005 est.): 614,000. Capitaclass="underline" Moroni. The people are a mixture of
GRANDE COMORE ISLAND Mbeni
i. Moroni
INDIAN OCEAN
Mount Karthala 7,746 ft.
Foumbouni
mohEli ISLAND
ANJOUAN ISLAND Mutsamudu
Moya*
Niouachoua
Mozambique Channel
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Malay immigrants, Arab traders, and peoples from Madagascar and continental Africa. Languages: Comorian (a Bantu language), Arabic, French (all official).
Religion: Islam (official; predominantly
Sunni). Currency: Comorian franc. Comoros comprises a group of islands between Madagascar and the eastern African mainland that includes Njazidja (Grande Comore), Mwali (Moheli), and Nzwani (Anjouan) but excludes Mayotte. They are generally rocky, with shallow soils and poor harbours, though Mwali, the smallest, has fertile valleys and forested hill¬ sides. Mount Karthala, an active volcano, is the highest point, at 7,746 ft (2,361 m). The climate is tropical. One of the world’s poorest nations, Comoros has an economy based on subsistence agriculture. It is an Islamic republic with one legislative house. The head of state and government is the president, assisted by vice presidents. Known to European navigators since the 16th century, the dominant influence on the islands was then and for long afterward Arab. In 1843 France officially took possession of Mayotte and in 1886 placed the other three islands under protection. Sub¬
ordinated to Madagascar in 1912, the Comoros became an overseas ter¬ ritory of France in 1947. In 1961 they were granted internal autonomy. In 1974 majorities on three of the islands voted for independence, which was declared in 1975. The following decade saw several coup attempts, culminating in the assassination of the president in 1989. French inter¬ vention permitted multiparty elections in 1990, but the country remained in a state of chronic instability, including secessionist movements on Nzwani and Mwali. In 1999 the army took control of the government and negotiated a constitution that took effect in 2002.
compact disc (CD) Molded plastic disc containing digital data that is scanned by a laser beam for the reproduction of recorded sound or other information. Since its commercial introduction in 1982, the audio CD has become the dominant format for high-fidelity recorded music. Digital audio data can be converted to analog form to reproduce the original audio signal (see digital-to-analog conversion). Coinvented by Philips Electron¬ ics and Sony Corp. in 1980, the compact disc has expanded beyond audio recordings into other storage-and-distribution uses, notably for comput¬ ers (CD-ROM) and entertainment systems (videodisc and DVD). An audio CD can store just over an hour of music. A CD-ROM can contain up to 680 megabytes of computer data. A DVD, the same size as traditional CDs, is able to store up to 17 gigabytes of data, such as high-definition digital video files.