Politics

To start off, Mongolia was under the rule of the Manchurian Qing dynasty, which was also in control of China, for almost 200 years until the fall of the Qing in 1911. After the fall, Outer Mongolia separated itself from China and declared its independence, only to be invaded by the Chinese again in 1920. Mongolia reached out to the Soviets for help and together they drove out the Chinese. Mongolia created the Mongolian "people's government," which is solidified 3 years later by proclaiming Mongolia the Mongolian People's Republic, a communist regime. Also at this time the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) is created, a party that is still a huge influence today.

            Through all of this, the Soviets maintain a hold on the country. With Soviet control of the country, came an attack on the Buddhist religion, which was purged from Mongolia. The USSR linked itself to China by building a railway through Mongolia. Soviet troops were stationed in Mongolia "secretly," and all the while the MPRP was in power. Mongolia, however, has both a Prime Minister and a President, with the Prime Minister controlling the political power of heading legislature and the President controlling the army and having a veto power over the legislature. The President, from the beginning of the formation of Mongolia as a democracy, was always from the MPRP. However in 2009 the former PM Elbegdorj from the Democratic Party won the presidency in 2009. He still holds the post today.

            I think it will be interesting to see how the strong hold of the MPRP in the government will affect the country, being a democracy, since the party was created under the ideals of communism. It will also be interesting to investigate the power dynamic between the Prime Minister and the President, to see who holds more power in the country and what the dynamic is with them being from separate parties.