In depth review

• AP* COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS: AN ESSENTIAL COURSEBOOK SEVENTH EDITION by Ethel Wood

  
• WoodYard Publications
• AP and Advanced Placement are registered trademarks of the College Entrance Examination Board which was not involved in the production of and does not endorse this book.
• AP Comparative Government and Politics: An Essential Coursebook, Seventh Edition

  
• Published by WoodYard Publications, 285 Main Street, Germantown, NY 12526
• Copyright 2015 by Ethel Wood
• ISBN 978-0-9895395-5-5
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• PREFACE: THE COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS EXAMINATION

  
• AP Comparative Government and Politics Examination

  • 2 hours and 25 minutes
  • 55 multiple-choice questions (45 minutes, 50% of AP grade)
  • 100-minute free response section consisting of 8 questions (50% of AP grade)
• Multiple-choice questions cover all topics and test knowledge of comparative theory, methods, and government and politics in Britain, Russia, China, Mexico, Iran, and Nigeria
• Free-response questions are of three types: Definition and description, Conceptual analysis, and Country context
• This 7th Edition of AP Comparative Government and Politics: An Essential Coursebook is designed to help prepare for the exam
• The book is divided into three parts: Part One - Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics: A Conceptual Approach, Part Two - Country Cases, and Part Three - Practice Examinations

  
• Goals for the course include: Gaining an understanding of major comparative political concepts, themes, and trends; Knowing important facts about government and politics in Great Britain, Russia, China, Mexico, Iran, and Nigeria; Identifying patterns of political processes and behavior and analyzing their political and economic consequences; Comparing and contrasting political institutions and processes across countries; Analyzing and interpreting basic data for comparing political systems
• Comparative government and politics

  Provides an introduction to the diverse world of governments and political practices that exist in modern times

  
• Six core countries in the course

  • Great Britain
  • Russia
  • China
  • Mexico
  • Iran
  • Nigeria
• Government


  Leadership and institutions that make policy decisions for a country
• Politics


  All about power - who has the power to make decisions, how power-holders got power, and what challenges leaders face in keeping power
• Topics covered in the course

  • The Comparative Method
  • Sovereignty, Authority, and Power
  • Political and Economic Change
  • Citizens, Society, and the State
  • Political Institutions
  • Public Policy

  
• The Comparative Method


  Relies on scientific methods to objectively and logically evaluate data, including formulating hypotheses, identifying variables, and analyzing correlations and causation
• Three-world approach


  Comparing countries based on democracy vs. authoritarianism and communism vs. capitalism
• Newer trends in comparative politics

  Considering the impact of informal politics, the role of international forces, and the diversity of political systems beyond the three-world model
• Informal politics


  • Governments have formal positions and structures, but these formal elements are not all there is to political systems
  • Civil society - the way that citizens organize and define themselves and their interests - connects to the ways that the formal government operates
  • Informal politics takes into consideration not only the ways that politicians operate outside their formal powers, but also the impact that beliefs, values, and actions of ordinary citizens have on policy-making
• Political change


  • The world no longer has been dominated by two superpowers since 1991, which has had consequences that have reverberated in many areas that no one could have predicted
  • This creates an opportunity to compare the impact of change on many different countries
• Integration of political and economic systems

  • Government and politics are often intertwined almost inextricably with the economy
  • Attitudes and behavior of citizens are affected in many ways by economic inefficiency, economic inequality, and economic decision making
  • If citizens turn to the government for solutions to economic problems and government does not respond, they may revolt, or take other actions that demand attention from the political elite
• Groups of countries studied

  • Advanced democracies
  • Communist and post-communist countries
  • Less-developed and newly-industrializing countries
• State


  The organization that maintains a monopoly of violence over a territory
• Sovereignty


  The ability to carry out actions or policies within their borders independently from interference either from the inside or the outside
• Nation


  A group of people bound together by a common political identity
• Nationalism


  The sense of belonging and identity that distinguishes one nation from another
• Binational or multinational state


  • Contains more than one nation
  • The former Soviet Union is an example, which fell apart in 1991 along ethnic boundaries into independent nation-states
• Stateless nation


  • A people without a state, such as the Kurds who are spread across six countries in the Middle East
• Core area


  • The area where a state's population and economic activity are most concentrated
  • As you travel away from the core area into the state's periphery, towns get smaller, factories fewer, and open land more common
  • States with more than one core area - multicore states - may be problematic if the areas are ethnically diverse
• Regime


  The rules that a state sets and follows in exerting its power
• Democracy


  • Bases its authority on the will of the people
  • May be indirect with elected officials representing the people, or direct with individuals having immediate say over many decisions
  • Typically has three major branches: executives, legislatures, and judicial courts
  • Businesses, corporations, and/or companies generally operate somewhat independently from the government
• Parliamentary system


  • The principle of parliamentary sovereignty governs the decision-making process
  • The legislature makes the laws, controls finances, appoints and dismisses the prime minister and the cabinet
  • In reality, strong party discipline within the legislature develops over time, so that the cabinet initiates legislation and makes policy
  • No separation of powers exists between the executive and legislative branches, which are fused together
  • Typical separation in the executive branch between a head of state and a head of government
• Presidential system


  • The roles of head of state and head of government are given to one person - the president
  • The president is directly elected by the people and serves as the chief executive within a system of checks and balances between the legislative and executive (and sometimes judicial) branches
  • Power is diffused and the policymaking process is sometimes slowed down because one branch may question decisions that another branch makes
• Semi-presidential system


  • Combines elements of the presidential and parliamentary systems, with a prime minister coexisting with a president who is directly elected by the people and holds a significant degree of power
• Authoritarian regime


  • Decisions are made by political elites without much input from citizens
  • May be ruled by a single dictator, an hereditary monarch, a small group of aristocrats, or a single political party
  • The economy is generally tightly controlled by the political elite