C3_FRAMEWORK_SOCIAL_STUDIESAPhigh school
AP Comparative Government and Politics
Compare how power works across six very different countries -- China, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, and the United Kingdom. You'll classify regimes, analyze institutions, trace democratization and backsliding, and evaluate development strategies, all aligned to the College Board AP Comparative Government CED. The exam rewards your ability to draw cross-country comparisons, and every unit here is built around that skill.
5units
10topics
155questions
~4hours
Course Units
Learning objectives
- Classify political systems along the regime spectrum from liberal democracy to totalitarianism using specific criteria
- Apply Weber's three types of legitimate authority (traditional, charismatic, rational-legal) to the six AP countries
- Analyze sources of power (coercion, ideology, economic performance, patronage) sustaining different regime types
- Evaluate democratization and democratic backsliding using evidence from the six countries
- Distinguish between states, regimes, and governments and explain why the distinction matters
Topics in this unit
Learning objectives
- Compare parliamentary, presidential, and semi-presidential executive systems and their implications for governance
- Analyze executive power structures and constraints (term limits, impeachment, confidence votes) across the six countries
- Evaluate legislative independence and policy-making power in democratic and authoritarian systems
- Assess judicial independence, constitutional review mechanisms, and the rule of law across the six countries
- Explain how federal, unitary, and devolved systems distribute power between central and regional governments
Topics in this unit
Learning objectives
- Explain how political culture and socialization shape citizen attitudes and expectations of government
- Compare civil society strength, autonomy, and influence across democratic and authoritarian contexts
- Analyze the role of state-controlled, independent, and social media in shaping political participation
- Evaluate how social cleavages (ethnic, religious, regional, class) affect political behavior and mobilization
- Assess how authoritarian regimes manage, co-opt, or suppress citizen participation
Topics in this unit
Learning objectives
- Compare single-party, dominant-party, two-party, and multiparty systems and explain what sustains each
- Analyze how electoral rules (FPTP, proportional representation, mixed systems) shape party competition and representation
- Evaluate the role of interest groups, civil society organizations, and social movements in different regime types
- Explain how authoritarian regimes manage elections, co-opt opposition, and maintain the appearance of competition
- Assess the relationship between electoral systems and the representation of women and minorities
Topics in this unit
Learning objectives
- Analyze the relationship between economic development and democratization using evidence from the six countries
- Compare strategies of economic reform (shock therapy, gradualism, state capitalism) across the six countries
- Evaluate the impact of globalization on state sovereignty, economic policy, and domestic politics
- Assess challenges of political and economic development including corruption, inequality, and resource dependence
- Explain how international organizations (IMF, World Bank, WTO, EU) influence domestic policy choices
Topics in this unit