AP Comparative Government — Concepts and Institutions flashcards
10 of 80 cards free to study here · 5 topics · the whole deck is built into Willys
The core concepts of AP Comparative Government, Units 1–5: sovereignty and legitimacy, regime types, democratization, institutions, electoral and party systems, political culture, cleavages and political economy, illustrated with the six course countries.
Learn deck · part of AP Comparative Government and Politics · written against: College Board AP Comparative Government and Politics Course and Exam Description (six course countries). Updated 2026-10-10.
Study the free sample
10 cards from the deck as they are. Flip, rate yourself, filter by topic; your progress stays in this browser.
Tap the card or press Space to flip
The 10 sample cards as a list
-
A student writes: 'Nigeria should adopt proportional representation.' Is that an empirical or a normative statement, and why?It is normative: it says what ought to happen, which rests on values and cannot be proved true or false by data.Political Systems and Regimes › Methods and Key Terms
An empirical statement describes what is, such as 'Nigeria elects its House of Representatives in single-member districts.'
Watch out: exam prompts often ask you to spot which claim can be tested with evidence. -
Two countries have the same GDP per capita. What extra information would the Human Development Index give you about them?The HDI combines income per person with life expectancy and education (years of schooling), so it shows whether national wealth is turning into longer, better-educated lives. A rentier state can rank high on income but lower on HDI.Political Systems and Regimes › Methods and Key Terms
-
What is the defining feature of a parliamentary system?Fusion of powers: the executive (prime minister and cabinet) comes from the legislature and stays in office only while it keeps the confidence of the lower house. Voters elect the legislature, not the head of government directly.Political Institutions › Executives and Legislatures
Example: the United Kingdom. -
What happens when a government loses a vote of no confidence in a parliamentary system?A lost vote of no confidence shows the cabinet no longer has the lower house's support, so it must resign or call a new election. This is how the legislature removes a parliamentary executive for political reasons, without proving wrongdoing.Political Institutions › Executives and Legislatures
-
How does political culture differ from political ideology?Political culture is the widely shared set of attitudes, values and beliefs about government in a society, such as trust in authority or attitudes toward participation. Political ideology is a more organized set of ideas about what government should do, such as liberalism or socialism.Political Culture and Participation
-
What is political socialization, and name three agents of it?Political socialization is the process by which people acquire their political values. Key agents are the family, schools, religious institutions, peers and the media.Political Culture and Participation
Example: China's patriotic education campaign of the 1990s used schools and museums to build loyalty to the party. -
How does a first-past-the-post (single-member district plurality) system work?The country is divided into districts that each elect one representative, and the candidate with the most votes wins, even without a majority.Party and Electoral Systems
Example: the UK House of Commons and Nigeria's National Assembly. -
What is Duverger's law?Duverger's law observes that single-member plurality systems tend to produce two-party systems, because small parties win few seats and voters abandon them to avoid wasting votes, while proportional systems encourage multiparty systems.Party and Electoral Systems
Watch out: regional parties, such as the Scottish National Party, can still win seats under FPTP. -
What policies make up neoliberal economic reform as the course uses the term?Neoliberal reform means shrinking the state's economic role: privatizing state firms, deregulating, cutting subsidies and deficits, and liberalizing trade and foreign investment.Political and Economic Change
Example: Mexico after its 1982 debt crisis and the UK in the 1980s. -
What is privatization, and what political risks does it carry?Privatization is selling or transferring state-owned enterprises to private owners. It can raise efficiency and state revenue, but it often brings layoffs and price rises, and when sales are rigged it can concentrate wealth in a few hands.Political and Economic Change
Example: Russia's 1990s privatization created a class of super-rich oligarchs.
Unlock the whole deck
You are studying a free 10-card sample. All 80 cards of AP Comparative Government — Concepts and Institutions, the other 2 AP Comparative Government and Politics decks, and spaced-repetition scheduling are built into Willys. 14-day free trial, then $14.99 a year.
In Willys, tap Exam Library at the top of your Decks (or Browse Exam Library… under the + button), find the exam on its shelf or by search, tick it and tap Add.
More AP Comparative Government and Politics decks
← All AP Comparative Government and Politics decks, with the study guide and topic outline.
About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- Topic outline follows the College Board AP Comparative Government and Politics Course and Exam Description (effective Fall 2026, Units 1–5); used as an outline only, no text copied.
- Country facts checked against the constitutions of Mexico (1917), Russia (1993, as amended 2020), Iran (1979, revised 1989), China (1982, as amended 2018) and Nigeria (1999) in English translation and UK statutes on legislation.gov.uk (Open Government Licence); reference only, no text copied.
- Data and other facts checked against the World Bank's World Development Indicators (Gini index; CC BY 4.0), the UNDP Human Development Reports data center (Human Development Index; CC BY 3.0 IGO), the Ministerial Code and ministers' pages on GOV.UK (Open Government Licence v3.0), UK Parliament membership data and the WTO's member pages; reference only, no text copied.
These are independent study notes written for Willys. They are not official exam material, may contain mistakes, and are no substitute for your course, your teacher or the exam owner's own publications. Found an error? Tell us — corrections ship as a new version of the deck.
AP® is a trademark registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, this product.
Use of these pages is covered by our Terms of Use.