AP Comparative Government — The Six Countries flashcards
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The six AP Comparative Government course countries (UK, Mexico, Russia, Iran, China and Nigeria): constitutions, how leaders and legislatures are chosen, courts, federalism, parties, reforms and settled turning points.
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.
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What does parliamentary sovereignty mean in the UK?Parliamentary sovereignty means Parliament can make or repeal any law, no Parliament can bind its successors, and no court can set aside an Act of Parliament.Political Systems and Regimes › Constitutions and Turning Points
Why it matters: it is the reason the UK has no entrenched constitution and only weak judicial review. -
What is a constitutional convention in the UK? Give two examples.A convention is an unwritten rule that is followed because it is accepted as binding, though no court enforces it. Examples: the monarch always grants royal assent to bills passed by Parliament, and appoints as prime minister the person who can command the confidence of the Commons.Political Systems and Regimes › Constitutions and Turning Points
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How does someone become UK prime minister?The monarch appoints the person who can command the confidence of the House of Commons, which in practice means the leader of the largest party. A party can therefore change prime ministers between elections simply by choosing a new leader.Political Institutions › Executives
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What changed when the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 was repealed in 2022?The 2011 Act had fixed general elections at five-year intervals unless two-thirds of the Commons agreed to an early one or a no-confidence vote was not reversed within 14 days. The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 restored the prime minister's ability to ask the monarch for an early dissolution, with a maximum term of five years.Political Institutions › Executives
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Why did the UK form its first post-war coalition government in 2010, and what reform did it put to voters?The 2010 election produced a hung parliament in which no party won a Commons majority, so the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed a coalition (2010–2015). A 2011 referendum on replacing FPTP with the alternative vote was heavily defeated.Party and Electoral Systems
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Which cleavage has traditionally structured British party competition, and which newer cleavages cut across it?Social class: the Labour Party grew out of the trade unions and the working class, while the Conservatives drew more on the middle class and business. Newer divides include national identity (Scottish and Welsh nationalism), age and education, and attitudes toward the EU.Political Culture and Participation
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What did Thatcher's governments (1979–1990) change in the British economy?They pursued neoliberal reform: privatizing state firms such as British Telecom and British Gas, selling council housing to tenants, curbing trade unions through new laws and defeating the 1984–85 miners' strike, and cutting taxes on high incomes.Political and Economic Change
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How did Mexico make its elections credible in the 1990s?After disputed results in 1988, Mexico created the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) in 1990 and made it independent of the government in 1996, alongside a federal electoral tribunal. In 2014 it was replaced by the National Electoral Institute (INE), which also oversees state elections.Party and Electoral Systems
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What did the 1992 amendment to Article 27 change?It ended the state's obligation to redistribute land and let ejido members (holders of communal land granted after the Revolution) rent, sell or mortgage their plots. It was part of the neoliberal shift that prepared Mexico for NAFTA.Political and Economic Change
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What role do the Revolutionary Guard and the Basij play in Iran?The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), created to protect the revolution, is a military force answering to the Supreme Leader with large business interests. The Basij is its volunteer militia, used to mobilize supporters and suppress protests, as in 2009 and 2022.Political Culture and Participation
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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, six course countries); used as an outline only, no text copied.
- Structures 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.
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