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AP Comparative Government and Politics

Six countries, one toolkit: explain how China, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, and the UK are governed, and why.

Category
History and social sciences
Units
5 units
Exam
Exam May 14, 2027 (in 229 days)
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What the course covers

A college-level introduction to comparative politics built around the six AP course countries: China, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, and the United Kingdom. You learn the concepts political scientists use (regime, state, legitimacy, democratization, cleavages, electoral rules, liberalization) and then apply them country by country, reading data, comparing institutions, and writing the four free-response tasks the exam actually asks for. The United States is not a course country, so every example you practice with comes from the six.

5 units, with exam weights

  1. Unit 1

    Political Systems, Regimes, and Governments

    18-27% of examFree
    The vocabulary the whole course runs on: how political scientists use evidence, the difference between a state, nation, regime, and government, where democracies and authoritarian regimes sit on a spectrum, how democratization advances or stalls, where power and legitimacy come from, why regimes and governments change, federal versus unitary design, and what keeps a regime stable.
    10 topics
    1. 1.1The Practice of Political Scientists
    2. 1.2Defining Political Organizations
    3. 1.3Democracy vs. Authoritarianism
    4. 1.4Democratization
    5. 1.5Sources of Power and Authority
    6. 1.6Change in Power and Authority
    7. 1.7Federal and Unitary Systems
    8. 1.8Political Legitimacy
    9. 1.9Sustaining Legitimacy
    10. 1.10Political Stability

  2. Unit 2

    Political Institutions

    22-33% of exam
    The heaviest-weighted unit. Parliamentary, presidential, and semi-presidential systems and how they check executives; the structure and powers of each course country's executive, legislature, and judiciary; term limits and removal; and what makes legislatures and courts independent, or not.
    9 topics
    1. 2.1Parliamentary, Presidential, and Semi-Presidential Systems
    2. 2.2Comparing Parliamentary, Presidential, and Semi-Presidential Systems
    3. 2.3Executive Systems
    4. 2.4Executive Term Limits
    5. 2.5Removal of Executives
    6. 2.6Legislative Systems
    7. 2.7Independent Legislatures
    8. 2.8Judicial Systems
    9. 2.9Independent Judiciaries

  3. Unit 3

    Political Culture and Participation

    11-18% of exam
    How society meets the state: civil society, political culture and socialization, ideologies and values, voluntary and coerced participation, civil rights and civil liberties, and the social cleavages of class, ethnicity, religion, and region that shape each course country's politics and stability.
    9 topics
    1. 3.1Civil Society
    2. 3.2Political Culture
    3. 3.3Political Ideologies
    4. 3.4Political Values and Beliefs
    5. 3.5Nature and Role of Political Participation
    6. 3.6Forces that Impact Political Participation
    7. 3.7Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
    8. 3.8Political and Social Cleavages
    9. 3.9Challenges from Political and Social Cleavages

  4. Unit 4

    Party and Electoral Systems and Citizen Organizations

    13-18% of exam
    How citizens and groups gain power: each course country's electoral rules (SMD plurality, proportional representation, mixed systems, runoffs, vetting), what those rules are designed to achieve, one-party to multiparty systems, social movements and interest groups, and pluralist versus corporatist interest representation.
    6 topics
    1. 4.1Electoral Systems and Rules
    2. 4.2Objectives of Election Rules
    3. 4.3Political Party Systems
    4. 4.4Role of Political Party Systems
    5. 4.5Impact of Social Movements and Interest Groups
    6. 4.6Pluralist and Corporatist Interests

  5. Unit 5

    Political and Economic Changes and Development

    16-24% of exam
    Politics in a global economy: globalization and multinational corporations, how each course country has opened or controlled its economy, challenges to sovereignty, international and supranational organizations, social policy, the political fallout of industrialization and demographic change, and how natural resources (the rentier state and resource curse) shape development.
    9 topics
    1. 5.1Impact of Global Economic and Technological Forces
    2. 5.2Political Responses to Global Market Forces
    3. 5.3Challenges from Globalization
    4. 5.4Policies and Economic Liberalization
    5. 5.5International and Supranational Organizations
    6. 5.6Adaptation of Social Policies
    7. 5.7Impact of Industrialization and Economic Development
    8. 5.8Causes and Effects of Demographic Change
    9. 5.9Impact of Natural Resources

The exam, part by part

5 parts, 2 h 30 min in all.

  • Section I: Multiple Choice

    Questions
    55
    Time
    1 h
    Weight
    50%
    Format details

    Four answer choices (A-D). 40-44 stand-alone questions with no stimulus, plus three quantitative-analysis sets (a table, line or bar graph, chart, map, or infographic) and two text-based sets (a secondary-source passage), each set 2-3 questions. Digital exam in Bluebook.

  • Section II, Question 1: Conceptual Analysis

    Questions
    1
    Time
    10 min
    Weight
    11%
    Format details

    Task types: Conceptual Analysis

    Section II is 90 minutes for all four questions; 10 minutes is the suggested pace for this one.

  • Section II, Question 2: Quantitative Analysis

    Questions
    1
    Time
    20 min
    Weight
    12.5%
    Format details

    Task types: Quantitative Analysis

    Suggested 20 minutes within the 90-minute Section II.

  • Section II, Question 3: Comparative Analysis

    Questions
    1
    Time
    20 min
    Weight
    12.5%
    Format details

    Task types: Comparative Analysis

    Suggested 20 minutes within the 90-minute Section II.

  • Section II, Question 4: Argument Essay

    Questions
    1
    Time
    40 min
    Weight
    14%
    Format details

    Task types: Argument Essay

    Suggested 40 minutes within the 90-minute Section II.

How the 1 to 5 score is set

Section I (55 multiple-choice questions, one point each, no penalty for guessing) is 50% of the composite score. Section II is the other 50%: Conceptual Analysis 11% (4 points), Quantitative Analysis 12.5% (5 points), Comparative Analysis 12.5% (5 points), and the Argument Essay 14% (5 points), so each free-response point is worth more than a multiple-choice point. The weighted composite is converted to the 1-5 AP scale using cut points College Board sets each year and does not publish in advance. In May 2025, 16.3% of students earned a 5 and 71.8% earned a 3 or higher (mean 3.16).

What you bring and get

Fully digital exam in the Bluebook app. No reference sheet, formula sheet, or source packet is provided, and no calculator is needed or permitted. All stimuli (charts, tables, maps, passages) appear on screen within the questions. Scratch paper is allowed for planning, but only typed responses are scored.

Skills the exam scores

  • 1.AConcept Application: describe

    Describe political systems, principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.

  • 1.BConcept Application: explain

    Explain political systems, principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors, including how and why they work.

  • 1.CConcept Application: compare

    Compare political systems, principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors in general terms.

  • 1.DConcept Application: describe in a course country

    Describe how a system, institution, process, policy, or behavior looks in one specific course country.

  • 1.EConcept Application: explain in a course country

    Explain how a political concept or process actually operates in a specific course country.

  • 2.ACountry Comparison: compare countries

    Compare two or more course countries on their systems, principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.

  • 2.BCountry Comparison: similar systems

    Explain what follows from similarities and differences between course countries whose political systems are alike (for example, two federal presidential democracies).

  • 2.CCountry Comparison: different systems

    Explain what follows from similarities and differences between course countries whose political systems differ (for example, a democracy and a one-party state).

  • 3.AData Analysis: describe the data

    Read and describe what a table, graph, chart, map, or infographic shows.

  • 3.BData Analysis: patterns and trends

    Describe patterns, trends, similarities, or differences in quantitative data.

  • 3.CData Analysis: draw conclusions

    Explain patterns and trends in data in order to draw a conclusion.

  • 3.DData Analysis: implications

    Explain what the data imply or illustrate about political systems, principles, institutions, processes, policies, or behaviors.

  • 3.EData Analysis: limitations

    Explain what the data cannot show and the possible limitations of the data provided.

  • 4.ASource Analysis: claim and evidence

    Describe a text-based source's claim, perspective, evidence, and reasoning.

  • 4.BSource Analysis: relate to concepts

    Explain how an author's argument or perspective relates to political systems, principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.

  • 4.CSource Analysis: implications

    Explain how the implications of an author's argument or perspective could affect political systems, principles, institutions, processes, policies, and behaviors.

  • 5.AArgumentation: claim

    Articulate a defensible claim or thesis that establishes a line of reasoning.

  • 5.BArgumentation: evidence

    Support an argument with specific, relevant evidence from the course countries.

  • 5.CArgumentation: reasoning

    Use reasoning to organize and analyze evidence, explaining why it justifies the claim.

  • 5.DArgumentation: alternate perspectives

    Respond to an opposing or alternate perspective with refutation, concession, or rebuttal.