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ADVANCED PLACEMENT COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
COURSE OUTLINE AND SYLLABUS, 2011-2012
“The study of politics is the study of influence and the influential. The influential are those who get the
most of what there is to get.” Harold Lasswell
“War is politics with bloodshed. Politics is war without bloodshed.” Mao
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is also designed to prepare students to take the Advanced Placement
examination in Comparative Government & Politics. Students who enroll in this course are required to take the AP
exam.
The AP course in Comparative Government and Politics introduces students to fundamental concepts used by
political scientists to study the processes and outcomes of politics in a variety of country settings. The course
aims:
 to illustrate the rich diversity of political life,
 to show how different cultures and nations have developed different kinds of institutions that make
decisions binding on the entire country,
 to explain how different nations and states develop policies and programs that attempt to meet the needs
and desires of their citizens, and
 to study and discuss the importance of global political and economic changes.
In addition to covering the major concepts that are used to organize and interpret what we know about how politics
and government works, the course should cover specific countries and their governments. Six countries form the
core of the AP Comparative Government and Politics course. China, Great Britain, Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia
are all regularly covered in college-level introductory comparative politics courses. The inclusion of Iran adds a
political system from a very important region of the world and one that is subject to distinctive political and cultural
dynamics. By using these six core countries, the course can move the discussion of concepts from abstract
definition to concrete example, noting that not all concepts will be equally useful in all country settings. The
following sections provide general descriptions of the major themes and concepts of the course.
Students are expected to acquire or develop the following skills and abilities:
 know important facts pertaining to the governments and politics of China, Great Britain, Iran, Mexico,
Nigeria, and Russia
 understand major comparative political concepts, themes, and generalizations
 understand typical patterns of political processes and behavior and their consequences
 be able to compare and contrast political institutions and processes across countries and to derive
generalizations
 be able to analyze and interpret basic data relevant to comparative government and politics
In order to develop the above skills and abilities, the course will include a great deal of reading and writing. In
addition to assignments from the textbook there will be additional handouts. You will improve writing skills by
responding to questions similar to those found in AP examinations. Finally, it will be important to pay attention to
contemporary media. Reading a daily newspaper, including columns and editorials, and a weekly newsmagazine
and watching the Sunday morning political discussion television programs is as important as any text or
supplementary reading.
TEXTBOOKS: Powell, Dalton, & Strom, et. al. Comparative Politics Today (10th ed. AP edition) (includes
AP study guide) (Pearson Longman, 2012)
Supplemental texts available to students & faculty:
Charles Hauss, Comparative Politics
Michael G. Roskin, Countries and Concepts
Kesselman, et al, Introduction to Comparative Politics
Ken Wedding, Advanced Placement Comparative Government and Politics (resource for in-class
and homework assignments)
Textbook Materials will be supplemented by outside reading and handouts from magazines & journals such as
Current History and Foreign Affairs as well as newspapers (New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street
Journal).
GRADES AND STUDENT ASSESSMENT:
There will be a quiz associated with each reading assignment in the textbook. The quizzes will include both
objective and free response questions.
Each reading handout will be accompanied by an assignment. Assignments may include responding to specific
questions about the content, responding to a particular scenario based on the reading, developing a position that
will form a portion of a class debate, or some similar critical thinking activity.
Homework will include not only the readings assigned but also activities from the supplement authored by Ken
Wedding noted above in the section about supplemental texts. Each activity from this source includes critical
reading and written responses from research and/or critical analysis of the content.
There will be a major exam following each unit. Unit exams will mirror the AP exams as much as possible; that is,
multiple choice questions that account for 50% of the grade and essay (“free response”) questions that count for
the remaining 50% of the test grade.
Each student must maintain a course notebook. Notebooks will be collected and graded each grading period.
The notebook must include
1) All class notes;
2) All handouts (and there will be a lot of handouts);
3) Your course glossary. Each chapter in Powell ends with a list of the chapter’s “Key Terms.” Your regular
assignment is to provide definitions, explanations and examples or illustrations for each of these terms after you
finish reading the chapter.
4) Review questions. Each chapter in Powell ends with some “Review Questions.” Your answers to these review
questions should also be included in your notebook.
5) “Current event” article for each grading period
. Each grading period you are required to include a “news” article about one of the six countries that are
studied in this course: Great Britain, Russia, China, Mexico, Iran and Nigeria. Your article can come from the
internet or from more traditional print media (newspapers, news magazines, specialty journals). Make a copy of
the article (no vandalism). For each article, you are to prepare a “response.” This response should be wordprocessed and should be about 3 paragraphs long. The first paragraph should include a summary of the article in
your own words. The second paragraph should contain some background or context for the article; that is, is
there some history that would help the reader better understand the article you have chosen, is there some
additional information that you can find that helps the reader understand the issue or event that the article is about.
The third paragraph should be a summary of what you learned about the country by reading the article and
researching its context.
Grade calculation: Unit and final exams = 40%; Quizzes = 20%; Homework/Class work = 20%;
Course Notebook = 20%
AP GRADE SCALE
A = 100% - 90%
B = 89% - 80%
C = 79% - 70%
D = 69% - 60%
F = below 60%
AP Test Prep Book: Be sure to use your test prep book as both an introductory overview and a review.
That is, before you read a chapter, read the summary in the Test Prep book. After you finish the chapter
and are preparing for a test, use the book as a study guide. Use the questions provided to test yourself.
AP COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT & POLITICS - SYLLABUS
Unit I – Introduction to Comparative Government & Politics
A. Course introduction: Overview of Content
1. Introduction to the comparative method
a. Class activity/homework: “Comparative Government Pretest/preliminary data
collection on the case studies” - Review the handout and plan how you would find the
information requested; Develop working definitions for the following terms: regime,
head of state, head of government, bicameral, unicameral, federal, unitary, kingdom,
republic, federation, constitution. (Wedding, Lesson 1)
B. What in the world in going on in the world? - A big picture view of major forces at work in the 21st
century.
Read “The Clash of Civilizations?” by Samuel Huntington (Foreign Affairs, Summer 1993) and “The
Politics of Rage: Why Do They Hate Us?” by Fareed Zakaria (Newsweek, 10/15/2001). (1) Prepare a
brief summary or outline of each article to include in your notebook. (2) Discuss how Zakaria’s article
supports or refutes Huntington’s thesis.
Efforts toward Integration: A brief introduction to supranational organizations including the WTO,
IMF, World Bank, UN, and EU.
Homework: Wedding #18 (The European Union: Democratic or International or Both?) Read Chapter
1 (Hauss). Reading quiz in class. Prepare a written response to Critical Thinking Exercise #4 (pg 17).
Fundamentals: Politics and Power (lecture)
Concepts and terminology (in-class activity) (Wedding Lesson 4)
Homework: Applying Comparative Concepts – definitions & examples
Nations and States (Reading: “’Nations’ or ‘States”: An Attempt at Definition”; Peter Rasmussen,
Global Policy Forum (on-line), 2001)
Nationalism (Reading: “Us and Them – The Enduring Power of Ethnic Nationalism;” Jerry Muller,
Foreign Affairs, March/April 2008)
Classifying government & regimes (lecture) (What is a regime? Aristotle’s classification of
political systems; An introduction to Varieties and characteristics of regime forms: Anarchy,
Theocracy, Monarchy, Oligarchy, Authoritarian, Totalitarian, Military, Democracy; Modern
typologies: A World of “worlds”; “Six Arenas”
Using data to compare countries (Reading & understanding various forms of data
representation (Almond preface – library reserve); Review “Pretest” data; In-class activity:
Classifying Countries (Wedding Lesson 2); Homework project: Comparing states using
performance indicators
1. You will be assigned a country and a partner.
2. Using the internet, locate the World Bank’s “Governance Indicators” and the Freedom
House’s “ratings” for your assigned states.
3. Briefly explain the factors used by the World Bank and the Freedom House to rank
and compare nations.
4. Give the rankings and/or ratings for your assigned state.
5. Use the internet to locate the “Economic Freedom Index” by the Fraser Institute of
Canada and the “Index of Economic Freedom” by the Heritage Foundation.
6. Briefly explain the factors used by the Fraser Institute and the Heritage Foundation to
rank and compare nations.
7. Describe the rankings and/or ratings for your assigned state.
8. Track down the “Human Development Index” by the United Nations.
9. Briefly explain the factors used by the United Nations to rank and compare the
“Human Development” of states.
10. Describe the rankings and/or ratings for your assigned state.
Globalization (Primary Reading: Handout – AP Briefing Paper: “Globalization”)
Class discussion/explication; homework – memo to presidential candidate re: costs and
benefits of globalization
Democratization and democracy (Primary Reading – AP Briefing Paper: “Democratization”;
Larry Diamond, “The Democratic Rollback: The Resurgence of the Predatory State” (Foreign
Affairs, March/April 2008) Hauss Chapter 2
Class discussion/explication; homework – responses to content questions Definitions,
Characteristics and Varieties of Democracy (lecture)
Unit 1 Exam
Unit 2 Political Science / Comparative Government Fundamentals: Brief introductions to concepts
and terminology
(Reading: Almond Chapters 1 – 7, Hauss Chapter 1)
1. Models of government and politics
a. Systems analysis (in-class / homework – Wedding, Lesson 3)
b. Functional-structural analysis
c. Economic systems
2. Political socialization and political culture
Legitimacy, sovereignty and authority
a. Constitutions
b. Other sources – ideologies, religion, tradition
Consensual & conflictual cultures
How political systems change: Agents of political change – domestic & international
a. Varieties and effects of political violence – coups, revolts & revolutions
Agents of political socialization
Effects of modernization and globalization on political cultures
3. Interest articulation
Patterns and varieties of citizen participation
a. Voting and other means of participation
b. Groups and Civil society
c. Functions of interest groups
d. Interest groups systems: pluralist & corporatist
e. How interest groups attempt to influence policy
4. Interest aggregation
Patron-client networks
Functions of political parties
Varieties of Political party systems: one party, two party, multi-party
Electoral systems and political party systems
a. Varieties and functions of elections
b. First-past-the-post (plurality) & Proportional systems
5. Structures and Institutions of Government
The executive branch – presidents and prime ministers
a. Heads of State and Heads of Government
The legislative branch – parliaments and legislatures
Geographical Distribution of power
a. Federal & unitary systems
b. Devolution
Limits on Government Power
a. Constitutions and Bills of Rights
b. The Judiciary & judicial review
c. Holding governments accountable
Bureaucracies
6. Public Policies
Types of public policies - Extraction, distribution, regulation, symbolic
Domestic and international influences on policymaking
Unit 2 Exam
Unit 3 Industrialized Democracies
Case Studies: United States and Great Britain
Reading: Hauss Chapters 2, 3 & 4, Almond Chapter 8, 13
United States:
Sovereignty, Authority and Power in U.S.
American Political Institutions
Elections and Political Parties in America
Political culture, socialization and participation
Interest articulation and role of the media
Political and economic change: Trends and Influences
Public policy issues and Influences
U.S. Homework: Wedding #11 (Limits on Government)
Great Britain:
Sovereignty, Authority and Power in United Kingdom
Political History of Great Britain
British Political Institutions
Elections and Political Parties in Great Britain
Political culture, socialization and participation
Interest articulation and role of the media
Political and economic change: Trends and Influences
Public policy issues and Influences
Great Britain and the European Union
Great Britain Homework: Wedding #14 (Comparing Party and Legislative Models); #16 (British Political
Parties and Their Policy Positions); #18 (The European Union: Democratic or International or Both)
Great Britain Additional Reading: Vernon Bogdanor, The Historic Legacy of Tony Blair, Current History,
March 2007
Unit 3 Exam
Unit 4 – Current and Former Communist Regimes
Case Studies: Russia and China
Reading: Hauss Chapters 8, 9 & 10; Almond Chapter 9 & 12
From socialism to Marx and Lenin and beyond – an overview of the history of communism
Russia:
Sovereignty, Authority and Power in Russia
Political History of Russia
Russian Political Institutions
Elections and Political Parties in Russia
Political culture, socialization and participation
Interest articulation and role of the media
Political and economic change: Trends and Influences
Public policy issues and influences
Russia as a Model of “Illiberal Democracy”?
Russia Homework: Wedding #21 (Russian Political Culture); #22 Russian Political Leadership); #23
(Russian Political Elites); #24 (Recent Revolutions in Russia)
Russia additional reading: Henry Hale, Russia’s Elections and “Managed Democracy”, College Board
AP Central; Dmitri Trenin, The Legacy of Vladimir Putin, Current History, October 2007; Neil J. Mitchell,
Illiberal Democracy and Vladimir Putin’s Russia, College Board AP Central
China:
Sovereignty, Authority and Power in China
Political History of China
Chinese Political Institutions
Interest Aggregation in China – a one-party state
Political culture, socialization and participation
Interest articulation and role of the media
Political and economic change: Trends and Influences
Public policy issues and influences
Is the Chinese model (one-party state with economic liberalization) sustainable?
China Homework: Wedding #25 (Vocabulary of Chinese Politics); #27 (Mass Line and Ideology); #28
(Democratic Centralism)
China additional reading: Bruce Dickson, et. al, The Future of China’s Party-State, Current History,
September 2007
Unit 4 exam
Unit 5 –The Less Developed Countries
Case Studies: Iran, Nigeria & Mexico
Reading: Hauss Chapters 11 (LDCs), 13 (Iran), 15 (Nigeria) & 16 (Mexico); Almond Chapters 10, 11, 14
Iran:
Sovereignty, Authority and Power in Iran
Theocratic politics
Political History of Iran
Iranian Political Institutions
Interest Aggregation in Iran
Political culture, socialization and participation
Interest articulation and role of the media
Political and economic change: Trends and Influences
Public policy issues and influences
Iran Homework: Wedding #33 (Lessons from the Iranisn Experience); #38 (Competing Political Legacies
in Iran); #39 (Policy Making in the Islamic Republic of Iran)
Iran additional reading: AP Comparative Government and Politics Briefing Paper: Iran; Mahmood
Sariolghalam, Iran in Search of Itself, Current History, December 2008
Nigeria:
Sovereignty, Authority and Power in Nigeria
Political History of Nigeria
Effects of Imperialism and Colonialism
Effects of Military control
Nigerian Political Institutions
Interest Aggregation in Nigeria
Political culture, socialization and participation
Interest articulation and role of the media
Political and economic change: Trends and Influences
Public policy issues and influences
Nigeria Homework: Wedding #32 (Political Cleavages in Nigeria); #36 (Identity Politics in Nigeria); #37
(Nigeria’s Political Party System)
Nigeria additional reading: AP Comparative Government and Politics Briefing Paper: Nigeria; Richard
Joseph and Darren Kew, Nigeria Confronts Obasanjo’s Legacy, Current History, April 2008
Mexico:
Sovereignty, Authority and Power in Mexico
Political History of Mexico
Mexican Political Institutions
Interest Aggregation in Mexico
From a one-party state to a competitive multi-party state
Political culture, socialization and participation
Interest articulation and role of the media
Political and economic change: Trends and Influences
Public policy issues and influences
Mexico Homework: Wedding #29 (Lessons of the Mexican Colonial Experience); #30 (Party Politics in
Mexico); #34 (Revolutionary Ideas); #35 (Transparency, Corruption, and Politics)
Mexico additional reading: AP Comparative Government and Politics Briefing Paper: Mexico; Luis Rubio
and Jeffrey Davidow, Mexico’s Disputed Election, Foreign Affairs, September/October 2006; George W.
Grayson, Mexico, the PRI, and Lopez Obrador: The Legacy of Corporatism, Orbis, Spring 2007
Unit 5 Exam