Advanced Placement Comparative Government



Advanced Placement Comparative Government

Course Overview

Mr. Klein – dklein@

Please see Mr. Klein’s Web page at

The AP Comparative Government and Politics course is a college-level introduction to the comparative study of state systems and their political components. This course introduces students to a series of paradigms and tools to develop a lifelong critical perspective on the working of these government systems.

The course focuses on the study of political science theory and methodology as well as the analysis of politics and government in specific states. The six countries are the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, the United Mexican States, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

A primary goal of the course is to increase the students’ understanding of the political traditions, values, structures, and processes of different political systems. Students will gain understanding of and develop judgements about issues within each state and between states to develop an understanding of the problems inherent in governing a country. Students will examine the politics, processes, institutions, cultures, histories and public policies of each country.

As a college level course, expectations include extensive textbook, current events and ancillary reading, research, debate, lecture and very participatory discussion. Students are expected to work collaboratively through this website mrksapcompgov. to produce a group presentation. A final course examination is required and students are expected to take the AP examination in May.

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Required Class Behaviors

1. Respect members of the class, their ideas and their property.

2. Participate actively. Take intellectual risks, for you will learn from your own risk-taking as well as each other..

3. Ask whenever you have a question. “The only stupid question is the question that goes unasked.” Donald K. Anderson, Clerk of the United States House of Representatives.

4. Be prepared everyday – Covered textbook, pen, and pencil, notebook, agenda book/assignment book.

5. Be in the classroom before the bell rings. West’s lateness policy is strictly enforced.

6. Complete all work to the best of your ability because homework, essays and classwork will help you to obtain the necessary and required skill and knowledge. Also, these learning activities will be evaluated through a combination rubric/points system. Summing all of the earned points divided by the total possible points will result in a percent score that will be the marking period grade. This score will then be calculated with the second marking period, two core assessments and the the final exam to reach a final course grade. No individual extra credit will be available.

7. Complete all assignments by their due date. Daily homework assignments will lose 50% of their value if one day late, and will receive no credit beyond one day. Long-term assignments (over one week allotted for completion) will lose 10% for each day that it is late.

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Course Level Assessments

1. Demonstrate mastery of comparative government and politics concepts by scoring at least 60% on unit exams. Tests will be multiple choice and free response. Students must also score at least 60% on an objective question comprehensive final exam and final exam free response section.

2. Participate in a team debate on an issue relative to one of the six countries studied.

3. Present a five to ten minute oral report as part of a country review group presentation.

4. Complete a 12 article current events booklet each marking period..

5. Demonstrate the ability to effectively complete analytical essay questions in a manner appropriate for the Comparative Government and Politics AP exam.

Course Outline

Textbook: Kesselman, Mark, editor, et. al. Introduction to Comparative Politics. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007.

Unit 1 – Fundamental Principles of Comparative Government – The following subsections are the College Board Advanced Placement substantive topics of Comparative Government and Politic. We will focus on these substantive topics in the first three or so weeks of this course. See Unit 1 Ancillary Reading packet.

Substantive Topics

Content Area (multiple-choice section) Percentage Goals of Exam

Introduction to Comparative Politics.................................................. 5%

A. Purpose and methods of comparison and classification

1. Why/ways to organize government

2. Normative and empirical questions

B. Concepts (state, nation, regime, government)

C. Process and policy (what is politics; purpose of government;

what is political science/comparative; common policy challenges)

ST 1. Sovereignty, Authority, and Power .................................................... 20%

A. Political culture, communication, and socialization

B. Nations and states

C. Supranational governance (e.g., European Union)

D. Sources of power

E. Constitutions (forms, purposes, application)

F. Regime types

G. Types of economic systems

H. State building, legitimacy, and stability

I. Belief systems as sources of legitimacy

1. Religion

2. Ideology (liberalism, communism, socialism, conservatism,

fascism)

J. Governance and accountability

ST 2. Political Institutions..............................................................................35%

A. Levels of government

1. Supranational/national/regional/local

2. Unitary/federal

3. Centralization/decentralization

B. Executives (head of state, head of government, cabinets)

1. Single or dual

2. President

3. Prime minister

C. Legislatures

1. Unicameral/bicameral (symmetric/asymmetric)

2. Organization

3. Membership (representation)

D. Parliamentary and presidential systems

1. Institutional relations

E. Elections

1. Presidential

2. Parliamentary

3. Referendums

4. Noncompetitive

F. Electoral systems

1. Proportional representation

2. Single member district (plurality, majority runoff)

G. Political parties (organization, membership, institutionalization,

ideological position)

H. Party systems

I. Leadership and elite recruitment

J. Interest groups and interest group systems

K. Bureaucracies

L. Military and other coercive institutions

M. Judiciaries

1. Degrees of autonomy

2. Judicial review (including European Union in relation to

states, citizens

3. Types of law

ST 3. Citizens, Society, and the State ........................................................15%

A. Cleavages and politics (ethnic, racial, class, gender, religious,

regional)

B. Civil society

C. Media roles

D. Political participation (forms/modes/trends) including political

violence

E. Social movements

F. Citizenship and social representation

ST 4. Political and Economic Change ........................................................15%

A. Revolution, coups, and war

B. Trends and types of political change (including democratization)

1. Components

2. Promoting or inhibiting factors

3. Consequences

C. Trends and types of economic change (including privatization)

1. Components

2. Promoting or inhibiting factors

3. Consequences

D. Relationship between political and economic change

E. Globalization and fragmentation: interlinked economies, global

culture, reactions against globalization, regionalism

ST 5. Public Policy ......................................................................................10%

A. Common policy issues

1. Economic performance

2. Social welfare (e.g., education, health, poverty)

3. Civil liberties, rights, and freedoms

4. Environment

5. Population and migration

6. Economic development

B. Factors influencing public policymaking and implementation

1. Domestic

2. International

Country Case Study Units – Each of the following units will cover about three weeks of the course. Within each case study, students will be expected to apply the Unit 1 terms and concepts to understand the politics of that state. As the course moves to other case studies, greater emphasis on comparison will occur.

Unit 2 – Politics in Great Britain

Unit 3 – Politics in China

Unit 5 – Politics in Russia

Unit 6 – Politics in Mexico

Unit 7 – Politics in Nigeria

Unit 8 – Politics in Iran

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Current News Story Continuous Assignment

To adequately compare governments, the information about the systems, structure, processes and culture must be current. Further, to deeply understand how states’ political systems work, we must keep current about the issues facing these political systems. Therefore, you are required to keep current about the issues facing the six country case studies covered by the AP exam. To demonstrate that you are keeping current, each Monday you must present two current news stories about different political issues in one or more of the covered nation-states. These stories will be summarized briefly. More importantly, the written assignment must also include an in-depth explanation of how the story illustrates one or more concepts we are studying. Once the class begins investigating the state case studies, each current news story written assignment must explain how the news story illustrates one of the five Substantive Topics related to the case study we are investigating at the time. (specifics will be assigned at the appropriate time.) Each written assignment’s heading will also include the title, author, source, date and time of the story (MLA format).

These current news story written assignments must be maintained in a separate section of your Comparative Government Notebook. During the 8th week of each marking period, you will combine 12 current news story written assignments into a packet to be evaluated for completeness and understanding of the related topic. See directions on mrksapcompgov.

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Vocabulary

This course is rich in vocabulary that will be needed to become a competent comparativist. To help understand and be able to use these complex concepts effectively, students should create a vocabulary file in their computer, alphabetized with a definition and described examples from more than one country. This self-made glossary should be constantly revised and edited. The following is an entry example:

Religious fundamentalist – def. pious religious follower who believes in the “inerrancy” of their respective holy scriptures. These groups often militantly defend their “fundamental truths” against secularization.

Example – Fundamentalist Christians in Kansas gaining control over the State Board of Education and removing the requirement to teach evolution in biology or life science classes. Attempting to thus defend the absolute truth of the biblical creationism explanation of the development of life.

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