AP Comparative Government & Politics curriculum & tutors

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A comparative politics course using China, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, and the United Kingdom to study regimes, institutions, participation, parties, elections, citizen organizations, development, and change.

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AP Comparative Government and Politics

AP Comparative Government & Politics curriculum

A comparative politics course using China, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, and the United Kingdom to study regimes, institutions, participation, parties, elections, citizen organizations, development, and change.

Pacing
5 units, 18-28 weeks self-paced
Units
5 unit sequence
Practice
400 checked answers
Support
Self-paced or tutor-guided
Outcomes
  • Compare political concepts, institutions, processes, policies, and behavior across the six required course countries.
  • Analyze political data and text sources for patterns, differences, causes, and limits.
  • Write AP-ready conceptual, quantitative, comparative, and argument responses with country-specific evidence.

Unit sequence

Built for independent progress first, then tutor support where the student gets stuck.

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  1. 01

    Political systems, regimes, and governments

    • Use state, nation, regime, government, legitimacy, authority, democracy, authoritarianism, and stability.
    • Apply comparative methods and political data.

    Practice: Build a six-country regime comparison and write one evidence-based claim about legitimacy or stability.

  2. 02

    Political institutions

    • Compare parliamentary, presidential, and semi-presidential systems plus executives, legislatures, judiciaries, and bureaucracies.
    • Trace formal and informal power.

    Practice: Compare executive-legislative relations in two course countries and explain one consequence for accountability.

  3. 03

    Political culture and participation

    • Explain political socialization, ideology, civil rights, civil liberties, cleavages, participation, protest, and state response.
    • Use country evidence without stereotypes.

    Practice: Analyze participation data and compare how one social cleavage shapes politics in two countries.

  4. 04

    Party and electoral systems and citizen organizations

    • Compare electoral rules, party systems, interest groups, social movements, and civil society.
    • Connect rules to representation and competition.

    Practice: Explain how one electoral-system difference changes party strategy or representation in two course countries.

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