Must-know sheet

Comparative Government must-know sheet

The key concepts, institutions and country facts for AP Comparative Government and Politics, with the recent changes first. The real exam gives you no reference sheet, so you need these definitions and country examples for the UK, Mexico, Russia, Iran, China and Nigeria in your head. Facts are current as of October 2026.

Recent changes to know (as of October 2026)

Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Iran: new Supreme Leader (March 2026): Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader since 1989, was killed on 28 February 2026 in the first U.S. and Israeli strikes of a war with Iran. The Assembly of Experts chose his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, announced 9 March 2026: the first change of Supreme Leader since 1989. A June 2026 ceasefire memorandum broke down in July and fighting resumed, so the war was still unsettled in early October 2026. Recheck Iran facts before the exam.
UK: no hereditary peers in the House of Lords (April 2026): The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 got Royal Assent on 18 March 2026, and the hereditary peers left at the end of April 2026. The Lords is now appointed life peers plus 26 Church of England bishops who sit because of their office.
UK: new prime minister without a general election (July 2026): Keir Starmer resigned as Labour leader, Labour chose Andy Burnham unopposed on 17 July 2026, and he became prime minister on 20 July 2026 with no general election. He first won a Commons seat in a June 2026 by-election, since by convention the PM sits in the Commons. It shows how a parliamentary executive changes between elections: the PM is whoever leads the party with the Commons' support.
UK: votes at 16 bill (not yet law, October 2026): The Representation of the People Bill would let 16- and 17-year-olds vote in UK general elections. It passed the Commons and had its Lords second reading on 14 September 2026, so the general-election voting age is still 18 until it becomes law. 16-year-olds already vote in Scottish Parliament and Senedd elections.
Wales: new proportional system (May 2026): The Senedd election on 7 May 2026 was the first under closed-list proportional representation: 96 members from 16 six-member constituencies, up from 60 members under the old mixed system. Plaid Cymru won the most seats (43 of 96) and formed the Welsh Government.
Mexico: judges are now elected (2024 reform): A 2024 constitutional reform made federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, win office by popular vote. The Supreme Court went from 11 to 9 justices on 12-year terms. The first judicial election on 1 June 2025 drew about 13% turnout, and the new court was seated on 1 September 2025.
Mexico: no consecutive reelection from 2030 (2025 reform): A constitutional amendment published on 1 April 2025 ends consecutive reelection for legislators, mayors and other local offices, and bars close relatives from immediately succeeding an officeholder. Both rules apply from the 2030 elections; until then, legislators and mayors can still serve consecutive terms under the 2014 reform. The president could never be reelected.
Mexico: mixed system for deputies unchanged (March 2026): A proposed constitutional amendment that would have changed how the 200 proportional-representation deputies are chosen failed in the Chamber of Deputies on 11 March 2026, short of the two-thirds it needed. The Chamber still has 300 district seats and 200 PR seats; a narrower reform passed in April 2026 left the PR seats alone.
Mexico: Pemex and CFE back at the center (2024–25): An October 2024 constitutional reform and March 2025 laws made the state oil company Pemex and the electricity company CFE 'state public companies' with priority over private firms, rolling back part of the 2013 opening to private investment.
Russia: State Duma election (18–20 September 2026): The Duma was elected under the mixed system: 225 seats by party list with a 5% threshold and 225 in single-member districts. United Russia won 349 of the 450 seats, keeping its dominant-party position.
Nigeria: Electoral Act 2026 and an early presidential vote: The Electoral Act 2026, signed 18 February 2026, led INEC to set the presidential and National Assembly elections for 16 January 2027 and governorship elections for 6 February 2027. Check the result after the vote. The rule that the winner needs at least 25% in two-thirds of the states is unchanged.
ECOWAS: three members left (January 2025): Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, all under military governments, withdrew from ECOWAS in January 2025. It shows the limits of a regional organization's power over members that reject its rules.
USMCA: no extension at its first review (July 2026): At the first joint review on 1 July 2026, the three countries did not all agree to extend USMCA for another 16 years. It stays in force, but now has yearly reviews and would end in 2036 unless the three governments extend it.
Older changes you'll still see on the exam: China ended presidential term limits in 2018. Russia's 2020 amendments reset the sitting president's term count. The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020. USMCA replaced NAFTA in July 2020. China has allowed three children per family since 2021. Nigeria ended its fuel subsidy in 2023.

Comparing countries with data

Unit 1

Empirical vs normative statements: An empirical statement describes what is and can be checked with evidence ('Turnout fell in 2024'). A normative statement says what should be ('Turnout should be higher'). Free-response data questions want empirical descriptions first.
Correlation vs causation: Two things that rise and fall together are correlated, but that alone doesn't prove one causes the other. A third factor may cause both, or the cause may run the other way.
GDP, GDP per capita and GDP growth rate: GDP is the total value of goods and services a country produces in a year. GDP per capita divides it by population, so it compares living standards better. The growth rate is the percentage change from one year to the next.
Human Development Index (HDI): A UN score from 0 to 1 that combines life expectancy, years of schooling and income per person. Higher means more developed. It measures well-being more broadly than GDP alone.
Gini index (Gini coefficient): Measures income inequality, from 0 (everyone has the same income) to 1, or 100 on some scales (one person has everything). A higher Gini means more inequality.
Freedom House ratings: A U.S.-based group that rates political rights and civil liberties and labels countries Free, Partly Free or Not Free. Like any index, it reflects the choices of the people who built it.
Fragile States Index (once the Failed States Index): Rates how vulnerable a state is to collapse or conflict using pressures like security threats, group grievances, economic decline and loss of legitimacy. A higher score means more fragile.
Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency International): Rates how corrupt experts and businesspeople believe a country's public sector is, from 0 (very corrupt) to 100 (very clean). It measures perception, not proven corruption.
Reading any table or graph: Name the measure, the countries and the years. Describe a pattern or trend with real numbers, draw a conclusion tied to a course concept, and say one limit of the data (one year only, a perception survey, missing countries).

States, regimes and legitimacy

Unit 1

State: A political unit with a permanent population, defined territory, a government and sovereignty. Sovereignty means it has final authority inside its borders and is free from outside control.
Nation and nation-state: A nation is a group of people who share an identity, such as language, history or culture. A nation-state is a state whose people mostly share one national identity. Many states, like Nigeria, hold several nations.
Regime vs government: The regime is the lasting set of rules and institutions for how power is used (democracy, theocracy, one-party state). The government is the people in charge right now. Governments change often; regimes usually last much longer.
Democracy: A regime with free, fair and competitive elections, protected civil rights and liberties, the rule of law and an independent judiciary. A consolidated democracy is one where these are stable and accepted by everyone who matters.
Illiberal democracy and competitive authoritarian (hybrid) regimes: A hybrid of democracy and authoritarianism: elections are held and contested, but competition is limited and civil liberties, the press, the courts and transparency are weak. The course uses Russia as its example of a competitive authoritarian regime or illiberal democracy.
Authoritarian regime: Power rests with one leader, a party, the military or a small elite, with limited competition and rights. Tools include co-optation (bringing rivals in with jobs or benefits), patron-client ties, controlled media and repression.
Totalitarian regime: An extreme authoritarian regime that tries to control nearly every part of public and private life through ideology, a single party, mass surveillance and terror.
Theocracy: Religious law and religious leaders hold final authority. Iran's system is the course example: velayat-e faqih, or guardianship of the Islamic jurist.
Democratization: Movement toward democracy: competitive elections, more rights, independent courts and a stronger civil society. Mexico's 2000 election, when the PRI lost the presidency after 71 years, and Nigeria's 1999 return to civilian rule are course examples. Transitions can stall or backslide.
Power vs authority: Power is the ability to make others act. Authority is power that people accept as rightful.
Weber's three sources of legitimacy: Traditional (custom, like the British monarchy), charismatic (a leader's personal appeal) and rational-legal (laws and institutions, like elections and constitutions).
Other sources of legitimacy: Economic growth (performance legitimacy, central for China), nationalism, religion (Iran), elections and the rule of law. Corruption, poor performance and repression wear legitimacy down.
Transparency and accountability: A government is transparent when information about it and its decisions circulates openly; authoritarian regimes tend to prefer closed proceedings. Accountability means officials must answer for their actions to voters, the legislature, the courts or the press, and can be punished or removed. Both help limit corruption.
Unitary vs federal state: In a unitary state (UK, China, Iran) the central government holds most power and can grant or take back power from regions. In a federal state (Mexico, Nigeria, Russia) the constitution divides power between national and regional governments.
Devolution and decentralization: Devolution moves power from the center to regional governments, as the UK did for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 1998–99. A unitary Parliament can in law take devolved power back.
Political stability: A stable state keeps order, collects taxes and enforces laws across its territory. Threats include separatism, insurgency (northern Nigeria), cartel violence (Mexico), corruption and economic shocks.
Coup d'état and revolution: A coup is a sudden, often military, seizure of power by a small group, like Nigeria's coups from 1966 to 1993. A revolution is a broad, fast overthrow of the regime itself, like Iran in 1979 or China in 1949.

Institutions: the key ideas

Unit 2

Head of state vs head of government: The head of state represents the country (monarch, president). The head of government runs the government and policy (prime minister or president). In presidential systems one person is both.
Parliamentary system (UK): Voters elect the legislature, and the prime minister is the leader who has the support of the lower house. The executive stays in office only while it keeps that confidence, which fuses the executive and legislature.
Presidential system (Mexico, Nigeria): Voters elect the president separately from the legislature for a fixed term. Separation of powers adds checks but can cause gridlock when the president's party lacks a majority (divided government).
Semi-presidential system (Russia): An elected president shares executive power with a prime minister. In Russia the president is far stronger: he appoints the prime minister and sets the direction of policy.
Vote of no confidence: A vote in a parliament that can bring down the government. The last UK government brought down this way was in 1979.
Impeachment: A legal process for removing an executive or official for serious wrongdoing. Mexico, Nigeria and Russia have one; Iran's Majles can impeach the president and ministers.
Term limits: Caps on how long a leader can serve. They prevent rule for life and bring turnover, but can push out popular or effective leaders.
Bicameral vs unicameral: Two chambers (UK, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia) or one (Iran's Majles, China's National People's Congress). Upper chambers often represent regions or slow down bills.
Party discipline and the cabinet: In a parliamentary system members vote with their party, so a majority government usually passes its bills. The cabinet follows collective responsibility: ministers back the government publicly or resign.
Executive decrees: Orders with the force of law that an executive issues without the legislature. Russia's president uses them often.
Judicial review: A court's power to strike down laws or actions that break the constitution. Mexico, Nigeria and Russia have it on paper; the UK Supreme Court can't strike down Acts of Parliament; China has none.
Judicial independence: Courts can rule against the government without fear of punishment. It depends on how judges are chosen, how long they serve, how they can be removed and how much power the courts have.
Rule of law vs rule by law: Under the rule of law, rulers obey the same laws as everyone else. Under rule by law, the state uses law as a tool to keep control, as courts following the Communist Party do in China.

The six countries side by side

Units 1, 2, 4

Regime type: UK: parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy. Mexico: presidential democracy since its 2000 transition. Nigeria: presidential democracy under civilian rule since 1999. Freedom House's 2026 report rated both Mexico and Nigeria Partly Free. Russia: semi-presidential; the course calls it a competitive authoritarian regime or illiberal democracy. Iran: theocracy with elected institutions. China: one-party communist state.
Unitary or federal: Unitary: UK (with devolution), China, Iran. Federal: Mexico (31 states and Mexico City), Nigeria (36 states and the Federal Capital Territory), Russia (federal on paper, very centralized in practice).
Constitution: UK: uncodified (Acts of Parliament, common law, conventions). Mexico: 1917. Russia: 1993, amended 2020. Iran: 1979, amended 1989. China: 1982, amended 2018. Nigeria: 1999.
Top executive and term: UK PM: no term limit, serves while backed by the Commons. Mexico: one 6-year term. Nigeria: two 4-year terms. Russia: 6-year terms, two-term limit with the sitting president's count reset in 2020. Iran: Supreme Leader for life; president two consecutive 4-year terms. China: General Secretary and president, no term limits on either.
Legislature: UK: Commons (650, elected) and Lords (appointed). Mexico: Chamber of Deputies (500) and Senate (128). Nigeria: House of Representatives (360) and Senate (109). Russia: State Duma (450) and Federation Council. Iran: Majles (290, unicameral). China: National People's Congress (about 3,000, unicameral).
Electoral system (lower house): Single-member district plurality: UK, Nigeria. Mixed (district seats plus proportional list seats): Mexico, Russia. Iran: single- and multi-member districts, with runoffs. China: direct elections only for local people's congresses; higher levels are chosen indirectly.
Party system: UK: two dominant parties plus smaller parties that win seats. Mexico and Nigeria: multiparty. Russia: dominant party (United Russia). China: one party in control. Iran: loose factions, not formal parties.
Court power to strike down laws: Yes: Mexico (Supreme Court), Nigeria (Supreme Court), Russia (Constitutional Court, rarely against the president). Limited: UK (declarations of incompatibility only). Iran: the Guardian Council, not the courts, reviews laws. China: none.

United Kingdom

Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Constitution and sovereignty: Uncodified: built from Acts of Parliament, common law, conventions and key documents. Parliamentary sovereignty means Parliament can make or undo any law, and no court can overturn an Act.
Executive: The monarch is ceremonial head of state. The prime minister leads the party with a Commons majority, chooses the cabinet and answers to MPs at Prime Minister's Questions every week the Commons sits.
House of Commons: 650 MPs elected by single-member district plurality (first past the post). Elections at least every five years; the Dissolution and Calling of Elections Act 2022 restored the PM's power to call an early election.
House of Lords: Appointed life peers plus 26 Church of England bishops; no hereditary members since April 2026. Under the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949 it can delay most bills for about a year but can't block them.
Supreme Court (since 2009): Created by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 to separate the top court from the Lords. It can't strike down Acts of Parliament, but it can rule government actions unlawful and, under the Human Rights Act 1998, declare a law incompatible with rights.
Devolution: Since 1999 Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own legislatures. Northern Ireland's assembly is a power-sharing body set up by the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Scotland voted 55% to stay in the UK in its 2014 independence referendum.
Elections and votes: FPTP can give a large majority on a minority of the vote: in July 2024 Labour won 411 of 650 seats with about 34% of the vote. Devolved bodies use more proportional systems: Scotland mixed, Wales closed lists (from 2026), Northern Ireland single transferable vote.
Parties: Conservatives and Labour have long dominated, but the Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party, Reform UK, Greens, Plaid Cymru and Northern Ireland parties also win seats. Strict party discipline drives Commons votes.
Referendums: 1975 on staying in the European Community, 2011 on the voting system (rejected), 2014 on Scottish independence, 2016 on leaving the EU (about 52% Leave). The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020.
Cleavages and culture: Divisions by nation (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), social class, region, religion in Northern Ireland, and views on immigration and the EU. Political culture values tradition, gradual change and the rule of law.
Economy and social policy: A market economy with a tax-funded National Health Service (1948). Privatization in the 1980s sold many state companies, and interest groups compete openly in a pluralist system.

Mexico

Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Constitution and federalism: The 1917 constitution set up a federal republic of 31 states plus Mexico City. Power has long been concentrated in the national government and the president.
President: Directly elected by plurality for one 6-year term (the sexenio) with no reelection ever. Head of state and head of government. In June 2024 Mexico elected its first woman president, Claudia Sheinbaum of MORENA, for 2024–2030.
Congress: Chamber of Deputies: 500 members, 300 from single-member districts and 200 by proportional representation, 3-year terms. Senate: 128 members, 6-year terms: three per state (two to the top party, one to the runner-up) plus 32 by national lists.
Reelection rules: Legislators could not serve consecutive terms until a 2014 reform; a 2025 amendment ends consecutive reelection again starting in 2030. The president can never be reelected.
Courts: After the 2024 reform, judges are elected by popular vote, and the Supreme Court has 9 justices on 12-year terms. Supporters say voters now hold judges accountable; critics say it ties judges to parties.
Election bodies: The National Electoral Institute (INE, which replaced IFE in 2014) runs elections, and an electoral tribunal settles disputes. A 2019 amendment requires gender parity in candidacies and top posts.
Party history: The PRI and the parties it grew from held the presidency from 1929 to 2000 as a dominant party using corporatism and patronage. The PAN won in 2000, the PRI returned in 2012, and MORENA won in 2018 and 2024. The PRD lost its registration after 2024.
Corporatism to pluralism: Under the PRI, official groups for labor (CTM), farmers (CNC) and the popular sector channeled demands to the state. Since the 1990s independent groups and NGOs compete more openly.
Economy: Import substitution until the 1982 debt crisis, then liberalization: joined GATT in 1986 and NAFTA in 1994; USMCA replaced it in July 2020. Pemex was nationalized in 1938, opened to private firms in 2013 and put back at the center in 2024–25.
Social policy: Progresa, later Oportunidades and Prospera (1997–2019), was a conditional cash transfer paying poor families whose children attended school and got checkups. Later programs replaced it with direct payments.
Cleavages and stability: Divisions between indigenous and mestizo people, north and south, and rich and poor. The Zapatistas (EZLN) rose in Chiapas on 1 January 1994. Drug cartel violence has been a major challenge since the late 2000s; a 2024 amendment put the National Guard under the defense ministry.

Russia

Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Constitution and federalism: The 1993 constitution, approved by referendum, created a federal, semi-presidential republic. In practice power is centralized: presidential envoys oversee groups of regions called federal districts, and governors were appointed from 2004 to 2012 before elections returned with tight filters.
President: Elected by majority (runoff if needed) for 6-year terms, two-term limit. The 2020 amendments, approved in a national vote, reset the sitting president's term count. Appoints the prime minister, issues decrees and can dissolve the Duma in some cases.
Prime minister: Appointed by the president with the Duma's approval; if the Duma rejects the nominee three times, the president can dissolve it. The PM runs the government day to day.
Federal Assembly: State Duma: 450 members, 5-year terms, half by party list (5% threshold) and half in single-member districts. Federation Council: two members from each region, chosen by the region's executive and legislature rather than by voters, plus up to 30 presidential appointees since 2020.
Removing the president: Impeachment needs a two-thirds Duma vote to bring charges, rulings from the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court, then a two-thirds Federation Council vote to remove.
Courts: The Constitutional Court can strike down laws, but courts rarely rule against the president or major state interests.
Parties: United Russia is the dominant party. The 'systemic opposition' (such as the Communist Party and the LDPR) sits in the Duma and rarely challenges the president; the 'non-systemic opposition' is often kept off the ballot by registration rules.
Civil society and media: Laws on 'foreign agents' (2012, since expanded) and 'undesirable organizations' (2015) limit NGOs, and the state controls most national TV. Russia is often called competitive authoritarian: elections are held but competition is limited.
Economy: 1990s 'shock therapy' privatization created powerful oligarchs; the state later took back major energy firms (Yukos's assets went to state-owned Rosneft; Gazprom is state-controlled). A rentier state dependent on oil and gas, under Western sanctions since 2014 and much wider ones since 2022.
Cleavages: Ethnic Russians are about four-fifths of the population, with many minorities. Chechen separatism led to wars in 1994–96 and 1999–2009. Other divides: Moscow vs the regions, urban vs rural.

Iran

Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Regime and constitution: The 1979 revolution created an Islamic Republic based on velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the Islamic jurist). The constitution was amended in 1989, which abolished the prime minister's post. Iran is a unitary theocracy with elected institutions.
Supreme Leader: The highest authority, serving without a set term. Commands the armed forces, appoints the head of the judiciary, half of the Guardian Council and heads of state media. Chosen by the Assembly of Experts; Mojtaba Khamenei has held the post since March 2026.
Assembly of Experts: 88 clerics elected by voters for 8-year terms. Chooses the Supreme Leader and can, in theory, dismiss him.
Guardian Council: 12 members: 6 clerics appointed by the Supreme Leader and 6 jurists nominated by the judiciary head and approved by the Majles. Vets every candidate for president, Majles and Assembly of Experts, and can reject laws that conflict with Islam or the constitution.
Expediency Council: Appointed by the Supreme Leader. Settles disputes between the Majles and the Guardian Council and advises the Supreme Leader.
President: Elected by majority (runoff if needed) for 4-year terms, at most two in a row. Head of government, below the Supreme Leader. After the president died in a 2024 helicopter crash, a snap election was held within 50 days, as the constitution requires.
Majles: Unicameral parliament of 290 members elected for 4 years; 5 seats are reserved for recognized religious minorities (Armenian and Assyrian Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians). Can pass laws and impeach the president and ministers, subject to Guardian Council review.
Courts and security forces: Judges apply Islamic law under a judiciary head picked by the Supreme Leader, with Revolutionary Courts for political cases. The Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and its Basij militia protect the regime and hold big economic interests.
Parties and participation: No strong formal parties: loose factions of conservatives (principlists), reformists and pragmatists compete among vetted candidates. Women vote and sit in the Majles, but as of the 2024 election none had been approved to run for president.
Protest movements: The Green Movement after the disputed 2009 presidential election; economic protests in 2017–18 and 2019; and the 2022 'Woman, Life, Freedom' protests after Mahsa Amini died in morality police custody.
Economy and outside pressure: A rentier state dependent on oil, with large religious foundations (bonyads) and state firms. Sanctions eased under the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) and returned after the U.S. left it in 2018. War with the United States and Israel began on 28 February 2026 and was still unsettled in October 2026.
Cleavages: Shi'a majority with a Sunni minority and smaller religious minorities; Persians are the largest ethnic group, with Azeris, Kurds, Arabs and Baluchis. Other divides: religious vs secular, reformist vs conservative, urban vs rural.

China

Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Regime and constitution: The People's Republic was founded in 1949. The 1982 constitution, amended in 2018 to remove presidential term limits, describes a socialist state led by the Communist Party. Unitary, with autonomous regions for minorities and two special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau, 'one country, two systems').
Communist Party structure: National Party Congress every five years (the 20th was in October 2022), which names the Central Committee, which names the Politburo and its Standing Committee (currently 7), the real center of power. The General Secretary leads the party. Democratic centralism means debate inside, then strict obedience.
State structure: The General Secretary also serves as state president and chairs the Central Military Commission, which commands the People's Liberation Army. The premier heads the State Council, which runs the government.
National People's Congress: About 3,000 indirectly chosen deputies who meet for a short session each March; a Standing Committee acts between sessions. It formally passes laws and approves leaders, but follows party decisions.
Nomenklatura: The party's system of vetting and appointing people to all important posts in government, business and society.
Elections: Direct elections only for local people's congresses (county and township) and village committees; higher bodies are chosen indirectly. Candidates are vetted, and no opposition party may compete for power.
Courts: Courts follow the party (rule by law) and have no power to strike down laws. Party political-legal committees oversee judges and police.
Economic reform: After Mao's Great Leap Forward (1958–62) and Cultural Revolution (1966–76), Deng Xiaoping's reforms from 1978 brought markets in. Special economic zones opened from 1980 (Shenzhen), China joined the WTO in 2001, and state-owned enterprises still dominate key sectors.
Social policy and demographics: The hukou household registration system ties services to where you're registered. The one-child policy (1980) became two children in 2016 and three in 2021 as the population aged.
Civil society and media: Independent groups are tightly limited; the 1989 Tiananmen protests were crushed and Falun Gong was banned in 1999. The Great Firewall censors the internet. Hong Kong's 2020 National Security Law curbed protest after 2019.
Legitimacy: Rests mostly on economic growth, nationalism, stability and party ideology, plus anti-corruption campaigns since 2012.
Cleavages: Han Chinese are over 90%, with 55 recognized minorities, including Uyghurs in Xinjiang and Tibetans. Other divides: urban vs rural and coastal vs inland, including big income gaps.
Environment: Fast industrialization caused severe pollution. The state responded with air-pollution plans, a push for electric vehicles and solar power, and a pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2060.

Nigeria

Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

History: Independent from Britain in 1960 with a parliamentary system. Military coups began in 1966, the Biafran civil war ran 1967–70, and military rule lasted most of 1966–99. The 1999 constitution started the Fourth Republic with a U.S.-style presidential system.
Federalism: 36 states plus the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja), and 774 local government areas. The 'federal character' principle requires government posts to reflect the country's diversity, such as a minister from every state.
President: Elected for 4-year terms, two-term limit. To win in the first round, a candidate needs the most votes plus at least 25% in two-thirds of the states. Head of state and head of government; can be impeached by two-thirds of each house.
National Assembly: Senate: 109 members (three per state, one for Abuja). House of Representatives: 360 members. Both elected by single-member district plurality for 4-year terms.
Courts: The Supreme Court can strike down laws and has ruled on disputed elections. Twelve northern states have used Sharia courts for criminal cases since 1999–2000, alongside customary courts.
Elections and parties: INEC runs elections. In 2015 an opposition party (APC) defeated the ruling party (PDP) at the national level for the first time. The constitution bars parties whose name, symbol or membership is tied to one ethnic group or religion.
Cleavages: Over 250 ethnic groups; the largest are Hausa-Fulani (north), Yoruba (southwest) and Igbo (southeast). The north is mainly Muslim and the south mainly Christian. The oil-producing Niger Delta adds a resource cleavage.
Violence and stability: Boko Haram's insurgency in the northeast since 2009, banditry in the northwest, herder–farmer clashes and Biafra separatism in the southeast. Niger Delta groups such as MOSOP and MEND protested oil company and government actions.
Civil society: Active media, unions and religious groups. The 2020 #EndSARS protests targeted police abuse. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (2003) investigates corruption.
Economy: A rentier state: oil is most of export earnings and a big share of government revenue, which brings the resource curse and prebendalism (officials using public office to reward supporters). The fuel subsidy ended and the naira was floated in 2023.
Regional role: A leading member of ECOWAS, headquartered in Abuja.

Culture, participation and cleavages

Unit 3

Civil society: Voluntary groups outside government: religious groups, news media, unions, business groups, NGOs. A strong civil society can check government and help democratization; authoritarian regimes limit it with registration rules and surveillance.
Political culture and socialization: Shared attitudes about government and about order vs liberty. People learn them through political socialization: family, school, peers, religion, media and the state itself.
Political efficacy: A citizen's belief that they can understand and influence politics and that the government will respond. High efficacy tends to raise turnout and participation; low efficacy can lower turnout or push people toward protest.
Individualism: Puts personal freedom and limited government first.
Neoliberalism: Favors free markets, privatization, deregulation, free trade and a smaller state role in the economy.
Communism: Aims at a classless society with the state, led by a communist party, owning the means of production.
Socialism: Favors collective or state ownership of key industries and strong state action to reduce inequality, usually alongside elections.
Fascism: Extreme nationalism under one leader and party, with suppression of opposition and the state above the individual.
Populism: Claims to speak for ordinary people against a corrupt elite. It can appear on the left or right.
Post-materialism: Once basic needs are met, people care more about self-expression, quality of life and issues like the environment.
Forms of participation: Voting, joining parties and groups, protest and, when other options seem closed, violence. Participation can be voluntary or coerced (when the state pressures people to vote or rally).
Referendum and initiative: A referendum puts a single question to voters, often sent by the government (the UK's 2016 EU vote). An initiative lets citizens put a question on the ballot by petition.
Civil rights vs civil liberties: Civil rights protect equal treatment (against discrimination). Civil liberties protect freedoms from the government, like speech, religion, assembly and press.
Media control: Ranges from a free press (UK) to state control of most TV (Russia), revoking media licenses (Iran) and internet censorship (China's Great Firewall).
Cleavages: cross-cutting vs coinciding: Cleavages are divisions by ethnicity, religion, class or region. When they cross-cut, people share some identities across groups and conflict tends to be lower; when they coincide (for example region and religion together, as in Nigeria) conflict tends to be sharper.
Government responses to cleavages: Repression, autonomy or devolution, power-sharing, reserved seats, federalism, or policies like Nigeria's federal character principle.

Elections, parties and groups

Unit 4

Single-member district plurality (first past the post): Each district elects one member; the candidate with the most votes wins, even without a majority. Tends to produce two big parties and can exaggerate the winner's majority (Duverger's law).
Proportional representation (PR): Parties win seats in proportion to their vote share, usually from party lists. Tends to produce many parties and coalition governments. In closed lists the party sets the order of candidates.
Mixed system: Combines district seats and PR seats, as in Mexico's Chamber of Deputies and Russia's Duma.
Threshold: The minimum vote share a party needs to win PR seats (5% in Russia's Duma, 3% in Mexico). Higher thresholds keep small parties out.
Majority vs plurality and runoffs: Plurality means the most votes; a majority means more than half. Russia and Iran hold presidential runoffs if no one wins a majority; Mexico elects its president by plurality.
Candidate selection and vetting: Rules decide who can run: Iran's Guardian Council approves candidates, Russia's registration rules screen out parties and candidates, and Mexico requires gender parity on candidate lists.
Independent election commissions: Mexico's INE and Nigeria's INEC are meant to be independent of the ruling party to reduce fraud and build trust.
Party system types: One-party (China), dominant party (United Russia; the PRI in Mexico before 2000), two-party (traditionally the UK), multiparty (Mexico, Nigeria).
Roles of parties: Recruit candidates, run campaigns, combine interests into a program, organize government and link citizens to the state.
Social movement vs interest group: A social movement is a large, loose push for broad change (Iran's Green Movement, the Zapatistas). An interest group is an organization pursuing a specific interest or policy (unions, business groups).
Pluralism vs corporatism: Pluralism: many independent groups compete for influence (UK). Corporatism: the state recognizes a few official groups for labor, business and farmers, giving it more control (Mexico under the PRI, China's state-sanctioned groups).

Economy, globalization and development

Unit 5

Globalization: Growing links among countries through trade, investment, technology, migration and culture. It can bring growth but also limits a state's control over its own economy.
IMF, World Bank and WTO: The IMF lends to countries in financial crisis, the World Bank funds development, and the WTO sets and enforces trade rules. Their loans and rules have pushed many countries toward market reforms.
Structural adjustment: Conditions on IMF or World Bank loans, such as cutting spending and subsidies, privatizing and opening trade. Nigeria and Mexico went through it in the 1980s.
Import substitution industrialization (ISI): Protecting home industries with tariffs so the country makes goods it used to import. Mexico used it until the 1980s.
Economic liberalization: The state steps back: cutting tariffs and subsidies, privatizing state firms and welcoming foreign investment. Can raise growth but also inequality and unrest.
Privatization vs nationalization: Privatization sells state companies to private owners (UK 1980s, Russia 1990s). Nationalization brings companies under state ownership (Mexico's oil in 1938, Russia's energy firms in the 2000s).
Supranational organization: A body whose rules member states must follow, giving up some sovereignty, and which can press members to cut tariffs and open trade: the EU (the UK left in 2020), ECOWAS (Nigeria is a leading member) and the WTO.
Trade agreement (USMCA): USMCA, which replaced NAFTA in July 2020, links Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. It's an international agreement, not a supranational body: it sets trade rules but has no government of its own. After its July 2026 review it faces yearly reviews and would end in 2036 unless extended.
Multinational corporations (MNCs): Companies operating in many countries. They bring investment and jobs but can clash with national rules on labor, taxes and the environment.
Sanctions: Trade and financial penalties one country or group puts on another, as on Iran and Russia. They can weaken an economy and put pressure on governments.
Rentier state and resource curse: A rentier state gets much of its revenue from selling natural resources (Iran, Nigeria, Russia). The resource curse is the pattern of weak economic diversity, revenue that swings with world prices, corruption and inequality that often follows.
Social policies: Conditional cash transfers (Mexico), the UK's tax-funded NHS, pensions, gender quotas and education rules. Governments use them to improve lives and protect their legitimacy.
Austerity: Cutting state spending to reduce deficits or debt, often unpopular because it shrinks services.
Demographic change: Aging populations (UK, China, Russia) raise pension and health costs; rural-to-urban migration (China, Mexico, Nigeria) strains cities. China's birth policies and hukou are course examples.

Free-response: what each question wants

Units 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The exam: Section I: 55 multiple choice questions with 4 choices (A–D) in 60 minutes, 50% of your score. Section II: 4 free-response questions in 90 minutes, 50%. No calculator, no reference sheet.
Question 1: conceptual analysis (4 points, about 10 minutes): Four one-point parts (A–D): define or describe a concept, describe how it relates to another concept, then explain how it works or why it matters in political systems. No sources and no required country, so be precise and use general reasoning.
Question 2: quantitative analysis (5 points, about 20 minutes): Five one-point parts (A–E) on a table, graph or map: identify a data point, describe a trend or difference, describe a related course concept, draw a conclusion using the data and the concept, and explain what the data shows about politics. Quote real numbers from the source.
Question 3: comparative analysis (5 points, about 20 minutes): Define or describe the concept (1 point), describe it in each of two course countries you choose (2 points), then explain or compare how it works in those two countries (2 points). Name specific institutions, laws or events in each country.
Question 4: argument essay (5 points, about 40 minutes): Make a defensible claim with a line of reasoning using one or more of the course concepts listed in the prompt (1 point), give two pieces of specific evidence from one or more course countries tied to those concepts (2 points), explain why the evidence supports the claim (1 point), and respond to an opposing view with a refutation, concession or rebuttal (1 point).
Countries, not just ideas: The best evidence is specific: name the country, the institution and the detail (for example 'Iran's Guardian Council vets candidates'). Use only the six course countries where the question asks for them.
Dates on facts that change: Officeholders, election results and laws change. Say 'as of 2026' or name the year so your evidence is clearly accurate, and prefer how a system works over who holds the office.