AP Comparative Government
Topics for Final Exam
1. Legitimacy:
a. Sources of political legitimacy
b. How does each contribute to government’s legitimacy?
c. What source of political legitimacy do you see in:
i. China
ii. Russia
iii. Mexico
iv. Iran
2. Censorship
a. Discuss censorship in each of the six countries
b. Affects on social groups/people
c. Political cartoons
3. Mexico:
a. Discuss economic problems in Mexico (give three examples)
b. For the three examples you listed in (a) what was the policy reaction of the
government to the problem
4. Russia
a.
b.
c.
d.
Shock Therapy: explain how and when used
Coup d’etat attempt in 1991: impact on the Russian political system
Social Cleavages in modern day Russia (give two examples)
For each example in (c) what was its impact on the Russian Political
System
5. China:
a. Defining characteristics of Confucianism and Maosim (give at least two)
and contrast each characteristic
b. “A new socialist countryside”: what is it and what societal issue does the
program address
c. Plenum: define and give a reason it is important to politics
d. Deng Xiaoping Theory v. Maosim
e. Two polices that the Chinese government has enacted that reflect Deng
Xiaoping Theory
6. Patron –Clientelism
a. Define
b. How did it exists in China, Russia, and Mexico
c. Explain one common political result of patron-clientelism in all three
countries