1. Define political efficacy. Describe TWO characteristics of a political system that strengthen political efficacy.
• Political efficacy is a citizen’s belief that he or she can understand and influence government or political
affairs.
• Transparency in governance and policy making.
• Regular, free, fair, and competitive elections
• A citizen’s and group’s right to protest, to petition, to call for a referendum, and to recall officeholders.
• Access of citizens or groups to a free and independent media.
• Citizens’ right to organize and form interest groups.
• Party systems that enable participation and/or representation.
2. Define the term "regime" as used in comparative politics. Using Nigeria as an example, describe the difference between regime change and a change in government.
• A political system with a specific pattern of relationship (or characteristic) among the state, society, markets, and the world at large. (Basically how politics deals with people, society, and other nations)
• A regime change is a change in the pattern of government; an example of a regime change is the declaration of Nigerian independence and the end of British rule, or when Nigeria went from military-based authoritarian rule to a democratically elected president
• A change in government is a change in leadership/administration. A new administration, led by a new executive officer following a free and fair election, constitutes a change in government.
3. Identify a country from the AP Comparative Government and Politics course that exhibits procedural democracy but not substantive democracy. Explain your answer by contrasting the concepts "procedural democracy" and "substantive democracy."
• Russia, Iran, China, and Nigeria. (anyone of these will do)
• A procedural democracy is a democracy in which citizens have rights to democratic process, but these rights carry far less influence than in traditional, substantive democracies. Citizens have little real influence on policy legislation and execution, unlike citizens in substantive democracies.
• In substantive democracies, the electoral process gives all eligible citizens the opportunity to equal participation in truly fair, frequent, and competitive elections. In procedural democracies, elections may take place, but they are not necessarily fair, frequent, or competitive.
4. Explain a difference between a single-member-district electoral system and a proportional-representation electoral system. Describe two distinct changes made to Russia's electoral system effective in 2007.
• In a single-member-district electoral system, one person is elected from a district to represent that district’s constituents. This is different from a proportional representation electoral system that focuses on parties rather than on individual candidates; the percentage of the vote received by a party roughly corresponds to the percentage of that party’s seats in parliament.
• In the Duma, half single-member seats and half proportionalrepresentation seats became all proportional-representation seats. Legislation authorizing this change was adopted in 2005 and implemented in the 2007 parliamentary elections.
• The electoral threshold for a seat in the Duma was raised to 7 percent of the vote from 5 percent, effectively excluding minor parties.
5. Describe one similarity and describe one difference between the World Trade Organization and the European Union in their relationships to sovereign states.
• Both organizations are voluntary associations of sovereign states organized to solve collective action problems.
• Both organizations are committed to resolving and settling disputes among member states through negotiation and mediation.
• The EU is limited geographically to countries in Europe, but the WTO is open to any country in the world meeting certain criteria.
• The WTO is designed to supervise and liberalize international trade, while the EU is a single market governed by a system of laws that apply in all member states, guaranteeing the freedom of movement of people, goods, services, and capital.
<Conceptual Analysis>
6. Political legitimacy is a fundamental concept in comparative politics and is important for governments as well as citizens.
a. Define political legitimacy.
• Political legitimacy is the belief of citizens that the government has the right to rule/exercise authority.
b. Describe two ways in which political legitimacy can be achieved in a democratic state.
• Political legitimacy may be achieved in a democratic state by holding free and fair elections at regular intervals; voters feel they have real choices in elections.
• A free and independent media helps with political legitimacy in a democratic state by providing citizens with multiple and unbiased sources of information.
• There is rule of law with predictable regulations and consequences for citizens who do not follow those regulations.
c. Describe two ways of establishing political legitimacy in a communist state.
• Political legitimacy may be achieved in a communist state through effective resource allocation and economic and social equality.
• Political legitimacy may be achieved in a communist state by holding elections at regular intervals.
• Political legitimacy may be achieved in a democratic state through explicit rules written and agreed upon in a national document such as a constitution.
d. Explain how legitimacy impacts governmental effectiveness.
• Political legitimacy may help the government successfully implement its programs.
• Political legitimacy may give the creditibility from other states, thereby build better foreign relationship with other states.
<Country Context>
7. Presidential and parliamentary systems share both similarities and differences in the relationships between their executive branch and their legislature branch.
a. Identify and explain one way the relationship between the Mexican president and the Mexican president and the Mexican legislature is similar to the relationship between the British prime minister and the British parliament.
• In both systems it is the role of the legislature to enact legislation, or the role of legislature to get laws passed.
• In both systems the executive is the head of government so it is his or her job to carry out the laws the legislature has passed.
b. Identify and explain two ways the relationship between the Mexican president and the Mexican legislature and that of the British prime minister and the British parliament are different from each other.
• The possibility of divided government in the Mexican system means less cohesion between the executive and legislative branches.
• The Mexican president is both head of state and head of government, which means he or she can use symbolic authority to move public opinion to support him or her in a dispute with the legislature.
• The Mexican president has to contend with two houses, both of which are critical in passing legislation.
• The British parliament selects the prime minister, and this ties the two together much more closely than the Mexican president who is elected independently and so does not rely on the legislature for her or his position.
c. Explain one advantage of the relationships between branches in a parliamentary system and one advantage of the relationships between branches in a presidential system.
Parliamentary : There is greater efficiency in lawmaking because of the fusion of executive and legislative branches.
Presidential : There is greater deliberation in presidential systems because of the system of checks and balances. (More oversight)
8. Public policies differ immensely among the AP Comparative Government and Politics countries. Using Iran and China as case studies, complete the following tasks.
a. Describe the challenges facing the Iranian and Chinese governments concerning the environment.
Iran :
• Problems associated with being a rentier state; too much reliance on oil.
• Problems with developing nuclear energy (and not weapons).
China :
• Problems of extreme pollution (water, air).
• Need for more industrial resources (oil, wood, coal).• Use of cheap gas and diesel adds to pollution.
b. Identify and describe the role of two political policy makers that influence environmental policy in Iran.
• The Supreme Leader, the Iranian president, the Majlis, the Guardian Council.
• Executive: The Supreme Leader and president develop environmental policy at the executive level.
• Legislative: The Majlis and the Guardian Council adopt and approve environmental legislation.
c. Identify and describe the role of two political policy makers that influence environmental policy in China.
• Communist Party, the Politburo, the Standing Committee, interest groups and NGOs, or international organizations (UN, World Trade Organization [WTO]).
• Communist Party: The Communist Party, the Politburo, and the Standing Committee make all decisions regarding environmental policy. • International Groups: The UN and WTO try to enforce international norms on China.
d. Compare the effectiveness of the Iranian and Chinese governments in addressing environmental policies.
• Both China and Iran have not been very effective in dealing with urban air pollution.
• Both the Chinese and Iranian governments do not regulate emissions from cars very well. There is an unusually high amount of air pollution in Tehran and Beijing, and it is continually getting worse. • In both China and Iran, the quality of fossil fuels used by citizens is fairly low and damaging to the environment. • In both China and Iran, there is an emphasis on the economy over the environment.
