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AP Comparative Government and Politics Easy practice

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Question 1

China's 'special economic zones' (SEZs), established beginning in 1980, were designed primarily to:

A.Create military-industrial complexes that would manufacture weapons for the People's Liberation ArmyB.Attract foreign investment and test market-oriented economic policies without applying them to the whole countryC.Establish autonomous regions that would eventually become independent states under international lawD.Replace the planned economy nationwide by immediately converting all state enterprises to private ownership

Question 2

Economic liberalization refers to policies that reduce state intervention in the economy and expand the role of markets. Which of the following best represents economic liberalization?

A.A government nationalizing key industries to increase state control over economic outputB.A government privatizing state-owned enterprises, reducing tariffs, and removing price controlsC.A government imposing capital controls to prevent money from leaving the countryD.A government subsidizing domestic producers to insulate them from foreign competition

Question 3

Which of the following best describes the role of the judiciary in China compared to the United Kingdom?

A.China's courts are independent of the party and frequently rule against the government, while UK courts defer to Parliament on constitutional mattersB.China's courts are subordinate to the Communist Party and cannot meaningfully check executive power, while UK courts operate with significant independence under the rule of lawC.Both China and the UK have independent constitutional courts that can strike down government legislationD.The UK's House of Lords functions as China's Supreme People's Court does — as a final appellate body that also reviews legislation

Question 4

Political culture refers to the widely shared attitudes, beliefs, and values that shape how citizens relate to their political system. Which statement best describes the role of political culture in comparative politics?

A.Political culture is identical across countries that share the same regime typeB.Political culture shapes citizens' expectations of government and their willingness to participate in or accept the political systemC.Political culture is determined entirely by a country's economic development levelD.Political culture changes rapidly in response to individual election outcomes

Question 5

Mexico's presidential term is called the 'sexenio,' a six-year period defined by a constitutional prohibition on reelection. This provision was designed primarily to:

A.Align Mexico's electoral cycle with the six-year terms of state governors to simplify administrationB.Prevent the consolidation of personal power by a single leader, a reaction to the long Díaz dictatorshipC.Give the president enough time to implement a full economic development plan before handing power to a successorD.Satisfy a US requirement for term limits as a condition of NAFTA membership

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Question 6

Political legitimacy refers to the widely shared belief that a government's authority to rule is rightful. Which of the following scenarios represents a government relying primarily on performance legitimacy?

A.A government that bases its authority on a written constitution ratified by popular referendumB.A government that justifies its rule primarily by delivering economic growth, stability, and public servicesC.A government that derives authority from a royal dynasty's centuries-long tradition of ruleD.A government that holds free and fair elections and respects the results

Question 7

The Chinese government's promotion of 'Confucian values' — including social harmony, respect for authority, and collective welfare over individual rights — serves primarily to:

A.Undermine the authority of the Communist Party by reviving pre-revolutionary intellectual traditionsB.Reinforce political socialization toward deference to authority and collective harmony, supporting CCP governance claimsC.Establish the grounds for democratic reform by emphasizing civic responsibility and community participationD.Align China's political culture with liberal democratic norms promoted by international organizations

Question 8

Iran's executive branch is unusual among the six AP Comparative Government course countries because it includes:

A.A separately elected prime minister who controls domestic policy while the president handles foreign affairsB.A Supreme Leader (Rahbar) who holds ultimate authority over the president and all major state institutionsC.A military junta that must approve all presidential appointments before they take effectD.A constitutional monarchy in which a hereditary shah retains veto power over the elected government

Question 9

Which of the following best distinguishes 'subject' political culture from 'participant' political culture, as described in Almond and Verba's civic culture framework?

A.In a subject culture, citizens are aware of the political system and its outputs but see themselves as passive recipients; in a participant culture, citizens actively engage as political actorsB.Subject culture exists only in monarchies where citizens have no voting rights; participant culture exists only in republics with universal suffrageC.Subject culture describes citizens who follow foreign politics closely; participant culture describes citizens focused exclusively on domestic affairsD.Subject culture is found only in authoritarian regimes; participant culture is found only in liberal democracies

Question 10

Iran's political system is best described as a hybrid regime because it combines:

A.Military rule with a subordinate civilian parliament that approves the military's budgetB.Competitive elections for the presidency and parliament with unelected clerical authority that can override elected institutionsC.A constitutional monarchy in which a hereditary king shares power with an elected assemblyD.A fully pluralist democracy in which multiple parties compete freely without ideological restrictions

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Question 11

Under a first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system, the winner in each district is the candidate who receives the most votes, even without a majority. Which country among the AP Comparative Government course nations uses FPTP for its national legislative elections?

A.IranB.United KingdomC.RussiaD.Mexico

Question 12

In the Westminster parliamentary system used by the United Kingdom, what is the most important mechanism that ensures executive accountability to the legislature?

A.The Prime Minister is directly elected by the public in a separate nationwide voteB.The Prime Minister and Cabinet must maintain the confidence of the House of Commons or resignC.The House of Lords has the power to remove the Prime Minister through a vote of no confidenceD.The monarch appoints and can dismiss the Prime Minister independently of parliamentary support

Question 13

Iran's Green Movement (2009) and subsequent protest waves are best understood as evidence of:

A.A unified Iranian political culture that broadly rejects the Islamic Republic's theocratic structureB.A significant gap between official political culture (support for the Islamic Republic) and the attitudes of substantial portions of the educated urban populationC.The success of American democracy promotion programs in creating a pro-Western political culture among Iranian youthD.The Islamic Republic's consistent success in suppressing all meaningful civil society activity since 1979

Question 14

Russia's lower house (State Duma) is elected through a mixed electoral system. Which combination best describes this system?

A.Half the seats are filled by proportional representation (party lists) and half by single-member plurality districtsB.All 450 seats are filled by proportional representation from a single national party listC.Seats are allocated by a two-round runoff in which the top two candidates compete in every districtD.The Duma is appointed by regional legislatures in proportion to each region's population, not elected by citizens

Question 15

The National People's Congress (NPC) of China formally holds the highest legislative authority in the country, yet in practice it is best described as:

A.An independent legislature that routinely challenges and overrides decisions of the Chinese Communist PartyB.A rubber-stamp legislature that ratifies decisions already made by the Communist Party leadershipC.An upper house of a bicameral legislature, checking bills passed by a lower houseD.A judicial body that reviews legislation for consistency with the Chinese constitution

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