Loading test…

AP Comparative Government and Politics Full-length practice exam 2

55 questions

Header banner

Full-length practice exam 2

0 of 55 answered

~32 min left

Question 1

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 2

Iran's Guardian Council plays a role in the electoral system not found in the other five AP Comparative Government countries. Which of the following accurately describes this unique function?

A.It administers the vote-counting process and certifies the accuracy of election results after polling closesB.It vets all candidates for elected office (presidency, Majles, Assembly of Experts) and disqualifies those it deems insufficiently Islamic or politically reliableC.It draws district boundaries for Majles elections to ensure proportional representation of religious minoritiesD.It certifies the formation of new political parties and approves their platforms before they may participate in elections

Question 3

Demographic pressures — including rapid population growth and a youth bulge — are particularly acute in Nigeria. Which political consequence does this demographic profile most directly create?

A.Rapid population growth automatically accelerates democratization by increasing the number of voters demanding accountabilityB.A large youth population without sufficient economic opportunity creates conditions for political instability, recruitment into armed groups, and pressure on public servicesC.Nigeria's population decline due to emigration reduces pressure on the government to provide services, stabilizing governanceD.An aging population in Nigeria requires the government to shift resources from defense to pension systems, reducing military power

Question 4

Mexico's political system prior to the year 2000 is best described as an example of:

A.A military junta in which generals rotated the presidency among themselvesB.A dominant-party system in which the PRI controlled all major political offices through a combination of patronage, co-optation, and selective repressionC.A two-party competitive democracy in which PRI and PAN alternated in power following each electionD.A federal system in which state governors regularly overrode federal policies through nullification

Question 5

Which of the following comparisons between Iran's Guardian Council and the UK's Parliament most accurately reflects their respective roles in candidate vetting?

A.Both institutions screen candidates for office based on ideological criteria, but only Iran's Guardian Council has the legal authority to disqualify candidatesB.Iran's Guardian Council vets candidates against Islamic criteria and can disqualify them, while the UK Parliament plays no role in deciding who may stand for electionC.Both bodies serve as upper legislative chambers with powers of revision over lower housesD.The Guardian Council and the House of Lords perform equivalent functions as non-elected chambers that block legislation

In-content ad

Question 6

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

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

The following statement comes from a hypothetical survey of citizens across the six AP Comparative Government course countries: 'Citizens who trust their government to act in their interest, even without full transparency about its decisions, tend to be in countries where governments have recently delivered strong economic performance.'

Which country combination is this finding most likely describing?

A.Nigeria and Iran, both of which have achieved high economic growth rates and low corruption in the past decadeB.China, where decades of rapid economic growth have produced higher trust in central government despite limited transparencyC.Russia and Mexico, where government effectiveness has generated high citizen satisfaction across all demographicsD.The United Kingdom, where parliamentary transparency produces high trust even though growth has been slow since Brexit

Question 9

Russia's political culture under Putin has been characterized by scholars as exhibiting 'statist' tendencies — a cultural disposition to view strong central state authority as natural and legitimate. Which historical pattern best explains this disposition?

A.Russia's democratic traditions under the Romanov dynasty created a civic culture that was then disrupted by Soviet totalitarianismB.Centuries of autocratic rule under czarism, followed by Soviet totalitarianism, socialized Russians toward accepting strong central authority as normalC.Russia's geographic position as a landlocked country prevented exposure to liberal democratic ideas from Western EuropeD.The trauma of the 1917 Revolution created a permanent preference for stability and democracy that Putin has exploited through propaganda

Question 10

The United Kingdom's two-party dominance (Conservatives and Labour) at the national level coexists with significant third-party competition in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Which statement best explains this pattern?

A.FPTP tends to produce two-party competition in any given constituency, and nationally two parties dominate — but regional parties like the SNP concentrate their votes geographically and thus win seatsB.The UK uses proportional representation in Scotland and Wales, explaining why the SNP and Plaid Cymru win more seats thereC.Devolution has made Scottish and Welsh constituencies legally separate from the UK Parliament, allowing different parties to compete for those seatsD.Conservative and Labour parties are legally prohibited from standing candidates in Scottish constituencies following the 1997 devolution agreement

In-content ad

Question 11

Russia's State Duma is formally the lower house of the Federal Assembly, but its actual political power is best described as:

A.Highly independent, regularly rejecting presidential legislative proposals and directing budget prioritiesB.Subordinate to the president; United Russia's supermajority ensures Kremlin proposals pass with minimal independent scrutinyC.The most powerful branch of government, with authority to override presidential vetoes by a simple majorityD.A purely ceremonial institution with no legislative functions, replaced in practice by presidential decree

Question 12

Mexico's Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE) — formerly the IFE — was created in 1990 as an independent body. What was its primary purpose?

A.To enforce campaign finance laws and limit how much money corporations could donate to the PRIB.To administer elections independently of the government, depoliticizing electoral management and making vote counts credibleC.To register new political parties and set their ideological platforms before each election cycleD.To coordinate with the army to suppress post-election protests and ensure peaceful transitions of power

Question 13

A researcher notes that in China, the Chinese Communist Party controls the state bureaucracy, military, courts, and major media organizations, while the government (the State Council) formally implements policies decided by party bodies. This arrangement is best described as:

A.Theocracy, because the party functions as a quasi-religious institution enforcing an official ideologyB.Party-state fusion, in which the ruling party's organizational hierarchy parallels and supersedes formal government institutionsC.Parliamentary supremacy, because the National People's Congress formally enacts all major lawsD.Military rule, because the People's Liberation Army ultimately controls both the party and the government

Question 14

In a proportional representation system, which of the following outcomes is most likely compared to a first-past-the-post system?

A.Single-party majority governments are more common, producing stable cabinets that serve full termsB.Smaller parties win a share of seats proportional to their vote totals, leading to multi-party legislatures and coalition governmentsC.Voter turnout is dramatically lower because voters see their votes as wasted if their preferred party does not winD.Geographic representation improves because candidates must win specific local constituencies to enter the legislature

Question 15

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

In-content ad

Question 16

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 17

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 18

Which of the following best describes a dominant-party system?

A.A system in which only one political party is legally permitted to existB.A system in which multiple parties compete but one party wins virtually all elections over an extended periodC.A system in which two major parties alternate in power after each electionD.A system in which parties are banned and elections are conducted among independent candidates only

Question 19

In the United Kingdom, which social cleavage has historically generated the most politically significant divisions in voting behavior and party alignment?

A.Religious affiliation, with Catholics voting Conservative and Protestants voting Labour in predictable patternsB.Class and socioeconomic status, with working-class voters historically favoring Labour and middle/upper-class voters favoring ConservativesC.Ethnicity, with non-white voters favoring Conservatives and white voters splitting between Labour and ConservativesD.Region, with London voting Scottish National Party and Scotland voting Conservative in consistent patterns

Question 20

Mexico's Zapatista uprising of 1994 is best analyzed through which lens of political participation theory?

A.Elite theory — a narrow economic elite initiated the uprising to oppose NAFTA's threat to their agricultural land holdingsB.Social movement theory — an excluded social group used non-electoral collective action to challenge a dominant political order that had systematically denied them representationC.Rational choice institutionalism — indigenous farmers calculated that armed rebellion would produce greater NAFTA renegotiation gains than lobbying CongressD.Pluralist theory — the Zapatistas were one of many competing interest groups that shaped PRI government policy through normal political channels

In-content ad

Question 21

The UK's 'Brexit' referendum (2016), in which a majority voted to leave the European Union, illustrates which challenge to established theories of globalization and political development?

A.Brexit shows that highly developed democracies inevitably reject globalization as citizens prioritize economic security over international integrationB.Brexit demonstrates that globalization can generate domestic backlash even in wealthy democracies, driven by economic inequality, cultural anxiety, and anti-establishment politicsC.Brexit proves that parliamentary sovereignty is incompatible with membership in international organizations, and the UK's system uniquely forced an exit no other democracy would faceD.Brexit was primarily a foreign policy elite decision that did not reflect popular opinion, illustrating the gap between democratic theory and elite decision-making

Question 22

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 23

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 24

The following passage is adapted from a political science textbook:

*'Regime legitimacy rarely depends on a single source. Governments that were founded through revolution often cultivate a revolutionary legitimacy narrative that fades over generations, requiring them to shift toward performance-based or nationalist legitimacy as ideological fervor declines.'

Which country in the AP Comparative Government course most clearly illustrates this transition?

A.The United Kingdom, which transitioned from monarchical to parliamentary legitimacy over several centuriesB.China, where CCP legitimacy shifted from Maoist revolutionary ideology toward economic performance and nationalist pride as the reform era progressedC.Nigeria, where civilian governments replaced military regimes and gained legitimacy through democratic electionsD.Mexico, where PRI legitimacy derived from free and fair elections from the party's founding in 1929 onward

Question 25

The 'rentier state' concept holds that governments that derive most revenue from resource exports rather than taxation of citizens have weaker incentives to be accountable to those citizens. Which of the following best illustrates this argument applied to Iran?

A.Iran's high income tax rates create strong citizen expectations of services and responsive governanceB.The Iranian government uses oil revenues to fund subsidies and patronage that reduce citizen pressure for democratic accountabilityC.Iran's dependence on oil exports forces the government to maintain good relations with Western democracies to sell petroleumD.Oil revenues flow directly to citizens through a universal dividend, creating a direct economic stake in resource management

In-content ad

Question 26

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 27

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 28

China's political system is a single-party state rather than a dominant-party system. Which of the following best explains the significance of this distinction for electoral participation?

A.In a dominant-party system, voters face a binary choice; in a single-party system, voters have no choice, so China's system produces lower electoral participation than countries like Mexico during PRI ruleB.In a single-party system like China's, meaningful electoral participation is structurally impossible at the national level because candidates must be CCP-vetted and approved — whereas dominant-party systems at least allow genuine opposition parties to exist and occasionally winC.China's single-party system produces higher voter turnout than dominant-party systems because citizens are proud to vote for a party with a proven governance record and face social pressure to participateD.The distinction is primarily theoretical — both dominant-party and single-party systems produce the same political outcomes because the dominant party and the single party each always win

Question 29

Which of the following best illustrates the concept of a 'failed state'?

A.A government that loses an election and peacefully transfers power to the oppositionB.A government that cannot provide basic security, collect taxes, or deliver essential services across its territoryC.A government that imposes martial law to suppress a political protest movementD.A government that relies on foreign aid to fund a majority of its national budget

Question 30

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

In-content ad

Question 31

A political system in which a single party controls all branches of government, suppresses political opposition, and monopolizes state media is best classified as:

A.A liberal democracyB.An authoritarian regimeC.A federal republicD.A parliamentary system

Question 32

In Nigeria, the concept of 'political ethnicity' — the tendency for citizens to vote primarily along ethnic rather than programmatic lines — is best explained by:

A.The absence of economic inequality in Nigeria, which means ethnicity is the only remaining basis for political competitionB.A history of colonial group-making and post-independence clientelism that tied resource distribution to ethnic group membershipC.A constitutional requirement that parties represent only one ethnic group in each regionD.The strength of Nigeria's civil society organizations, which organized along ethnic lines to lobby for group interests

Question 33

The United Kingdom is best described as a unitary state rather than a federal state primarily because:

A.Parliament can theoretically alter or abolish devolved assemblies in Scotland, Wales, and Northern IrelandB.The UK has no written constitution separating powers between levels of governmentC.The UK's four nations — England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland — have no self-governing institutionsD.The monarchy holds supreme power over all sub-national governments

Question 34

A comparative politics scholar argues: 'The most significant impediment to Nigeria's democratization and economic development is not poverty, corruption, or ethnic conflict per se — it is the specific institution of petroleum-based rentier governance, which creates the conditions that reproduce all three.'

Which evidence best supports this argument?

A.Nigeria's poverty rate has increased since oil extraction began, while other non-oil African countries at similar starting points have grown faster, suggesting oil drives the problemB.Nigerian politicians compete primarily to control oil revenue distribution rather than to build productive economic capacity or provide public goods, creating a political economy that incentivizes corruption and ethnic clientelism while discouraging accountabilityC.Nigeria's ethnic diversity is itself caused by oil wealth, which attracted immigration that fragmented a previously homogeneous countryD.Oil revenues have funded universal education in Nigeria, which should have produced democratic consolidation — their failure to do so proves that education, not oil, is the real obstacle

Question 35

In comparing interest group activity across the course countries, which statement best reflects the difference between pluralist and corporatist models of interest group organization?

A.Pluralism involves many competing independent groups lobbying freely; corporatism involves the state officially recognizing a limited number of peak associations and giving them a formal role in policymakingB.Corporatism bans all interest groups to prevent their corrupting influence; pluralism allows any group to register with the governmentC.Pluralism gives business interests exclusive access to government, while corporatism balances business and labor equally through regulated negotiationsD.Both pluralism and corporatism prohibit groups from making campaign donations, differing only in how often they can meet with government officials

In-content ad

Question 36

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 37

The concept of the 'state' in comparative politics differs from the concept of the 'nation' in that:

A.A state is a legal-political entity with a defined territory and sovereign government, while a nation is a group united by shared identity, culture, or historyB.A state requires a homogeneous ethnic population to maintain internal cohesion, while a nation can be multiethnicC.A nation is always coterminous with state borders, while a state may govern multiple national groupsD.A state is a temporary political arrangement while a nation is a permanent cultural institution

Question 38

The table below shows key features of executive systems in three AP Comparative Government course countries.

Country	How executive is chosen	Can legislature remove executive?	Executive term length
UK	Leader of majority party in Commons	Yes, via vote of no confidence	No fixed term
Mexico	Direct popular election	No (impeachment only)	6 years, no reelection
Russia	Direct popular election	Very limited	6 years

Based on the table, which conclusion is best supported?

A.The UK Prime Minister has the most stable tenure of the three because parliamentary systems always produce longer-serving executives than presidential onesB.Mexico and Russia share the feature of direct popular election but differ significantly in the legislature's practical ability to check the executiveC.All three executives are directly accountable to their legislatures through formal confidence mechanismsD.Russia's executive is most constrained because it has the longest term limit, giving the legislature more time to accumulate opposition to presidential policies

Question 39

A political scientist comparing Mexico and Russia in 2010 notes: 'Both countries feature dominant parties that have used state resources, media control, and selective repression to maintain power. Yet they are heading in opposite directions.' Which observation best supports the claim of opposite trajectories?

A.Mexico's PRI was experiencing democratic consolidation after losing the 2000 election, while Russia's United Russia was deepening authoritarian control following electoral reforms that benefited the KremlinB.Mexico was implementing privatization while Russia was nationalizing industry, showing different economic paths but similar political trajectories toward democracyC.Mexico was building a stronger military to counter drug cartels, while Russia was demilitarizing following NATO expansion agreementsD.Both Mexico and Russia were strengthening their dominant parties through federalism, giving state governors veto power over federal election results

Question 40

Globalization has created both opportunities and vulnerabilities for developing countries. Which statement best describes the impact of globalization on Nigeria's political economy?

A.Globalization has primarily benefited Nigeria by diversifying its economy away from oil dependence through global manufacturing integrationB.Nigeria's oil-export economy makes it highly vulnerable to global commodity price cycles, while oil wealth has fueled corruption and undermined governance qualityC.Globalization has had minimal impact on Nigeria because it exports primarily agricultural products not traded on global commodity exchangesD.Foreign direct investment has replaced oil revenues as Nigeria's primary source of government funding, reducing the 'resource curse'

In-content ad

Question 41

Nigeria's Federal Character Commission is responsible for ensuring that federal appointments reflect the country's ethnic and regional diversity. This institution reflects which broader principle of Nigerian governance?

A.Consociationalism — the deliberate sharing of executive power among leaders of all major ethnic segmentsB.The Federal Character Principle — a constitutional requirement that national institutions reflect Nigeria's ethnic and regional diversity to prevent domination by any groupC.Proportional representation — allocating legislative seats according to each group's population shareD.Affirmative action — temporary measures to correct historical disadvantages faced by previously excluded groups

Question 42

Nigeria's bicameral National Assembly consists of a 360-seat House of Representatives and a 109-seat Senate. How does Nigeria's legislature compare structurally to the UK's Parliament?

A.Both are bicameral with elected lower houses, but Nigeria's Senate is directly elected while the UK's House of Lords is mostly appointedB.Both are unicameral — the UK's House of Lords is not a real legislative chamber because it cannot block bills passed by the CommonsC.Nigeria's Senate is appointed by the president, while the UK's Lords are elected by regional assembliesD.Both legislatures can remove the head of government through a vote of no confidence by either chamber

Question 43

Which of the following best represents an example of 'informal' political participation that falls outside formal electoral channels?

A.Mexican citizens voting in the 2024 presidential electionB.Nigerian women forming market associations that lobby local government officials for infrastructure improvementsC.UK citizens registering as party members to vote in Conservative or Labour leadership contestsD.Russian citizens submitting petitions through the official government petition platform

Question 44

The 'authoritarian resilience' literature explains why authoritarian regimes have survived despite predictions that globalization and economic development would push them toward democratization. Which Chinese Communist Party strategy best illustrates authoritarian resilience?

A.The CCP has maintained power by isolating China completely from the global economy, preventing exposure to democratic ideasB.The CCP has combined economic liberalization and integration with political controls — using prosperity to build legitimacy while suppressing organized opposition through censorship and surveillanceC.The CCP has gradually expanded competitive elections at all government levels to build democratic legitimacy, making its rule stable through popular consentD.China's authoritarian resilience stems from its geographic isolation — landlocked borders prevent foreign democratic influences from reaching Chinese citizens

Question 45

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

In-content ad

Question 46

The UK Supreme Court, created by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, differs most fundamentally from the US Supreme Court in that the UK Supreme Court:

A.Cannot strike down Acts of Parliament as unconstitutional because parliamentary sovereignty means Parliament is supremeB.Has a larger membership (twenty-five justices) to reflect the UK's multi-nation compositionC.Is controlled by the party in government, which appoints all justices without confirmation proceedingsD.Reviews all legislation before it is enacted, operating as a pre-enactment constitutional check

Question 47

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

Question 48

Russia's political system under Vladimir Putin is best classified by scholars as:

A.A totalitarian state in which the government controls every aspect of public and private lifeB.A competitive authoritarian or electoral authoritarian system in which elections are held but systematically manipulatedC.A parliamentary democracy in which the State Duma controls executive power through a vote of confidenceD.A federal democracy in which regional governors effectively check the power of the central government

Question 49

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 50

Nigeria's All Progressives Congress (APC) and People's Democratic Party (PDP) represent a predominantly two-party competition at the national level, despite the existence of dozens of registered parties. Which explanation best accounts for this pattern?

A.Nigeria's FPTP electoral system and the requirement that winning presidential candidates receive 25% of votes in at least two-thirds of states incentivize coalition-building into two large partiesB.Nigeria's constitution prohibits parties with fewer than 50 seats in the National Assembly from participating in presidential electionsC.Nigerian voters are culturally disposed to two-party politics as a legacy of British colonial administration that established exactly two political parties at independenceD.INEC (Nigeria's electoral commission) legally certifies only two parties per election cycle to simplify administration

In-content ad

Question 51

Civil society refers to organizations and associations that exist between the family and the state — including NGOs, religious groups, professional associations, and independent media. In which of the six AP Comparative Government course countries is civil society most severely constrained?

A.United KingdomB.ChinaC.MexicoD.Nigeria

Question 52

A political scientist argues: 'Iran's Assembly of Experts is the institution that most clearly reveals the paradox at the heart of the Islamic Republic — it appears to be a democratic check on clerical power but in practice reinforces it.'

Which of the following best supports this argument?

A.The Assembly of Experts is directly elected by voters but its candidates are vetted by the Guardian Council, which the Supreme Leader controls, producing a body unlikely to challenge the Supreme Leader who appointed the Council that screened themB.The Assembly of Experts is appointed entirely by the Supreme Leader and has never been subject to popular electionsC.The Assembly of Experts can dissolve the Majles (parliament) but has never exercised this power, making it a largely dormant institutionD.The Supreme Leader appoints all 88 members of the Assembly of Experts directly, bypassing any election

Question 53

In a parliamentary system, the term 'fusion of powers' refers to the fact that:

A.The courts hold both executive and legislative powers in cases involving constitutional questionsB.Executive leaders (Prime Minister and Cabinet) are drawn from and remain accountable to the legislatureC.A single constitution fuses the laws of multiple previously separate nations into one legal systemD.The head of state and head of government are the same individual, as in a presidential system

Question 54

Mexico's NAFTA membership (1994-2020) and replacement by the USMCA (2020) represent the deepest trade integration of any course country. Which of the following best describes NAFTA/USMCA's political impact on Mexico?

A.NAFTA strengthened Mexico's indigenous communities by guaranteeing them trade preferences for craft exportsB.NAFTA accelerated economic liberalization and exposed Mexico to external legal norms, contributing to both industrial development and inequality while creating pressure for democratic governanceC.NAFTA gave the United States formal authority to veto Mexican legislation that conflicted with trade rules, undermining Mexican sovereigntyD.NAFTA eliminated Mexico's agricultural sector entirely by flooding the market with cheap US corn, causing a rural exodus but no political consequences

Question 55

Social movements differ from interest groups primarily in that social movements:

A.Are formally registered organizations with paid staff who lobby government on behalf of dues-paying membersB.Rely on sustained collective action outside formal institutional channels, often seeking broad social or political transformation rather than specific policy changesC.Are limited to countries with proportional representation electoral systems that give small parties a pathway to representationD.Must achieve formal legal recognition from the government before they can take political action

AP Comparative Government and Politics Full-length practice exam 2 — Free with Answer Explanations | Test Practice Hub