Glossary A: Frequently Seen Terms

The following terms are those most frequently relevant on the AP Comparative Government and Politics exam.

• All Progressives Congress (APC) a party formed as an alliance of opposition parties leading into the 2015 presidential election; now the party in power in Nigeria
• Assembly of Religious Experts an elected body of senior clerics who are empowered to review the performance of the Supreme Leader and to remove or choose a replacement for him
• Authoritarian regime a regime that concentrates power in an authority that is not responsible or accountable to the public
• Azeri the largest minority ethnic group in Iran
• Charismatic legitimacy a situation wherein people believe the state has the right to rule because of the trust in or popularity of a particular political leader
• Chinese Communist Party (CCP) the ruling party of China since 1949; it established the People’s Republic of China and a one-party system
• Civil society non-governmental groups, such as clubs, religious organizations, charitable groups, and interest groups, formed by citizens to express a particular interest
• Cleavages divisions among people in a society causing conflicts over control of government and policymaking
• Coalition government in parliamentary systems, a situation where multiple parties partner to construct a majority and form a government
• Coercion the use of force or the threat of force to compel others to take actions they would not otherwise choose
• Conservative (Iran) a member of a political faction that opposes modernization and secularization and seeks to preserve the theocracy of the Islamic Republic
• Conservative (Tory) Party Britain’s center-right party; one of the main competitors for power in Britain’s two-party system
• Constituency a geographic area represented by a member in the legislature
• Constitution a body of fundamental laws, principles, and established preferences that a state acknowledges it is governed under
• Constitutionalism commitment to the rule of law and the principles expressed in a constitution
• Constitution of 1917 Mexico’s governing document, establishing a federal system with a supreme national executive, legislature, and judiciary
• Corruption the abuse or misuse of official authority for personal or private gain
• Coup d’état (coup) the seizure of control of the state apparatus by the military
• Democracy a system of government by the whole population
• Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) founded as a left-wing opposition party against the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI); currently one of a few major parties competing for power in Mexico
• Democratization the process of consolidating and institutionalizing processes that make a regime more subject to be accountable to the public
• Devolution the transfer of political power down from a central or national level of government to a local or regional level
• Divided government a condition in a presidential system wherein the executive branch is controlled by one party and the legislative branch is controlled by an opposing party
• Dominant-party system a party system in which one party consistently controls the government, though other parties may also exist and run
• Duma the lower and more powerful house of Russia’s legislature, representing the people of Russia based on population
• Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) a supranational organization of fifteen West African countries, including Nigeria, that have agreed to free trade and economic integration
• Empirical statements factual claims that are based on demonstrable evidence alone
• Ethnicity a sense of belonging to a social group with a common cultural tradition
• European Union the political and economic union of more than a dozen European member states, all of which surrender some sovereign control over their own country in order to promote trade and cooperation among the member states
• Expediency Council a collection of leading Iranian officials gathered for the purpose of settling disputes between the Majlis and the Guardian Council
• Federal Election Institute (IFE) an independent regulatory agency created in 1994 to increase the fairness and competitiveness of Mexico’s elections; later reformed to the National Electoral Institute (INE)
• Federal system an arrangement that divides or shares power on a permanent or constitutional basis between a central or national government and regional governments
• Federation Council the upper house of Russia’s legislature, wherein each regional government has equal representation
• First-past-the-post (FPTP) an election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins representation of a geographic district in the legislature; losing candidates or parties do not receive any representation
• GDP per capita Gross Domestic Product expressed on a per-person basis; used as a typical measure of the standard of living
• Gini index a measure of economic inequality
• Globalization the process of expanding interaction between individuals, businesses, and governments across borders worldwide, stemming from changes in technology, economics, transportation, and the exchange of ideas
• Government the people currently holding office and wielding political power; they can be changed through normal regular political processes, such as elections
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the total dollar value of all goods and services produced within a country’s borders
• Guardian Council In Iran, a body of twelve officials, chosen by the Supreme Leader and the Chief Judge, empowered to reject candidates for office and veto legislation passed by the Majlis if it conflicts with Shari’ah law
• Han Chinese the dominant majority ethnic group of China, comprising more than 90 percent of the Chinese population
• Hausa-Fulani Nigeria’s largest ethnic group, predominantly Islamic; its members live in the northern region of the country and comprise approximately 30 percent of the population
• Head of government the individual in the executive branch responsible for the day-to-day operation of the government
• Head of state the individual in the executive branch who acts as the ceremonial symbol of the country at public events
• House of Commons the lower house of Britain’s Parliament, where political power is concentrated
• Igbo (Ebo or Ibo) Nigeria’s third largest single ethnic group, predominantly Christian; its members live in the southeast region of the country and comprise approximately 18 percent of the population
• Illiberal democracy a regime in which, despite the fact that elections determine who holds political office and wields power, protection of civil rights and liberties is missing and the fairness and competitiveness of elections are questionable
• Import substitution industrialization (ISI) an economic policy program intended to replace goods that are imported with domestically manufactured goods, usually through trade limitations and tariffs combined with subsidies or preferential regulations for domestic companies
• Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) the party that ruled Mexico continuously from 1929 through 2000, now one of a few major parties competing for power in Mexico; it espouses centrist to center-right ideological positions
• Interest groups organizations of people who support a common interest and work together to protect and promote that interest by influencing the government
• Iranian (Islamic) Revolution of 1979 a series of mass demonstrations against the Shah that resulted in his deposal, followed by the creation of a new Islamic Republic led by Ayatollah Khomeini
• Jurist guardianship the concept justifying clerical rule espoused by Ayatollah Khomeini that Shi’a clerics hold responsibility over all aspects of society
• Labour Party Britain’s center-left party; one of the main competitors for power in Britain’s two-party system
• Legitimacy the people’s belief in the state’s right to rule and exercise political power
• Liberalism a political ideology that prioritizes liberty and equal protection of all individuals under the law as its central goals
• Linkage institutions organizations and systems that help connect citizens to the public policymaking process, most commonly including elections, political parties, interest groups, and the media
• Majlis Iran’s national legislature, elected by voters every four years and empowered to make laws that are not religious in nature and to pass the budget every year
• Member of Parliament (MP) an official elected to represent constituents in the legislature in a parliamentary system
• Mestizo the largest single ethnic group in Mexico, formed during the colonial period by the mixture of European Spaniards and the indigenous Amerindian population
• Modernization the progression of societies away from traditional values and institutions toward rational processes and technological development
• Multiparty system a party system in which many large and small political parties compete for political power and win representation in the government
• Nation a group of people united by a common political identity, usually the desire for self-rule or political autonomy, and commonly also united by ethnicity, language, religion, culture, or other factors
• National Action Party (PAN) founded as a right-wing opposition party to PRI rule, it won power for the first time in 2000 and is one of a few major parties competing for power in Mexico today
• National Assembly Nigeria’s bicameral national legislature, consisting of a House of Representatives and Senate
• National Electoral Institute (INE) an autonomous government agency empowered to organize and implement Mexico’s elections to ensure fairness and competitiveness
• National People’s Congress China’s national legislature; its almost 3,000 members meet only once every five years, and it does not provide a significant check to executive power
• National question refers to the issue of whether Nigeria should remain a unified country or be broken into smaller countries because of its extensive diversity and lack of national unity
• Normative statements claims that assert a particular value judgment either instead of or in addition to factual, evidence-based assertions
• North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) a free-trade agreement enacted in 1994 that involves the United States, Canada, and Mexico
• One-party system a party system in which only one political party is allowed to hold political power and the existence of opposition parties is restricted by the state
• Parastatals large state-owned enterprises that operate as independent businesses
• Parliamentary system a system of government that fuses executive and legislative powers; the chief executive (usually called prime minister) is a member of the legislature and is chosen by the legislature
• Patron-clientelism mutual arrangements in which a patron with authority, political power, social status, or wealth uses these assets to provide benefits to clients, who provide political support in return
• People’s Democratic Party (PDP) the party in power in Nigeria from the beginning of the Fourth Republic (1999–2015); now the main opposition party to the government
• Persians the largest ethnic group in Iran
• Pluralism (pluralist) a system in which autonomous, independently formed groups freely attempt to influence the policymaking process of the government in competition with one another
• Plurality a condition of receiving the most votes, though not necessarily a majority, for elective office
• Political culture norms, values, and expectations held by the public and elites about how the competition for and the wielding of political power should function
• Political parties organizations of individuals seeking to win control of government and wield political power by running candidates for office and winning elections or otherwise, depending on the rules of the political system
• Presidential system a system of government in which the chief executive is directly elected by voters in a separate election from the legislature, resulting in a separation of powers between branches of government, along with the possibility of divided government
• Proportional representation (PR) an election system for a legislature that gives each political party a percentage of seats in the legislature approximately equal to the percentage of the vote the party received in the election
• Rational-legal legitimacy A situation in which the people believe the state has the right to rule because of a rational system of laws and processes that those in power complied with to acquire power; these principles are usually expressed in a constitution with processes understood by the public
• Referendum a direct vote by members of the public on a policy matter whose result is expected to be binding in law
• Reformist political factions in Iran that seek to build productive relationships with the West and support limited secularization and modernization of Iranian society
• Regime the fundamental rules and norms of the political system that determine how power is acquired and used, such as authoritarianism or democracy
• Rentier state a country with a valuable natural resource that, by funding state operations through selling or renting rights to extract the resource to foreign companies or countries, creates a reliance on that resource to sustain the economy and the state’s functions
• Resource curse the idea that countries with a large supply of a valuable natural resource become excessively dependent on the sale and exportation of that resource and fail to develop other areas of the national economy
• Revolution rapid, traumatic wholesale changes to a regime, typically changing the nature of the political system and creating new political institutions while destroying old ones
• Rule of law restricting the arbitrary exercise of power by subjecting the government to well-defined, established limitations in law
• Separation of powers dividing the executive, legislative, and judicial powers and functions of government into distinct institutions
• Sexenio the single nonrenewable six-year term for the president of Mexico
• Shari’ah a system of law based on the principles of Islam
• Shi’ites a sect of Islam that believes the hereditary heirs of the Prophet Muhammad are the rightful leaders and guardians of the Islamic faith; the dominant sect among Iranian Muslims
• Single-member-district (SMD) an election system in which one representative is chosen to represent each geographic constituency in a legislature
• State a political institution that possesses sovereignty, or a “monopoly on violence” over a territory and the people residing within that territory
• State corporatism a system to influence policymaking: the state establishes or selects groups to represent various interests rather than allow independently formed groups to participate
• State institutions formal organizations and systems established to make and implement public policy, most commonly including legislative, executive, judicial, bureaucratic, and military institutions
• Structural adjustment program a program of neoliberal economic reforms imposed by the International Monetary Fund to help countries balance the budget and get out of debt by such means as reducing government spending, privatizing state-owned national monopolies, and liberalizing trade
• Supranational organizations where member states collaborate on common goals or policy programs and usually accept some restrictions on their sovereignty to further these ends
• Supreme Leader Iran’s head of state and most powerful chief executive, known as the chief interpreter of Shari’ah law
• Theocracy a regime that fuses religious and political authority
• Traditional legitimacy a situation wherein the people believe the state has the right to rule because of longstanding customs or practices, such as the passing of the crown to the monarch’s firstborn child
• Transitional democracy a regime transitioning from authoritarianism to liberal democracy but where democracy has not yet been consolidated
• Two-ballot majority an election system that requires a candidate to receive a majority of the vote to win and take office; if no candidate receives a majority in the first round of voting, a runoff is held between the top two candidates
• Two-party system a system in which two large, broad-based ideological parties are the only meaningful competitors for control of the government, though minor parties may still run and win small amounts of representation
• Unitary state an arrangement that concentrates political power at the central or national level of government and provides very limited or impermanent powers to regional levels
• United Russia Party the dominant political party of Russia since 2004, often characterized as a party of power
• Vote of no confidence a vote by the legislature in a parliamentary system to force the resignation of the prime minister and cabinet and call for new elections
• Welfare state a concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the social and economic well-being of its citizens
• World Trade Organization (WTO) a supranational organization that encourages its 164 member states to engage in freer trade and expand trade relationships by establishing agreed upon rules of trade among the members
• Yoruba Nigeria’s second largest single ethnic group; its members live in the southwest of the country and comprise approximately 21 percent of the population
• Zapatista Movement (EZLN) a left-wing revolutionary group based in the southern state of Chiapas and made up mostly of indigenous people