Unit 1: Political Systems, Regimes & Governments
Comp Gov · Unit 1 · Paper 1

Political Systems, Regimes & Governments unit test

A test on this unit alone, marked as a percentage and a letter grade — for the test your class is actually sitting, rather than for May. Answer everything, then submit once: seeing the answer to question 3 before attempting question 4 makes the final percentage meaningless.

Paper 1Paper 2Paper 3
Each paper is built from this unit’s 27 terms and is the same for everyone, so a teacher can assign “Unit 1, Paper 1” and every student sits the identical test. Multiple choice is marked objectively; the written sections you mark yourself against the model answer and rubric.
Suggested time 32 min 29 points0/17 attempted
1

Rational-legal legitimacy

2

Resource curse

3

Unitary state

4

Federal state

5

Supranational vs intergovernmental

6

Why Russia is federal in name

7

Regime vs government

8

Theocracy

9

Democratic consolidation

10

Charismatic legitimacy

11

Common law vs code law

12

Rentier state consequences

Short answer 1. Define or explain: Rule of law

3 pts

Short answer 2. Define or explain: Failed and fragile states

3 pts

Short answer 3. Define or explain: State capacity

3 pts

Short answer 4. Define or explain: Constitution: written vs uncodified

3 pts

Free response

5 pts

ARGUMENT ESSAY (Question 4). Develop an argument about whether elections in authoritarian states strengthen or weaken the authority of the ruling government. Use one or more of the following course concepts in your response: Legitimacy · Political participation · Regime type. In your response you should: respond to the prompt with a defensible claim or thesis that establishes a line of reasoning; support your claim with at least TWO pieces of specific and relevant evidence from one or more AP Comparative Government and Politics course countries; use reasoning to explain why your evidence supports your claim, referring to one or more of the provided course concepts; and respond to an opposing or alternative perspective using refutation, concession, or rebuttal.