AP COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT AND
POLITICS 2026 PRACTICE TEST QUESTIONS
AND DETAILED COUNTRY COMPARISON
BREAKDOWN FULL REVIEW
◉ authoritarian regime. Answer: a system of government in which
the state has control over the lives of its citizens.
◉ bicameral legislatures. Answer: Legislatures that possess two
chambers.
◉ unicameral legislatures. Answer: a legislature with only one
chamber or house
◉ bureaucratic authoritarian regimes. Answer: authoritarian
regimes in which bureaucracies have a certain amount of control
◉ bureaucracy. Answer: system of managing government through
departments run by appointed officials
◉ cabinet coalition. Answer: where several parties join forces and
are represented in different cabinet posts, forms in countries with a
multi-party system where there is no clear majority
,◉ causation. Answer: The belief that events occur in predictable
ways and that one event leads to another
◉ checks and balances. Answer: A system that allows each branch of
government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to
prevent abuse of power
◉ civil society. Answer: society created when citizens are allowed to
organize and express their views publicly as they engage in an open
debate about public policy
◉ coinciding cleavage. Answer: A division that strengthens feelings
of difference and discrepancy, weakening society.
◉ crosscutting cleavage. Answer: cleavage that strengthens society
by bringing groups together
◉ command economies. Answer: Economic systems in which the
government largely decides what goods and services will be
produced, who will get them, and how the economy will grow.
◉ common law. Answer: (civil law) a law established by following
earlier judicial decisions
, ◉ code law. Answer: a written set of laws that apply to everyone
under a government
◉ communism. Answer: a theory or system of social organization
based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership
being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.
◉ competitive elections. Answer: elections that are regular, free, and
fair and that offer a real possibility of the incumbent government
being defeated
◉ confederal system. Answer: A system consisting of a league of
independent states, each having essentially sovereign powers. The
central government created by such a league has only limited
powers over the states.
◉ conflictual political culture. Answer: the citizens are sharply
divided, often on both the legitimacy of the regime and solutions to
major problems
◉ consensual political culture. Answer: citizens tend to agree on the
appropriate means of making political decisions and to agree on the
major problems facing the society and how to solve them
POLITICS 2026 PRACTICE TEST QUESTIONS
AND DETAILED COUNTRY COMPARISON
BREAKDOWN FULL REVIEW
◉ authoritarian regime. Answer: a system of government in which
the state has control over the lives of its citizens.
◉ bicameral legislatures. Answer: Legislatures that possess two
chambers.
◉ unicameral legislatures. Answer: a legislature with only one
chamber or house
◉ bureaucratic authoritarian regimes. Answer: authoritarian
regimes in which bureaucracies have a certain amount of control
◉ bureaucracy. Answer: system of managing government through
departments run by appointed officials
◉ cabinet coalition. Answer: where several parties join forces and
are represented in different cabinet posts, forms in countries with a
multi-party system where there is no clear majority
,◉ causation. Answer: The belief that events occur in predictable
ways and that one event leads to another
◉ checks and balances. Answer: A system that allows each branch of
government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to
prevent abuse of power
◉ civil society. Answer: society created when citizens are allowed to
organize and express their views publicly as they engage in an open
debate about public policy
◉ coinciding cleavage. Answer: A division that strengthens feelings
of difference and discrepancy, weakening society.
◉ crosscutting cleavage. Answer: cleavage that strengthens society
by bringing groups together
◉ command economies. Answer: Economic systems in which the
government largely decides what goods and services will be
produced, who will get them, and how the economy will grow.
◉ common law. Answer: (civil law) a law established by following
earlier judicial decisions
, ◉ code law. Answer: a written set of laws that apply to everyone
under a government
◉ communism. Answer: a theory or system of social organization
based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership
being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.
◉ competitive elections. Answer: elections that are regular, free, and
fair and that offer a real possibility of the incumbent government
being defeated
◉ confederal system. Answer: A system consisting of a league of
independent states, each having essentially sovereign powers. The
central government created by such a league has only limited
powers over the states.
◉ conflictual political culture. Answer: the citizens are sharply
divided, often on both the legitimacy of the regime and solutions to
major problems
◉ consensual political culture. Answer: citizens tend to agree on the
appropriate means of making political decisions and to agree on the
major problems facing the society and how to solve them
