AP Comparative Government and Politics, AP exams

Unit 2: Political Institutions

Unit 2 compares executives, legislatures, judiciaries, and electoral systems across the course countries. Parliamentary, presidential, and semi-presidential arrangements are contrasted through the way each selects and removes leaders. Judicial independence and electoral rules receive particular attention because they vary sharply among the six cases.

Position: 2 of 5 units
Topics covered: 6 topics in this guide

What is covered

Topics inside this unit.

These topics describe the scope students most often review for this part of AP Comparative Government and Politics. Treat them as a study checklist rather than an exhaustive list of what a single exam form can sample.

Parliamentary, presidential, and semi-presidential systems: How each arrangement separates or fuses executive and legislative power, illustrated by the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Russia.
Executives: heads of state and government: Formal and informal executive powers, cabinet formation, terms and term limits, and the durability of leaders.
Legislatures: Unicameral and bicameral structures, lawmaking authority, and the real independence of each legislature from the executive.
Judiciaries and rule of law: Judicial review, judicial independence, and the gap between constitutional text and practice in several course countries.
Electoral systems: First-past-the-post, proportional representation, and mixed systems, and how each shapes party competition.
Bureaucracies and state capacity: Administrative institutions, corruption and patronage, and how effectively states implement their own policies.

Study tips

How to practice Institutions.

Section-specific guidance that follows from how this material is usually tested.

Build a six-country institutions grid with executive, legislature, judiciary, and electoral system as rows.
Note where formal rules and actual practice diverge; that gap is a frequent free-response theme.
Rehearse the consequences of electoral rules, since the exam links rules to party-system outcomes.

Where this fits

Unit 2: Political Institutions is 2 of 5 units in the AP Comparative Government and Politics guide. Use the full guide to balance it against everything else you have to review.

Back to the AP Comparative Government and Politics guide Official exam information

Sample Institutions questions

Practice questions, not yet expert-reviewed

Original practice questions written to the published framework for this section. No expert has reviewed them, and they are not taken from any official exam. Try each one before you open the answer.

Question 1Foundational
In the parliamentary system of the United Kingdom, how does a politician become prime minister?
1. ABy leading the party or coalition that can command the confidence of the House of Commons
2. BBy winning a separate nationwide popular election for the office
3. CBy being elected to the post by the House of Lords
4. DBy appointment from the judiciary for a fixed five-year term
Show answer
Answer: A. By leading the party or coalition that can command the confidence of the House of Commons
The monarch appoints as prime minister whoever can command the confidence of the House of Commons, which in practice means the leader of the largest party or governing coalition. A separate national election is the tempting distractor, because voters cast ballots only for their local member of Parliament, not for the prime minister directly.
Key insight: In a parliamentary system the executive is chosen by and answerable to the legislature, so losing a confidence vote can end a government immediately.
Question 2Foundational
What is the name of the lower house of the Russian Federal Assembly, the chamber that passes federal legislation?
1. AThe State Duma
2. BThe Federation Council
3. CThe Security Council
4. DThe Supreme Soviet
Show answer
Answer: A. The State Duma
The State Duma is the elected lower chamber that considers and passes bills, while the Federation Council is the upper chamber representing the regions. The Supreme Soviet is the tempting distractor because it was the legislature of the Soviet Union, not of the Russian Federation.
Key insight: Russia has a bicameral legislature on paper, but a dominant executive means the Duma rarely blocks the president.
Question 3Intermediate
Which electoral system, used to fill seats in the United Kingdom House of Commons, awards each seat to whichever candidate wins the most votes in a single-member district?
1. AFirst-past-the-post
2. BClosed-list proportional representation
3. CMixed-member proportional representation
4. DSingle transferable vote
Show answer
Answer: A. First-past-the-post
First-past-the-post needs only a plurality in each constituency, so a party can win a large seat majority with well under half the national vote. Mixed-member proportional is the tempting distractor because the United Kingdom has used mixed systems for some devolved and regional elections, but not for the Commons.
Key insight: Plurality rules in single-member districts systematically punish small parties whose support is spread thinly across the country.
Question 4Intermediate
In Iran, which unelected body screens candidates for elected office and can reject legislation it judges inconsistent with the constitution or Islamic law?
1. AThe Guardian Council
2. BThe Assembly of Experts
3. CThe Expediency Council
4. DThe Majlis
Show answer
Answer: A. The Guardian Council
The Guardian Council vets candidates and reviews bills passed by the Majlis, which lets it shape both who competes and what becomes law. The Assembly of Experts is the tempting distractor, but its distinct job is to select and formally supervise the Supreme Leader.
Key insight: Candidate vetting by the Guardian Council is the mechanism that keeps Iranian elections competitive in form but bounded in substance.
Question 5Advanced
What structural feature defines a semi-presidential system such as the Russian Federation's?
1. AA directly elected president governs alongside a prime minister accountable to the legislature
2. BA ceremonial monarch shares power with an elected assembly
3. CThe legislature selects the president from among its own members
4. DThe judiciary appoints and dismisses the cabinet
Show answer
Answer: A. A directly elected president governs alongside a prime minister accountable to the legislature
Semi-presidentialism splits the executive between a popularly elected president with a fixed term and a prime minister who depends on legislative support. Legislative selection of the executive is the tempting distractor, but that describes a pure parliamentary system such as the United Kingdom, where no separately elected president exists.
Key insight: Count the executives and ask who can remove them: one fixed-term executive means presidential, two with legislative confidence means semi-presidential.

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Unit 2: Political Institutions