AP®︎ Comparative Government: Topic 1.3 Flashcards

The fundamental rules governing access to and exercise of political power, which usually persist beyond particular officeholders or governments

A regime in which citizens meaningfully influence government through participation, free and fair competitive elections, political rights, and institutions that hold officials accountable

A democracy combining competitive elections with rule of law, protected civil liberties, political pluralism, and institutional restraints on government

A regime that concentrates political power, limits meaningful competition, and leaves rulers weakly accountable to citizens or independent institutions

Rule of law subjects rulers and citizens to public, predictable, equally applied legal limits; rule by law uses legal institutions to control others without meaningfully restraining rulers

The degree to which government can shape, restrict, or suppress information; independent and varied media support democracy, while extensive state control supports authoritarianism

An election in which voters, candidates, and parties can choose, organize, campaign, communicate, and criticize without improper coercion or intimidation

An election whose rules are applied impartially, with equal legal treatment, accurate vote counting, and no manipulation designed to predetermine the result

An election offering meaningful alternatives and genuine uncertainty about who will win, including a real possibility that incumbents can lose

Openness that lets the public determine how decisions were made, who participated, what evidence and money were used, and who is responsible

Citizen political activity that is democratic when it is autonomous, meaningful, and able to influence government or challenge and remove leaders

The practical capacity of government branches and institutions to act autonomously and check rulers or other branches rather than remain subordinate to them

Accountability produced when one state institution monitors, checks, or constrains another

Accountability produced when citizens use elections and participation to reward, punish, or remove rulers

A regime with electoral procedures but weak civil liberties, pluralism, rule of law, and institutional restraints on elected leaders

A regime mixing democratic institutions such as elections and opposition parties with authoritarian restrictions that prevent fully meaningful competition and accountability

A regime in which elections and formal democratic institutions remain but are controlled by elites to favor the ruling authorities

An authoritarian regime in which one political party monopolizes meaningful government control and prevents other parties from competing for national power

A regime in which religion grounds political authority and religious leaders or institutions exercise direct governing power

An authoritarian form that seeks control over nearly all public and private life through ideology, mobilization, propaganda, surveillance, communication control, and repression

A regime in which the military directly governs as an institution and provides the primary basis of political authority, often after a coup

A democracy in which citizens elect officials to make most public decisions on their behalf

A democracy in which citizens vote directly on public policies rather than acting only through elected representatives