Political Institutions: every key term you need (+ practice quiz)
34 flashcard terms for AP Comparative Government Unit 2, written to match the course framework. Study them here, then drill them as interactive flashcards, or test yourself with the 18-question quiz — free, no account needed.
A system in which the executive (prime minister and cabinet) is chosen by and accountable to the legislature; the UK is the course's model case.
Presidential System
A system with a separately elected chief executive serving a fixed term, independent of the legislature — Mexico and Nigeria.
Semi-Presidential System
A system pairing a directly elected president with a prime minister accountable to the legislature; Russia is formally semi-presidential, though the president dominates.
Head of State
The symbolic representative of the country's unity and continuity, such as the British monarch; may be separate from the head of government.
Head of Government
The official who runs the executive branch day to day — the UK prime minister, or a president in systems where the roles merge.
Vote of No Confidence
A legislative vote that removes a prime minister and cabinet, forcing resignation or new elections — a defining accountability tool of parliamentary systems.
Coalition Government
A cabinet formed by two or more parties when no single party wins a legislative majority, common under proportional representation.
Cabinet
The group of ministers heading executive departments; in the UK drawn from Parliament and bound by collective responsibility.
Collective Responsibility
The UK convention that cabinet ministers publicly support all cabinet decisions or resign.
Bicameral Legislature
A legislature with two chambers, such as the UK Commons and Lords, Russia's Duma and Federation Council, or Nigeria's House and Senate.
House of Commons
The UK's dominant, directly elected chamber; it chooses the prime minister and can remove governments through no-confidence votes.
House of Lords
The UK's unelected upper chamber of appointed life peers; it can delay but not veto most legislation.
State Duma
Russia's 450-seat lower house, elected by a mixed system; dominated by United Russia and largely compliant with the Kremlin.
National People's Congress
China's roughly 3,000-member legislature; constitutionally supreme but in practice it ratifies decisions made by the Communist Party.
Majles
Iran's unicameral elected parliament; its laws and candidates are vetted by the unelected Guardian Council.
Guardian Council
Iran's 12-member clerical-jurist body that vets all candidates for office and can veto legislation it deems un-Islamic or unconstitutional.
Assembly of Experts
Iran's elected clerical body that formally chooses and may theoretically remove the Supreme Leader.
Expediency Council
Iran's appointed body that mediates disputes between the Majles and the Guardian Council.
The head of the Chinese Communist Party and China's paramount leader; Xi Jinping holds this post along with the presidency and military chairmanship.
Judicial Review
The power of courts to strike down laws or executive acts as unconstitutional; strong in Nigeria, limited in the UK by parliamentary sovereignty.
Parliamentary Sovereignty
The UK doctrine that Parliament is the supreme lawmaker; no court can overturn an Act of Parliament, and no parliament binds its successors.
UK Supreme Court
Created in 2009 to replace the Law Lords; it interprets law and reviewed executive acts (e.g., the 2019 prorogation case) but cannot strike down statutes.
Judicial Independence
The insulation of courts from political pressure; weak in Russia, China, and Iran, where courts serve regime goals.
Bureaucracy
The permanent, professional administrative apparatus implementing policy; meritocratic in the UK, patronage-heavy in Nigeria, party-penetrated in China.
Siloviki
Russian officials drawn from the security and military services (FSB, army) who form a core of Putin's ruling elite.
Power Vertical
Putin's centralization of authority — subordinating governors, media, and courts to the Kremlin's chain of command.
Federation Council
Russia's upper chamber representing its regions; appointed rather than directly elected, and reliably pro-Kremlin.
Nigerian Federal Character Principle
The constitutional requirement that appointments and offices reflect Nigeria's regional and ethnic diversity to prevent domination by one group.
Nigerian Fourth Republic
Nigeria's current constitutional regime, a presidential federal democracy established in 1999 after decades of military rule.
Sexenio
Mexico's single, non-renewable six-year presidential term — a safeguard against personalist rule dating to the Revolution's 'no re-election' principle.
Military Rule
Government by armed-forces officers, usually after a coup; Nigeria alternated between military and civilian rule from 1966 to 1999.
Technocrat
An official appointed for expert or managerial skill rather than electoral politics — e.g., the economists who dominated late-PRI Mexican cabinets.
Checks and Balances
Institutional arrangements letting each branch limit the others; robust in presidential systems on paper, but dependent on judicial independence in practice.
Fusion of Powers
The parliamentary merger of executive and legislative power in one governing majority, contrasted with presidential separation of powers.