Party and Electoral Systems and Citizen Organizations: every key term you need (+ practice quiz)
34 flashcard terms for AP Comparative Government Unit 4, 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.
An organization seeking to win control of government by contesting elections and offering candidates and programs.
Party System
The characteristic number and competitiveness of a country's parties: one-party (China), dominant-party (Russia; PRI-era Mexico), two-party-plus (UK), multiparty (Mexico, Nigeria today).
One-Party System
A system in which a single party is the only legal or meaningful holder of power — the Chinese Communist Party.
Dominant-Party System
A system with legal opposition parties that nonetheless cannot realistically win — United Russia's Russia, or Mexico under the PRI until 2000.
First-Past-the-Post (FPTP/SMD Plurality)
Election in single-member districts where the candidate with the most votes wins, even without a majority — the UK House of Commons and Nigerian legislative seats.
Proportional Representation (PR)
Allocation of legislative seats in proportion to parties' vote shares, usually via party lists; part of Mexico's and Russia's mixed systems.
Mixed Electoral System
A system combining SMD and PR seats — Mexico's Chamber of Deputies (300 SMD + 200 PR) and Russia's Duma (225 + 225).
Duverger's Law
The tendency of FPTP systems to produce two dominant parties, while PR sustains multiparty systems.
Two-Round (Majority Runoff) System
If no candidate wins a majority, the top two face a runoff — used for Iran's presidency.
Electoral Threshold
The minimum vote share a party needs to win PR seats (Russia's Duma threshold is 5%), which excludes small parties.
Safe District vs. Marginal Seat
In SMD systems, seats a party reliably wins versus genuinely competitive seats where campaigns concentrate.
Manufactured Majority
An FPTP outcome in which a party wins a majority of seats with well under half the national vote — routine in UK elections.
Conservative Party (UK)
The UK's major center-right party, historically favoring market economics and the Union.
Labour Party (UK)
The UK's major center-left party, born from the trade-union movement.
Scottish National Party (SNP)
Regional party seeking Scottish independence; dominant in Scotland's devolved politics.
United Russia
Russia's Kremlin-aligned dominant party — a 'party of power' built to support the executive rather than a bottom-up ideological movement.
Systemic (Loyal) Opposition
Russian parties like the Communist Party (KPRF) and LDPR that are tolerated because they never seriously challenge the Kremlin.
PRI
Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party, which ruled for 71 years (1929–2000) through patronage, corporatism, and electoral manipulation.
Mexico's center-right National Action Party; its candidate Vicente Fox broke PRI rule in 2000.
MORENA
Mexico's left-populist party founded by López Obrador, winning the presidency in 2018 and 2024.
APC and PDP
Nigeria's two major parties — broad, ideologically thin coalitions organized around region and patronage rather than programs.
Zoning (Nigeria)
The informal agreement to rotate the presidency between north and south to manage the ethno-religious cleavage.
Principlists vs. Reformists (Iran)
Iran's loose factional camps — hardline defenders of clerical rule versus advocates of cautious liberalization — competing within Guardian Council limits rather than as true parties.
Interest Group
An organization seeking to influence policy without running its own candidates for office.
Pluralism
An interest-group system in which many independent groups compete freely for influence — the UK pattern.
State Corporatism
A system in which the state licenses a few official groups as monopoly representatives of sectors, as in PRI-era Mexico and today's China.
Patron-Clientelism
The exchange of state jobs, contracts, or benefits for political support — pervasive in Nigerian 'godfather' politics and PRI-era Mexico.
Vote Buying and Electoral Fraud
Illicit manipulation of elections — from PRI-era ballot stuffing to Nigerian violence and Russian administrative pressure on state employees.
Referendum
A direct popular vote on a policy question, e.g., Brexit (2016) and Scottish independence (2014).
Brexit Referendum
The 2016 UK vote (52–48) to leave the European Union — a landmark of direct democracy reshaping UK parties and politics.
INE (Mexico)
Mexico's independent National Electoral Institute, created (as IFE) in the 1990s reforms; credited with making elections credible and enabling the 2000 turnover.
INEC (Nigeria)
Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission, which administers elections amid persistent logistical and credibility challenges.
Election Monitoring
Observation of elections by domestic and international groups to deter fraud and certify fairness — welcomed in Mexico, restricted in Russia.
Party of Power
A party created top-down by ruling elites to organize legislative support for the executive, exemplified by United Russia.