AP COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS TEXT CH. 1 ONLINE ASSIGNMENT SHEET
Thoroughly read Introduction to Comparative Politics, Chapter 1, pages 5 to 35, as sections are assigned.
IMPORTANT:
· Be prepared for a quiz on the sections due, AND any supplemental readings distributed in class, each week!
· Complete homework assignments in a “notes form” that works for you. These assignments become crucial study materials!
Assignment Due:
Bring covered textbook to class. Bring signed copies of course outline and AP Agreement.
TEXTBOOK ASSIGNMENTS: ON LOOSE LEAF, ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
Assignment Due: Text sections 1 and 2, pp. 5-13.
1. Define and explain the significance of: communist party states, NATO, authoritarian regime, globalization, European Union (EU), World Trade Organization (WTO), collective identities
2. What was the Cold War? How did it end?
3. At the end of the Cold War, what did author and political scientist Francis Fukuyama predict about the future of global politics?
4. According to your Text, what question about globalization ”promised to dominate the political agenda of the early 21st Century”? How have the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 transformed this question?
5. Describe three specific examples of globalization.
6. There is much disagreement about whether globalization is more of a good thing or a bad thing for the world. Describe two positive and two negative aspects of globalization, as mentioned in your Text.
7. Name the four themes identified by the Text as key to understanding politics in today’s world.
(Text section 2, pp. 8-13):
1. Define and explain the significance of: comparative politics, comparativists, countries, state, executive, cabinet, bureaucracy, regulations, legitimacy, state formation, nation-state, political culture, rational choice theory, middle level theory, dictatorships and one-party states, democratic transitions.
2. What are CAUSAL THEORIES? Give two examples that can be considered causal theories.
Assignment Due: Text section 3, pp.13-21
1. Define and explain the significance of: world Bank, International monetary Fund (IMF), political economy, laissez-faire, sustainable development, social movements, social class, distributive politics,
2. Why does the text compare the political systems of states, rather than analyzing other forms of human organization?
3. Explain why it is important to understand how a country governs its economy, if one seeks to understand its political system.
4. What is the “democratic idea”?
5. What is Freedom House? What specific change in world politics has Freedom House documented in recent decades?
6. How do states proclaiming to be democratic define democracy in different ways?
7. What is collective identity? Explain how collective identity can unite or divide a nation.
(See back)
Assignment Due: Text sections 4-5, pp. 21-31
1. Define and explain the significance of: typology, most different case analysis, totalitarian regimes, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross National Product (GNP), Gross National Income (GNI), official international currency exchange rates, purchasing power parity (PPP), Human Development Index (HDI), Gender-Related Development Index (GDI), Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI), Freedom in the World Ranking
2. Identify: First World, Second World, Third World.
3. Why did comparativists classify states according to First, Second, and Third World status from 1945 to 1991?
4. How has the above typology been replaced by many comparativists (including our textbook)?
5. Name five minimal conditions necessary to consolidate a democratic regime, according to a consensus of political scientists and scholars today.
6. Describe the difference between consolidated (durable) democracies, transitional democracies, and authoritarian regimes.