Free AP® Comparative Government and Politics Practice Test

Question 1

Which of the following course countries has a unitary system of government?

Accepted Answer

Iran

Answer

Nigeria

Answer

Mexico

Answer

Russia

Question 2

In the United Kingdom, the prime minister is

Accepted Answer

the leader of the party or coalition that can command the confidence of the Commons

Answer

directly elected by voters in a separate nationwide election held every five years

Answer

chosen by the House of Lords from among its own appointed and hereditary members

Answer

appointed by the Supreme Court after it certifies the results of a general election

Question 3

In a state where leaders use courts and statutes to punish critics while the ruling party itself is not bound by those laws, political scientists describe the legal system as

Accepted Answer

rule by law

Answer

rule of law

Answer

judicial independence

Answer

constitutionalism

Question 4

The UK elects the House of Commons by single-member-district plurality (first past the post). Which outcome does this system tend to produce?

Accepted Answer

Two large parties win most seats; small parties with spread-out support win few

Answer

Seat shares that closely match each party's share of the national vote

Answer

Many small parties that must form a coalition government after nearly every election

Answer

A runoff between the top two candidates whenever no one wins a majority

Question 5

Before the debt crisis of the 1980s, Mexico followed import substitution industrialization (ISI). Which policy fits ISI?

Accepted Answer

High tariffs on imported manufactured goods to protect domestic industry

Answer

Selling state-owned companies to private investors to raise government revenue

Answer

Joining a free trade agreement to attract foreign-owned assembly plants

Answer

Cutting subsidies and tariffs to meet the conditions of an IMF loan

Question 6

The UK has devolved legislatures in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Why is the UK still classified as a unitary state?

Accepted Answer

Their powers were granted by Acts of the UK Parliament, which remains sovereign

Answer

Voters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland elect no members to the House of Commons

Answer

The UK Supreme Court may dissolve any devolved legislature whenever it chooses

Answer

The devolved legislatures can debate issues but have no power to pass laws of their own

Question 7

Which power does the UK Supreme Court lack?

Accepted Answer

Striking down an Act of Parliament as unconstitutional

Answer

Hearing final appeals in civil cases from across the UK

Answer

Ruling that a minister acted beyond his or her legal authority

Answer

Interpreting the meaning of statutes in the cases before it

Question 8

Which ethnic group is concentrated in southeastern Nigeria and led the attempted secession of Biafra from 1967 to 1970?

Accepted Answer

Igbo

Answer

Yoruba

Answer

Hausa-Fulani

Answer

Kanuri

Question 9

Nigeria's constitution requires a winning presidential candidate to get the most votes nationwide and at least 25 percent of the vote in two-thirds of the states. What is the main purpose of this rule?

Accepted Answer

To ensure the winner has broad support across Nigeria's regions and ethnic groups

Answer

To make the presidency alternate between northern and southern candidates

Answer

To let the Senate choose the president when no candidate wins a majority

Answer

To limit each president to a single term of four years in office

Question 10

Nigeria's heavy dependence on oil exports has been linked to which set of problems, often called the resource curse?

Accepted Answer

Corruption, budgets that swing with world oil prices, and neglect of farming

Answer

Rapid growth in manufacturing and a shrinking role for the state in the economy

Answer

A national labor shortage caused by the large number of jobs in the oil fields

Answer

Steady government revenue that changes very little from one year to the next

Question 11

Iran's principle of velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the Islamic jurist) is the basis for which feature of its regime?

Accepted Answer

A senior Shia cleric, the Supreme Leader, holds final authority

Answer

The president is chosen by the Majles rather than by voters

Answer

Religious minorities are barred from holding any elected office

Answer

Each province elects its own council of senior clerics to govern it

Question 12

Under Mexico's constitution, the president

Accepted Answer

serves a single six-year term and can never be reelected

Answer

serves a four-year term and may be reelected once

Answer

is chosen by a majority vote of the Chamber of Deputies

Answer

shares executive power with a prime minister chosen by Congress

Question 13

Which best describes Russia's executive branch?

Accepted Answer

A directly elected president who appoints the prime minister with the Duma's approval

Answer

A prime minister chosen by the State Duma who also serves as head of state and commander in chief

Answer

A ceremonial president chosen by the Federation Council, with real power held by the cabinet

Answer

A collective presidency that rotates every year among the governors of the regions

Question 14

Russia's 2012 law requiring politically active NGOs that receive money from abroad to register as "foreign agents" is an example of

Accepted Answer

a state restricting civil society

Answer

pluralist competition among interest groups

Answer

devolution of power to regional governments

Answer

the privatization of state-owned media

Question 15

Mexico's Chamber of Deputies has 300 members elected in single-member districts and 200 chosen by proportional representation from party lists. What is a main effect of the 200 list seats?

Accepted Answer

Smaller parties win a share of seats closer to their national vote share

Answer

Every deputy represents a single geographic district rather than a party list

Answer

The president's party always wins a majority of seats

Answer

Voters choose their deputies in two rounds of voting

Question 16

China's special economic zones, first set up around 1980 in coastal cities such as Shenzhen, were designed to

Accepted Answer

attract foreign investment and test market rules in limited areas

Answer

move factories from the crowded coast into the poorer western interior

Answer

keep foreign companies out of the Chinese economy

Answer

return farmland to the control of rural communes

Question 17

Since the economic reforms that began under Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese Communist Party has relied most heavily on which source of legitimacy?

Accepted Answer

Delivering rapid economic growth and rising living standards

Answer

Winning competitive multiparty elections for the national legislature

Answer

Hereditary rule by a family claiming a heavenly mandate

Answer

Authority granted by an official religious council

Question 18

Which Iranian body reviews bills passed by the Majles to make sure they agree with Islamic law and the constitution?

Accepted Answer

The Guardian Council

Answer

The Assembly of Experts

Answer

The Expediency Council

Answer

The Council of Ministers

Question 19

The Zapatista (EZLN) uprising that began on January 1, 1994, in the Mexican state of Chiapas

Accepted Answer

demanded land and Indigenous rights and opposed NAFTA, which took effect that day

Answer

sought independence for Mexico's northern border states from the federal government in Mexico City

Answer

was led by PRI officials protesting their party's loss of the presidency

Answer

aimed to restore the Catholic Church's formal role in Mexico's government

Question 20

In the 1980s and 1990s, countries that sought IMF loans were often required to accept a structural adjustment program. Which condition was typical of these programs?

Accepted Answer

Cutting subsidies, lowering tariffs and privatizing state-owned firms

Answer

Raising tariffs to protect infant domestic industries from foreign rivals

Answer

Nationalizing foreign-owned oil and mining companies

Answer

Expanding government price controls on food and fuel

Question 21

A country's Gini coefficient rises from 0.35 to 0.45 over a decade. What does this change indicate?

Accepted Answer

Income has become less equally distributed

Answer

Average income per person has risen

Answer

Life expectancy has fallen

Answer

Perceived corruption in government has grown

Question 22

China's constitution calls the National People's Congress the highest organ of state power. Where does real policymaking power lie?

Accepted Answer

The Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party

Answer

The full National People's Congress at its yearly session

Answer

The Supreme People's Court

Answer

The provincial people's congresses

Question 23

By long-standing convention, what happens if the UK House of Commons passes a motion of no confidence in the government?

Accepted Answer

The government resigns or a general election is called

Answer

The House of Lords holds a second vote to confirm it

Answer

The monarch picks a new prime minister from the House of Lords

Answer

The Supreme Court decides whether the vote was lawful

Question 24

Which long-term effect of China's one-child policy (1980–2015) has the government since tried to address?

Accepted Answer

A rapidly aging population with fewer workers to support retirees

Answer

A shortage of elderly people compared with the number of young people

Answer

A large surplus of women compared with men in younger age groups

Answer

Rapid population growth in rural areas that strained farmland

Question 25

Which statement is normative rather than empirical?

Accepted Answer

Nigeria should adopt a parliamentary system to reduce ethnic conflict

Answer

Nigeria's National Assembly has two chambers, the Senate and the House

Answer

Mexico's president is limited to one six-year term

Answer

Members of the UK House of Lords are not directly elected

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