AP Comparative Government and Politics


Advanced Placement 'Comparative Government and Politics' is an Advanced Placement comparative politics course and exam offered by the College Board. It was first administered in 1987.

Course

To better match a typical introductory college course, changes were made to the course and the exam in the fall of 2005. These changes include the following:
  • Greater emphasis on analysis of concepts and themes
  • Shifting focus to coverage of six core countries: China, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, and the United Kingdom
  • Emphasis on themes such as citizen-state relations, democratization, globalization, political change, and public policy

    Nations examined

The countries whose politics, political institutions, policy making, and political cultures are examined are the following:
Former countries on the AP exam are the following:
Note: For testing purposes, the College Board uses the names in parentheses when making reference to these sovereign entities.

Exam