Anjay Bhatt

Final Exam Country Guide – AP Comparative Government

England/UK: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland
 Unitary Government with devolved power to Scotland and Wales
 Collective Consensus -> Margaret Thatcher -> Tony Blair -> David Cameron
 King/Queen -> Head of State, no Political Power
 Prime Minister -> Head of Government, leader of Majority party (Labour or Lib Dems)
 Cabinet -> Chosen by PM, Collective Responsibility
 Parliament -> Bicameral Legislature, House of Commons, House of Lords
 House of Lords -> 800 members, Hereditary and Church officials, Upper House
 House of Commons -> 650 seats, SMD Majority FPTP, 5 yr terms
 Supreme Court -> 12 justices, cannot overturn legislation, consistent with EU laws,
determines devolution issues, common law
 Social Cleavages -> Nationality: English vs Welsh, Religion: Catholic vs Protestant
 Minorities experience some discrimination
 Southern England is more industrialized and wealthy
Russia: Russian Federation -> Semi Presidential
 Illiberal Democracy and Federal Nation, Asymmetric Federalism
 Bolshevik -> Marx/Lenin -> Stalin -> Gorbachev -> Federation 1991
 Constitution of 1993, Yeltsin Shock Therapy
 Start of 3rd term, Putin removed term limit
 Federal -> 85 regions some greater/lesser -> deals with ethnic cleavages
 Putin Crackdown -> Super Districts and Appointment of Governors
 President -> Head of State, direct election with majority, 6 yr term
 Prime Minister -> Head of Government, Vote of no confidence
 Parliament -> Bicameral Legislature, Duma, Federation Council
 Duma -> 450 deputies, proportional representation, 5 year terms, lower house
 Federation Council -> Represents region, 2 members per unit, 1 chosen by gov of region
 Constitutional Court -> Judicial Review, 19 members from president, doesn’t confront
president, movement towards Rule of Law is blocked by corruption
 Social Cleavages -> Ethnicity coinciding with region and religion
 Religion -> Many are Russian Orthodox, some Muslims and Roman Catholic
 Social Class -> Small rich class vs working class
 Urban vs Rural -> 73% live in West Urban cities
 Political Participation -> Voting is highly corrupt, Civil society is slowly emerging
 Protests -> Occasional protests and Russian Youth Groups
Anjay Bhatt

Peoples Republic of China

 Imperial China/Confucianism -> Republic 1839 -> Revolution 1911 -> 1949 PRC ->
Maoism -> Cultural Revolution 1966 -> Deng Xiaoping Modernizations
 Authoritarian/Single Party Communist Rule as a Unitary/Socialist state
 CCP -> Democratic Centralism -> country led by vanguard elite
 Head of Party -> General Secretary -> Xi Jinping
 National Party Congress -> 2000 delegates, rubberstamps party leaders, elects central
committee
 Central Committee -> 340 members, 5 yr terms, carriers out business of NPC
 Politburo -> 25 members, chosen by Central Committee, dictates government policies
 Standing Committee -> 7 members, member through faction influence
 Factionalism -> Guanxi (“Connections”), Factions (Conservatives, Reformers, Liberals)
 President -> Head of State -> 5 yr terms -> 45 years old
 Premier -> Head of Government -> Appointed by President from standing committee,
directs state council
 Bureaucracy -> On all levels -> Cadres: 30 mill -> recruits leaders through cadre list
 Unicameral Legislature -> National People’s Congress -> 3000 members -> 5 yr terms
 Ethnic Cleavages -> Han Chinese (82%) -> Minorities live in autonomous regions
 Urban vs Rural -> Urban (53%) higher income, social class, education
 CCP -> Youth League -> allows some small parties, tightly controlled
 State Corporatism -> party/state form mass organizations
 Civil Society -> non-existent under Mao -> growing in recent years -> register w/Gov
 Protests -> Tiananmen Square and Ethnic Protests (Tibetans and Xinjang Province)
Mexico
 Colonialism -> 1821 Independence -> Porfiriato -> Revolution of 1910 -> Constitution
1917 -> Sexenio 1924 -> Clientelism in Oil
 Newly Industrialized and Transitional Democracy -> Federal with 31 states + 1 region
 President -> Head of Gov/State -> Sexenio -> FPTP
 Bureaucracy -> 1.5 million people, patronage driven
 Parastatal Sector -> Government owned corporation -> produce goods from private
individuals in other countries
 Bicameral Legislature -> Chamber of Deputies and Senate
 Chamber of Deputies -> 500 members, directly elected, 3 yr terms, lower house
 Senate -> 128 members, directly elected, 6 yr terms, upper house
 Supreme Court -> 11 justices from president, judicial review on paper, rarely uses it
 Military -> Combat protests and drug trafficking
 Urban vs Rural -> 75% urban, used to be rural w/patron-clientelism controlled peasants
 North vs South -> North: industrialized with trade, South: Amerindian and low income
Anjay Bhatt

 Political Participation -> Patron-Client System, Protests, Competitive parties since 1930s
 Civil Society -> strong under PRI, led to downfall of PRI through businessmen in politics
Islamic Republic
 Pahlavi Dynasty -> 1953 Coup -> 1979 Revolution -> Islamic Republic 1979 and
Khomeini -> Cultural Revolution -> Iran-Iraq War -> Khamenei
 Sunni -> majority Shiite -> minority
 Theocratic Republic with democratic elements
 Highly centralized Unitary state -> divided into administrative provinces
 Supreme Leader -> Head of State -> Chosen by clerics from Assembly
 Guardian Council -> 12 members, 6 yr term, veto legislation + vetting power
 Assembly of Religious Experts -> 86 members directly elected for 8 yr terms, elect and
can dismiss Supreme leader
 Expediency Council -> 32 members from Supreme leader, 5 yr term, settle disputes and
can make legislature on their own
 President -> 4 yr terms elected by people
 Unicameral Legislature -> 290 deputies, 4 yr terms, direct elections, 5 minority seats
 Judiciary -> Sharia law, not independent, supreme leader appoints supreme judge
 Military -> Regular Army and Revolutionary Army
 Religious Cleavage -> 90% Shia Muslim / Ethnicity -> 51% Persian and 24% Azeri
 Social Class -> Lower: support regime, Upper: secular and criticize
 Civil Society -> Varied based on president, current signs of growth w/young population
Federal Republic of Nigeria: Fragile Federal Democracy
 Pre-colonial -> Colonial -> 1914 Constitution -> Independent 1960 -> 1979 Presidential
System -> Deep ethnic cleavages
 President -> directly elected for 4 yr terms, 2 yr limit, 2 round/majority
 Bicameral Legislature -> Parliamentary till 1979, now National Assembly
 Senate -> 109 members, 3 per state, 4 yr terms, directly elected
 House of Representatives -> 360 members 4 yr terms, SMD by plurality
 Judiciary -> Strong after independence, ravaged by military rule, sharia law, theoretical
judicial review
 Military -> strong, one institution that can restore order
 Political parties -> regionally and ethnically based
 Interest Groups -> play role in Nigerian politics, some based on religion
 Labor Unions -> independent with power and have done effective things
 Media -> well developed independent press with ethnic interests/issues
 Ethnicity -> Hausi-Fulani (29%), Yoruba (21%), Igbo (18%)
 Religion -> 50% Muslim, 40% Christian
 Region -> North: Poor and Muslim, South: Wealthy from oil and Christian
 Civil Society -> Open and Free centered around religion and ethnicity
Anjay Bhatt

 Elections -> Used to be corrupt, new reforms are making elections more legitimate