AP COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT MIDTERM 2
COMPLETE STUDY GUIDE AND GLOBAL
POLITICAL SYSTEMS REVIEW 2026
◉ What is inductive reasoning?
Answer: the means by which we go from studying a single case to
generating a hypothesis
◉ What is deductive reasoning?
Answer: the means by which we go from a hypothesis to studying a
number of cases
◉ One of the problems in case study research can be in the cases
that we use, or what is known as:
Answer: selection bias
◉ Political scientists are limited in their use of the comparative
method by:
Answer: the difficulty in controlling variables, a limited number of
comparable cases, difficulties in gathering information across cases
◉ What is an example of selection bias?
,Answer: studying revolution by looking at case studies of revolution
only
◉ Endogeneity refers to:
Answer: determining cause versus effect
◉ The earliest political thinker who practiced a form of comparative
analysis was:
Answer: Aristotle
◉ A true comparative approach to politics emerges with the work of:
Answer: Machiavelli
◉ A great criticism of comparative politics in the early twentieth
century was that it
Answer: was too descriptive, rather than explanatory
◉ Modernization theory can be defined as the view that
Answer: as societies develop, they will become capitalist
democracies
◉ The shift in political science toward seeking causality and using
quantitative methods is known as the
,Answer: behavioral revolution
◉ One big rift within the study of comparative politics is
Answer: quantitative vs. qualitative research
◉ the use of approaches like game theory rest on the assumption
that humans are
Answer: rational
◉ The collapse of communism is important for comparative politics
because
Answer: scholars did not anticipate it, calling their work to date into
question
◉ Recent discussions of the future of comparative politics and
political science have called for
Answer: a greater connection to political ideas and questions of
policy
◉ an institution can be defined as any
Answer: organization or pattern of activity that is self-perpetuating
and valued for its own sake
, ◉ Institutions are important, in part, because they
Answer: command authority and can influence behavior
◉ Which of the following is NOT an example of an institution found
in North America and Europe?
the army; baseball, hockey, or soccer; restaurants; taxation
Answer: restaurants
◉ The substance of politics is inevitable bound up in the struggle
between
Answer: individual freedom and collective equality
◉ A greater focus on individual freedom is associated with:
Answer: a smaller state
◉ A greater focus on collective equality is associated with
Answer: a larger state
◉ Political scientists, based on the work of Max Weber, define the
state as:
Answer: an organization that maintains a monopoly of violence over
a territory
COMPLETE STUDY GUIDE AND GLOBAL
POLITICAL SYSTEMS REVIEW 2026
◉ What is inductive reasoning?
Answer: the means by which we go from studying a single case to
generating a hypothesis
◉ What is deductive reasoning?
Answer: the means by which we go from a hypothesis to studying a
number of cases
◉ One of the problems in case study research can be in the cases
that we use, or what is known as:
Answer: selection bias
◉ Political scientists are limited in their use of the comparative
method by:
Answer: the difficulty in controlling variables, a limited number of
comparable cases, difficulties in gathering information across cases
◉ What is an example of selection bias?
,Answer: studying revolution by looking at case studies of revolution
only
◉ Endogeneity refers to:
Answer: determining cause versus effect
◉ The earliest political thinker who practiced a form of comparative
analysis was:
Answer: Aristotle
◉ A true comparative approach to politics emerges with the work of:
Answer: Machiavelli
◉ A great criticism of comparative politics in the early twentieth
century was that it
Answer: was too descriptive, rather than explanatory
◉ Modernization theory can be defined as the view that
Answer: as societies develop, they will become capitalist
democracies
◉ The shift in political science toward seeking causality and using
quantitative methods is known as the
,Answer: behavioral revolution
◉ One big rift within the study of comparative politics is
Answer: quantitative vs. qualitative research
◉ the use of approaches like game theory rest on the assumption
that humans are
Answer: rational
◉ The collapse of communism is important for comparative politics
because
Answer: scholars did not anticipate it, calling their work to date into
question
◉ Recent discussions of the future of comparative politics and
political science have called for
Answer: a greater connection to political ideas and questions of
policy
◉ an institution can be defined as any
Answer: organization or pattern of activity that is self-perpetuating
and valued for its own sake
, ◉ Institutions are important, in part, because they
Answer: command authority and can influence behavior
◉ Which of the following is NOT an example of an institution found
in North America and Europe?
the army; baseball, hockey, or soccer; restaurants; taxation
Answer: restaurants
◉ The substance of politics is inevitable bound up in the struggle
between
Answer: individual freedom and collective equality
◉ A greater focus on individual freedom is associated with:
Answer: a smaller state
◉ A greater focus on collective equality is associated with
Answer: a larger state
◉ Political scientists, based on the work of Max Weber, define the
state as:
Answer: an organization that maintains a monopoly of violence over
a territory
