AP Comparative Government Unit 5 Political Change — Deep Study Notes

Democratization

The process through which a political system becomes more democratic over time (often unevenly), involving more than just holding elections.

Free and Fair Elections

Elections in which competition is genuine and voters can meaningfully choose and replace leaders without fraud, coercion, or major structural bias.

Rule of Law

The principle that government power is constrained by laws applied consistently; leaders and citizens are subject to the law, not above it.

Civil Liberties

Protections for individual freedoms (e.g., speech, press, assembly) that allow opposition and citizens to organize and criticize the state.

Pluralism

A political environment where multiple groups, viewpoints, and organizations can exist and compete without being suppressed by the state.

Accountability

The ability to hold leaders responsible for their actions through elections, oversight institutions (courts/legislatures), and independent media/civil society.

Legitimacy

The belief that a government has the right to rule; democracies often claim legitimacy through consent and competitive elections.

Liberalization

When an authoritarian regime loosens controls (e.g., relaxes censorship or allows limited opposition), without necessarily giving up ultimate power.

Democratic Transition

A stage of democratization where the rules of power change (e.g., genuinely competitive elections, new constitution, real alternation in power).

Democratic Consolidation

When democratic rules and norms become “the only game in town,” including acceptance of election results and independent institutions with real authority.

Democratic Backsliding

The gradual weakening of democratic institutions, rights, and norms in a system that has (or had) meaningful democratic features, often through incremental legal changes.

Executive Aggrandizement

A backsliding mechanism where the executive concentrates power by weakening legislatures, courts, or independent agencies while maintaining a façade of legality.

Electoral Manipulation (without canceling elections)

Undermining competition while still holding elections (e.g., using state media, restricting opposition financing, harassment, or controlling election administration).

Politicization of Courts

Undermining judicial independence by staffing courts with loyalists or pressuring judges, enabling selective enforcement and weaker constitutional limits.

Civil Society

Organizations outside the state (NGOs, unions, religious groups, professional associations) that can mobilize citizens, articulate demands, and pressure governments.

Elite Splits (Elite Fractures)

Divisions within the ruling coalition (e.g., hardliners vs. reformers) that can open opportunities for democratization or regime breakdown.

Revolution

A rapid, fundamental transformation of a political system involving mass mobilization and regime change (not just leader turnover).

Regime Change

A change in the rules and institutions of power—who governs and how authority is organized—rather than a simple change in leaders.

Coup d’état

An elite-driven seizure of power (often by the military) that may replace leaders without fundamentally changing the regime’s basic structure.

Reform

Changes within an existing political system (new policies or rights) that do not overturn core institutions or the regime structure.

State Crisis (Declining Legitimacy)

A situation where the government is seen as failing to solve major problems (e.g., repression, corruption, economic collapse), causing belief in its right to rule to erode.

Mass Mobilization

Large-scale popular participation (often organized through networks like unions, religious institutions, student groups, or parties) that can drive major political change.

Coercive Capacity (Coercive Apparatus)

The state’s ability to use or credibly threaten force via police/military; revolutions are more likely when this apparatus fractures or refuses full repression.

Fragmentation

Deep divisions within a state (ethnic, religious, linguistic, regional, or resource-based) that weaken shared political community and can shape voting, parties, and conflict.

Civic vs. Ethnic Nationalism

Two ways of defining national belonging: civic nationalism is based on citizenship and shared political values (more inclusive), while ethnic nationalism is based on ancestry, religion, language, or ethnicity (more exclusive).