Themes of AP COGO

Country/Nation

Tangible entity with physical boundaries, people, and organizations. An important source of people's collective political identity.

State

Institutions within a country- executive, legislative, judicial, military, police that set up policy and provide programs to protect citizens.

Nation

The thing that holds us together as a common political identity (a common set of beliefs, common religion, common language, common core values, etc)

Nation-State

When these two coincide, it's strong and stable; it is a source of instability when they do not coincide.

Political efficacy

Citizen's capacity to understand and influence political events.

Political socialization

How citizens learn about the politics of their country (how to behave through parents, media, education, etc)

Transparency

Does the government operate openly and keep citizens informed?

Globalization

Process of expanding markets across and connecting states culturally/socially.

International organizations

Multinational political union where power is negotiated and delegated to an authority by member states.

World Trade Organization

Global organization, a forum for members to negotiate trade agreements and disputes, removing barriers to trade.

International Monetary Fund

Helps countries who need financial help, associated with World Bank, promotes sustainable economic growth.

Political economy

How the government makes economic policy, which in turn affects a country's political process.

Neoliberalism

Economic philosophy: political freedom + free trade, low taxes, individual economic opportunities, less state control over property + market forces, FDI, ISI, tiger economy, command economy

Foreign direct investment (FDI)

Investment made by a company or individual in one country in business interests in another country.

Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI)

Substituting imports with domestically made industries and services(making the stuff they need domestically)

Tiger economy

An economy that takes the best parts of successful economies and makes them cheaper, better, faster, and more affordable (within attainable range).

Command economy

An economic system where the government dictates the economy.

GDP (Gross Domestic Product)

The market value of total final goods and services produced within a country during a given time period, often yearly.

GNP (Gross National Product)

GDP plus income earned abroad by a country's residents, useful for understanding a country's strength in the world economy but also doesn't take into account population size and standard of living.

GNP/Per capita

A measurement that divides GNP by the population, providing a more accurate understanding of economic strength relative to population size.

PPP (Purchasing Power Parity)

A method of measuring the actual cost of living in a country by calculating how much it would cost to live there in local currency.

The Democratic Idea

Citizens exercising control over policy made by states and governments, competitive regular elections, real possibility that the incumbent may lose

Liberal democracy

A tolerant system of government that promotes participation, individual freedoms, and civil rights. Social movements, rule OF law, neutral judiciary, open civil society, civilian control of military

Rule BY law

Typically used by authoritarian governments, not the same as rule of law.

Illiberal democracy

Has some of the qualities of a liberal democracy, but not all.

Consolidated democracies

Political systems that have established and consistent adherence to core democratic principles.

Mixed systems

Nations whose political systems have some democratic and some authoritarian principles.

Authoritarian regimes

Governance by coercive political authorities as opposed to popular support/legitimacy; essentially non-democracies.

Communist party-states

EX: China and Cuba

Theocracies

EX: Iran

Military governments

EX: Thailand

Absolute monarchies

EX: Saudi Arabia

Dictatorships

EX: North Korea

Distributional politics

The process of deciding how and why who gets what (ex: census helps gov decide which cities to give funding to).

Cleavages

Whatever divides people that affects their political allegiances and policy. Often associated with distributional politics.

Critical juncture

An important historical moment that shapes political institutions and future outcomes.

HDI (Human Development Index)

Measures life expectancy, average number of years in school, standard of living (GNP/per capita).

GINI Index/coefficient

Measures income inequality (how income is distributed among the population), measures disposable income, the lower the score the better.

Austerity measures

Government policies that aim to reduce public sector debt, including increasing taxes and decreasing government spending.

Social welfare

Social services, government programs designed to protect citizens from the economic risks and insecurities of life.

Empirical

Based on factual statements and statistics.

Normative

Value judgements built on facts on whether something is good, bad, etc.

Causation

Idea that one (or more) variable causes or influences another.

Correlation

Exists when a change in one variable coincides with a change in the other.