Unit 1 Course & Exam Description

The Course and Exam Description (CED) outlines the essential framework for studying comparative politics. 

Unit 1 One Page Readings & Flip Notes

One-Page Readings (OPR):

Short readings that explain the main ideas of each lesson so you can learn the content before class instead of listening to a lecture.

Flip Notes (FN):

Guided notes that help you pull out the most important ideas from the reading and get ready to use them in class.

Lesson 1.1: The Practice of Political Scientists 

In this topic, you’ll learn what a political system is and why it matters. You’ll explore how countries organize power, make decisions, and define the relationship between the state and its people. By understanding key ideas like the state, nation, and sovereignty, you’ll begin building the foundation needed to compare how different governments function around the world.

Lesson 1.2: Defining Political Organizations 

This topic introduces the belief systems that shape political decisions and public policy. You’ll examine how ideologies influence government actions, citizen behavior, and debates over the role of the state in society and the economy.

Lesson 1.3: Defining Political Organizations 

In this topic, you’ll compare democratic and authoritarian regimes. You’ll examine how governments differ in rule of law, elections, media freedom, transparency, and citizen participation. These characteristics help determine how power is limited—or concentrated—within a political system.

Lesson 1.4: Democratization

This topic focuses on how political systems change over time. You’ll study democratization as the process of moving from authoritarian rule toward democracy, including its goals, challenges, and setbacks. You’ll also explore how election rules, civil liberties, and corruption can support or slow democratic progress.

Lesson 1.5: Sources of power and Authority

In this topic, you’ll examine where governments get their power and authority. You’ll explore sources like constitutions, political parties, religion, militaries, and popular support, and compare how different countries use these sources to maintain control, stability, and legitimacy.

Lesson 1.6: Change in Power and Authority

This topic looks at how power shifts within political systems. You’ll explore how regimes and governments change through elections, revolutions, or coups, and why some changes are peaceful while others are violent. The focus is on how authority is gained, challenged, and replaced over time.

Lesson 1.7: Federal and Unitary Systems

In this topic, you’ll examine how power is distributed within states. You’ll compare federal systems, which divide power between national and regional governments, to unitary systems, which centralize power. You’ll also explore why countries choose one system over the other and how power distribution affects stability.

Lesson 1.8: Political Legitimacy

This topic explores why people accept a government’s right to rule. You’ll study different sources of legitimacy—such as elections, constitutions, ideology, religion, and economic performance—and how legitimacy strengthens state authority and sovereignty.

Lesson 1.9: Sustaining Legitimacy

Here, you’ll analyze how governments maintain—or lose—legitimacy over time. You’ll examine factors like effective policies, peaceful transfers of power, corruption, economic performance, and public trust to understand why some governments endure while others face growing opposition.

Lesson 1.10: Political Stability

This topic focuses on the forces that support or threaten stability within states. You’ll examine how internal actors such as protest movements, separatist groups, corruption, and civil society interact with government authority and influence whether political systems remain stable or face serious challenges.

Unit 1 Review

Students choose one of two review options to prepare for the Unit 1 assessment. Each option reinforces key Comparative Government concepts by applying course countries, core vocabulary, and analytical thinking aligned to the CED.  Please select ONE option to complete for the reviw.