Here are the definitions:

Referendum: When citizens vote directly on a specific topic or question. (A vote bypassing representatives)

Sovereignty: Independent and supreme right over a certain group of people or territory with recognition by other nations.

Unitary states: States with power primarily being in the national or central government and little to none being in local governments.

Federal states: States where the central/national government and subnational governments both share powers.

Political legitimacy: The recognition and acceptance by a population of an authority to rule and govern.

Political socialization: A process in which people decide and establish their political views.

Supranational organization: Organizations which several states as members which have sovereign powers over these members.

Economic liberalization: The process toward more free-market principles and less government interference in the economy.

A state: An organization (like a country) which rules and governs a territory.

Economic globalization: The move toward global trade between and in various nations of the world

Civil liberties: Protections from government interference on core principles (such as speech, assembly, religion)

Rentier state: A state which makes significant amounts of it’s money with the exporting of oil or other national resources.

Parliamentary system: A system in which the executive and legislative powers are fused together into one body and where the chief executive is accountable to the legislature which may remove him.

Civil society: Groups and organizations independent from government which function to gather people around causes related to politics, social life, charity, religion or others to be more powerful in putting forward agendas related to those causes.

Political ideology: A group of strongly held beliefs about what government should or should not do.

Theocracy: A political system which relies on religion and gives power to religious clerics.

Welfare state: A government with public policies that provide a social safety net. (Ex: guaranteed income)

Devolution: The giving of power and authority to local governments (like autonomous regions or cities) Often done by unitary states.

Command economy: An economy in which a central authority (most of the time government) runs the economy.

Market economy: An economy which is run by laws of supply and demand instead of a central authority like government.

Bicameralism: A two body legislature. (Example: House and Senate)

Illiberal democracy: Democracy with significant barriers on civil rights and civil liberties. (Examples: restrictions on voting or absence of independent judiciary)

Now these are not country specific but can be applied in describing a variety of countries. Those are all terms which appeared on past exams for Comparative Government I highly recommend for them to be known in advance to taking the test. Especially for free response questions these can be important as one can be asked to define a word for them.

The quizlet folder for these terms and definitions can be found at http://www.quizlet.com/232371360/core-defintions-for-ap-comparative-government-flash-cards/

To print a pdf of the terms please visit http://www.quizlet.com/232371360/print

To view Google slides of the terms please visit https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yUlS3EpAWfaTOl44UeSRE0IV-xLslcn64ioCY2GXCUE/edit?usp=sharing

To view a video going over these terms please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv1nv6alojE&feature=youtu.be

Please let me know if you think that any of these definitions should be changed.

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