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Unit 1: Political Systems, Regimes, and Governments

• How political scientists collect and use data and information

• Types of political systems: regimes, states, nations, and governments

• Democracy and authoritarianism

• The ways governments and regimes get, keep, and lose power

• Factors that can either help or undermine the stability of a government

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Unit 2: Political Institutions

• Parliamentary, presidential, and semi-presidential government systems

• Executive institutions (for example, presidents, prime ministers, cabinets)

• Legislative systems (for example, congressional or parliamentary)

• Judicial systems (judges and courts)

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Unit 3: Political Culture and Participation

• Where the political attitudes and beliefs of citizens come from

• Political ideologies such as individualism, communism, and fascism

• Political participation by citizens and its effects

• Civil rights and civil liberties

• Social divisions within a country and their effects

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Unit 4: Party and Electoral Systems and Citizen Organizations

• Types of electoral systems and election rules

• Types of political party systems

• How social movements and interest groups cause political change

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Unit 5: Political and Economic Changes and Development

• Political responses to global market forces

• The effects of economic liberalization policies

• How governments adapt social policies to address political, cultural, and economic changes

• Rapid industrialization and its impacts

• The causes and effects of demographic changes