AP Comparative Government and Politics / Political and Economic Changes and Development
Lesson
Development, resources, and outside pressure
Growth, oil, and global markets change what states can do and what citizens expect.
Learning goals
- Use more than GDP when describing development.
- Explain how resource revenue or globalization can reshape domestic politics.
Explanation
Development includes income, health, education, and the distribution of those goods. GDP per person is a start, not a finish. Inequality and regional gaps matter in Mexico, Nigeria, and China. A rising average can hide a stalled region or a favored city.
Oil and gas can fill a budget and weaken the need to tax citizens, which can thin accountability. Globalization brings trade, capital, and rules from lenders or supply chains. Sovereignty is not erased, but the menu of easy policies shrinks. Compare pressures; do not declare winners.
Key terms
- Rentier state. A state that draws a large share of revenue from resource rents or external payments rather than from broad domestic taxes.
- Globalization. The thickening of cross-border flows of goods, capital, people, and information.
Common mistakes
- Ranking the six countries from “developed” to “not” as if one scale were enough.
- Treating foreign investment as either always rescue or always theft.
Practice
Original Marlow Works items. Check the answer explanation after you try.
Compare economic liberalization in two AP Comparative countries (choose from China, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, or the United Kingdom). In a short essay, identify one similarity, one difference, and one political effect of liberalization in at least one of the countries.
Original Marlow Works item — not a College Board question.
Take your time—this is practice, not a test.
Answer explanation
A country’s GDP per person rises while regional inequality widens. Is development unambiguous?
Answer. No. Average income improved, but distribution and regional gaps may have worsened.
Development is multidimensional; one average can hide strain.
Related resources
External links with reuse status. Marlow Works is independent and does not copy restricted exam or textbook material.
Official / link only
AP Comparative Government and Politics course page
Official five-unit framework and country comparison scope.
College Board · All rights reserved · accessed 2026-10-01
Open sourceCC BY — attribution required
Introduction to Political Science
Open political science background for institutions and behavior.
Open Textbook Library listing · CC BY · accessed 2026-10-01
Open source