<p>Are they really similar? Is it smart to take both in one year?</p>
<p>It depends on what you want. If you really want to learn about comparative government, then spend a full year on it, read widely, think long, and prepare yourself not only for the ap exam but for general enlightened citizenship. Same goes for US government.</p>
<p>But if you just want the AP credits, and if you're willing to keep up a fairly fast pace throughout the year, taking them both is fine. They're designed to be one semester classes (albeit one semester of standard AP hamster-wheel-memorization) and as such fit nicely with and complement each other.</p>
<p>The classes themselves are putatively quite different. Comparative Government gives only a very basic survey of the history and current policies of six countries, and the emphasis is on seeing global trends and being able to analytically compare aspects of very different regimes. US Government offers a slightly more in-depth survey on one country's government, and the emphasis is on basic analysis and fact regurgitation. In my opinion, US Gov is the easier of the two, but they definitely cross over, and knowing one government in some degree of depth would absolutely help you with the comparative side.</p>
<p>I might be biased though...my Comp Gov class this year is being spread out to take up a full year, which gives us lots of time to do seminars, debates, readings (of articles, full books, ancillary study guides, etc). It just feels more like a real class, not an AP-style marathon.</p>
<p>At my school, we take AP US Gov't in the fall and AP Comp Gov't in the Spring - the classes come together as a package, so if you want to take one you have to take both.</p>
<p>My AP US Gov't final is already next week.. eek!</p>
<p>Very easy and fun to do. You should get 5's if you can memorize.</p>
<p>Thanks for the posts!! I will definitely do at least one of the two classes! I heard that there aren't really any good studybooks for Comp Gov't... Is this true? How is it with US Gov't?</p>
<p>AP US GOV is like a harder version of Civics....
You just need to memorize and read more information than Civics.</p>
<p>I just did some of my own research, and the only two books I could fond for comparative government were REA's study guide and the one by Ethel Woods. On Amazon, REA got horrible reviews, but Ethel Woods got extremely good reviews. Did anyone here self-study for this exam?</p>
<p>I've heard that Ethel Woods is the best</p>
<p>Yea, Ethel Wood's is considered the best AP Comp Gov guide, I think a new one is coming out.</p>
<p>I know that the newest edition came out in October 2005. Do you guys think it's possible to self-study for Comparative Government?</p>
<p>I'm self-studying with the Ethel Woods book... definitely do-able</p>
<p>Awesome! Have you ever taken any form of politics/government class before? I haven't, so I hope I will still be able to do it.</p>