<p>Hey guys, I'm self-studying Comparative Government and I bought the Ethel Woods book like everyone suggested. The problem is, I'm very picky about how books are... set up I guess you could say. That being said, I honestly don't like the way the Ethel Woods book is laid out... Do any of you have any suggestions for other books I could possibly use to study for this exam? I'm self-studying another subject and I have the Princeton Review for it, and I love it. I can't find a Princeton Review for Comparative Government though. Please help!</p>
<p>That’s actually kind of interesting, I really prefer Ethel Wood’s simplistic layout and style. But anyway, I guess Barron’s worth a shot. They usual put out some really detailed books which is, well, better safe than sorry.</p>
<p>But no matter what book you end up choosing, I’d suggest reading up Wikipedia articles and encyclopedia entries on all of the bigger topics covered (i.e. looking up the government structure of Mexico on Wikipedia).</p>
<p>Since you have Ethel Woods already, why don’t you use it to cram the night before anyway?</p>
<p>Yeah, a lot of people like it… I really don’t know what it is about the layout that bothers me, but it just does… I really don’t like that book haha. Alright, I’ll try Barron’s then, thanks for the advice 
The Wikipedia advice was also really helpful, I’ll make sure I read up on all six countries at the very least.
Don’t worry, I will most definitely be cramming the night before 
haha
Thank you so much!</p>
<p>I just tried to find a Barron’s book on google, but it doesn’t seem like they have a comparative government book… Are you sure that particular company produces a book for comparative government?</p>
<p>I’m in the class as well. I have Ethel Woods’ book and I find it lovely, not to mention that I’ve only heard glorious reviews about it. If you’re going to try to find another prep book that has Comparative Government… good luck. I searched around the bookstore once and it didn’t get me zilch. Perhaps the subject may be lumped in with the AP US Gov test? I’m not sure.</p>
<p>Regardless, I came across this website in the summer and when I read your posts I searched it out again. I’m pretty sure that I would never have found it if I hadn’t remembered the school that the teacher taught at! Now I’m pretty proud of my memory haha.
[AP</a> Comparative Govt Intro](<a href=“http://www.crawfordsworld.com/rob/apcg/apcgindex.htm]AP”>AP Comparative Govt Intro)
This is a general link to the website, which I’m pretty sure has EVERYTHING that you’d need to know for the AP test. This guy was one heck of a teacher. </p>
<p>[Country</a> Outline](<a href=“http://www.crawfordsworld.com/rob/apcg/Unit3CountryOutline.html]Country”>Country Outline)</p>
<p>The site is overflowing with charts like this one ^^^ that pretty much cover… just about everything. </p>
<p>Good luck :)</p>
<p>The major prep book companies such as Barrons and PR don’t have a prep book for comp gov. Your best shot is Ethel Woods, even if you dislike her organization; all the information there is concise, accurate, and relevant to the AP test.</p>
<p>Now that I think about it, you might as well cough up the cash and take an online AP course or just a Comparative Gov 101 college course online or at your local CC. Material shouldn’t be THAT different.</p>
<p>^One, you don’t need a course for comp gov; it’s a relatively easy self-study. Two, the material differs drastically across non-AP comp gov courses: there are many countries to do case studies on, and it is highly unlikely that those courses cover the exact same six countries.</p>
<p>there are other books:
Ken Wedding’s prep book (there’s also a facebook page about it)
[What</a> You Need to Know 4.0](<a href=“http://www.apcomparativegov.com/]What”>http://www.apcomparativegov.com/)</p>
<p>& the REA book which lumps US & Comp gov into one book
[Amazon.com:</a> AP U.S. & Comparative Government & Politics (REA) - The Best Test Prep for the A: 8th Edition (Test Preps) (9780738600468): R. F. Gorman, J. Hamilton, Mr. Keith Mitchell, S. J. Hammond, E. Kalner, W. Phelan, G. G. Watson: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/U-S-Comparative-Government-Politics-REA/dp/0738600466]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/U-S-Comparative-Government-Politics-REA/dp/0738600466)</p>
<p>i recommend the Ethel & Wedding books, i used them and i got a 5
the prac test from the Wedding book is extremely helpful b/c it’s mainly country questions which are the harder questions on the test, whereas the general poli sci questions are easy (in my opinion at least)</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to do an online course.
@letigre thank you so much! I had been looking into the Wedding book, but I wasn’t sure if it was any good because all anyone ever talks about is the Ethel book. How much studying did you have to do? Did you just read the books once, or did you do an in-depth, note-taking form of studying?</p>
<p>@bethechange thanks alot! I looked at those charts and those are AMAZING! You have no idea how helpful that is going to be! :)</p>