King Sparks Interest for Global Politics Through New AP Comparative Gov. Class

by Yusra Husain and Rachel Klein ‘22

Michael King helps senior Maddie Fecko with her notes on Russia’s electoral system during seventh period AP Comparative Government.

AP Comparative Government was reintroduced this year at Sherwood by social studies teacher Michael King after being discontinued about a decade ago. When King arrived at Sherwood five years ago, AP CompGov stood out to him as a class he wanted to bring back to the school in the near future.

“I know a lot of the students here have an interest in government when it comes to their potential careers or international study, and this class has a little bit of both,” said King.

The class curriculum by the College Board is organized around the study of six countries: The United Kingdom, Iran, Russia, Mexico, Nigeria, and China. For each country, students delve deep into the differing political institutions, electoral systems, regimes, and more.

“You learn about some democracies and you learn about some authoritarian governments – you see the good and bad. It’s not so cut and dry, so you get more of a perspective,” describes King.

The class also provides students with the opportunity to learn about the contemporary world around them, as well as the events that shaped how these countries run today.

Throughout the course, there are six countries worth of current events that keep the content updated and applicable to real life. For example, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated just as students were learning about Russia’s political party and electoral systems, so students used class content to analyze and comprehend Russia’s actions.

Many students who took AP U.S. Government and Politics (AP NSL) were eager to take King’s new class for a multitude of reasons. Senior Emma Dorsey took AP CompGov to learn about “parts of the world other than the United States or western centric ideas.” Dorsey particularly enjoys learning about various political parties and citizens’ diverse stances on their country’s policies.

For others, the primary motive for taking the class was quite simple: Mr. King. Senior Mukhtar Idris learns best from King’s teaching style because “he’s really nice and laid back, but he also expects things of you. There’s a good balance of both.”

Despite positive feedback from current students, AP CompGov will unfortunately not be offered at Sherwood during the 2022-2023 school year due to low registration. “I assumed this might be the case due to the fact that the last two years have been virtual, so I haven’t had a chance to build as many relationships as in-person learning,” expressed King.

However, King is confident that this won’t be the last of AP CompGov at Sherwood. “I’ve spoken to a lot of freshmen and sophomores this year that I’m teaching who seem really interested in the course, so I feel really strongly that we’re going to come back in 2023.”