MAJORFIELDTESTINPOLITICALSCIENCE
SAMPLEQUESTIONS
Thefollowingquestionsillustratetherangeofthetestintermsoftheabilitiesmeasured,thedisciplinescovered,and
thedifficultyofthequestionsposed.Theyshouldnot,however,beconsideredrepresentativeoftheentirescopeof
thetestineithercontentordifficulty.Ananswerkeyfollowsthequestions.
Questions1-3refertothefollowingexcerptfromanarticleintheWashingtonPost.
WiththeCentralAmericanFreeTradeAgreement(CAFTA)inserioustrouble,aprominentbusiness
leaderrecentlylaiditontheline:Businessgroupsarepreparedtocutoffcampaigncontributionsto
Housememberswhoopposethepact.
"Ifyou[lawmakers]aregoingtovoteagainstit,it'sgoingtocostyou,"ThomasJ.Donohue,president
andCEOoftheU.S.ChamberofCommerce,warnedrecentlyduringameetingonCapitolHillof
leadersofa500-plusbusiness-tradeassociationcoalitionwithmorethan500members.
PresidentBushhasdeclaredratificationofCAFTAhistoptradepriorityoftheyear.Thepactwould
createaNAFTA-likefree-tradezonebetweentheUnitedStatesandfiveCentralAmericancountries
plustheCaribbean'sDominicanRepublic.
ButbothsidesagreethatwithoutamajorpushfromtheWhiteHouseandtheGOPleadership,CAFTA
islikelytobecomethefirstmajortradedealtobedefeatedinmorethan40yearsandamajor
embarrassmentfortheadministration.
Rep.SherrodBrown(D-Ohio),whoiscoordinatingtheoppositionamongHouseDemocrats,saidthe
percentagevotingagainsttradeagreementshassteadilygrownfromthe60to65percentrangeinthe
early1990s,andpredicted90percentwillopposeCAFTA.
ThemajorthreatinthecommitteeisthatalltheDemocratscouldlineupwithtwoRepublicans,
MichaelD.Crapo(Idaho)andCraigThomas(Wyo.),topassanonbindingbutpoliticallydamaging
amendmenteliminatingsugarprovisions.
Someofthebiggestwinnersifthepactisapprovedwouldincludethepharmaceuticalindustry,which
wouldgetprotectionfromproducersofgenerics;thehigh-techandtelecommunicationsindustries,
whichwouldgetintellectualpropertyprotectionsandaccesstotheCaribbeanInternet,cellularand
land-linephonesystems;andexportersincludingtheNationalPorkProducersandProcter&Gamble,
whichwouldseetariffbarriersloweredoreliminated.
Buttheyareupagainstformidableopponents,includingorganizedlabor,thesugarindustry,mostHouse
DemocratsandsomeconflictedsouthernRepublicans,whowanttosupportBushandtheGOP'sfreetrade
policiesbutareunderpressuretoprotectproducersintheirdistrictsfromoverseascompetition.
HouseDemocratsoverwhelminglyopposetheagreement,largelybecauseofconcernsoflaborunions
thattheagreementwouldnotadequatelyprotecttherightsoflow-paidworkersinCentralAmerica
whowouldbecompetingmoredirectlywithU.S.workers.
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1.
2.
3.
Manypro-trade,centristDemocratsarealsodeclaringtheiroppositioninordertovoicetheirbroader
disagreementwithBushadministrationtaxanddomesticspendingpoliciesthattheyarguearenot
doingenoughtoequiptheworkforcetodealwithachangingglobaleconomy.
TheleadersoftheRepublicanoppositiontoCAFTAareReps.WalterB.JonesJr.(N.C.)andVirgilH.
GoodeJr.(Va.),bothformerDemocrats.AnumberofRepublicanswhorepresentonce-Democratic
southerncongressionaldistrictsheavilydependentonagriculturalsubsidiesandtariffandquota
protectionsfortextilesalsoobjecttothetreaty.
UnderCAFTA,theUnitedStateswouldmakepermanentthetemporarysuspensionoftariffssetbythe
CaribbeanBasinInitiative.Inreturn,theDominicanRepublic,Honduras,CostaRica,ElSalvador,
GuatemalaandNicaraguawouldreduceoreliminatetariffsonmostimports,openstatemonopolies
toforeigncompetition,andremovelegalbarrierstoforeigninvestment.
BrownandJonespredictedtheadministrationwillbeginofferingspecialfavorstowavering
lawmakers."Theyaregoingtoopenthebankfortheseguys,"saidBrown,citingpastoffersofbridges
andotherpublicworksprojectstowinvotesoncontroversialtradebills.
WashingtonPost,June12,2005
Accordingtotheexcerpt,whichofthefollowingistrueconcerningsupportformajorfreetradelegislationinthe
UnitedStatesCongress?
(A)SuchlegislationismorelikelythanevertobeintroducedbyaDemocrat.
(B)SuchlegislationissupportedbyallmajorUnitedStatesindustries.
(C)Bipartisansupportforsuchlegislationisatanall-timehigh.
(D)Generalsupportforsuchlegislationisatitslowestpointindecades.
(E)Supportfor,oroppositionto,freetradelegislationisnottiedtoanyotherissue.
Accordingtotheexcerpt,whichofthefollowingmethodsistheWhiteHousemostlikelytousetoeffectthe
passageofthefreetradelegislation?
(A)Executiveorder
(B)Dailypressreleases
(C)Dischargepetition
(D)Pocketveto
(E)Logrolling
WhichofthefollowingpoliciesisNOTconsideredpartofafreetraderegime?
(A)Subsidies
(B)Tariffreductions
(C)Privatizationofindustry
(D)Foreigndirectinvestment
(E)Capitalcontrolreductions
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4.
5.
6.
Whichofthefollowingtermsisusedwhenvotersmakedecisionsbasedonhowwelltheeconomyperformed
duringanincumbent’stimeinoffice?
(A) Directionalvoting
(B) Prospectivevoting
(C) Proximityvoting
(D) Retrospectivevoting
(E) Party-linevoting
TheexclusionaryruleoftheConstitutionoftheUnitedStatesprohibits
(A) thefederalgovernmentfromdiscriminatingbasedonraceorgender
(B) theSenatefromintroducingrevenuebills
(C) thepresidentfromenteringintoagreementswithothernationswithoutsecuringSenateapproval
(D) theSupremeCourtfromissuingopinionsthatarenotbaseduponrealcasesorcontroversies
(E) courtsfromusingevidenceseizedinviolationoftheFourthAmendment
IntheUnitedStates,thetotalsizeoftheelectoralcollegeisdeterminedbywhichofthefollowing?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
ThetotalnumberofmembersintheUnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativesonly
ThetotalnumberofmembersintheUnitedStatesSenateonly
ThetotalcombinednumberofmembersinboththeUnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativesandSenateonly
ThetotalcombinednumberofvotingmembersinboththeUnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativesand
SenateandthedelegatesoftheDistrictofColumbiaonly
(E) ThetotalcombinednumberofmembersinboththeUnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativesandSenate,
delegatesoftheDistrictofColumbia,andtherepresentativesofUnitedStatesterritories
7.
Whichofthefollowingtermsisusedtodescribeasharpandenduringchangeinthepartisanloyaltiesofthe
electorate,oftenbroughtaboutbyawar,economiccrisis,ordivisiveissue?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
8.
Realignment
Dealignment
Bipartisanship
Dividedgovernment
Responsiblepartysystem
Typically,developingcountriesendowedwithlargedepositsofoilexperiencewhichofthefollowing?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Rapiddemocraticconsolidation
Slowereconomicgrowththanotherdevelopingcountries
Insulationfromeconomicthreatsposedbychangesintheglobaleconomy
Lowlevelsofcorruption,onaverage
Rapidindustrializationbecausetheycaninvestoilprofitsinotherareasoftheeconomy
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9.
Asemipresidentialsystemhasa
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
dualexecutiveselectedbyacouncilofmilitaryandcivilianleaders
singleexecutiveselectedbydirectpopularvote
singleexecutiveandaunicamerallegislature
headofgovernmentchosenbytheheadofstate
presidentandaprimeministerwhoshareexecutivepower
10. TheinternationaleconomicorderestablishedbytheBrettonWoodsagreementsincludedallofthefollowing
EXCEPT
(A) tradeliberalization
(B) agoldstandardforcurrency
(C) ameansforcurrencyliquidity
(D) assistanceforreconstructionanddevelopment
(E) floatingexchangerates
11. Ininternationalrelations,whichofthefollowingpositsthepeacefulbenefitsofhavingonedominantpowerinthe
internationalsystem?
(A) Hegemonicstabilitytheory
(B) Worldsystemtheory
(C) Balanceofpowertheory
(D) Dependencytheory
(E) Neoliberaltheory
12. Ameasureofaconceptisconsideredvalidifit
(A) willbescoredthesamebymultipleobservers
(B) canbeusedtopredictbehaviorthatoccurslaterintime
(C) relatestheoreticallytoothervariablesinthestudy
(D) capturesthesubstantivemeaningoftheconcept
(E) iscomposedofitemsthatcorrelatewithoneanother
13. Theargumentthatmassculturetendstostabilizeasystemofpoliticaldominationismostcharacteristicofwhich
ofthefollowing?
(A) Liberalism
(B) Conservatism
ANSWER KEY
(C) Criticaltheory
(D) Leninism
1. D
8. B
(E) Libertarianism
2. E
9. E
3. A
10. E
4. D
11. A
5. E
12. D
6. D
13. C
7. A
Copyright © 2016 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS and the ETS logo are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS).
MEASURING THE POWER OF LEARNING is a trademark of ETS. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. 31866