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Test InformationGuide:College-LevelExaminationProgram®

2012-13

AmericanGovernment

© 2012 The College Board. All rights reserved. College Board, College-Level ExaminationProgram, CLEP, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board.


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CLEP TEST INFORMATION GUIDEFOR AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

History of CLEP

Since 1967, the College-Level Examination Program(CLEP®) has provided over six million people withthe opportunity to reach their educational goals.CLEP participants have received college credit forknowledge and expertise they have gained throughprior course work, independent study or work andlife experience.

Over the years, the CLEP examinations have evolvedto keep pace with changing curricula and pedagogy.Typically, the examinations represent material taughtin introductory college-level courses from all areasof the college curriculum. Students may choose from33 different subject areas in which to demonstratetheir mastery of college-level material.

Today, more than 2,900 colleges and universitiesrecognize and grant credit for CLEP.

Philosophy of CLEP

Promoting access to higher education is CLEP’sfoundation. CLEP offers students an opportunity todemonstrate and receive validation of theircollege-level skills and knowledge. Students whoachieve an appropriate score on a CLEP exam canenrich their college experience with higher-levelcourses in their major field of study, expand theirhorizons by taking a wider array of electives andavoid repetition of material that they already know.

CLEP Participants

CLEP’s test-taking population includes people of allages and walks of life. Traditional 18- to 22-year-oldstudents, adults just entering or returning to school,home-schoolers and international students who needto quantify their knowledge have all been assisted byCLEP in earning their college degrees. Currently,58 percent of CLEP’s test-takers are women and51 percent are 23 years of age or older.

For over 30 years, the College Board has worked toprovide government-funded credit-by-examopportunities to the military through CLEP. Militaryservice members are fully funded for their CLEP examfees. Exams are administered at military installations

worldwide through computer-based testing programsand also — in forward-deployed areas — throughpaper-based testing. Approximately one-third of allCLEP candidates are military service members.

2011-12 National CLEP Candidates by Age*

These data are based on 100% of CLEP test-takers who responded to this survey question during their examinations.

*

Under 1810%

18-22 years39%

23-29 years22%

30 years and older29%

2011-12 National CLEP Candidates by Gender

42%

58%

Computer-Based CLEP Testing

The computer-based format of CLEP exams allowsfor a number of key features. These include:

• a variety of question formats that ensure effectiveassessment

• real-time score reporting that gives students andcolleges the ability to make immediate credit-granting decisions (except College Composition,which requires faculty scoring of essays twice amonth)

• a uniform recommended credit-granting score of50 for all exams

• “rights-only” scoring, which awards one point percorrect answer

• pretest questions that are not scored but providecurrent candidate population data and allow forrapid expansion of question pools


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CLEP Exam Development

Content development for each of the CLEP examsis directed by a test development committee. Eachcommittee is composed of faculty from a widevariety of institutions who are currently teachingthe relevant college undergraduate courses. Thecommittee members establish the test specificationsbased on feedback from a national curriculumsurvey; recommend credit-granting scores andstandards; develop and select test questions; reviewstatistical data and prepare descriptive material foruse by faculty (Test Information Guides) and studentsplanning to take the tests (CLEP Official Study Guide).

College faculty also participate in CLEP in otherways: they convene periodically as part ofstandard-setting panels to determine therecommended level of student competency for thegranting of college credit; they are called upon towrite exam questions and to review forms and theyhelp to ensure the continuing relevance of the CLEPexaminations through the curriculum surveys.

The Curriculum Survey

The first step in the construction of a CLEP exam isa curriculum survey. Its main purpose is to obtaininformation needed to develop test-contentspecifications that reflect the current collegecurriculum and to recognize anticipated changes inthe field. The surveys of college faculty areconducted in each subject every three to five yearsdepending on the discipline. Specifically, the surveygathers information on:

• the major content and skill areas covered in theequivalent course and the proportion of the coursedevoted to each area

• specific topics taught and the emphasis given toeach topic

• specific skills students are expected to acquire andthe relative emphasis given to them

• recent and anticipated changes in course content,skills and topics

• the primary textbooks and supplementary learningresources used

• titles and lengths of college courses thatcorrespond to the CLEP exam

The Committee

The College Board appoints standing committees ofcollege faculty for each test title in the CLEP battery.Committee members usually serve a term of up tofour years. Each committee works with contentspecialists at Educational Testing Service to establishtest specifications and develop the tests. Listedbelow are the current committee members and theirinstitutional affiliations.

James Sheffield, Jr.,Chair

University of Oklahoma

Kara Lindaman Winona State University

Rorie Solberg Oregon State University

The primary objective of the committee is to producetests with good content validity. CLEP tests must berigorous and relevant to the discipline and theappropriate courses. While the consensus of thecommittee members is that this test has high contentvalidity for a typical introductory AmericanGovernment course or curriculum, the validity of thecontent for a specific course or curriculum is bestdetermined locally through careful review andcomparison of test content, with instructional contentcovered in a particular course or curriculum.

The Committee Meeting

The exam is developed from a pool of questionswritten by committee members and outside questionwriters. All questions that will be scored on a CLEPexam have been pretested; those that pass a rigorousstatistical analysis for content relevance, difficulty,fairness and correlation with assessment criteria areadded to the pool. These questions are compiled bytest development specialists according to the testspecifications, and are presented to all the committeemembers for a final review. Before convening at atwo- or three-day committee meeting, the membershave a chance to review the test specifications andthe pool of questions available for possible inclusionin the exam.


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At the meeting, the committee determines whetherthe questions are appropriate for the test and, if not,whether they need to be reworked and pretestedagain to ensure that they are accurate andunambiguous. Finally, draft forms of the exam arereviewed to ensure comparable levels of difficulty andcontent specifications on the various test forms. Thecommittee is also responsible for writing anddeveloping pretest questions. These questions areadministered to candidates who take the examinationand provide valuable statistical feedback on studentperformance under operational conditions.

Once the questions are developed and pretested,tests are assembled in one of two ways. In somecases, test forms are assembled in their entirety.These forms are of comparable difficulty and aretherefore interchangeable. More commonly,questions are assembled into smaller,content-specific units called testlets, which can thenbe combined in different ways to create multiple testforms. This method allows many different forms tobe assembled from a pool of questions.

Test Specifications

Test content specifications are determined primarilythrough the curriculum survey, the expertise of thecommittee and test development specialists, therecommendations of appropriate councils andconferences, textbook reviews and other appropriatesources of information. Content specifications takeinto account:

• the purpose of the test

• the intended test-taker population

• the titles and descriptions of courses the test isdesigned to reflect

• the specific subject matter and abilities to be tested

• the length of the test, types of questions andinstructions to be used

Recommendation of the AmericanCouncil on Education (ACE)

The American Council on Education’s CollegeCredit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT)has evaluated CLEP processes and procedures for

developing, administering and scoring the exams.Effective July 2001, ACE recommended a uniformcredit-granting score of 50 across all subjects, withthe exception of four-semester language exams,which represents the performance of students whoearn a grade of C in the corresponding collegecourse.

The American Council on Education, the majorcoordinating body for all the nation’s higher educationinstitutions, seeks to provide leadership and a unifyingvoice on key higher education issues and to influencepublic policy through advocacy, research and programinitiatives. For more information, visit the ACECREDIT website at www.acenet.edu/acecredit.

CLEP Credit Granting

CLEP uses a common recommended credit-grantingscore of 50 for all CLEP exams.

This common credit-granting score does not mean,however, that the standards for all CLEP exams arethe same. When a new or revised version of a test isintroduced, the program conducts a standard settingto determine the recommended credit-granting score(“cut score”).

A standard-setting panel, consisting of 15–20 facultymembers from colleges and universities across thecountry who are currently teaching the course, isappointed to give its expert judgment on the level ofstudent performance that would be necessary toreceive college credit in the course. The panelreviews the test and test specifications and definesthe capabilities of the typical A student, as well asthose of the typical B, C and D students.* Expectedindividual student performance is rated by eachpanelist on each question. The combined average ofthe ratings is used to determine a recommendednumber of examination questions that must beanswered correctly to mirror classroom performanceof typical B and C students in the related course. Thepanel’s findings are given to members of the testdevelopment committee who, with the help ofEducational Testing Service and College Boardpsychometric specialists, make a final determinationon which raw scores are equivalent to B and C levelsof performance.

*Student performance for the language exams (French, German and Spanish)is defined only at the B and C levels.


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American Government

Description of the Examination

The American Government examination coversmaterial that is usually taught in a one-semesterintroductory course in American government andpolitics at the college level. The scope and emphasisof the exam reflect what is most commonly taughtin introductory American government and politicscourses in political science departments around theUnited States. These courses go beyond a generalunderstanding of civics to incorporate politicalprocesses and behavior. The exam covers topicssuch as the institutions and policy processes of thefederal government, the federal courts and civilliberties, political parties and interest groups,political beliefs and behavior, and the content andhistory of the Constitution.

The examination contains approximately100 questions to be answered in 90 minutes.Some of these are pretest questions that will notbe scored. Any time candidates spend on tutorialsand providing personal information is in addition tothe actual testing time.

Knowledge and Skills Required

Questions on the American Governmentexamination require candidates to demonstrateone or more of the following abilities in theapproximate proportions indicated.

• Knowledge of American government andpolitics (about 55%–60% of the exam)

• Understanding of typical patterns of politicalprocesses and behavior (including thecomponents of the behavioral situation of apolitical actor), and the principles used to explainor justify various governmental structures andprocedures (about 30%–35% of the exam)

• Analysis and interpretation of simple data thatare relevant to American government and politics(10%–15% of the exam)

The subject matter of the American Governmentexamination is drawn from the following topics.The percentages next to the main topics indicatethe approximate percentage of exam questions onthat topic.

30%–35% Institutions and Policy Processes:Presidency, Bureaucracy andCongress• The major formal and informal

institutional arrangements and powers• Structure, policy processes and

outputs• Relationships among these three

institutions and links between themand political parties, interest groups,the media and public opinion

15%–20% Federal Courts, Civil Liberties andCivil Rights• Structure and processes of the judicial

system, with emphasis on the role andinfluence of the Supreme Court

• The development of civil rights andcivil liberties by judicial interpretation

• The Bill of Rights• Incorporation of the Bill of Rights• Equal protection and due process

15%–20% Political Parties and Interest Groups• Political parties (including their

function, organization, mobilization,historical development and effects onthe political process)

• Interest groups (including the varietyof activities they typically undertakeand their effects on the politicalprocess)

• Elections (including the electoralprocess)

10%–15% Political Beliefs and Behavior• Processes by which citizens learn

about politics• Political participation (including

voting behavior)• Public opinion• Beliefs that citizens hold about their

government and its leaders• Political culture (the variety of factors

that predispose citizens to differ fromone another in terms of their politicalperceptions, values, attitudes andactivities)

• The influence of public opinion onpolitical leaders

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A m e r i c A n G o v e r n m e n t

15%–20% Constitutional Underpinnings ofAmerican DemocracyThe development of concepts such as• Federalism (with attention to

intergovernmental relations)• Separation of powers• Checks and balances• Majority rule• Minority rights• Considerations that influenced the

formulation and adoption of theConstitution

• Theories of democracy

Sample Test Questions

The following sample questions do not appear on anactual CLEP examination. They are intended to givepotential test-takers an indication of the format anddifficulty level of the examination and to providecontent for practice and review. Knowing the correctanswers to all of the sample questions is not aguarantee of satisfactory performance on the exam.

Directions: Each of the questions or incompletestatements below is followed by five suggestedanswers or completions. Select the one that isbest in each case.

1. Which of the following statements best reflectsthe pluralist theory of American politics?

(A) American politics is dominated by asmall elite.

(B) Public policies emerge from cooperationamong elites in business, labor, andgovernment.

(C) Public policies emerge from compromisesreached among competing groups.

(D) American politics is dominated by cities atthe expense of rural areas.

(E) The American political arena is made up ofisolated individuals who have few groupaffiliations outside the family.

2. Which of the following is generally the mostsignificant influence on an individual’sidentification with a particular political party?

(A) Religious affiliation(B) Family(C) Level of education(D) Television(E) The party identification of the incumbent

president

3. Which of the following committee assignmentswould confer the most power and influence onmembers of the House of Representatives?

(A) Agriculture(B) Ways and Means(C) Veterans’ Affairs(D) Armed Services(E) Education and Labor

4. Which of the following statements about Brownv. Board of Education of Topeka is correct?

(A) It declared segregation by race in the publicschools unconstitutional.

(B) It established the principle of one person,one vote.

(C) It required that citizens about to be arrestedbe read a statement concerning their right toremain silent.

(D) It declared Bible reading in the publicschools unconstitutional.

(E) It declared segregation by race in places ofpublic accommodation unconstitutional.

5. Prior to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, literacytests were used by some southern states to

(A) determine the educational achievement ofpotential voters

(B) prevent African Americans from exercisingtheir right to vote

(C) assess the general population’s understandingof the Constitution

(D) hinder the migration of northerners(E) defend the practice of segregation

A M E R I C A N G O V E R N M E N T

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6. The practice whereby individual senators canveto federal judicial nominations in theirrespective states is called

(A) logrolling(B) preferential treatment(C) senatorial prerogative(D) senatorial courtesy(E) judicial selection

7. Differences between House and Senate versionsof a bill are resolved

(A) in a conference committee(B) by the Rules committees of both chambers(C) in subcommittee hearings(D) by the president before the bill is signed

into law(E) during the bill’s markup phase

8. Which of the following principles protects acitizen from imprisonment without trial?

(A) Representative government(B) Separation of powers(C) Due process(D) Checks and balances(E) Popular sovereignty

9. The passage of legislation in Congress oftendepends on mutual accommodations amongmembers. This suggests that, to some extent,congressional behavior is based on

(A) ideological divisions(B) partisan division(C) the principle of reciprocity(D) deference to state legislatures(E) norms of seniority

10. Which of the following statements accuratelydescribes the president’s veto power?

I. A president sometimes threatens to veto abill that is under discussion in order toinfluence congressional decision making.

II. A president typically vetoes about a third ofthe bills passed by Congress.

III. Congress is usually unable to override apresident’s veto.

(A) I only(B) III only(C) I and III only(D) II and III only(E) I, II, and III

11. All of the following issues were decided at theConstitutional Convention of 1787 EXCEPT

(A) representation in the legislature(B) voting qualifications of the electorate(C) the method of electing the president(D) congressional power to override a

presidential veto(E) qualifications for members of the House and

Senate

12. Which of the following statements aboutpolitical action committees (PACs) is true?

(A) PACs may give unlimited contributions tothe election campaigns of individualcandidates.

(B) PAC spending has not kept pace withinflation.

(C) PAC activity is limited to directcontributions to political parties.

(D) Social-issue groups are the source of mostPAC dollars.

(E) PACs are more likely to support anincumbent candidate than a challenger,regardless of the incumbent’s partyaffiliation.


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13. The usefulness to the president of having cabinetmembers as political advisers is undermined bythe fact that

(A) the president has little latitude in choosingcabinet members

(B) cabinet members have no political supportindependent of the president

(C) cabinet members are usually drawn fromCongress and retain loyalties to Congress

(D) the loyalties of cabinet members are oftendivided between loyalty to the president andloyalty to their own executive departments

(E) the cabinet operates as a collective unit andindividual members have no access to thepresident

14. All of the following are constitutional rights thatneither the federal government nor the states canrestrict EXCEPT the right to

(A) remain silent during questioning(B) be represented by counsel(C) be indicted by grand jury(D) be informed of the charges pending(E) receive a trial by jury in a criminal case

15. In the electoral history of the United States,third parties have been effective vehicles ofprotest when they

(A) aligned themselves with one of themajor parties

(B) presented innovative programs in Congress(C) dramatized issues and positions that were

being ignored by the major parties(D) chose the president by depriving either of

the major parties of an electoral collegevictory

(E) supported a political agenda that appealedespecially to women

16. Which of the following best defines the term“judicial activism”?

(A) The tendency of judges to hear largenumbers of cases on social issues

(B) The efforts of judges to lobby Congressfor funds

(C) The unwillingness of judges to removethemselves from cases in which they have apersonal interest

(D) The attempts by judges to influence electionoutcomes

(E) The attempts by judges to influence publicpolicy through their case decisions

17. High levels of political participation have beenfound to be positively associated with which ofthe following?

I. A high level of interest in politicsII. A sense of political efficacy

III. A strong sense of civic duty

(A) III only(B) I and II only(C) I and III only(D) II and III only(E) I, II, and III

18. In the past 30 years, the single most importantvariable in determining the outcome of anelection for a member of the House ofRepresentatives has been

(A) incumbency(B) the candidate’s personal wealth(C) the previous political office the candidate

held in the district(D) the candidate’s membership in the political

party of the president(E) the candidate’s positions on key social issues


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19. Which of the following best describes theconcept of federalism embodied in the UnitedStates government?

(A) The Constitution divides power between acentral government and its constituentgovernments, with some powers beingshared.

(B) The Constitution grants all governmentalpowers to the central government, whichmay delegate authority to state governments.

(C) State governments join together and form acentral government, which exists solely byapproval of the state governments.

(D) The central government creates stategovernments.

(E) State governments are sovereign in allmatters except foreign policy, which isreserved to the central government.

20. The power of the Rules Committee in the Houseof Representatives primarily stems from itsauthority to

(A) choose the chairs of other standingcommittees and issue rules for theselection of subcommittee chairs

(B) initiate all spending legislation and holdbudget hearings

(C) limit the time for debate and determinewhether amendments to a bill can beconsidered

(D) determine the procedures by whichnominations by the president will beapproved by the House

(E) choose the president if no candidate wins amajority in the electoral college

21. Which of the following is a function of theWhite House Office?

(A) Advising the president on political decisions(B) Heading federal departments as the

president’s representative(C) Preparing the national budget for the

president(D) Supervising national security agencies such

as the CIA and FBI(E) Acting as a liaison between the vice

president and Congress

22. A major difference between political parties andinterest groups is that interest groups generallydo NOT

(A) suggest new legislation that is supportive oftheir interests

(B) try to influence the outcome of legislation(C) occupy a place on the ballot(D) concern themselves with elections(E) have a national organization

23. An election is a realigning or critical election if

(A) one party controls the Congress and theother controls the presidency

(B) voter turnout is higher than expected(C) it occurs during a major war(D) there is a lasting change in party coalitions(E) the same party controls both Congress and

the presidency

24. Which of the following Supreme Court casesinvolved the principle of one person, one vote?

(A) Baker v. Carr(B) Roe v. Wade(C) Mapp v. Ohio(D) Korematsu v. United States(E) Gideon v. Wainwright

25. The passage of broad legislation that leaves themaking of specific rules to the executive branchis an example of

(A) shared powers(B) delegated authority(C) checks and balances(D) executive agreement(E) a legislative veto


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26. The redrawing of congressional districts in sucha way as to give special advantage to onepolitical party is referred to as

(A) electioneering(B) gerrymandering(C) logrolling(D) apportionment(E) politicization

27. The details of legislation are usually worked outin which of the following settings?

(A) A party caucus(B) The majority leader’s office(C) The floor of the House(D) Legislative hearings(E) A subcommittee

28. A theoretical explanation of the operation ofdiverse interests in American politics isfound in

(A) the Virginia Plan(B) John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty(C) The Federalist papers(D) the Declaration of Independence(E) John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government

29. Which of the following best describes thejurisdiction that the Constitution gives to theSupreme Court?

(A) Much original jurisdiction and littleappellate jurisdiction

(B) Much original jurisdiction and no appellatejurisdiction

(C) Little original jurisdiction and muchappellate jurisdiction

(D) No original jurisdiction and much appellatejurisdiction

(E) No original jurisdiction and little appellatejurisdiction

30. According to the table above, which of thefollowing statements is true?

(A) In every election, women between the agesof 18 and 29 were more likely to identifythemselves as Republicans than werewomen of all ages.

(B) In the 2000 election, more than one-half ofall men identified themselves as Democrats.

(C) In every election, the difference in partisanidentification for men was greater than thedifference in partisan identification forwomen.

(D) In the 1996 election, women between theages of 18 and 29 were more likely toidentify themselves as Democrats than weremen between the ages of 18 and 29.

(E) In the 2008 election, more men between theages of 18 and 29 identified themselves asRepublicans than Democrats.


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HOW PEOPLE IDENTIFY WITH POLITICAL PARTIES

All VotersMen Women

Rep % Dem % D-R diff Rep % Dem % D-R diff2008 43 46 +3 33 56 +222004 48 43 -5 40 51 +112000 47 42 -5 38 51 +131996 49 43 -6 39 53 +141992 45 46 +1 40 52 +12

Young Voters Ages 18–29Men Women

Rep % Dem % D-R diff Rep % Dem % D-R diff2008 38 52 +14 28 63 +352004 44 47 +3 36 54 +182000 46 44 -2 37 53 +161996 50 44 -6 38 55 +171992 52 42 -10 42 50 +8

Based on registered voters who identify with or lean towards the Democratic or the Republican party; 1992–2004 figures are from the surveys conducted in the 12 months prior to each election; 2008 figures are from surveys conducted Oct. 2007–March 2008.

Source: Pew Research (http://pewresearch.org/pubs/813/gen-dems)


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31. Which of the following activities of Americanlabor unions is permissible by law?

(A) Engaging in strikes(B) Denying the public access to a business(C) Refusing a subpoena to appear before

Congress(D) Disobeying a court injunction to return

to work(E) Requiring members to make political

contributions

32. Which of the following best describes therelationship between socioeconomic status andparticipation in politics?

(A) The lower one’s socioeconomic status,the more likely it is that one will run forpublic office.

(B) The higher one’s socioeconomic status, thegreater the probability of active involvementin the political process.

(C) Adults who are unemployed have a greaterpersonal interest in policy and tend toparticipate more actively in politics than doemployed adults.

(D) People in the lower socioeconomic statusare the most likely to vote.

(E) There is no relationship betweensocioeconomic status and politicalparticipation.

Source: Martha Joynt Kumar “The White House and the Press: NewsOrganizations as a Presidential Resource and as a Source of Pressure,”Presidential Studies Quarterly 33, no.3 (September 2003): 669−670.

33. According to the information in the chart above,which of the following statements is true?

(A) Republican presidents held far fewer pressconferences per year than Democraticpresidents.

(B) The most recent presidents held fewer pressconferences per year than presidents in the1920s and 1930s.

(C) President Clinton held more pressconferences per year than his predecessor.

(D) On average, President Nixon held morepress conferences per year than PresidentJohnson.

(E) President Kennedy held more pressconferences per year than PresidentEisenhower.

34. One important change in political culture sincethe Second World War is that United Statescitizens have become

(A) less trusting of governmental institutionsand leaders

(B) less likely to think of themselves asideologically moderate

(C) less likely to support civil rights(D) more likely to believe that their actions can

influence government policy(E) more trusting of nongovernmental

institutions and leaders


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35. All of the following statements correctlydescribe judicial appointments at the federallevel EXCEPT:

(A) Congress nominates and confirms allappointments to the federal judiciary.

(B) Federal judicial appointments are typicallyevaluated by the American Bar Associationor the Federalist Society.

(C) If a senator is a member of the president’sparty, tradition may allow the senator toexercise an informal veto over an individualbeing considered from the senator’s state.

(D) Presidents seldom recommend for judicialappointment individuals from the oppositionpolitical party.

(E) Federal judgeships are often considered bypresidents as patronage positions.

36. Which of the following agencies determines thedomestic monetary policy of the United States?

(A) The Council of Economic Advisors(B) The United States Department of the

Treasury(C) The Office of Management and Budget(D) The Federal Reserve Board(E) The Export-Import Bank

37. Under which of the following conditions areinterest groups most likely to influencepolicymaking?

(A) When a problem has been dramatized bytelevision network news

(B) When the president has made a majoraddress on the subject

(C) When the parties in Congress have opposingpositions on the issue

(D) When presidential candidates have beendisagreeing with one another on the subject

(E) When the issue is a highly technical onerequiring very detailed legislation

38. All of the following help to explain thepresident’s difficulty in controlling cabinet-levelagencies EXCEPT:

(A) Agencies often have political support frominterest groups.

(B) Agency staff often have information andtechnical expertise that the president andpresidential advisers lack.

(C) The president cannot dismiss appointeesafter they have been confirmed by theSenate.

(D) Civil servants who remain in their jobsthrough changes of administration develoployalties to their agencies.

(E) Congress is a competitor for influence overthe bureaucracy.

39. In the Constitution as originally ratified in1788, the provisions regarding which of thefollowing most closely approximate popular,majoritarian democracy?

(A) Election of members of the House ofRepresentatives

(B) Election of members of the Senate(C) Election of the president(D) Ratification of treaties(E) Confirmation of presidential appointments

40. The most likely and often the most powerfulpolicy coalition of interests is likely to include afederal agency plus which of the following?

(A) Related agencies in the bureaucracy and acongressional committee chairperson

(B) Congress and the president(C) An interest group and the president(D) An interest group and a congressional

subcommittee(E) An interest group and the majority party


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41. Throughout most of the twentieth century,which of the following was most likely to occurin midterm congressional elections?

(A) The party of the president typically lostseats in Congress, regardless of whether thepresident was a Republican or a Democrat.

(B) The party of the president typically gainedseats in Congress, regardless of whether thepresident was a Republican or a Democrat.

(C) The Democratic Party gained seats inCongress, whereas the Republican Partylost seats.

(D) The Republican Party gained seats inCongress, whereas the Democratic Partylost seats.

(E) Voter turnout was typically higher than inpresidential elections.

42. Delegates to the Republican and Democraticnational conventions are primarily chosen

(A) by local party leaders(B) in primaries(C) in state caucuses(D) by members of Congress(E) by lottery

43. The chart above supports which of the followingstatements?

I. Both Republicans and Democrats have moretrust in the federal government to do abetter job than state governments.

II. Most groups trust their own stategovernments more than the federalgovernment.

III. Democrats trust the federal governmentmore than Republicans.

IV. Liberals believe in big government.

(A) I only(B) III only(C) II and III only(D) II and IV only(E) I, II, III, and IV

44. Which of the following political philosophersmost influenced the writing of the UnitedStates Constitution?

(A) Plato(B) Machiavelli(C) Locke(D) Rousseau(E) Marx


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45. The concept of responsible party governmentemphasizes which of the following aboutelections?

(A) Political parties will take positions similarto each other.

(B) Political parties will take clear, unambiguouspositions.

(C) Voters will decide how to vote on the basisof how well the incumbent party satisfiedthem.

(D) Voters will vote mostly according to pastidentification.

(E) Special interest groups provide platformsand policy positions to political parties andtheir candidates.

46. Which of the following is a difference betweenthe House of Representatives and the Senate?

(A) Seniority is more important in the Senatethan in the House.

(B) Leadership is more centralized in the Senatethan in the House.

(C) The Senate has the exclusive power toratify treaties.

(D) The Senate has more committees than doesthe House.

(E) The Senate may veto laws passed by theHouse, but the House may not vetosenatorial legislation.

47. Which of the following was a consequence ofthe New Deal legislation passed during theGreat Depression under the administration ofFranklin D. Roosevelt?

(A) States gained additional powers to passlegislation to relieve the economic problemsof the Depression.

(B) The federal government became a moreimportant agent of change than in previouspresidential administrations.

(C) New presidential appointments to federalcourts limited the judicial powers of theSupreme Court.

(D) Social policy became the primary concern ofstate governments.

(E) Presidents have been much more likely todefend their creation of emergency acts byclaiming executive privilege.

48. Congressional oversight is best described as

(A) monitoring the federal bureaucracy(B) monitoring the judicial branch and

court rulings(C) recommending and confirming federal

judges(D) regulating interstate commerce(E) implementing public policy

49. The differences between the political attitudesof men and women are referred to as

(A) the political gap(B) the gender gap(C) partisan politics(D) party loyalty(E) the median voter theory

50. According to the Constitution, which of thefollowing decides the presidential electionoutcome in the event that a single candidatedoes not get a majority of electoral votes?

(A) The Supreme Court(B) The Senate(C) The House of Representatives(D) Both houses of Congress(E) The sitting president

51. If the vice presidency of the United States isvacated, the Constitution stipulates that thepresident must

(A) appoint a new vice president with theapproval of the House only

(B) appoint a new vice president with theapproval of the Senate only

(C) appoint a new vice president with theapproval of both houses of Congress

(D) instate the Speaker of the House as thenew vice president

(E) leave the vice presidency vacant for theremainder of the term of office



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52. James Madison’s goal of setting power againstpower to minimize the concentration of authorityin any one branch of government is outlined inthe Constitution as a system of

(A) separation of powers(B) checks and balances(C) divided government(D) national supremacy(E) federalism

53. The declining number of marginal seats inCongress means that

(A) fewer seats are won by 55% or less of thevote

(B) there are fewer minor committeeassignments in Congress

(C) redistricting no longer affects elections(D) members of third parties are more likely to

be elected to Congress(E) fewer minorities are elected to Congress

54. The ability of the media to define the importanceof particular events and issues is called

(A) preemption(B) agenda setting(C) investigative reporting(D) minimal effects thesis(E) adversarial journalism

55. The power of judicial review was established in

(A) McCulloch v. Maryland(B) Gitlow v. NewYork(C) Dandridge v. Williams(D) Miranda v. Arizona(E) Marbury v. Madison

56. Which of the following is true of both the Houseof Representatives and the Senate?

(A) Both chambers must approve the president’snominees for judicial and administrativepositions.

(B) Both chambers employ a complex systemof permanent committees to assist them incarrying out their legislative duties.

(C) Both the Speaker of the House and theSenate’s president pro tempore are electedby majority vote of their respective chamber.

(D) Both chambers encourage and permitextensive discussion of important issues andproposed legislation on the chamber floor.

(E) When midterm vacancies occur in eitherchamber, state governors are permitted toappoint replacement members.

57. The authority of a chief executive to withholdapproval from specific parts of appropriationsbills passed by the legislature is known as

(A) a pocket veto(B) a line-item veto(C) a legislative veto(D) an executive order(E) an executive privilege

58. The weakening of political parties is most oftentraced to

(A) the single-member, winner-take-all system(B) the growth of political action committees

(PACs)(C) Progressive Era reforms(D) voters’ increasing level of education(E) voter apathy


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59. Which of the following contemporary politicalideologies posits that government power shouldbe used to promote individual economic securityand redistribute resources, but rejects the notionthat government should favor a particular set ofsocial values?

(A) Liberalism(B) Conservatism(C) Communitarianism(D) Libertarianism(E) Elitism

60. Which of the following best describes areferendum?

(A) A chief executive appoints an independentcommission to investigate allegations ofpolitical corruption.

(B) A legislature repeals an unpopular lawto improve the electoral advantage ofincumbents.

(C) A political party caucuses to choose itscandidates for a general election.

(D) Citizens vote directly on laws proposed bya state legislature.

(E) Citizens initiate the process of removingelected officials from office.

61. Which of the following is true of federaladministrative agencies?

(A) All agencies are formally part of acabinet-level department.

(B) They are seldom able to influence theformulation of national public policy.

(C) They collectively form one largeinstitutional pyramid with a commonpurpose.

(D) Congress has no means of controllingadministrative agencies.

(E) They have substantial influence over publicpolicy through administrative discretion.

62. Which of the following is a check on the powerof the United States Supreme Court?

(A) Congress controls the number of justiceswho may sit on the Court.

(B) The Court has the power to enforce itsdecisions.

(C) Cases involving a state’s laws can beheard only through the Court’s originaljurisdiction.

(D) The Court reviews all legislation after thepresident signs it into law.

(E) Congress cannot rewrite or repass a law thatthe Court has declared unconstitutional.

63. States, according to the full faith and creditclause of the Constitution

(A) can coin money if they choose, but theycannot print national currency

(B) must honor public records, acts, and judicialproceedings of every other state

(C) are not required to extradite fugitives ofjustice from other states

(D) can choose to suppress information on theircredit rating ahead of a bond issue

(E) have the right to regulate banking andissuers of credit

64. Which of the following is most likely to weakenparty leadership in the Senate?

(A) The confirmation of appointments to theSupreme Court

(B) The assignment of senators to permanentcommittees

(C) The use of filibuster by individual senators(D) The removal of the president following

impeachment(E) The ratification of treaties presented by the

president


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65. The principal source of presidents’ politicalinfluence is their

(A) constitutional authority to declare war(B) power to convene Congress(C) constitutional authority to execute public

policies(D) power to dictate diplomatic relations with

other countries(E) constitutional authority to grant pardons

66. Among the expressed powers of the federalgovernment enumerated in the Constitution ofthe United States is the power to

(A) monitor discrimination in the workplace(B) establish national political parties(C) standardize the licensing of lawyers(D) regulate interstate trade and commerce(E) standardize high school curriculums across

states

67. Which of the following accounts for the greatestpercentage of expenditure for state and localgovernments in the United States?

(A) Elementary and secondary education(B) Public welfare(C) Highways(D) Health and hospitals(E) Police

68. The use of initiative and referendum illustrateswhich of the following theories of governance?

(A) Separation of powers(B) Representative democracy(C) Direct democracy(D) Virtual democracy(E) Abusive democracy

69. In the United States political system, thesituation when one party controls the presidencywhile the opposing party controls both houses ofCongress is known as

(A) separation of powers(B) checks and balances(C) divided government(D) dual federalism(E) power elite

70. In The Federalist paper number 10,James Madison argued that

(A) the growth of factions was inevitable ina democracy

(B) federalism would curb ambition amongpolitical leaders

(C) the Supreme Court is the least dangerousbranch of government

(D) the Articles of Confederation would ensurethe safety of the nation

(E) the government should restrict the growthof interest groups through legislation

71. The constitutional redistribution of House seatsafter the census every ten years is known as

(A) malapportionment(B) reapportionment(C) redistricting(D) gerrymandering(E) referendum

72. Which of the following is true of the Articles ofConfederation?

(A) They were written shortly before theDeclaration of Independence.

(B) They formed a national government withsupremacy over the states.

(C) They included a bill of rights that wasapplied to the states.

(D) They provided for three branches ofgovernment.

(E) They created a national government with alegislature but no executive or judiciary.



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73. According to the United States Constitution,who has the right to create inferior courts?

(A) The president(B) The Supreme Court(C) The Congress(D) The bureaucracy(E) The Department of Justice

74. Which of the following is an example ofmonetary policy?

(A) Raising taxes(B) Funding foreign aid(C) Cutting defense spending(D) Increasing the reserve requirement(E) Making budget allocations to the Treasury

department

75. Congress has the least discretion to changespending for which of the following?

(A) Defense and education spending(B) Transportation and entitlement programs(C) Interest on the national debt and defense

programs(D) Education and entitlement programs(E) Interest on the national debt and entitlement

programs

76. Which of the following statements is historicallytrue of the electoral college?

(A) The electoral college was added to theConstitution as an amendment and has beenused only since the 1920s.

(B) Third-party candidates are oftenoverrepresented in the electoral collegeresults.

(C) The winner of the electoral college alsousually wins the popular vote.

(D) The electoral college allows small states tobecome swing states because each state getstwo electoral college votes.

(E) In the rare case of a tie vote in the electoralcollege, the winner is chosen by the popularvote results.

77. Which of the following actions gives thepresident an advantage over Congress inpromoting policy?

(A) Using the franking privilege(B) Impounding funding for projects of which

the president disapproves(C) Invoking senatorial courtesy(D) Utilizing the media through the bully pulpit(E) Invoking the power to end a filibuster

78. Which of the following is true of politicalparties?

(A) They are highly centralized organizationsthat rely very little on state participants.

(B) They establish guidelines of behavior andinsist that their candidates follow theseguidelines.

(C) They require all members to pay dues.(D) They try to gain control of government by

winning elections.(E) They generally concentrate their efforts on

a single policy area.

79. Which of the following best defines politicalculture?

(A) It is the process by which one acquiresopinions about government.

(B) It is the shared attitudes of a peopleregarding government.

(C) It is the belief that no one person can effectchange in government.

(D) It is the willingness of people to acceptgovernment’s right to rule.

(E) It is a statement by government officialsabout how citizens should behave.

80. Which of the following is the strongestdeterminant of an individual’s voting behavior?

(A) His or her socioeconomic background(B) Suggestions from family members(C) Newspaper and media endorsements(D) Political party affiliation(E) His or her opinions on policy issues



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Study Resources

Most textbooks used in college-level Americangovernment courses cover the topics in the outlinegiven earlier, but the approaches to certain topicsand the emphases given to them may differ. Toprepare for the American Government examination,it is advisable to study one or more collegetextbooks, which can be found in most collegebookstores. When selecting a textbook, check thetable of contents against the knowledge and skillsrequired for this test.

Visit www.collegeboard.org/clepprep for additionalAmerican government resources. You can also findsuggestions for exam preparation in Chapter IV ofthe Official Study Guide. In addition, many collegefaculty post their course materials on their schools’websites.


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1. C 2. B 3. B 4. A 5. B 6. D 7. A 8. C 9. C 10. C 11. B 12. E 13. D 14. C 15. C 16. E 17. E 18. A 19. A 20. C 21. A 22. C 23. D 24. A 25. B 26. B 27. E 28. C 29. C 30. D 31. A 32. B 33. B 34. A 35. A 36. D 37. E 38. C 39. A 40. D

41. A 42. B 43. C 44. C 45. B 46. C 47. B 48. A 49. B 50. C 51. C 52. B 53. A 54. B 55. E 56. B 57. B 58. C 59. A 60. D 61. E 62. A 63. B 64. C 65. C 66. D 67. A 68. C 69. C 70. A 71. B 72. E 73. C 74. D 75. E 76. C 77. D 78. D 79. B 80. D

Answer Key


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Test Measurement Overview

Format

There are multiple forms of the computer-based test,each containing a predetermined set of scoredquestions. The examinations are not adaptive. Theremay be some overlap between different forms of atest: any of the forms may have a few questions,many questions, or no questions in common. Someoverlap may be necessary for statistical reasons.

In the computer-based test, not all questionscontribute to the candidate’s score. Some of thequestions presented to the candidate are beingpretested for use in future editions of the tests andwill not count toward his or her score.

Scoring Information

CLEP examinations are scored without a penalty forincorrect guessing. The candidate’s raw score issimply the number of questions answered correctly.However, this raw score is not reported; the rawscores are translated into a scaled score by a processthat adjusts for differences in the difficulty of thequestions on the various forms of the test.

Scaled Scores

The scaled scores are reported on a scale of 20–80.Because the different forms of the tests are notalways exactly equal in difficulty, raw-to-scaleconversions may in some cases differ from form toform. The easier a form is judged to be, the higherthe raw score required to attain a given scaled score.Table 1 indicates the relationship between numbercorrect (raw score) and scaled score across all forms.

The Recommended Credit-GrantingScore

Table 1 also indicates the recommendedcredit-granting score, which represents theperformance of students earning a grade of C in thecorresponding course. The recommended B-levelscore represents B-level performance in equivalentcourse work. These scores were established as theresult of a Standard Setting Study, the most recenthaving been conducted in 2004. The recommendedcredit-granting scores are based upon the judgmentsof a panel of experts currently teaching equivalentcourses at various colleges and universities. These

experts evaluate each question in order to determinethe raw scores that would correspond to B and Clevels of performance. Their judgments are thenreviewed by a test development committee, which,in consultation with test content and psychometricspecialists, makes a final determination. Thestandard-setting study is described more fully in theearlier section entitled “CLEP Credit Granting” onpage 4.

Panel members participating in the most recent studywere:

Lydia Andrade University of the Incarnate WordDavid Barker University of PittsburghJoshua Behr Old Dominion UniversityMichael Crespin Michigan State UniversityJon Dalager Georgetown CollegeJohn Forren Miami UniversitySusan Grogan St. Mary’s College of MarylandRandy Hanson Colby-Sawyer CollegeAlice Jackson Morgan State UniversityAubrey Jewett University of Central FloridaCarlos Juarez Hawaii Pacific UniversityKalu Kalu Emporia State UniversityLinda Keith Collin County Community

CollegeAngela Lewis University of Alabama at

BirminghamKara Lindaman University of Wisconsin —

La CrosseDeWayne Lucas Hobart & William Smith

CollegeDonald Melton Arapahoe Community CollegeClarissa Peterson DePauw UniversityJames Riddlesperger Texas Christian UniversityJoseph Stewart, Jr. University of New MexicoKenneth Tillett Southwestern Oklahoma State

UniversityPaul Weizer Fitchburg State College

To establish the exact correspondences between rawand scaled scores, a scaled score of 50 is assigned tothe raw score that corresponds to the recommendedcredit-granting score for C-level performance. Thena high (but in some cases, possibly less than perfect)raw score will be selected and assigned a scaledscore of 80. These two points — 50 and 80 —determine a function that generates a raw-to-scaleconversion for the test.


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Table 1: American Government Interpretive Score Data

American Council on Education (ACE) Recommended Number of Semester Hours of Credit: 3

Course Grade Scaled Score Number Correct80 -79 -78 -77 -76 -75 9074 8973 87-8872 8671 8570 83-8469 82-8368 81-8267 8066 78-7965 77-7864 76-77

B 63 75-7662 73-7461 72-7360 71-7259 70-7158 68-6957 67-6856 66-6755 65-6654 63-6553 62-6352 61-6251 60-61

C 50* 59-6049 57-5948 56-5747 55-5646 54-5545 52-5444 51-5243 50-5142 49-5041 48-4940 46-4739 45-4638 44-4537 43-4436 42-4335 40-4134 39-4033 38-3932 37-3831 35-3630 34-3529 33-3428 32-3327 30-3226 29-3025 28-2924 27-2823 26-2722 24-2521 23-2420 0-23

*Credit-granting score recommended by ACE.Note: The number-correct scores for each scaled score on different forms may vary depending on form difficulty.


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Validity

Validity is a characteristic of a particular use of thetest scores of a group of examinees. If the scores areused to make inferences about the examinees’knowledge of a particular subject, the validity of thescores for that purpose is the extent to which thoseinferences can be trusted to be accurate.

One type of evidence for the validity of test scores iscalled content-related evidence of validity. It isusually based upon the judgments of a set of expertswho evaluate the extent to which the content of thetest is appropriate for the inferences to be madeabout the examinees’ knowledge. The committeethat developed the CLEP American Governmentexamination selected the content of the test to reflectthe content of American Government courses at mostcolleges, as determined by a curriculum survey.Since colleges differ somewhat in the content of thecourses they offer, faculty members should, and areurged to, review the content outline and the samplequestions to ensure that the test covers core contentappropriate to the courses at their college.

Another type of evidence for test-score validity iscalled criterion-related evidence of validity. Itconsists of statistical evidence that examinees whoscore high on the test also do well on other measuresof the knowledge or skills the test is being used tomeasure. Criterion-related evidence for the validityof CLEP scores can be obtained by studiescomparing students’ CLEP scores with the gradesthey received in corresponding classes, or othermeasures of achievement or ability. CLEP and theCollege Board conduct these studies, calledAdmitted Class Evaluation Service or ACES, forindividual colleges that meet certain criteria at thecollege’s request. Please contact CLEP for moreinformation.

Reliability

The reliability of the test scores of a group ofexaminees is commonly described by two statistics:the reliability coefficient and the standard error ofmeasurement (SEM). The reliability coefficient isthe correlation between the scores those examineesget (or would get) on two independent replicationsof the measurement process. The reliabilitycoefficient is intended to indicate thestability/consistency of the candidates’ test scores,and is often expressed as a number ranging from.00 to 1.00. A value of .00 indicates total lack ofstability, while a value of 1.00 indicates perfectstability. The reliability coefficient can be interpretedas the correlation between the scores examineeswould earn on two forms of the test that had noquestions in common.

Statisticians use an internal-consistency measure tocalculate the reliability coefficients for the CLEPexam. This involves looking at the statisticalrelationships among responses to individualmultiple-choice questions to estimate the reliabilityof the total test score. The formula used is known asKuder-Richardson 20, or KR-20, which is equivalentto a more general formula called coefficient alpha.The SEM is an index of the extent to which students’obtained scores tend to vary from their true scores.1

It is expressed in score units of the test. Intervalsextending one standard error above and below thetrue score (see below) for a test-taker will include68 percent of that test-taker’s obtained scores.Similarly, intervals extending two standard errorsabove and below the true score will include95 percent of the test-taker’s obtained scores. Thestandard error of measurement is inversely related tothe reliability coefficient. If the reliability of the testwere 1.00 (if it perfectly measured the candidate’sknowledge), the standard error of measurementwould be zero.

Scores on the CLEP examination in AmericanGovernment are estimated to have a reliabilitycoefficient of 0.91. The standard error ofmeasurement is 3.19 scaled-score points.1

True score is a hypothetical concept indicating what an individual’s score on atest would be if there were no errors introduced by the measuring process. It isthought of as the hypothetical average of an infinite number of obtained scoresfor a test-taker with the effect of practice removed.

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