Study Notes for Law Admissions (PSA) - UMSA

Institutional Framework for the Academic Proficiency Test (PSA)

• Finality of the Official Guide: The guide is an academic instrument designed by the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA). Its goals are to orient the preparation of applicants, strengthen the transparency of the admission process, and promote equal opportunities for access to university legal education.

• Nature as a Transparency Tool: The implementation of this guide establishes publicly known, verifiable criteria to ensure the evaluation process is objective and equitable. The official question bank is developed by specialized professors and is based on fundamental bibliography required for the start of professional legal training.

• Official Question Bank Structure: The contents are organized by thematic areas including general knowledge, constitutional law, history, and philosophy. This structure aims to provide legal security and academic predictability, allowing applicants to know evaluated contents in advance.

• Institutional Commitment: The Carrera de Derecho (Law School) focuses on forming professional citizens who are critical and committed to the defense of the Rule of Law, justice, human rights, and democratic values.

Official Study Text Bibliography

• History of Bolivia and Universal History:

  • Palos Gómez, Lilia. Historia Universal Contemporánea. Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP), México, 2015.
  • Mesa Gisbert, Carlos Diego. Historia de Bolivia. 11th edition. Editorial Gisbert y Cía. S.A., 2019.

• Constitutional Law:

  • Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia. Constitución Política del Estado. Geta Oficial de Bolivia, 2009.

• Philosophy:

  • García Morente, Manuel. Lecciones Preliminares de Filosofía. Editorial Losada.

• Academic Application: The texts fulfill an orienting function. Applicants are encouraged to use these materials to identify the origin of evaluated contents and deepen their conceptual understanding of complex topics.

General Considerations and Evaluation Rules

• Source of Preparation: The guide is the only official source of study for applicants to the Law career at UMSA.

• Thematic Organization: The content is divided into specific areas related to basic legal training, using academic and pedagogical criteria to identify the necessary aptitudes for university success.

• Selection Process: The entire guide constitutes the Official Question Bank for the corresponding academic term. Questions for the admission exam are selected from this bank through institutional procedures managed by the Facultative Admission Support Directorate.

• Valuation and Scoring:

  • Every question has exactly one correct answer.
  • Scoring is uniform for all questions.
  • Approval criteria are determined by current university regulations.
  • Enrollment in the PSA implies full acceptance of the rules and procedures established in the guide.

Study Recommendations for Applicants

• Comprehensive Reading: Applicants should perform an integral reading of the guide to familiarize themselves with the structure and evaluation methodology. Performance depends on personal effort, discipline, and understanding.

• Systematic Revision: A structured review of questions in each thematic area is recommended to identify strengths and areas requiring more depth, optimizing preparation time.

• Complementary Study: Use of the official bibliography to create summaries, conceptual diagrams, and periodic exam simulations is advised to improve response capacity under real evaluation conditions.

• Conceptual Understanding vs. Memorization: Preparation should focus on understanding fundamental legal concepts, principles of Law, and the essential elements of the social and political reality that forms the professional context.

History of Bolivia: Ancient and Pre-Hispanic Eras

• Pre-Hispanic Social Development: Society evolved from hunter-gatherer groups to stable settlements through the practice of agriculture, which allowed populations to stay in one site to wait for the harvest.

• Migration and Antiquity:

  • The entry from Asia to Alaska occurred via the Bering Strait.
  • The antiquity of humans in America is estimated at more than $40,000$ years, moving from Alaska towards Patagonia.
  • Early lithic industries (puntas de proyectil) appearing around $20,000$ years ago include the Sandia Cave in North America.
  • The most important exponent of the lithic period in Bolivia is the Viscachani culture, dating to approximately $10,000$ B.C.

• Altiplanic Geography and Environment:

  • According to the Ostrom report, the lake levels in the Altiplano were once $5.0\,m$ higher than today.
  • An ancient lake covering the current salt flats and modern lakes was known as Lake Ballivián.
  • A major drought starting around $2,500$ B.C. led to the salinization of lands and the emergence of cultures like Wankarani, Chiripa, and later Pucara.
  • Pleistocene humans coexisted with giant animals like the Mylodon (a giant sloth).

• Cultural Periods and Archaeology:

  • Rock Art: Testimonies left in caves and rock shelters include paintings from the Pre-ceramic period, often featuring red figures and animal scenes.
  • Arcaico Period ($2,500$ - $1,500$ B.C.): Characterized by the discovery of agriculture and the formation of permanent villages.
  • Formativo Period: Witnessed the emergence of the first villages (following the agrarian revolution and the appearance of ceramics) and the development of major ceremonial centers.
  • Archaeological Disciplines: Systematic excavations and the use of Carbon 14 allow for exact chronological sequences and dates for organic remains.

• Significant Regional Cultures:

  • Wankarani: Developed in the current departments of La Paz and Oruro; they practiced alpaca/llama herding and potato ($\text{Papa}$) cultivation. Their houses on mounds were circular with straw roofs.
  • Chiripa: Located on the Taraco peninsula (La Paz); they built artificial mounds with houses and used ceramic blowers to melt copper.
  • Tiahuanaco: Divided into three eras (Formativo, Urban, Expansive). The urban period was dominated by priests and warriors. They used the Suka-kollus (canals/camellones) to manage water for agriculture. The city had an estimated $20,000$ inhabitants and a dual urban structure: Akapana and Puma Punku (Arriba and Urin). Military superiority was achieved through the mastery of bronze.
  • Post-Tiahuanaco Fragmentations: After the collapse (due to drought between $1250$ and $1310$ A.C.), the Altiplano fragmented into Aymara ethnic groups (Lordships/Señoríos) divided into complementary halves: Urcusuyo and Umasuyo. The economy relied on "Verticality" to access different ecological floors.

History of Bolivia: The Inca Empire and the Conquest

• Inca Expansion and Leadership:

  • Pachacuti began the effective expansion in the 15th century, conquering the Collao by defeating Chuchi Capac. He remodeled Cuzco and visited the Island of the Sun.
  • Tupac Inca Yupanqui succeeded him in $1471$, followed by Huayna Capac ($1493-1525$), who established Pocona and reached the plains of Beni.
  • Inca legends claim Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo were born on the Island of the Sun and emerged from Pacaritambo.

• Inca Society and Culture:

  • Economy: Based on corn ($\text{Maíz}$) and potatoes (processed into Chuño).
  • Religion: Included Viracocha (creator) and the sun (represented by a gold disk). The Capac Cocha ceremony involved child sacrifice.
  • Record Keeping: Used Quipus (strings and knots) instead of phonetic writing.
  • Architecture and Arts: Known for polygonal masonry (fitting stones perfectly), Aribalo (ceramic jars for chicha), and Uncu (decorated male tunics).

• The European Arrival and Columbus:

  • Driven by figures like Ptolemy (Geography) and Marco Polo (Asian riches).
  • Portuguese explorers like Bartolomé Díaz (Cape of Good Hope) and Infante Enrique the Navigator preceded Spanish efforts.
  • Christopher Columbus (possibly a Spanish Jew) sailed with the support of Fernando of Aragon and Isabel of Castile (Treaty of Santa Fe).
  • First voyage: Rodrigo de Triana sighted land on October 12, $1492$.
  • Religious and Legal Justification: Pope Alexander VI issued the Inter Coetera bull. The Treaty of Tordesillas ($1494$) set the demarcation line at $370$ leagues from Cape Verde.

• The Conquest of Peru:

  • Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro associated in $1524$ with priest Hernando de Luque.
  • Pizarro arrived at Cajamarca on November 15, $1532$.
  • Atahualpa was captured after failing to comply with the Requerimiento read by Fraile Vicente de Valverde.
  • The ransom paid was $6,087\,kg$ of fine gold. Atahualpa was executed by garrote on July 26, $1533$.

History of Bolivia: Colonial Administration and Development

• Civil Wars and Pacification:

  • Conflicts between Pizarristas and Almagristas (Battle of Salinas, $1538$).
  • The crown issued the New Laws (Ordenanzas de Barcelona, $1542$) to stop abuses against indigenous people, following denunciations by Bartolomé de las Casas.
  • The first Viceroy of Peru was Blasco Núñez de Vela.
  • Pacificador Pedro de la Gasca arrived in $1547$ and defeated the rebels at Yaquisaguana.

• Urban Foundations and Economic Boom:

  • Potosí (Cerro Rico): Discovered by indigenous yanacona Diego Huallpa ($1545$). It became the silver center of the world. Formal urban organization occurred under Viceroy Toledo in $1572$. Silver was refined using the Azogue (mercury) technique.
  • La Paz: Founded by Alonso de Mendoza in $1548$ to commemorate the end of civil wars. Its location served as a strategic point between Potosí and Cuzco.
  • Cochabamba: Founded as Villa de Oropesa by Sebastián Barba de Padilla ($1574$) on Toledo's orders.
  • Santa Cruz de la Sierra: Founded by Ñuflo de Chaves on February 26, $1561$.

• Viceroy Francisco de Toledo's Reforms:

  • Established the Mita (forced labor system every seven years for a population block).
  • Created Reducciones (concentrated indigenous villages of about $400$ families).
  • Regulated coca cultivation and trade.
  • Ordered the collection of history (Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa) to justify the conquest.

Universal Contemporary History: 19th Century to WWII

• Imperialism and Power:

  • Imperialism is the theoretical process where countries conquer and control others. Great empires between $1870$ and $1914$ included England, France, and Russia.
  • Major powers were defined by large territories, high production, and strong militaries (USA, Germany, Japan, etc.).
  • The British Empire's most prized possession was India.
  • The Berlin Conference ($1884$) divided Africa among European powers. In South Africa, the Dutch established Apartheid.

• World War I ($1914-1918$):

  • Triggered by the assassination of Archduke Francisco Fernando in Bosnia ($1914$).
  • Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy) vs. Triple Entente.
  • The Zimmermann Telegram ($1917$) influenced US entry.
  • The Treaty of Versailles and Wilson's 14 Points led to the creation of the League of Nations ($1919$) in Geneva.

• The Russian Revolution and Totalitarianism:

  • Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown. The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, took power in October $1917$ promising "land, bread, and peace."
  • Under Stalin, the Soviet Union ($URSS$) practiced "Stalinism" and state-controlled production.
  • In Italy, Mussolini founded Fascism ($1919$) with the Blackshirts. In Germany, Hitler rose to power ($1933$) after writing Mein Kampf.

• World War II ($1939-1945$):

  • Started with the invasion of Poland. The Axis (Berlin-Rome-Tokyo) faced the Allies.
  • Key events: Operation Barbarossa, the Holocaust ($6\,million$ Jews killed in gas chambers), and D-Day (Normandy, $June\,1944$).
  • The Manhattan Project, led by Robert Oppenheimer, developed the atomic bomb, dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, $1945$.
  • The war resulted in approximately $57\,million$ deaths.

Universal Contemporary History: Cold War to Globalization

• The Cold War:

  • Ideological struggle between the $URSS$ (Socialism) and the USA (Capitalism).
  • Creation of NATO ($1949$) and global organizations like the UN ($1945$), IMF, and World Bank ($1944$).
  • Major conflicts: Korean War (split at 38th parallel), Cuban Revolution (Fidel Castro and Che Guevara), Vietnam War (won by Ho Chi Minh's North), and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan ($1979$).
  • The fall of the Berlin Wall ($1989$) and the dissolution of the $URSS$ ($1991$) ended the era.

• Globalization and Modernity:

  • Globalization links lives through decisions made outside one's own country, based on Neoliberal capitalism and Transnational corporations.
  • The "Asian Tigers" (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand) achieved rapid growth through low labor costs.
  • The European Union ($EU$) consolidated with the Treaty of Maastricht and the adoption of the Euro ($1999$).
  • The BRIC group represents emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and later South Africa).

• Modern Conflicts:

  • The Gulf War ($1990-1991$): Iraq (Saddam Hussein) invaded Kuwait over oil prices and the Rumalia zone. The US-led "Desert Storm" drove them out.
  • The Middle East: Tension continues over oil, territory, and religious fundamentalism vs. democratic laws.

Political Constitution of the State (CPE): Fundamentals and Rights

• State Model: Bolivia is a Unitary Social State of Plurinational Communitarian Law. It is independent of religion, pacifist, and prohibits foreign military bases. Sights like the Wiphala are official symbols.

• Rights and Guarantees:

  • Rights are universal, inviolable, interdependent, and progressive. They are directly applicable.
  • Basic Services: Access to water and sewage is a human right.
  • Education: Integral, free, and intercultural. Mandatory until Bachillerato (high school).
  • Health: A single, universal, and free system including traditional medicine. Public services cannot be privatized.
  • Specific Groups: Protection for children (superior interest), elders (quality of life), and persons with disabilities (free health/education).

• Jurisdictional Protection:

  • Acción de Libertad: Protects life and physical freedom (hearing within $24$ hours).
  • Acción de Amparo Constitucional: Against illegal acts/omissions (filed within $6$ months).
  • Acción Popular: Protects collective interests (environment, heritage).
  • Privacy Protection: Allows rectification of data in physical or electronic records.

Political Constitution of the State: Government and Organs

• Legislative Organ: The Plurinational Legislative Assembly consists of the Chamber of Deputies ($130$ members) and the Senate ($36$ members). Asambleístas serve five years and can be re-elected once.

• Executive Organ: Composed of the President, Vice President, and Ministers. Terms are five years. Candidates must be at least $30$ years old.

• Judicial Organ: Based on the principle of equal hierarchy between Ordinary Jurisdiction and Indigenous Communitarian Jurisdiction.

  • Supreme Tribunal of Justice: Highest ordinary court; magistrates elected by universal suffrage for six years.
  • Constitutional Tribunal: Ensures constitutional supremacy.
  • Council of the Magistracy: Manages discipline and administration of the judiciary.

• Electoral Organ: Composed of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal ($7$ members) and departmental courts. It manages elections and political organizations.

• Territorial Organization: Bolivia is organized into Departments, Provinces, Municipalities, and Indigenous Territories. Autonomy includes legislative, executive, and financial powers. Border security zones extend $50\,km$ from the frontier.

• Economic Model: Plural economy (State, Communitarian, Private, and Cooperative). The state prohibits monopolies. The Central Bank ($BCB$) maintains the currency's purchasing power.

Preliminary Lessons of Philosophy: Definitions and Ancient Greek Thought

• The Concept of Philosophy:

  • Etymology: Philo (love) and sophia (wisdom). Originally meant the totality of human knowledge.
  • Vivencia (Erlebnis): Philosophy must be lived; definitions are only possible after authentic experience.
  • Plato differentiated between Doxa (opinion) and Episteme (science/knowledge).

• Methods of Philosophy:

  • Socrates: Maieutics (the art of giving birth to ideas through questioning).
  • Plato: Dialectics (self-discussion and the contraposition of intuitions). He used myths to express philosophical ideas.
  • Aristotle: Logic (the means of acquiring knowledge). He classified knowledge into logic, physics, and ethics.

• Pre-Socratic Foundations:

  • Thales of Mileto: Water is the principle of all things.
  • Pythagoras: Number is the ultimate essence.
  • Heraclitus: Change is constant ("never bathe twice in the same river").
  • Parmenides: Discovered the principle of identity (Being = Thinking) and the distinction between the sensible and intelligible worlds.

Modern Philosophy: From Descartes to Kant and Hegel

• Rationalism vs. Empiricism:

  • Descartes: Used doubt as a method; concluded "I am a thinking substance." The world is a pure geometric substantiality.
  • John Locke: First theory of knowledge; ideas come from sensation and reflection.
  • David Hume: Analyzed causality; argued that truth is justified only by habitual constancy (custom/habit).
  • Leibniz: Differentiated between truths of reason (necessary) and truths of fact (contingent). Defined the world as composed of Monads (energy).

• Immanuel Kant and Transcendental Idealism:

  • Authored the Critique of Pure Reason.
  • Judgments: Analytic (predicate inside subject) and Synthetic (predicate adds new info). Science is based on "Synthetic a priori judgments."
  • Aesthetics: For Kant, it is the theory of perception, founded on space and time (pure intuitions).
  • Morality: The Categorical Imperative (act in a way that your motive could be a universal law). The soul's immortality and God's existence are postulates of practical reason.

• Absolute Idealism:

  • Hegel: Summed up as "everything rational is real and everything real is rational." He identified "Being" with "Nothing."
  • Fichte: Every science must serve moral action.
  • Schelling: The absolute is a living, spiritual unity.

• Ontology Classes:

  • Ontology is the theory of the Being ($\text{Ente}$).
  • García Morente divides the world into things, ideal objects (intemporal, like math), and values (beauty, etc.).
  • Fundamental ontic categories: Being, Reality, Temporality, and Causality.