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Civic Literacy Test

Samirol

Samirol

Turbo Monkey
Jun 23, 2008
1,437
0
Spoilers down here, take the test.









Washington D.C., November 20, 2008 - Are most people, including college graduates, civically illiterate? Do elected officials know even less than most citizens about civic topics such as history, government, and economics? The answer is yes on both counts according to a new survey by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). More than 2,500 randomly selected Americans took ISI's basic 33-question test on civic literacy and more than 1,700 people failed, with the average score 49 percent, or an "F." Elected officials scored even lower than the general public with an average score of 44 percent and only 0.8 percent (or 21) of all surveyed earned an "A." Even more startling is the fact that over twice as many people know Paula Abdul was a judge on American Idol than know the phrase "government of the people, by the people, for the people" comes from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
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Seventy-one percent of Americans fail the test, with an overall average score of 49%.
* Liberals score 49%; conservatives score 48%. Republicans score 52%; Democrats score 45%.
* Fewer than half of all Americans can name all three branches of government, a minimal requirement for understanding America’s constitutional system.
* Only 24% of college graduates know the First Amendment prohibits establishing an official religion for the United States.
* Less than half can name all three branches of the government.
* Only 21% know that the phrase “government of the people, by the people, for the people” comes from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
* Although Congress has voted twice in the last eight years to approve foreign wars, only 53% know that the power to declare war belongs to Congress. Almost 40% incorrectly believe it belongs to the president.
* Only 55% know that Congress shares authority over U.S. foreign policy with the president. Almost a quarter incorrectly believe Congress shares this power with the United Nations.
* Only 27% know the Bill of Rights expressly prohibits establishing an official religion for the United States.


Some of the economics questions are libertarian bull****, and some have nothing to do with civics.
 
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johnbryanpeters

johnbryanpeters

Hero
Sep 27, 2001
36,103
16,550
Making moss sad in New Haven, Vermont
You answered 27 out of 33 correctly — 81.82 %

Answers to Your Missed Questions:

Question #4 - B. Would slavery be allowed to expand to new territories?
Question #7 - D. Gettysburg Address
Question #8 - C. appoint additional Supreme Court justices who shared his views
Question #10 - C. Religion
Question #11 - A. their arguments helped lead to the adoption of the Bill of Rights
Question #33 - D. tax per person equals government spending per person
 
BurlyShirley

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
johnbryanpeters said:
You answered 27 out of 33 correctly — 81.82 %

Answers to Your Missed Questions:

Question #4 - B. Would slavery be allowed to expand to new territories?
Question #7 - D. Gettysburg Address
Question #8 - C. appoint additional Supreme Court justices who shared his views
Question #10 - C. Religion
Question #11 - A. their arguments helped lead to the adoption of the Bill of Rights
Question #33 - D. tax per person equals government spending per person
Click to expand...

I missed exactly the same ones, and one other about abortion I think.
 
DaveW

DaveW

Space Monkey
Jul 2, 2001
11,212
2,736
The bunker at parliament
24/33
Not bad considering how much of it was American history..... The chances of me knowing what Lincon debated with some fella I've never heard of, or what Rossevelt threatened judges with were not to high.
 
$tinkle

$tinkle

Expert on blowing
Feb 12, 2003
14,591
6
BurlyShirley said:
D'oh.
26/33
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we go girl

which is a damn shame, being raised just outside d.c. where we took field trips to gettysburg, williamsburg, all over the district, had congressmens' kids in our halls, etc.

i probably would've got a 4/33 back then, however.

ed: results of missed

Answers to Your Missed Questions:
Question #1 - E. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
Question #4 - B. Would slavery be allowed to expand to new territories?
Question #7 - D. Gettysburg Address
Question #8 - C. appoint additional Supreme Court justices who shared his views
Question #11 - A. their arguments helped lead to the adoption of the Bill of Rights
Question #27 - A. the price system utilizes more local knowledge of means and ends
Question #29 - B. a resident can benefit from it without directly paying for it

what pisses me off the most is i didn't guess any correct i didn't know, and all the ones i got right i didn't guess. couldn't catch a break, and now i'm found out.
 
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Straya

Straya

Monkey
Jul 11, 2008
863
3
Straya
Girlfriend and I just took it, 28/33.

Not bad for a couple of Aussies if we do say so. Admittedly my girlfriend is a lawyer who has studied American law and done some economics.
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,616
7,276
Colorado
You answered 28 out of 33 correctly — 84.85 %

Average score for this quiz during November: 77.8%
Average score: 77.8%

Answers to Your Missed Questions:
Question #4 - B. Would slavery be allowed to expand to new territories?
Question #7 - D. Gettysburg Address
Question #14 - B. stressed the sinfulness of all humanity
Question #15 - E. Thomas Jefferson’s letters
Question #31 - A. an increase in a nation’s productivity
 
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