Civics Quiz - How'd ya do?

[OldGuy]

WASHINGTON (AFP) November 20, 2008 – US elected officials scored abysmally on a test measuring their civic knowledge, with an average grade of just 44 percent, the group that organized the exam said Thursday.
Ordinary citizens did not fare much better, scoring just 49 percent correct on the 33 exam questions compiled by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI).
"It is disturbing enough that the general public failed ISI's civic literacy test, but when you consider the even more dismal scores of elected officials, you have to be concerned," said Josiah Bunting, chairman of the National Civic Literacy Board at ISI.
"How can political leaders make informed decisions if they don't understand the American experience?" he added.
The exam questions covered American history, the workings of the US government and economics.

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

For your intellectual pleasure...

78.9%

 

[HFWR]

93.94% - Missed questions 7 and 33...

 

[calmloki]

You answered 27 out of 33 correctly — 81.82 %

 

[aaronc879]

48.48% That is why I flunked out of college and am almost literaly killing myself working 12+ hr shifts of manual labor in a factory for half the pay of the average person on this board.

 

[harley]

75.76%. My only defense is it's 1 AM, I've had a few drinks, and I misread 2 of the questions. Then again, I failed my Citizenship merit badges back when I was a Boy Scout, so maybe this is just me.

 

[kyounge1956]

A solid B+ (88.87%). Missed #'s 8, 27, 32, & 33—8 I really didn't know and knew I didn't know, 27 I found the wording rather confusing and might have gotten the correct answer if the question had been stated differently, and 32 & 33 I didn't read carefully enough.

 

[bssc]

93.94 missed 29 and 31.

 

[ls99]

You answered 24 out of 33 correctly — 72.73 %


No excuse.

 

[Coach]

I missed 4 (Lincoln-Douglas debates) and 13 (Socrates, Plato and Aristotle...).

Coach

 

[mbooth]

You answered 24 out of 33 correctly — 72.73 %


No excuse.

I got the same, but I'm an Aussie, so my excuse is.......errrrmmmmm.....have no clue what conclusion to draw from that

Most of my failures were in the US historical areas, not surprising since I have no clue about who said what, when and why in the 'mercan context

But a lot of the questions related to fundamental, self-evident matters of democracy and decency, so my Aussie-ness at least counts a bit

Cheers (wondering how well other non-US peeps did)

 

[REWahoo]

You answered 27 out of 33 correctly — 81.82 %

Ditto.

 

[ls99]

I got the same, but I'm an Aussie, so my excuse is.......errrrmmmmm.....have no clue what conclusion to draw from that

Cheers (wondering how well other non-US peeps did)

Er, um, ah, I passed my US citizenship exams with 98%. That was 40 or so years ago.

Still, no excuse

 

[HFWR]

There was no excuse for my missing the "government of the people..." question...

However, I got close on the taxes = spending question. I answered "no debt", though technically the answer is "no deficit", but I'd argue that if they did that every year, they'd have no debt either...

 

[bbbamI]

I'll just say this...I need to go back to skool....

 

[Texarkandy]

Well, not to brag but I got 30 out of 33 for 90.91%.

I missed one question for going too fast & not reading the answers close enough. (Lincoln/Douglas debate - I knew that! )

The other two I missed I feel the answer choices were kind of fuzzy to begin with (seemed to be "pick-the-best-answer" type questions):

29) A flood-control levee (or National Defense) is considered a public good because:
A. citizens value it as much as bread and medicine
B. a resident can benefit from it without directly paying for it
C. government construction contracts increase employment
D. insurance companies cannot afford to replace all houses after a flood
E. government pays for its construction, not citizens

I picked A - thought about B - maybe I was just reading too much into the question/answer

33) If taxes equal government spending, then:
A. government debt is zero
B. printing money no longer causes inflation
C. government is not helping anybody
D. tax per person equals government spending per person
E. tax loopholes and special-interest spending are absent

I picked A - correct answer is D - somehow I disagree with that (I didn't really like A either)

BTW - I have a HS diploma (from Mississippi, no less. 2nd worst public education in the country?).

 

[bubba]

93.94% - missed #4 and #33 - shouldn't have missed #33, and honestly had no idea about #4.

 

[catdance62]

72.73% And I'm helping my DH study for his citizenship test...HA HA!! (he's a Canadian)
Those questions were a lot more in-depth than the citizenship test though.

 

[Gumby]

However, I got close on the taxes = spending question. I answered "no debt", though technically the answer is "no deficit", but I'd argue that if they did that every year, they'd have no debt either...

I agreed with your reasoning and hence also got the wrong answer.

I also thought the Lincoln-Douglas debates were about secession (I thought the expansion of slavery into the territories was settled in the course of the Missouri Compromise of 1821).

Altogether 93.94% -- not bad for a socialist

 

[noworkethic]

96.97

I answered very slowly and carefully. In a classroom situation I probably would have run out of time. If I would have been even more careful, I would not have missed one.

 

[ERD50]

B+ 29/33 - should have done better

One I flipped flopped on and lost, and I should have known (not telling which )

The Lincoln-Douglass I probably would have missed, but heard a piece on NPR in the car a few weeks ago

A few were detail level - I knew whatever it was was in the bill of rights, but didn't match it with which one.

I understood the difference between debt and deficit, but the (more fully ) correct answer was worded kinda funny, but I still knew it was correct, so got that one right.

Elected officials only scored 44%??!! That's tough to take. I mean, this is what they do! I usually take their hair-brained schemes as political posturing, not outright stupidity. Maybe I was being generous? Are they really that stupid?

Apologies to anyone on the forum who scored below 50% - unless you area an elected US official - then SHAME ON YOU, YOU IDIOT!

-ERD50

 

[aaronc879]

Apologies to anyone on the forum who scored below 50% - unless you area an elected US official - then SHAME ON YOU, YOU IDIOT!
-ERD50

That's okay. I'm used to failing tests. There aren't many I passed after age 14. 48.48% was about my average.

 

[haha]

93.94% - Missed questions 7 and 33...

Same score. I missed the one about Puritans, and the anti-federalists influence.

I am not so sure I agree with their interpretation of what the Puritans were about. I think they wrote their question based on the popular use of the word Puritanical, not on the actual histroy of the Puritans. I believe they were more about religious freedom than "the sinfulness of all humanity".

After all, sinfullness was a pretty strong concept everywhere back then. The Puritans got their start in England over dissatisfaction with established religions, and in fact left England to escape the Church of England. They formed the intellectual elite of New England, founded most the great universities, were governors and divines and scientists.

he Puritan movement was a broad trend toward a militant, biblically based Calvinistic Protestantism -- with emphasis upon the "purification" of church and society of the remnants of "corrupt" and "unscriptural" "papist" ritual and dogma -- which developed within the late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Church of England. Puritanism first emerged as an organized force in England among elements -- Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists, for example -- dissatisfied with the compromises inherent in the religious settlement carried out under Queen Elizabeth in 1559. They sought a complete reformation both of religious and of secular life, and advocated, in consequence, the attacks upon the Anglican establishment, the emphasis upon a disciplined, godly life, and the energetic evangelical activities which characterized their movement. The Presbyterian wing of the Puritan party was eventually defeated in Parliament, and after the suppression in 1583 of Nonconformist ministers, a minority moved to separate from the church and sought refuge first in the Netherlands and later in New England .

Puritanism in England

Ha

 

[ERD50]

That's okay. I'm used to failing tests. There aren't many I passed after age 14. 48.48% was about my average.

Working 12 hour shifts of manual labor earns a lot more respect from me than most of our politicians earn, so good for you!

Some people have problems with written tests, or retaining certain types of info. The important thing is to keep looking for something you can excel at and work it to your advantage.

-ERD50

 

[d]

100% !! (and no one is more surprised than am i)

guess i'm not surprised, however, by the "achievement" of our elected officials as it seems consistent with their "achievement" in office.

 

[Gumby]

I am not so sure I agree with their interpretation of what the Puritans were about. I think they wrote their question based on the popular use of the word Puritanical, not on the actual histroy of the Puritans. I believe they were more about religious freedom than "the sinfulness of all humanity".

Ha

Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson might have had a rather different view about the Puritans' commitment to religious freedom.