Wanna try a little civics test?

[Playinghardball]

This test is not an easy one.

The website reports that The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the following test was 49%; college educators scored 55%

http://www.isi.org/quiz.aspx?q=FE5C3B47-9675-41E0-9CF3-072BB31E2692


I answered 28 out of 33 correctly — 84.85%

[TlalocW]

1. Is spelling part of it?

Just ribbin' ya.

TlalocW

[Blue-Jay]

2. I hop note. Taht would be turrible.

[stevedeshazer]

3. Link doesn't work for me

I click the 'start' button and nothing happens.

:shrug:

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[stevedeshazer]

5. Plus, ISI is an extremist RW site.

Good for you.

[readmoreoften]

56. Seriously, the questions were so full of rightwing jibberish economics

that I couldn't've cared less.

[geardaddy]

81. +1

[originalpckelly]

6. Fuck yeah 100%!

See, I knows what I talks about!

[TlalocW]

7. Missed 2.

My high school government/history teacher, Mr. Wellman, would be proud.

TlalocW

[originalpckelly]

9. Pfffft.

I got 100%. How does it feel to eat my dust?

[TlalocW]

93. I console myself

By reminding myself how much better looking I am than you. ;P

TlalocW

[Electric Monk]

8. Nice thread!

[originalpckelly]

12. The test is actually fairly OK.

There is only one question that I could think that one might answer improperly, from their point of view, based upon ideological doctrine.

[Suich]

10. 24 out of 33...72.73%

Yuck!

[Richardo]

11. It's not a civics test - it's thinly disguised "free markets" propaganda

(I got 30 out of 33 correctly — 90.91 % anyway)

The Board of the ISI includes two Regnerys, a Coors and Edwin Meese, among other neo-con notables and Reagan-era hangers-on. :eyes:

http://www.isi.org/about/our_leadership/trustees.html

[originalpckelly]

17. The test has very little objectionable material on it.

[Richardo]

21. Still - an obvious agenda

...and the little civics that was covered was on a junior high level.

[originalpckelly]

24. And yet, a lot of people fuck that shit up.

True, they do have an agenda, but with the non-partisans (which only means they do not affiliate themselves with a party, not that they aren't conservative) they are usually a little more reserved in propaganda.

[EstimatedProphet]

78. I disagree

Half of the questions were economics. Why is economics included in a civics test?

[Rincewind]

47. I got 30 out 0f 33 also.

And I also thought that the free market stuff had little to do with civics.

[readmoreoften]

57. BINGO.

[Le Taz Hot]

68. Yeah, I was questioning that "free market"

bullshit. There's how it's SUPPOSED to work on paper and then there's reality. On paper, AIG and Crysler would have been out of business.

[fifthoffive]

110. I felt that it was a thinly veiled attempt

to make the reader believe that capitalism/free-markets is enshrined in the Constitution. The way some people talk, you would think that capitalism is more important than democracy. It does seem to be some people's religion.

[unapatriciated]

122. ding ding ding, we have a winner.

[LadyHawkAZ]

118. That explains why I got the free-mkt questions wrong.

[Oasis_]

13. My results:

You answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %

[SDuderstadt]

14. I got 29 out of 33...

I can't believe I missed the 4 I did.

[SDuderstadt]

22. I actually got 30 out of 33....

I just realized that scrolling down to the next question actually changed my answer on the 3 branches of government. I still can't believe I missed the 3 I did.

[Incitatus]

29. Dude

Read more.

[Jumping John]

15. I answered 24 out of 33 correctly — 72.73 %

[Angry Dragon]

16. 87.88 ............ The Dragon got 4 wrong

[woodsprite]

18. I checked in at 75.76%, but I'm bleary eyed and ready to hit the sack.

I'll have my daughter take it tomorrow and see how and 18yo does ;)

[SmileyRose]

19. 30 of 33

I did better than the professors?

That's sad.

[originalpckelly]

23. 100% here.

I think those professors are in some trouble.

And did you see the part where they broke it down into question by question analysis of the general public v. politicians?

Pretty frequently, the public knows more than government officials. :wow:

[petronius]

30. To defend the honor of the professors, I got 100% as well

:)

Although I wouldn't call all of it a civics test, exactly...

[originalpckelly]

31. Fucker.

:P

Now I can't gloat anymore.

[MrModerate]

20. 29 out of 33. Not bad for a drama graduate. n/t

[csziggy]

25. 30 out of 33 correct — 90.91 %

:woohoo:

I missed the one about the Gettysburg Address and two economics questions. I'm very, very surprised I did not miss more economics questions since I am terrible at that kind of thing.

[Fla_Democrat]

26. Results

You answered 30 out of 33 correctly — 90.91 %


:smoke:

[originalpckelly]

27. Good, but no one has beaten my 100%.

And I really did get that too. I'm typically very good at this shit.

:rofl:

[customerserviceguy]

39. No one could beat it

But I tied it.

[originalpckelly]

42. Jeez please, try again.

Don't you want 101%? :P

[customerserviceguy]

44. I do

but I'm good in math, too!

[ScreamingMeemie]

28. You answered 25 out of 33 correctly — 75.76 %

[AsahinaKimi]

32. Average I guess

answered 22 out of 33 correctly — 66.67 % (Lets see, would that be a C+ ?) I was always better at World History.

[krispos42]

33. 96.97%... I got one wrong

I guessed on the Lincoln-Douglass debate one. :blush:

[hifiguy]

95. That's the one I missed too.

Seemed phrased a bit oddly.

[Fozzledick]

34. 33 out of 33 correctly — 100.00 %

Pretty simple, really, but definitely biased towards free market thinking.

[lpbk2713]

35. Thanks. That was interesting.

27 / 33

[SDuderstadt]

36. DU should institute an entrance exam like this...

with some sort of minimum score to post.

That would probably cut down on some of the pitched battles here.

[RadiationTherapy]

64. That's strange because I may not have met minimum knowledge requirements

when I got here, but I have learned very much.

[bvar22]

120. Anyone who got more than 2 wrong shouldn't be allowed to post.

How many did you get wrong?

[kestrel91316]

37. 24/33, and I last studied civics in 1974.

[stevenleser]

38. 29/33 - 87.88% the wording of some of the questions and answers are awkward n/t

[Chellee]

40. I answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %

Interesting.

OF THE 2,508 PEOPLE surveyed, 164 say they have held an elected government office at least once in their life. Their average score on the civic literacy test is 44%, compared to 49% for those who have not held an elected office.

[Papillon]

41. My results

You answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %

[Tx4obama]

43. 28 out of 33 - 84.85%

Two of the five I got wrong I shouldn't have messed up on.
I was so focused on trying to NOT make a mistake that it backfired! LOL.

[bhikkhu]

45. Tough test! but I got 90.91%.

...and that was with some "educated" guesses.

[RushIsRot]

46. 84.85 % -- missed five

[Rochester]

48. I got 32/33

[Maru Kitteh]

49. You answered 28 out of 33 correctly — 84.85 % n/t

[HubertHeaver]

50. Got 'em all

Results

You answered 33 out of 33 correctly — 100.00 %

If you have any comments or questions about the quiz, please email [e-mail].

You can consult the following table to see how citizens and elected officials scored on each question.

[Fumesucker]

51. 32 out of 33, 96.97%

[wickerwoman]

52. 93.94%

Flubbed the Gettysburg Address question and take issue with the one about market economies being the best way to ensure economic growth.

On edit: It's super-frightening that the national average is 43%. There were a few challenging questions in there but no one with a high school education should score less than 70% on that test.

[PuffedMica]

62. What a coincidence, I missed that one too

[murielm99]

53. Hey, that's what I got, too.

My weakest were toward the end. I am not as well-versed in economics as I should be.

[CJvR]

54. Amusing.

You answered 30 out of 33 correctly — 90.91 %

One of those was a translation glitch but it help compensate for the odd lucky guess.

What was it Bill Maher said? "...this stuff you should be able to pick up just by being alive...".

[readmoreoften]

55. I scored 82% but this is a garbage quiz full of propaganda.

This question...

"Free markets typically secure more economic prosperity than government’s centralized planning because:"

...is just pure right-wing propaganda. Probably why so many "college educators" got it wrong.

[divvy]

58. oops, I missed 2

[Ferret Annica]

59. You answered 28 out of 33 correctly — 84.85 %

Interesting, I got the same score.

[ProfessorGAC]

60. Got Them All

A couple of tricky ones, but since it was an ISI site, that kind of led me to what they would consider the right answer.
GAC

[LooseWilly]

61. "... our nation's founding principles — ... the rule of law, market economy, and moral norms..."

From the ISI about_us page: http://www.isi.org/about_isi.html

Thanks for pretending that Bircher-esque dogma is "civics"... that was fun.

I got 27 out of 33... with 4 of the 6 I "missed" marked incorrect because I refused to parrot the Right-Wing talking points about the "virtues" of capitalism. (Free markets do so secure more economic prosperity than government's centralized planning because: "government planners are too cautious in spending taxpayers’ money"... if the 2008 Wall St. melt down proves anything, it proves that...)

Next time, please be honest and call it a Rightist Thought Paradigm Test... ;)

[melm00se]

63. I answered 32 out of 33 correctly — 96.97 %

[quaker bill]

65. 90.91%

Do not necessarily agree with all of the "correct" answers.

[baldguy]

66. Who is the Intercollegiate Studies Institute?

If you're wondering why your score may be on the low side:

http://www.isi.org/about/our_mission/principles_free_society.html

[jberryhill]

72. Christine O'Donnell's only employer in her adult life

Seriously.

[Le Taz Hot]

67. 75.76%

I was a music major and most of the ones I got wrong had to do with fiscal policy.

[PassingFair]

69. 31 out of 33....

The two I got wrong were about "free-market" policies.

[JHB]

70. 100%, though I think in a few cases I'd argue the "wrong" answers were...

...right. Like "free trade" and "decreasing standard of living", or "progressive taxation" and "encourages investment".

[jberryhill]

73. Knowing ISI's background helped on the leaners - 32 of 33 here /nt

[Chipper Chat]

71. 78.79%.

Four of the missed ones I had changed from my original pick. Guess that says something for "go with your gut feeling.".?.

[LibertyLover]

74. I am in shock -

I got 30 out of 33 correct for a total of 90.91%. I've never had a civics course - in my high school, the civics class was for people who either couldn't do "real" history or weren't in the honors humanities English and History classes. Everything I learned about the Constitution or government came from reading. I guess I read the right stuff. It was a fun test. Thank you for posting it.

[aikoaiko]

75. 30 out of 33 or 90.91%

I should have gotten two more correct but I "out thought" myself.

[kick-ass-bob]

76. 31/33. Missed the Socrates question

and the frickin Gettysburg Address one somehow.

Some I answered knowing that is what they would say the answers were, even though there are differing theories on economics.

(Or the one about what they do in recessions, which I found ironic right now.)

[EstimatedProphet]

77. You answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %

But I remember this test, especially because it isn't civics as much as free-market economic propaganda.

[bighart]

79. 87.88%

[pintobean]

80. 31 out of 33 — 93.94 %

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

82. 87.88% correct and I'm not even a US citizen

wow...

I did find a slant towards capitalism though

[geardaddy]

83. 27 out of 33 — 81.82 %

[X_Digger]

84. Bah.. 32/33 - 97%

Other than the free market idealogue-schtick in there, not bad.

Not terribly difficult, either, mind you.

eta: What's scary are the low percentages for some of the questions..

Source of phrase “a wall of separation” 18.92 15.07
FDR and the Supreme Court 25.07 19.24
Gettysburg Address 21.06 22.95
Action Prohibited by the Bill of Rights 26.41 21.24

[lumberjack_jeff]

85. 97% n/t

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

86. 32 of 33, 97%

... of the people, by the people, yadda yadda

I did not guess Gettysburg Address.

[bemildred]

87. 100%, but I had to lie on some of the last ones. nt

[Brickbat]

88. This is a bizarre and poorly worded exam.

I sure read a lot of anti-government, anti-leftist schlock while picking out the correct answers.

[kick-ass-bob]

90. Yeah - reading the questions the way they were written gives you

a clue as to what they believed the answers were.

I was actually slightly surprised that "reducing taxes and INCREASING spending" was marked correct.

[Irishonly]

89. One of these days I will learn to read all of the answers

You answered 27 out of 33 correctly — 81.82 %

[Javaman]

91. What is destressing is that the elected officials did, by and large, worse

than the average citizen.

And these people still keep getting elected.

Just goes to further prove my concept of a lottery system for elections would be much better. ;)

[JackRiddler]

100. Actually, that's a meaningless finding and they are irresponsible to present it...

The "average citizens" are actually those who select themselves to take the test online. This is not a random sampling! It is guaranteed to skew toward geeks who want to impress themselves by getting a high score.

I mean, besides that it's an online test, you can cheat by taking it twice or by using google while you do it.

As for the "elected officials," that's among people who identify themselves as such online. Please! It's already suspicious that only about 70 percent of these belong to the major parties, whereas 95+ percent are D or R at the federal and state levels. Do I care if the dogcatcher of Podunk doesn't know Jefferson originated the phrase, "wall of separation between church and state"? And how do I even know he's the dogcatcher of Podunk?

Seems to me like this is deliberately playing into politician hate. And most of us do hate'em for mostly good reasons, but this is not a real result.

[fifthoffive]

111. No

The results are from a phone survey, not the internet participants. What's on-line only has the knowledge questions. The phone participants were asked numerous demographic questions as well.

Whether the sample size was enough to draw any conclusions regarding elected officials is a different question, and one I am not qualified to address.

[scrinmaster]

92. 100%, but had to guess on some towards the end.

[hifiguy]

94. 32/33

96.97% :)

[Morning Dew]

96. 96.97% - 32 out of 33

My wrong one was:

Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:

[NeedleCast]

97. You answered 27 out of 33 correctly — 81.82 %

B-

I need to work on it.

[JackRiddler]

98. 33/33 (really) but you have to know what they want as the "right" answer on econ questions.

[Morning Dew]

99. Holy crap ! Elected Officials Score Lower than the General Public

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/2008/additional_finding.html


- snip -

Among the 2,508 respondents, 164 say they have been elected to a government office at least once. This sub-sample of officeholders yields a startling result: elected officials score lower than the general public. Those who have held elective office earn an average score of 44% on the civic literacy test, which is five percentage points lower than the average score of 49% for those who have never been elected. It would be most interesting to explore whether this statistically significant result is maintained across larger samples of elected officials.

- unsnip -

[JackRiddler]

101. Doubt it. See post 100, above.

[Morning Dew]

102. If I'm reading this correctly

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/2008/survey_methods.html

It was a phone survey from 2008.

Still, some people could have presented themselves as elected officials when they actually were not.

[Cid_B]

103. 29 correct...

... but I'm gonna count 2 of 4 as brain farts.

[Crabby Appleton]

104. 33 for 33 100%

[fifthoffive]

105. Another 32/33

I can't believe that college educators only scored 55%. I have no trouble believing that the average for all was 49% correct. The one I missed was the only one I had a second thought about, and my second choice answer turned out to be the correct one.

[WhoIsNumberNone]

106. 93.94%- 31 of 33

Although I confess I had to guess on a couple of questions. I probably would have been closer to the national average if it hadn't been multiple choice.


I wonder what kind of scores they're getting over at Free Republic? :evilgrin:
They're probably getting all the "free market" questions right and missing most of the ones on actual civics :rofl:

[Mass]

107. 29 out of 33 and I did not even grow up and study in this country.

It seems a fairly easy test for anybody with a basic education.

[slackmaster]

108. 31 out of 33 correct - 93.94%

:hi:

[ismnotwasm]

109. 27 out of 33

Not that I liked some of the questions, a bit leading.

[LeftishBrit]

112. 91% - but the economic questions are very biased.

[dsc]

113. 33 out of 33

I find the college educated percent pretty bad. I am 20 years out of college and teach math for a living. I shouldn't have done much, if any, better than the typical college grad.

[Obamanaut]

114. . nt

[mcar]

115. 96.97%

Only one question wrong! :fistbump:

[LadyHawkAZ]

116. You answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %

That was fun. Thanks.

[Synicus Maximus]

117. Damm I only got 32 out of 33

[Canuckistanian]

119. 93.94%

And the average is 49?? It wasn't THAT hard.

[Shandris]

121. 28/33 also

And some of those were open to interpretation, imo. HS Diploma, public schools.