TheAgitator.com
Elected Officials Fail U.S. History
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008The conservative Intercollegiate Studies Institute gave 2,500 people a civics exam. In a bit of a twist, it asked respondents to self-identify whether or not they were public officials. The results:
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.
You can take the exam here. It was actually a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. A few of the questions are a little ambiguous. Even so, 44 percent on this test is pretty awful. I got 31 of 33.
30/33 not too bad
Well, it’s nice and all, and good to brag that I also got a 31 of 33, but I fail to see the relevance of certain questions, mainly those that dealt with economics 101, to civics. Civics, I thought, was about how the government worked and it’s history, not the ideas behind free markets.
Yes, I’m complaining because it was 2 economics questions I got wrong. So sue me.
I also got 31/33…are we missing the same questions I wonder…perhaps a libertarian bias of some sort…?
32/33 here.
I’m not really sure how relevant it is, though. I’d think that many public positions require specific knowledge and skills more than this sort of general civics/history/economics. I mean, I’m a 27 year old high school grad enrolled part time at a community college and making somewhere north of $32k/yr. I aced this thing, but you wouldn’t put me in charge of the city’s water system.
31/33 too
26/33 rrrrr. Now that I look at it, the Puritan question was pretty easy. And can’t 33 also be ‘A’?
I also got 31/33, but I’m skeptical of the survey’s choice of questions. The one on Aristotle/Plato/etc. seemed pretty irrelevant, especially for Americans who don’t have a Judeo-Christian/Western background.
For some reason, I was expecting more on how bills get passed, the role of congressional committees, maybe the number/term limits of senators/representatives, etc.
33 out of 33. I am a grad student in History. Most of the questions were a breeze except the economics ones. Then, all I had to do was a) eliminate those that were paradoxical and b) answer the way I knew the authors WANTED me to answer. Just like being an undergrad. Tell the professor what she wants to hear and you’ll get an A.
I am not too torn up by the results. I would have to know which questions were missed. Some of the econ ones were tricky and vague (as noted) and I do not equate econ with civics. Sorry. Both important, but not the same.
I also have problems with the authors, as noted in your quote equate this quiz with “the American Experience.” What a load.
Being able to interpret a P&L statement is not part of most American’s experience past or present. It’s that kind of arrogance, interpreting one set of experiences as representative of the whole, which helped lose McCain the election. But then what do I know. I used to be an “unreal” Virginian.
31/33……..what concerns me is what actions the new administration will take to address the current economic crisis. I don’t expect lower taxes to be forthcoming, not even to 95% of wage earners……..
31/33 as well …
I agree with Adolphus – understanding the bias of the people who created the test helped answer some of the questions and many of the questions had nothing to do with Civics – but I was almost an econ major so the econ questions were a breeze.
(i am embarrassed to say I got the source of “Government of the people, for the people, by the people” wrong)
Why are you and others giving this study pub? The results, quiz, and “self-selected government officials” are totally irrelevant.
33/33, and ditto to pretty much everything #8 says.
Another 31/33 here: a civics question I’m ashamed to have missed, and an economics question that doesn’t appear to have had a logical answer.
[...] The Agitator, a civics exam which was administered to 2500 people. The average score by elected US public [...]
28/33 … I’m only going to admit to missing 2, though. The others were a bit ambiguous – ie, what a govt does in recession entirely depends on the particular people running the govt.
And BTW, one of the questions has two correct answers. The Constitution establishes the right of the govt to make treaties -and- collect income taxes.
Interesting quiz. It is quite depressing that goverment officials can’t do better than the average Agitator reader.
26 out of 33.
But in my defence, I’m from British Columbia, Canada :-)
31 out of 33.
Missed the philosophy one (Aristotle) and the Lincoln debate.
32/33 here. I must confess that more than a few correct answers were lucky guesses.
The only one I got wrong was #29: A flood-control levee (or National Defense) is considered a public good because:
I agree with Radley and other commenters that some of the answers were vaguely worded,
Thorn’s right. The 16th Amendment gives the government that right. I had forgotten that. But then I also knew that the authors of the test wouldn’t want to highlight that fact. So the “correct” answer they were looking for was obvious. I am sure they would hide behind the fact that it needed an amendment to prove that they were right on some level.
I would also like to echo people’s problem with the Greek philosophy question. I challenge anyone to justify why knowing that would make one a better US Citizen or a particularly good elected official.
Woodrow Wilson had a PhD in Political Science and Newt Gingerich has one in History. I suspect both would do well on this test. What would that prove exactly?
Better propaganda please.
9 out of 33. I am a tenured political science professor.
This might seem a stretch, but I was thinking the question was included as a nod to the Enlightenment-era thinking which influenced our Founding Fathers.
Of course, enlightened thinking has little to do with our laws these days… it’s all about “Won’t someone please think of the children?”
I’m glad this issue is getting some attention. Time for conservatives to start pushing hard for school choice. The results of our education system have been dismal. Case in point: the election of Obama.
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” Jefferson
http://rightklik.blogspot.com/
33/33. Like I thought, I am totally unelectable by the American electorate.
31/33
Missed #7 and #29.
28/33 not sure what it proves and average 44% without all the data is irrelevant. course, it wasn’t all that hard.
fun but meh
It’s worth remembering that the ISI is a very partisan institute.
32/33. Missed #33, cuz I didn’t read the question thouroughly. One of the questions does, as #14 says, have 2 correct answers. I went with treaties cuz it’s part of the original constution.
27/33, and #33 is not “D” because corporations also pay tax.
I did get a kick out of one of the options to a free market question:
“E. government planners are too cautious in spending taxpayers’ money”
I also missed #7 and #29.
Just a note here. The Intercollegiate Studies Institute used to be called the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists, but conservative backers thought that name was too “left-wing.”
Yeah, I thought that was funny, too.
I got 31/33, missed 13 and 27. 13, I should have known, but 27 I think was a subjective, not an objective question.
32
30/33. Three of those questions were bull shit.
33/33. Come on, those questions were dead easy, even 25 years out of a undergraduate degree and 15 out of grad school.
32/33 here. I too thought several questions were vaguely worded, including #33 (which I got wrong).
28/33, but one of those was #9 and I said taxes instead of treaties, so it’s more like 29/33. I’m a college drop out and that was reasonably easy.
30/33
#29 was ridiculous. “government pays for its construction, not citizens.” And government, of course, can simply print the money, they don’t have to get it from anywhere.
Shocked I got 30/33 and you did have to know the answer they wanted a few times, imo. What does the gov. do in a recession….well, what it should do and does are very different things, I guessed correctly at what the authors wanted. Missed the puritans, slavery debate and something else.
30/33. Missed 27,31, and 33. And I agree with whoever above said that A should be counted as a correct answer for #33.
30/33…I was thinking “deficits” instead of “debt” on the last question.
33/33. Piece of cake.
31/33 here.
Note that #33 does in fact have a single correct answer.
The question is If Taxes equal government spending, then:
So, if T=E, then:
of the answers, we have Taxes per person equals government spending per person.
This is by definition true and undeniable.
If P = total number of persons: If T=E, then T/p=E/p
For the other answers: A, taxes and spending do not define government debt, debt can of course be acquired with or without a balanced budget. B, is false by definition. C is subjective and E is irrelevant.
32/33
Missed #30. Governments have reacted in all sorts of ways. FDR responded by raising taxes and spending. Bush lowered taxes (this is debatable) and raised spending.
30/33.
Ogre,
Doesn’t your equation depend on the (incorrect) assumption that the govt’s policy is that each person receives an equal share of the federal spending?
In other words, you’ve said “So, if T=E, then:” … without proving that T does equal E.
Sorry – strike my second paragraph. The if/then was defined by the original question, therefore no proof is necessary.
It’s OK that they’re stupid as long as they’re PC, culturally sensitive, and promise not to uphold their oath to protect our Constitution.
28/33 and I’m not an american
27 out of 33, not knowing what Douglass and Lincoln debated, and missed the Puritan one because of ham-fisted clicking.
I am 59 and college educated, reasonably well-read. And ashamed of myself.
32/33
Got number 27 wrong… I let my personal feelings about property rights and contracts cloud my thinking.
I got 30 and I’m from Canada.
You don’t need a single morsel of history, civics, or philosophy to demagogue to the public. Take your choice: blame it on capitalism, or blame it on teh gay.
See? easy.
25/33
In my defense I’m a Canadian that didn’t take American civics classes. I think I’d do a bit better on a Canadian slanted equivalent.
Personally I would be pissed if someone I elected did not score at least as high as I did.
I scored perfect, but lucked out on the Plato/Socrates question. The quiz wasn’t really what I thought it was goint to be in parts. Puritan religious views are stretching a little bit if you ask me (an informed guess, but a guess nontheless).
I felt confindent on 30. Guessed on two and had a pretty good hunch on one. Not bad.
[...] Civic Quiz People who were elected officials averaged a 44%, which is pretty sad. My 8th grade civics teacher will be proud of my 33 for 33 :). It’s a little heavy on the economics. Here’s the link. Here’s Balko. [...]
28/33. I’m a lawyer who runs my own firm and minored in philosophy in college. Yep, missed the economics questions and the one about philosophy.
28/33. Completely bombed the economic questions – unfortunately studied (?) that arena the last semester my senior year of HS.
I am kind of disappointed in myself for only getting 27 right. I would like to blame it on trying to take the quiz really quick while at work, but even I think that’s a lame excuse.
But if an elected official can’t get at least 75% of these right I think they should be made to take a Civics class and throw in an Ethics class for good measure.
Quotes and other things are kinda silly. It’s nice to know those things and all, but they really don’t mean much. I’d rather see more questions about the basic structure of government and the rights granted by the Constitution, and the powers outlined therein as well. That seems to be more usefull knowledge. I guess the econ is pretty useful, but I did not do so well there so I’m biased. I got a 29 btw.
Stimulate the economy by decreasing taxes and increasing spending?? WTF? Keynesian morons.
31/33. Not bad for a foreigner!!! Never even been to America.
32/33. Missed no. 33. The “correct” answer to that question is vaguely worded, indeed.