Civics Test

[philunderwood]

Are you more knowledgeable than the average citizen? The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the following test was 49%; college educators scored 55%. Can you do better? Questions were drawn from past ISI surveys, as well as other nationally recognized exams.

I answered 26 out of 33 correctly — 78.79 %

Let us know how you did.

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

[leisuresuitlarry]

Here's my score...

You answered 28 out of 33 correctly — 84.85 %

[relenemiller]

I failed....big time....

You answered 22 out of 33 correctly — 66.67 %

Had not economics been almost one half of the questions, I might have done better...

[mikekerstetter]

You answered 26 out of 33 correctly — 78.79 %

[Ritty77]

Results

You answered 28 out of 33 correctly — 84.85 %

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.

Incorrect Answers

Question: What was the source of the following phrase: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”?
Your Answer: Declaration of Independence
Correct Answer: Gettysburg Address

That is surprising to me.

Question: Free markets typically secure more economic prosperity than government’s centralized planning because:
Your Answer: property rights and contracts are best enforced by the market system
Correct Answer: the price system utilizes more local knowledge of means and ends

That makes sense.

Question: What was the main issue in the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858?
Your Answer: Do Southern states have the constitutional right to leave the union?
Correct Answer: Would slavery be allowed to expand to new territories?

That is surprising, too.

Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:
Your Answer: government debt is zero
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person on average

That's hard to believe.

Question: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Aquinas would concur that:
Your Answer: all moral and political truth is relative to one’s time and place
Correct Answer: certain permanent moral and political truths are accessible to human reason

I had no idea on that one.

[relenemiller]

You're holding as winner, Keith...congrats!

[Ritty77]

It's a tie with LSL.

[philunderwood]

We all did quite a bit better than college educators and the average person. Too bad a few contributors to the LTEs didn’t take the test; that would be interesting.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but Keith and I missed most of the same questions. I blamed it on the fact that it’s been so long since I got out of school, but that excuse doesn’t work as well for Keith. But then again, maybe that’s why Keith and Jose got higher scores than I did.

[relenemiller]

I failed at the economics of the test, not the historical parts.

But, come to think of it, Phil....we are the oldies here, those younger babes than us, should have done better!

Keith, I got caught up on the Jefferson question on life, liberty, justice...seemed so simple..at some point I found myself reading quickly and hitting enter...I had to guess at most of the economic questions.

["Q"]

Did anyone actually look at the incorrect answers and compare with what you selected? Several of my answers "changed" when I completed the test from what I had selected. I took the test three times and each time, some of my answers changed from what I selected. Hmmm?

After seven attempts at the test - You answered 32 out of 33 correctly — 96.97 %

Still had one question where the answer was changed. The advertisements for "Progressive Education" on the right of the page give me the willies.

[Ritty77]

Hi Q, long time no see. Hope all is well.

My incorrect answers were correctly reported by the site. Not sure what happened with yours.