Civic Literacy Exam

27 out of 33, and I'm not even American! :grin:

Got the following wrong:

Bill of Rights specifically prohibits....
What was the main issue of debate between Lincoln and Douglas?
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas....
If taxes equal gov spending (can't believe I got this wrong)
Separation of church and state
The Puritans were....

 

I got 28 of 33.

 

30 of 33. Missed the following:

Question: What was the main issue in the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858?
Question: What was the source of the following phrase: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”?
Question: A flood-control levee (or National Defense) is considered a public good because:

 

29. Some silly mistakes.

 

I got 30 of 33. The only factual question I missed was the by the people question. which i managed to narrow down to the gettysburg address and one other choice , but I guessed wrong. however some of these question are very right leaning.

Here were the questions I missed:
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

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

Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:
Your Answer: printing money no longer causes inflation
Correct Answer: tax per person equals government spending per person on average


The first and third questions are just weak. At least put real definitions instead of what you think is right.

 

I'm a pol sci major and I got a 32 out of 33 But many of my answers were guesses haha. I guessed on the Aristole one and a few others. Got the fed one wrong I put lowering taxes.

 

29 out of 33.

 

30/33

Missed:
Question: What was the main issue in the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858?
Question: In 1935 and 1936 the Supreme Court declared that important parts of the New Deal were unconstitutional. President Roosevelt responded by threatening to:
Question: What was the source of the following phrase: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”?

On 29 questions, the public scores higher than elected officials on average.
http://www.americancivi****eracy.org/2008/additional_finding.html

Edit: Clutchfans censors the link because it thinks it's seeing something naughty. Civic literacy.

 

I also got 30 out of 33 and also missed the question about the Gettysburg Address. I said Constitution which was just misremembering the preamble.

I also missed the taxes equal government spending question which I think given the possible answers is misleading. If what the government takes in is what it spends certainly doesn't mean that tax per person equals spending per person as with a progressive income tax it is almost impossible to have that be the case.

I got the free market question right but I also think a few of the answers could apply.

The other question I missed was about flood control levees and said it was a public good because government pays for it which I think is as valid an answer as the other one they say is correct "that a resident can benefit from it without directly paying for it." Both those answers are really the same.

In general I thought this was a good quiz but several of the questions either have more than one answer that can apply, have some ideological bias and need some more specificity.

 

27, some i'm embarrassed to miss, some meh

 

33/33 thought it was almost 32 - the public good question was stupid and I don't think any of the answers was totally correct.

 

31 out of 33. Damn you weslinder!

Missed these-

Question: What was the source of the following phrase: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”?


Question: If taxes equal government spending, then:

 

27/33, got pretty much every arcane piece of American history wrong...woohoo!

What was the source of the following phrase: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”?
What was the main issue in the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858?
The phrase that in America there should be a “wall of separation” between church and state appears in
What part of the government has the power to declare war?
What impact did the Anti-Federalists have on the United States Constitution?
The Bill of Rights explicitly prohibits (I put discrimination, was probably thinking of the good old Charter)

 

29 out of 33. I missed all the history questions.

 

29 out of 33

Got the free market one wrong, and the tax=debt and Socrates and Government of the people, by the people, for the people??

 

32 of 33.

 

exactly the same here.