What is Digg?Sponsored by Travelzoo
Take Advantage of Ridiculously Low Holiday Airfares view!
travelzoo.com - Flights $52 and up for Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year. But move on it now.
371 Comments
- jaydubdub, on 11/23/2008, -2/+208We only elect the best....
- OhOkayThen, on 11/23/2008, -3/+183Now that's just sad. There has to be something wrong with those statistics. I'm not even in college yet but I scored a 96.97% with one wrong (Anti-Federalist question *FACEPALM*). The civics quiz is here, by the way: http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/qui ...
Some of the questions are rather iffy, but there is still no excuse for Americans to not know the straightforward ones. - lensman00, on 11/23/2008, -2/+135There is a page describing the survey methods here:
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/2008/survey_m ...
I think part of the reason for the low scores is that the total survey is 118 questions, administered by phone. That makes for a pretty exhausting survey from a mental standpoint.
I suspect that's a big part of the reason why internet test-takers are outperforming the original respondents by 30 percentage points or so. Some of the civics questions were a little puzzling when I had them right in front of me, having them read over the phone would be ten times as confusing. If you don't know an answer cold, you have to keep the question in mind as well as the list of possible answers.
Also, unlike a normal academic test you don't get any prep time. It's probably just someone interrupting your dinner or whatever and asking "would you be willing to take a survey?". - Stoneman89, on 11/23/2008, -4/+125People are just now figuring out our Congress is made up of idiots?
Intriguing it is - inactive, on 11/23/2008, -6/+87This is why we can never elect a president who actually follows the Constitution. The general public doesn't even know half what is stated in that old, yet relevant document. The U.S. President has the authority to declare war? WHAT? This is exactly why people like Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich don't stand a chance for president. The public is too idiotic for someone of their intelligence and honesty.
- layzice, on 11/23/2008, -0/+78Garbage in, garbage out.
~George Carlin - Sparklefreak, on 11/23/2008, -3/+73I only scored 78.79 %. But I'm a Canadian not a congressman :)
- colonelbuckshot, on 11/23/2008, -3/+49They also flunk the test of representing the democratic will of the people.
- emazur, on 11/23/2008, -2/+46I don't think it's a surprise to hear the public thinks the president has the power to declare war - they're just following the example of Dubya
- EnviroChem, on 05/22/2009, -0/+43Another reason the online test is scoring better is because it isn't a random sampling. Those who find the test and then decide to take it (rather than being randomly asked to take the test) probably have a greater curiosity about such issues and are thus more informed.
- dtr300, on 11/23/2008, -1/+42A. At night all cats are gray.
B. Athens wasn't built in a day.
C. Only you can prevent forest fires.
D. When it rains, it pours.
E. Let us live, my Lesbia, let us love. - netneutrality, on 11/23/2008, -0/+40Some people thought Britain and Canada were America's enemies in WWII??? Are you $#%^!N& KIDDING ME!? Nice to see people know so much about the war which killed 72 million people.
- pintomp3, on 11/23/2008, -7/+46some of those questions seems to simply test your faith in free market fundamentalism.
"Free markets typically secure more economic prosperity than government’s centralized planning because" it's asking a question based on an unproven assumption.
the ISI alumni include people from the reagan administration and from the right-wing heritage foundation. this test is heavily biased.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Interco ...
The group is known for having distinctly American Conservative views.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercollegiate_Studi ... - dude58677, on 11/23/2008, -0/+38"I can't be the smartest person in the world. The questions weren't that hard."
Luke Wilson, Idiocracy - vtnerd, on 11/23/2008, -0/+34"Give me liberty or give me death."*
- pintomp3, on 11/23/2008, -4/+38this "test" is administered by a conservative think tank.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercollegiate_Studi ...
Although ISI does not have any official partisan or religious affiliation, the Institute tends towards paleoconservative and traditionalist positions. The influence of several important twentieth-century Roman Catholic thinkers is also apparent at ISI. In fact, the very reason given for the existence of ISI is that education in the modern university is insufficiently liberal (in the traditional sense) to meet the needs of a classical education. Further, the organization fights what it perceives as political correctness and liberal (in the modern sense) bias among campus professors.
In a 1989 speech to the Heritage Foundation, the ISI President, T. Kenneth Cribb Jr., stated:
We must...provide resources and guidance to an elite which can take up anew the task of enculturation. Through its journals, lectures, seminars, books and fellowships, this is what ISI has done successfully for 36 years. The coming of age of such elites has provided the current leadership of the conservative revival. But we should add a major new component to our strategy: the conservative movement is now mature enough to sustain a counteroffensive on that last Leftist redoubt, the college campus...We are now strong enough to establish a contemporary presence for conservatism on campus, and contest the Left on its own turf. We plan to do this by greatly expanding the ISI field effort, its network of campus-based programming
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Interco ... - Troy64, on 11/23/2008, -1/+34I knew it wasn't the British but you can never tell with Canadians.
- inactive, on 11/23/2008, -1/+34That's not true. Your history has lead to such humorous jokes as:
"What would a bunch of criminals say if we put them on an island and came back years later?"
"G'day, mate!" - boydrew, on 11/23/2008, -7/+39in their defense, the question of whether a President can declare war is understandable as they have been under the direction of the Bush administration the past 8 years...
- Batfishy, on 11/23/2008, -0/+27But, boydrew, shouldn't this be part of their professional knowledge based on their position? They should know the rules or they don't get to legislate them. With Bush in office they should have honed up on their skills a little bit, you'd think.
- mackii, on 11/23/2008, -1/+27Everybody should know about the greek thinkers. Especially since they were all students of each other, and the evolution of ideas is an amazing thing to observe.
European science in general was based on Aristotlian thought and his version of a scientific method for over a 1000 years, until Descartes and others.
Socrates said what I believe to be one of the smartest things anyone has ever said. "The only thing I know is that I know nothing".
Plato wrote the freaking 'Republic'. Something which you think would be fairly important in American schools. - cleovii, on 11/23/2008, -1/+27Maybe the quiz assumes pre-existing national debt.
- kemp34, on 11/23/2008, -7/+32We serisouly need to kick these ***** idiotic, corrupt, brain dead tyrants out of office.
- EnviroChem, on 05/22/2009, -2/+27Some of those questions were tough, like question 13: "Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Aquinas would concur that"
- TPorter72, on 11/23/2008, -0/+25We're just waiting for you to put down your guard, then you'll have a hockey skate through your neck and maple syrup in your eyes.
- Diggnabbit, on 11/23/2008, -14/+38Lame, lame, biased test.
" Which of the following fiscal policy combinations would a government most likely follow to stimulate economic activity when the economy is in a severe recession?
Under Our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government?
Free markets typically secure more economic prosperity than government’s centralized planning because:"
Please. This is really just testing one's faith in right wing conservative talking points and economics, with a few historical questions thrown in to make it seem balanced. - kurtwinter, on 11/23/2008, -0/+24I got 91%. But looking at the country, its easy to imagine that most people don't realize the constitution forbids the creation of a state religion.
- nukeleearr, on 11/23/2008, -1/+25I got 84 and I'm Canadian who hasn't taken a history course since grade 10 (which was Canadian history)... honestly I don't see how you could fail, the answers are all common sense with a little deductive reasoning
- TPorter72, on 11/23/2008, -0/+21I'm glad some of them think the US fought Canada in World War II. It's comforting to think they blame us for prosecuting Jewish people.
- sheeplescareme, on 11/23/2008, -0/+20who's surprised? anyone?
- Setherex, on 11/23/2008, -2/+22Lets say that I score 69%, if i were an 8th grader who has yet to gain citizenship, is it good?
- ILikePants, on 11/23/2008, -2/+21Wrong.
Only Congress has the constitutional authority to declare war--not the president. See the War Powers clause. Congress authorized the "use of force", but no war was officially declared.
So, how'd you score, genius? - migshark, on 11/23/2008, -1/+20I got 71% and I'm an Aussie high-school drop-out. Never set foot in America.
Although that's probably because our national history is practically non-existent. - joeMurphy, on 11/23/2008, -1/+20"Elected Official" doesn't necessarily mean Congress. It could mean sheriff, county commissioner, state house, state senate, local school board.... many, many things.
- navghtivs, on 11/23/2008, -0/+18"You answered 27 out of 33 correctly — 81.82 %"
I moved to US from China 6 years ago. - winterus, on 11/23/2008, -1/+19I got 84.85 % and I'm from Sweden...
- barfooz, on 11/23/2008, -0/+17The great majority of the population is lacking in both common sense and deductive reasoning.
- roho76, on 11/23/2008, -1/+18False. US Officials have made it illegal to administer tests to themselves.
- barfooz, on 11/23/2008, -1/+18Elected officials are intended to be drawn from the people, to serve the people for a short time and return to their original occupations. Since they're drawn from a population of idiots, they're statistically likely to be idiots too.
- smotpoker, on 11/23/2008, -0/+16That could explain why I missed three of the last four questions... as with many tests I had to pick between the conventional/"correct" answers and the ones that seem to make sense.
- safetysealed, on 11/23/2008, -3/+19Im Scottish and I got 72.73%.
What kind of idiots are you guys electing if a foreigner can get a higher score? - doctornkul, on 11/23/2008, -0/+16States have to respect federal laws. Basically, this is the hierarchy of laws.
1. Constitution (+ amendments)
2. Federal Laws/Treaties
3. State Laws
4. Local laws
The 1st amendment states that no law shall be made respecting the establishment of a religion. This applies to Congress, and everything below it. - Diggnabbit, on 11/23/2008, -2/+181) It's not a matter of who proposed what. It's a question to which there is no actual right answer. Especially since it asks what the government would follow, not what it would propose.
2) It's biased because all of the powers listed are NOW considered to belong to the federal government. The implication is that only those powers spelled out explicitly in the Constitution belong to it, and that is not the case.
3) The fact that "this" is a capitalist society (not sure which society you mean, but I'll assume the U.S.) has nothing to do with it. The question asks why "free markets typically secure more economic prosperity," and it is unproven that they do, much less WHY they do. - inactive, on 11/23/2008, -0/+16AP US History finally helped me...my teacher would be proud. :)
- scecilio, on 11/23/2008, -3/+19I'm guessing that the number of years out of college would account for some of it.
Average age of House member: 57 years
Average age of Senate member: 61.7 years
They should probably take a refresher course before taking office. - inactive, on 11/23/2008, -18/+32
............................................________
....................................,.-'"...................``~.,
.............................,.-"..................................."-.,
.........................,/...............................................":,
.....................,?......................................................,
.................../...........................................................,}
................./......................................................,:`^`..}
.............../...................................................,:"........./
..............?.....__.........................................:`.........../
............./__.(....."~-,_..............................,:`........../
.........../(_...."~,_........"~,_....................,:`........_/
..........{.._$;_......"=,_......."-,_.......,.-~-,},.~";/....}
...........((.....*~_......."=-._......";,,./`..../"............../
...,,,___.`~,......"~.,....................`.....}............../
............(....`=-,,.......`........................(......;_,,-"
............/.`~,......`-...................................../
.............`~.*-,.....................................|,./.....,__
,,_..........}.>-._...................................|..............`=~-,
.....`=~-,__......`,.................................
...................`=~-,,.,...............................
................................`:,,...........................`..............__
.....................................`=-,...................,%`>--==``
........................................_..........._,-%.......`
..................................., - MrXfromPlanetX, on 11/23/2008, -2/+16The real problem here is the school system. Most schools have not required Civics for decades.
If we want to fix this issue we need to get involved in the local school boards and PTA. We need to make US history a requirement for students. Where I live a miracle has taken place. High school seniors are now required to take civics.
I would recommend having students study the Deceleration of Independence through out their school years so they practically have it memorized by the time they graduate.
In their final years of high school they should study civics focusing on both the national and local level. - inactive, on 11/24/2008, -0/+14I got 11%, and I'm in Congress.
- Decimit, on 11/23/2008, -3/+16Maybe I'm looking at it wrong or something, but the last question seems to be a little odd at best.
33) If taxes equal government spending, then:
They say that
A. government debt is zero
is incorrect, but it is actually correct. If you only spend the money you take in, you would have no debt. - Cymrubeats, on 11/23/2008, -2/+15You answered 17 out of 33 correctly — 51.52 %
I'm from (and reside in) Scotland though, so i guess it's not 'too' bad a score. -
Show 51 - 100 of 385 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is