A number of blogs have linked to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute Civics test. It’s 33 questions, designed to test your knowledge of historical and contemporary knowledge in that field. (If you’re in a hurry, there’s also a shorter version with 10 questions.)
I’m an immigrant, but even so, I had no trouble getting all 33 questions correct. How about you? Give it a try, and let us know how you did in Comments.
Peter
10 / 10 in the shorter version.
30/33, long version. The financial questions got me.
Perfect score, long version. Had a rough time with the Lincoln/Douglas debates, couldn't recall if it was directly about the morals of slavery, or whether or not to let it spread into new territories. Remembered that the latter was a hot topic between then and the start of the civil war so went there and got it right.
OK. 91%. Missed three out of 33. But hey, I don't even live in the US, I'm a Dutchman 🙂 with an interest in history…
Piotr
33/33, another immigrant.
29 (at 5:15 am on three hours sleep, but still…). *cringe*
Coffee please! And a mulligan.
32 of 33. I got the "free market is better than centrally planned" question wrong. My excuse? I took macroeconomics, where every situation starts with "The Chairman of the Federal Reserve drops ten million dollars from a helicopter. If . . ."
LittleRed1
32/33. I messed the flood levy question up. Not too bad as I am not an American and have never visited that nation.
29 out of 33. Got a few history questions wrong, that I probably should have known, about the Puritans and Anti-Federalists for instance.
But I'm not a US Citizen or an immigrant, so maybe that's a good excuse.
33/33
Arrogant southern a**hole…
MC
32/33 Second quess myself on FDR and the Supremes. Dang!
Gerry
I got 30/33. I think I missed the levee question and some financial questions.
33/33
It would be interesting to see what questions have the most wrong answers…
32/33
I second guessed myself on the puritans. Should have gone with my first answer.
This test is rigged. I know that because I scored 33/33, 100%. It's obviously a sham.
It's nice, though, to finally see one of these tests that isn't full of meaningless trivia questions designed to figure out who spends all of their time reading the news ("who is the secretary of defense?" &c.)
32/33. Missed the one on the Puritans.
32/33. Disagreed with them about the effects of 'specializaton' (and trade), but gave 'em the answer they wanted.
Missed tax/rev question.
32/33. Only question I had no idea about was the last. It's sad that the average from their 2008 survey was 49%.
Statistics about the individual questions can be found here: http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/2008/additional_finding.html
32 out of 33 (96.97%)
Missed "What the Fed Gov. should do in a severe recession"
I picked "lower taxes and spending".
The authors said "lower taxes, increase spending", which is Keynesian economics (sorta, kinda).
Since I associate myself with the Austrian School of Economics, I hereby declare myself as getting 33 out of 33 right.
Yup, I am a citizen, live in Idaho, carry a gun, go to church, and this 4th of July going to Shoshone nation to fire off some real fireworks.
Michael
32/33 missed the philosophy one with Thomas Aquinas, Plato, et al. Just flat didn't know it.
Grumpy Old Badger
28/33; missed the one about the Anti-Federalists, free markets/economic prosperity, Lincoln-Douglas, ancient philosophers, and "if taxes equal gov't spending".
I'm pretty sure a few of my right answers were educated guesses, too.
Lifelong Virginia resident; studied civics primarily as required in grade school.
32/33 – missed the last one on taxes.
Michael, the question wasn't "what should the government do, it's "Which of the following fiscal policy combinations has the federal government most often followed to stimulate economic activity when the economy is in a severe recession?" I happen to agree with you that cutting spending is a better policy, but the question was historical, not forward-looking.
32/33-missed last question, ALWAYS READ ALL THE ANSWERS BEFORE SELECTION ONE!
30/33 but should have been 31/33 since I went back and changed one of my answers. I like to think I'm pretty good at this but I'm quite proud of how well you performed on this test as an immigrant. You deserve to be proud and I'm grateful we have someone of your caliber who settled in the USA.
30/33, 90.91%. Not bad, I think.
Russ