You should have to pass a test like this before you can vote

[softballaddict]

Full Civic Literacy Exam (from our 2008 survey)

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.

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

<Brag on> I did WAY better than I thought I would - 32/33 correct. Yea me! <Brag off>

I've always thought you should have to prove some level of competence to vote, along with a positive ID.

[blackwidow]

This is a very good quiz......from a libertarian organization founded by Frank Chodorov

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Chodorov

You can read many of Chodorov's articles here:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/chodorov/chodorov-arch.html

SA>You just might be a libertarian at heart.

PEACE

[Battle]

I didn't do too bad (76% rounded up). Nothing to brag about I suppose, but there is one question that tells me this table is BS. There is no way that 25% of Elected Politicians would miss question 21 and not out score your average citizen. That change(y), hope(y) thing is relentless. This table is proof how the libertarian organizations work to mislead the people. Michael Moore and Bill Maher would be proud.

Are You Smarter Than a Politician?
Of the 2,508 People surveyed, 164 say they have held an elected government office at least once in their life. Their average score on the civic literacy test is 44%, compared to 49% for those who have not held an elected office. Officeholders are less likely than other respondents to correctly answer 29 of the 33 test questions. This table shows the “knowledge gap” for each question: the difference between the percentage of common citizens who answered correctly and the percentage of officeholders who answered correctly.

Theme of Question- (Citizens), (Elected Politicians), (Knowledge Gap)

1. U.S. – Soviet Tension in 1962 70.09% 56.51% -13.58%
2. Declaration of Independence 83.09 69.78 -13.31
3. Sputnik 74.1 62.82 -11.28
4. Definition of Free Enterprise 41.45 32.08 -9.37
5. M. L. King’s “I Have a Dream” 80.5 71.5 -9
6. Electoral College 65.88 57.31 -8.57
7. Scopes “Monkey Trial” 67.76 59.21 -8.55
8. Susan B. Anthony 80.84 72.98 -7.86
9. Power to Declare War 53.6 45.82 -7.78
10. Business Profit 49.11 41.38 -7.73
11. International Trade 37.47 30.45 -7.02
12. FDR’s Government Programs 66.63 59.73 -6.9
13. Abortion 50.77 43.94 -6.83
14. Federal Branches and Foreign Policy 54.71 48.39 -6.32
15. First Amendment Freedoms 79.58 73.32 -6.26
16. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas 29.49 23.29 -6.2
17. FDR and the Supreme Court 25.07 19.24 -5.83
18. Taxes and Government Spending 27.7 22.12 -5.58
19. Free Markets vs. Centralized Planning 16.25 10.71 -5.54
20. Action Prohibited by the Bill of Rights 26.41 21.24 -5.17
21. Commander in Chief 79.04 74.46 -4.58
22. Anti-Federalists and the Constitution 38.22 33.82 -4.4
23. Source of phrase “a wall of separation” 18.92 15.07 -3.85
24. Policy Tool of the Federal Reserve 43.12 40.48 -2.64
25. Powers of the Federal Government 75.01 72.69 -2.32
26. World War II Enemies 68.76 66.58 -2.18
27. The Puritans 19.1 17.32 -1.78
28. Definition of a Progressive Tax 51.26 49.97 -1.29
29. Three Branches of Government 49.65 49.32 -0.33
30. Definition of a Public Good 27.6 28.03 0.43
31. Gettysburg Address 21.06 22.95 1.89
32. Fiscal Policy for Economic Stimulus 36.07 39.93 3.86
33. Lincoln–Douglas Debates 19.06 23.62 4.56

[Blind Squirrel]

Creo que he fallado la prueba

Juan

[Battle]

This table is proof how the libertarian organizations work to mislead the people. Michael Moore and Bill Maher would be proud.

Don't mistake Libertarian with Liberal.

True but this table reminds me of the way extreme left liberals operate. The liberal media covers what promotes their leftist view as with this table promoting the libertarianism view and not what is actually representative of the average citizen or politician. This table reminds me of Moore and Maher tactics. The questions are fine but the table is biased.

[ontheblack]

Full Civic Literacy Exam (from our 2008 survey)

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.

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

<Brag on> I did WAY better than I thought I would - 32/33 correct. Yea me! <Brag off>

I've always thought you should have to prove some level of competence to vote, along with a positive ID.

32 out of 33 is pretty good, but you failed the test when you wrote the post title.

In the late 1800s, many of the Southern states instituted tests - they were called voter literacy tests - as a counter measure to the passage of the 15th Amendment. It took nearly 100 years after the 15th Amendment became law before these tests were virtually outlawed nationwide in 1965.

Here is an example: http://kpearson.project.tcnj.edu/intera ... /test.html

[jonriv]

Results
You answered 31 out of 33 correctly — 93.94 %

Not too shabby- two wrong

did not find test too liberal or libertarian- basic civics(wish it was they would teach in schools)

[GIMNEPIWO]

I saw a reporter on television recently asking people on the street average questions ... One young man thought Osama Bin Laden was president of the United States ...

[softballaddict]

OTB - I know voting tests are not currently legal. I just think there should be some level of competency, knowledge etc. before one is allowed to vote. I am so tired of people who have no skin in the game and no clue of the actual history and operation of our government / constitution voting for career politicians who promise to give them my hard earned money. I also think you should have some skin in the game before you can vote. Half the people now pay no income taxes, and about half of those actually get money back. If you're not supporting the system, you shouldn't be able to make the rules. If you want to make the rules, support the system.

[ontheblack]

Being a US citizen is having skin in the game. Having been proved guilty of committing a felony takes away the privilege. Being poor is not a crime, nor an indication of intelligence, knowledge, or common sense, and should never be equated with the right to vote. Being ignorant and/or stupid, well, that would eliminate half the jackasses currently holding office somewhere.

I turned 18 and a week later in the CA primary cast my first vote for Ronald Reagan for POTUS. It was one of the proudest moments in my life.

Require proof of citizenship. In the US, that means having skin in the game.