Civics Quiz - Post your score

@parados,

If you want an example of a liberal slanted question Finn, how do you feel about this one?

Which of the following does the constitution not guarantee?
1. A free press
2. freedom of religion
3. freedom to assemble
4. free market capitalism

There is a correct answer, but there can be little question that the answer has a viewpoint.

1 Reply

The average run of the mill American scored 49% on this quiz.

The average elected official scored 44% on this same quiz.

Government schools have done an outstanding job of dumbing down the masses.

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You answered 24 out of 33 correctly " 72.73 %

(But I amn't American...so there's some excuse, I think)

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@parados,

It has a viewpoint - so what?

Is it at all likely that anyone is going to adopt the viewpoint by answering the question? Nor is it likely that anyone will adopt the viewpoint of the designers of this quiz just by taking it.

It's an interesting exercise as evidence by the number of people who have already participated.

As long as the questions have factual answers which do not rely upon a certain political viewpoint to receive a "Correct" when answered, what's the big deal?

Participants are not going to score poorly because they do not have a conservative viewpoint --- unless they are allowing a liberal viewpoint to cloud their reason.

Clever Cyclo, he discovered the "secret" of the quiz, but it’s just an inconsequential quiz after all.

1 Reply

@Finn dAbuzz,

Quote:

It's an interesting exercise as evidence by the number of people who have already participated.

The interesting part is how subtle yet pervasive the propaganda is. And it's not about what the right answers are, it's about what the wrong answers are...

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@Cycloptichorn,

Which of the wrong answers do you consider propaganda, Cyclo?

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@Thomas,

Just as an example,

Quote:

6. The Bill of Rights explicitly prohibits:

A. prayer in public school
B. discrimination based on race, sex, or religion
C. the ownership of guns by private individuals
D. establishing an official religion for the United States
E. the president from vetoing a line item in a spending bill

This question is designed not to test one's knowledge of the correct answer - D - but to remind you that the Constitution doesn't ban guns, prayer, or the line-item veto.

Or this one

Quote:

15. The phrase that in America there should be a "wall of separation" between church and state appears in:

A. George Washington’s Farewell Address
B. the Mayflower Compact
C. the Constitution
D. the Declaration of Independence
E. Thomas Jefferson’s letters

Designed to point out that neither the Dec. of Ind. nor the Constitution says there should be a wall between church and state.

Most of the questions are like that - backwards in their true aims. It's clever.

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

I hate -- absolutely hate -- to have to say this, but I'm in agreement with finn on this. It's a pop quiz, that's all. What the political orientation of the people who concocted it is, is irrelevant. I fail to see how their particular bias affects the answers or the outcome of the quiz one way or the other. If this is propagandistic proselityzing, it's the lamest effort I've ever seen. Joe from Chicago is right -- it's a dumb test. But, that said, it's also harmless.

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You answered 31 out of 33 correctly " 93.94 %

Average score for this quiz during November: 78.1%
Average score: 78.1%

I missed the questions about the greek sages and the puritans:
Answers to Your Missed Questions:

Question #13 - E. certain permanent moral and political truths are accessible to human reason
Question #14 - B. stressed the sinfulness of all humanity

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@Cycloptichorn,

Well, I was prepared to argue with you about the word "propaganda", because to me it implies a certain degree of dishonesty that I don't see in this quizz. The constitution, by itself, doesn't erect a wall of separation between church and state, etc. But on looking up the term in Webster's and American Heritage's dictionary, I learn that advocacy needn't necessarily be dishonest to qualify as propaganda.

So I revise my view: Yes, the wrong answers in the quizz are propaganda. And there's nothing wrong with that.

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@Thomas,

Some of the wording economic questions were reminiscent of a push poll.

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@Thomas,

Sure, I guess. Usually I tend to label that propaganda which goes out of it's way to hide the message that is being pushed as 'dishonest.' It's not a civics quiz; it's intended to be a civics lesson that pushes Conservative answers to every question.

It's nothing serious, not a big deal; just surprising to me how many people here didn't catch on to what was happening.

Cycloptichorn

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It is all a matter of perspective. It is propaganda to include answers that are frequently understood wrongly? A2K members seem to be mostly better educated than the population of some' message boards. I would venture on several other boards, members taking the same quiz, assuming they reported honestly, would not fare nearly so well on this quiz, and that would have nothing to do with ideology but would rather have to do with misconceptions, misunderstandings, and/or not having a clue.

For instance, I would guess that a significant percentage of the population think that the 'wall of separation' is from the U.S. Constitition or have no idea where it originated or why. Even here on A2K there is quite a bit of misunderstanding about that, but the phrase keeps turning up every so often as a basis for a point being made. And, as often as not, it is used incorrectly.

The test was simply a quiz without much structure to assess much of a person's civic knowledge. The only propaganda was perhaps in the effort to better educate those taking it on commonly misunderstood components.

1 Reply

@Merry Andrew,

Quote:

I hate -- absolutely hate -- to have to say this, but I'm in agreement with finn on this.

You've hurt my feelings Merry.

Although perhaps a rarity, I certainly don't hate to be in agreement with you.

That would be silly.

I could only hate agreeing with you if I thought you were a fiend or an utter waste of human tissue, because of what it might say about me. The mere fact that I can occassionaly agree with you only proves you're not either.

You only have to agree with me if you think I am correct. Is that thought really so upsetting to you?

Sad

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@Foxfyre,

Quote:

The only propaganda was perhaps in the effort to better educate those taking it on commonly misunderstood components.

That is what was pointed out Fox. The attempt is made to educate based on conservative beliefs. Why else would the question be about the "wall of separation" rather than the USSC ruling on prayer in school?

Why the question on the moral beliefs of Aristotle, Socrates and Aquinas? None of them lived in America or at the time of the revolution and founding of this nation? It has no place in a quiz about US history and civics since it is not related to anything about the US.

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@parados,

On the other hand, I thought the question about the benefits of strong labor unions was fair...

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@parados,

parados wrote:

Quote:
The only propaganda was perhaps in the effort to better educate those taking it on commonly misunderstood components.

That is what was pointed out Fox. The attempt is made to educate based on conservative beliefs. Why else would the question be about the "wall of separation" rather than the USSC ruling on prayer in school?

Why the question on the moral beliefs of Aristotle, Socrates and Aquinas? None of them lived in America or at the time of the revolution and founding of this nation? It has no place in a quiz about US history and civics since it is not related to anything about the US.

All three did have a profound effect on western civilization, however, and all three have a place in influencing the concepts of government that eventually formed the basis for the Constitution and the government that we now have. I studed these in highschool and college toward that end. Did you not?

Even if you disagree with that argument, are liberals somehow opposed to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle? Many would say that the U.S. Constitution was a new thing, a significant change from anything that previously existed, and therefore was a classical liberal document.

To assume that using these three ancient philosophers is somehow something only a Conservative would come up with is a real stretch if you have studied the debates that went into the formation of the U.S. government.

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@Foxfyre,

Oh....and also....the 'wall of separation' is a term used by both conservatives and liberals and is probably misunderstood equally by both.

1 Reply

@revel,

You answered 23 out of 33 correctly " 69.70 %

Average score for this quiz during November: 78.1%
Average score: 78.1%

it was actually 24 out of 33 but i didnt click it. gettysburg address duh!

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@Zippo,

You answered 27 out of 33 correctly " 81.82 %

Average score for this quiz during November: 78.0%

I got a little distracted/bored at the end, possibly, and muffed quest 30 and 33, the last one.

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