Are you smarter than your elected officials?

[ciroccoj]

Gakked from mynuet, here's an online (American) civics quiz. I got 87.88%. Average Americans scored 49%. Elected officials scored 44%.

I'd love to see a similar quiz for Canada. I probably wouldn't want to know what our average scores would be, though :(

Comments

[lisa3353.livejournal.com]

I am sad to say, I, an American, got 84.85% and I have a law degree, though I don't practice and I graduated in 1995. What strikes me as odd is that many of our elected officials are lawyers and they work is a field where this kind of information would be kind of useful to them, for goodness sakes. Thanks for posting this; it's been all over the news here, but I was too lazy to go looking for it, myself.

[lizzie-omalley.livejournal.com]

I got an 84.85 as well, American, BA Environmental Science and MS El. Ed. (science certification) I am embarassed about a couple that I missed although, truth be told, 3 of the ones that I missed I should have gotten right but didn't trust my first instinct. Always go with your first instinct.

[woffproff.livejournal.com]

Woot! I'm proud to say I got all but one---that last one on taxation/government spending!

[linaelyn.livejournal.com]

I guess I remember enough of my Poli Sci degree. I got 93.94%. Both of the questions I got wrong were Civil War related (Lincoln-Douglas debates & Gettysburg Address) and I know that's my area of weak understanding. (I got a 'D' in my college U.S. history course on that era, because that's the quarter I broke up with Estel, dropped out of half my classes, and kinda-sorta tried to commit suicide. um... yeah. Not my best moment, academically.)

[daf9.livejournal.com]

I was a science major. In Canada. Uh huh - that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!

[daf9.livejournal.com]

Editing to add: this quiz was clearly written by someone with no understanding of the concept of significant figures, an observation in which I will take comfort.

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and it's also a tad skewed. There were a couple answers that IMHO were more ideological than factual. I answered the way I figured the test expected me to, but wished for an "other" category a few times. Or for somebody to contact with, "Your question X: here are a few dozen political/legal/economic articles that convince me just a tad more than your answer did."

[fearciuil.livejournal.com]

I got 87.88% as well ... the economics questions threw me (I hate questions in which I feel like I have to read the mind of the person who constructed the test!)