# Civic Literacy Test - Mentioned in USA Today **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 12, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078 "2008-04-12T21:04:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/41 "2008-04-13T05:21:15Z")
I suck at life: only 88.33% The ones I missed were a small cross section. I didn’t complete screw up one particular topic. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/42 "2008-04-13T05:37:29Z")
60% I think I did orrite for a Sydney boy. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/43 "2008-04-13T06:06:29Z")
95%, but the econ questions made me sweat a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/44 "2008-04-13T06:15:54Z")
90%. Not bad, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/45 "2008-04-13T06:36:22Z")
63.33%. I fondly remember my Government class as one of the key reasons I tell people, ‘‘I went to a terrible school.’’ ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/46 "2008-04-13T06:37:47Z")
85 - problems with some of the economics and some of the political philosophy (which I probably should read some day). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/47 "2008-04-13T06:41:39Z")
[QUOTE=NinetyWt] Ok, I hate to admit it but … 66.67%. I have forgotten all that stuff - I graduated high school in 1977. I re-learned a lot of it when the kids were in grade school, from helping call out questions during study time. Guess I suck at retaining civics! It’s sooooo dull to me anyway. A couple of the questions seemed like there wasn’t any right answer. [/QUOTE] Me as well, but I have the excuse of being from Spain and Science track… I swear some of those philosophers only sound familiar from having heard my youngest brother mention them. Since I don’t pay attention to his critique of his classbooks at all, it’s amazing that I remember even the names (he’s doing Poli Sci long distance). ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/48 "2008-04-13T06:53:56Z")
Wow, you guys really know how to make someone feel good about themselves. 66.67%. I’m American, and I took my last history and civics classes relatively recently compared to most of you, in 1999-2000. I’m a complete moron and will never amount to anything worthwhile. I mean…the only other people to score as bad as me were someone who graduated HS in 1977, and someone from Spain. I _used_ to think I was smart…then I joined the SDMB… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/49 "2008-04-13T06:54:41Z")
80%, alas. As is always the case with these things, you look at the ones you missed and think “Boy, I was totally almost about to pick that”. [But, then, the same thing happened with everyone who scored better than you as well…] ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/50 "2008-04-13T07:06:15Z")
58 out of 60, 96.67%. Like a lot of people I was thrown by the “just war” question, and, embarrassingly, I don’t know when Jamestown was founded, so I got the very first question wrong. Otherwise it was no sweat, and I didn’t really have to guess for any of them. [/bragging] ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/51 "2008-04-13T07:33:50Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] I’m a complete moron and will never amount to anything worthwhile. I mean…the only other people to score as bad as me were someone who graduated HS in 1977, and someone from Spain. I _used_ to think I was smart…then I joined the SDMB… ☹ [/QUOTE] It’s self-reported results, **bouv** : there’s probably people who got low results (or at least low for The Dope, that is) but who aren’t posting them. Those results that are reported as “mega low” here were the average for yesterday… ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/52 "2008-04-13T07:43:20Z")
This test shows us why our Civics education in this nation is so terrible. It focuses on historical trivia and leaves out more important questions like: What is a City Council? What is Federalism? What is the difference between a Caucus and a Primary? What is a Grand Jury? What department do you contact if you want to organize an event in a public park? What is the legal distance that a candidate for office can campaign from a polling station on election day? How many Representatives are in the US Congress? What officer of the Executive Branch breaks deadlocks in the Senate? Knowing when Jamestown was formed has nothing to do with Civics, that’s history. Civics should teach people how the government works, not the minutiae of its founding. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/53 "2008-04-13T08:04:03Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] This test shows us why our Civics education in this nation is so terrible. It focuses on historical trivia and leaves out more important questions like: What is a City Council? What is Federalism? What is the difference between a Caucus and a Primary? What is a Grand Jury? What department do you contact if you want to organize an event in a public park? What is the legal distance that a candidate for office can campaign from a polling station on election day? How many Representatives are in the US Congress? What officer of the Executive Branch breaks deadlocks in the Senate? Knowing when Jamestown was formed has nothing to do with Civics, that’s history. Civics should teach people how the government works, not the minutiae of its founding. [/QUOTE] While I agree to some extent with what you said, it _did_ ask “What is Federalism?”. Also, I would argue that questions like “How many Representatives are in the U.S. Congress?” really are trivia; at least, knowing the exact number, beyond just having the ballpark idea. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/54 "2008-04-13T08:06:14Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] Knowing when Jamestown was formed has nothing to do with Civics, that’s history. Civics should teach people how the government works, not the minutiae of its founding. [/QUOTE] I agree on the first but disagree on the second. It’s much easier to understand how and why things work if you know how they came to be; otoh, sometimes people focus too much on “what day of the week was the Battle of Thermopilae fought on” and not enough on whether and how it changed the world. The only science I was taught with no reference to its history was Math; I didn’t understand Set Theory until a Doper kindly explained… its history. Once I know what is it Set Theory tries to do, I know how to use it, but as just a list of “properties of semi rings” it was useless and meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/55 "2008-04-13T10:11:15Z")
55/60 - 91.67% Federalism was my weak point, with two of my misses being on that topic. At least that’s one thing where I scored ahead of most of my college classmates. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/56 "2008-04-13T11:30:49Z")
I got 112.5 and three eighths percent for numeracy. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/57 "2008-04-13T17:50:23Z")
70%. But then, I graduated high school early, after 11th grade, thus skipping civics class altogether. I’m glad there seem to be lots of people well-prepared to follow in Noam Chomsky’s footsteps, if necessary. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Taters](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/taters/32/2845_2.png) [@Taters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taters)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/58 "2008-04-13T18:17:48Z")
I’m embarrassed to admit that I only scored 76.67%. I used to be a whiz at this kind of stuff. But, then again, I haven’t been in school or taken a civics class since 1982. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/59 "2008-04-13T21:39:01Z")
72%. The economics questions did me in. ---
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078/60 "2008-04-13T23:43:17Z")
91.67% - Economics was my weakness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civic-literacy-test-mentioned-in-usa-today/445078.md?page=4)