# Short Political Quiz for American Dopers **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 7, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087 "2003-10-07T16:24:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/1 "2003-10-07T16:24:00Z")
This quiz has been floating around the 'net for a bit. The creators of the quiz are a Democrat and a Republican (Victor Kamber - D and Bradley S.O’Leary - R). Take it and post your score here. I scored a 24 - a bit more conservative than Colin Powell but right up there with George Bush (the elder). Non-American dopers, please feel free to take the quiz. I wasn’t trying to exclude you _per se_ but the questions focus on branches of our government and political figures with which you may not be familiar. [Take the quiz.](http://madrabbit.net/webrabbit/quizshow.html) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/2 "2003-10-07T16:33:24Z")
I scored a 13 but I think some of the questions present false dilemmas and some mean so little to me that I could have answered them either way (I trust pro athletes pretty much exactly as much as I trust team owners, for example, which is that I have no opinion on the subject). Who was it that decided the scores for the politicians pictured? ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/3 "2003-10-07T16:37:28Z")
I came in at 19. My responses were wildly mixed, but I thought it was a fairly accurate description of where I fall in the American political spectrum. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/4 "2003-10-07T16:47:29Z")
I got a 28. Sounds about right I guess. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/5 "2003-10-07T16:47:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Who was it that decided the scores for the politicians pictured? I imagine, Otto, one could easily get answers based on speeches, published quotes and press conferences. From these answers, it would be pretty easy to tabulate a fair score. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/6 "2003-10-07T16:54:29Z")
I got 13. Like **Otto** , I thought that several of the questions presented false choices. What was up with the “AIDS is more important because it affects younger people” question? Haiti vs. Korea? Sports owners vs. atheletes? Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/7 "2003-10-07T17:10:13Z")
1. I agree that the questions were overly simplistic and I didn’t like some of the choices. I distrust union leaders and business executives equally. I am pretty liberal, but many of my views fall on the more conservative side of the spectrum. That’s the problem with most of these political quizzes, I think most people are like me and hold a mix of views. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/8 "2003-10-07T17:21:12Z")
9 liberal Democrat to the bone, that’s me ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/9 "2003-10-07T17:21:16Z")
30! I agree with everyone above about the test. ---
**Author:** ![ShadiRoxan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@ShadiRoxan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadiRoxan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/10 "2003-10-07T17:28:32Z")
I got a 9. Fairly accurate for me. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/11 "2003-10-07T17:32:25Z")
8, which sounds about right, but like all quizzes of this type it cannot capture the complexities of the political zeitgeist. Especailly in the U.S., where the two major parties are both fractured – liberals like big government but no social regulation, conservatives distrust government unless it’s regulating morality. Each group is in tension with itself. This impairs the ability of the quiz to give meaningful results because one person would answer questions about the size of government differently in a, say, environmental or tax context vs. one about religion or sex. Therefore, when the context of the question is not explicit on its face, the test-taker must try to figure out if the quiz is asking about social/moral regulation or more general commercial regulation and answer accordingly. As such, the better the taker is at inferring this, the more closely the test will track his actual political choices. I also think there’s a conservative bias in the construction of the question on tax increases because “me” is the first choice in the list, and people moving quickly through the questions are unlikely to click it, or at least less likely to click it when it’s the first option presented, before they see the other groups over which they can spread the tax increase. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Yossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9de0a6/32.png) [@Yossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yossarian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/12 "2003-10-07T17:33:06Z")
20! Just like Colin Powell. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/13 "2003-10-07T17:38:05Z")
20 from up here in Ottawa. I suppose that would be right. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/14 "2003-10-07T17:46:10Z")
I had to stop at question 2. Whom do I trust more between the FBI and IRS? 😃 […wiping tears…] Lordy. It’s like asking which I prefer more: having my fingernails ripped out or having my toenails ripped out. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/15 "2003-10-07T17:49:34Z")
I got an 8, but I did sort of choose certain answers at random, and a lot of the later questions I didn’t like the phrasing at all. I guess 8 puts me near Hillary Clinton. I suppose I prefered the Clintons to Bush, so maybe it is right about me. Who knows? Canadian here, by the way, hence a lot of the guessing! ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/16 "2003-10-07T17:50:19Z")
I’m a 7–leberal and darn proud of it! ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/17 "2003-10-07T17:50:27Z")
I’m a 7–liberal and darn proud of it! ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/18 "2003-10-07T17:52:22Z")
1. Pretty accurate, I’d say, although many of the questions were rather…odd… ---
**Author:** ![My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@My\_Darn\_Snake\_Legs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Darn_Snake_Legs)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/19 "2003-10-07T18:06:03Z")
I agree that the questions were odd. Haiti vs. Korea? Maybe meant to see if we were worried about things close to home or on the other side of the world? 25 here. Just call me Bush Sr. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087/20 "2003-10-07T18:10:17Z")
9 A little more liberal than Hillary Clinton. (I knew there was some reason I don’t trust her 😉 ) I also didn’t like some of the forced choices. Either I wanted both options or neither option. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-political-quiz-for-american-dopers/206087.md?page=2)