# US Civics test - how well can YOU do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 1, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023 "2011-06-01T23:56:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/41 "2011-06-02T05:19:49Z")
32/33, 96.97%. The question I missed: ``` * Question: A flood-control levee (or National Defense) is considered a public good because: Your Answer: government pays for its construction, not citizens Correct Answer: a resident can benefit from it without directly paying for it ``` :rolleyes: I was robbed! ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/42 "2011-06-02T05:28:45Z")
Australian here, and I got 30 out of 33. The ones I missed are the Puritans, the subject of the Lincoln vs. Douglas debate, and Roosevelt’s threat. IOW, historical trivia that I never learned, not mistakes about how things work. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/43 "2011-06-02T05:37:26Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > 32/33, 96.97%. The question I missed: > > ``` > * > > Question: A flood-control levee (or National Defense) is considered a public good because: > Your Answer: government pays for its construction, not citizens > Correct Answer: a resident can benefit from it without directly paying for it > > ``` > > :rolleyes: I was robbed! Yeah…trick question (that one made me wonder too). If you think about it your answer has to be wrong but it is subtle. “Directly” is the key here. Government paying for it has to be its citizens paying for it albeit you are not paying for it “directly”. I thought it was a bullshit trick question personally. Not testing civic knowledge but rather reading comprehension and nitpicky comprehension at that. WTF are they testing? Crap like that can pass anyone by. Makes their whole test questionable. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/44 "2011-06-02T06:01:30Z")
A [public good](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good), in economists’ terms, isn’t just one that’s paid for by the public or furnished by the government. It’s something (the classic example is national defense) which benefits everybody (“non-excludability”) where one person’s use of it does not diminish other people’s use of it (“non-rivalry”). Since the Army can’t tell the invading Canadian hordes “Oh, yeah, Bob didn’t pay his Army fees this month–go pillage his house”, this means Bob has no incentive to pay his Army fees this month, since he can count on all those other suckers to pay up–except, everyone else thinks the same thing, and the next thing you know we’re all watching ice hockey at Tim Horton’s as subjects of Her Canadian Majesty. If a public good is in fact necessary (as national defense is usually thought to be), this means that it needs to be funded by some sort of compulsory mechanism (government taxes) rather than voluntarily (people subscribing to a for-profit Army, Inc. or making charitable contributions to the Volunteer Army of America). (From that Wikipedia article, there is also the category of “common goods”, which are “non-excludable but rivalrous”, like deep-sea fisheries, where you can’t practically keep anyone from using them, but, eventually at least, if I catch more fish there’s less fish for the rest of you. These tend to raise similar problems.) ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/45 "2011-06-02T06:04:42Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Yeah…trick question (that one made me wonder too). It looks a little like a trick question if you don’t know what the term “public good” means, but it really isn’t. A good is a public good if it is nonrival (you using it doesn’t stop other people using it) and non-excludable (you can’t stop people using it). It has nothing to do with who actually creates the thing - whether that be the government, a wealthy benefactor or just a natural occurance. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/46 "2011-06-02T07:17:28Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > It looks a little like a trick question if you don’t know what the term “public good” means, but it really isn’t. A good is a public good if it is nonrival (you using it doesn’t stop other people using it) and non-excludable (you can’t stop people using it). It has nothing to do with who actually creates the thing - whether that be the government, a wealthy benefactor or just a natural occurance. Keep in mind you’re talking to **Oakminster**. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/47 "2011-06-02T07:34:11Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > I got them all right, but as the quiz went on, I definitely got the impression that the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (which I’m not sure I’d really heard of before) is a pretty conservative group; a little Googling and checking Wikipedia backs that up. > > One question that struck me as not having a truly correct answer: > > I got this one right, and I suppose you could say the right answer (“individual citizens create, exchange, and control goods and resources”) is clearly the least wrong answer on the list, but it’s pretty obvious that in 20th and 21st century capitalism, _individual_ citizens hardly control all goods and resources. For better or for worse, corporations play a huge role in the economy. Wikiwalked around their page, and allied pages. The books the groups dislike are ridiculous! (though unsurpising mostly) ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/48 "2011-06-02T07:36:21Z")
You answered 32 out of 33 correctly — 96.97 % The one I missed:[spoiler]Question: Free markets typically secure more economic prosperity than government’s centralized planning because: Your Answer: property rights and contracts are best enforced by the market system Correct Answer: the price system utilizes more local knowledge of means and ends 'Cause that “means and ends” thingy threw me. Hating economics didn’t help either![/spoiler]Proving, once again, a self education is at least as good as formal one. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/49 "2011-06-02T08:01:05Z")
I got them all, but if I ever had to actually take this test in school, I would have annotated my exam with pretty much the same concerns that others have noted. I don’t know if it’s good or bad that I have always been good at figuring out which answer people want me to pick in multiple-choice tests. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/50 "2011-06-02T08:10:57Z")
100 per cent, but I have a license to teach Social Studies. 😛 That quiz was a little Civics and a little American History and a little Econ 101. It was a little annoying. I felt like I was answering a push poll. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/51 "2011-06-02T08:30:27Z")
I got 78.79 % Incorrect Answers Question: What was the source of the following phrase: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”? Your Answer: Declaration of Independence Correct Answer: Gettysburg Address OK, surprised Question: The phrase that in America there should be a “wall of separation” between church and state appears in: Your Answer: the Constitution Correct Answer: Thomas Jefferson’s letters Also surprised Question: What was the main issue in the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858? Your Answer: Do Southern states have the constitutional right to leave the union? Correct Answer: Would slavery be allowed to expand to new territories? I went with the non typical answer, expecting a trick question, and got burned - I know that many people say that the Civil War was ostensibly about Federal vs State rather than slavery per se Question: The Puritans: Your Answer: were Catholic missionaries escaping religious persecution Correct Answer: stressed the sinfulness of all humanity Ignorant here Question: What impact did the Anti-Federalists have on the United States Constitution? Your Answer: their influence ensured that the federal government would maintain a standing army Correct Answer: their arguments helped lead to the adoption of the Bill of Rights Hmmmm, hindsight is 20/20 Question: A flood-control levee (or National Defense) is considered a public good because: Your Answer: government pays for its construction, not citizens Correct Answer: a resident can benefit from it without directly paying for it OK…that seems like the same thing to me Question: In 1935 and 1936 the Supreme Court declared that important parts of the New Deal were unconstitutional. President Roosevelt responded by threatening to: Your Answer: override the Supreme Court’s decisions by gaining three-quarter majorities in both houses of Congress Correct Answer: appoint additional Supreme Court justices who shared his views I guess obvious in retrospect ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/52 "2011-06-02T08:33:54Z")
The last one you just posted was kind of a history q, but seriously, kiddo, I just leaked a tear. Shame on your high school teachers! ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/53 "2011-06-02T08:59:14Z")
33/33 and given the right wing bent of this organization and the economics questions, I would pay good money (well, like $20) to see the GOP “contenders” for President take this and publicly reveal their results. I can’t imagine Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin or Rick Santorum scoring well on this. (Newt Gingrich and Romney, yes. Pawlenty… maybe.) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/54 "2011-06-02T09:18:18Z")
30/33 here. I took the test before reading the rest of the responses, and the right-wing leaning of the writers stuck out like a sore thumb to me. I’m really not sure at ALL what Aristotle and Aquinas have to do with American civics. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/55 "2011-06-02T09:50:02Z")
33/33 for me – a non-American, but living in the U.S., and a bit of a U.S. history junkie. A lot only had one possible answer once you’d eliminated the obvious wrong answers – and you have to do that with multiple-choice quizzes. I wasn’t completely sure about the Lincoln-Douglas debate question, but still got it right by elimination. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/56 "2011-06-02T11:00:53Z")
79%! that’s better than what I expected! ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/57 "2011-06-02T12:20:50Z")
You answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 % I guess that’s a passable result for a non-merkin. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/58 "2011-06-02T12:33:53Z")
32/33. But I’m a policy nerd so that’s expected. A lot of the questions have little or nothing to do with Civics, though. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/59 "2011-06-02T12:38:32Z")
32/33. I didn’t know anything about the Anti-Federalists, but in retrospect, should have been able to guess the answer from the name. Not bad for a Brit, although I suspect that reading this board helped a lot. It’s definitely a quiz with an agenda behind it. The question that equates free enterprise with capitalism stood out as pushing a particular world view. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023/60 "2011-06-02T13:14:17Z")
I answered 29 out of 33 correctly — 87.88 %. Question: The Bill of Rights explicitly prohibits: Question: What was the source of the following phrase: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”? Question: Name one right or freedom guaranteed by the first amendment. Question: The Puritans: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-civics-test-how-well-can-you-do/584023.md?page=4)