1- You’re seeking election to an office of one branch of government. What checks do the other branches have on the branch that you seek election to? Would you accept these checks on your power?
2- What percent of the federal budget is spent on each of the following: Interest on debt, defense, foreign aid, education, and space exploration?
3- What federal benefits do “illegal immigrants” receive?
4- When the US imposes tariffs on imports, who actually pays the US treasury?
5- What determines the price of oil? Does the price depend on whether it is produced domestically or abroad?
6- Was the result of the 2020 presidential election legitimate?
7- Why is the cost of health care in the US the highest in the world?
8- Which religious beliefs are protected by the first amendment?
No I think it can be quite telling. As far as oil goes, the world supply and the world demand determines the price. Where it is produced is immaterial and “energy independence” is a meaningless buzzword.
My point was that you want questions with only one correct answer. World supply and world demand is not the only correct answer to the question, “what determines the price of oil”. That answer is only correct on a certain level. Supply and demand do not explain the events of 2019, where supply outpaced capacity, causing prices to turn negative.
For me, the purpose of the question is to see how the person thinks. Does he understand the separation of powers, how markets work, how federal money is spent and what it is spent on, how tariffs impact consumers, how sincerely does he believe in religious freedom, what is his understanding of the health care system. I don’t think a test where you fill in the circles and have a machine tally the score is useful, this is something that calls for essays.
I wouldn’t think you personally assess the results to determine competency for every candidate in the country. I’m thinking… if you don’t provide the answer key, the party in power will.
Not my thread though. @John_T would have to clarify who grades the exam.
I think your questions reveal a lot about the fundamental problem with having a test like this - they reveal as much about the questioner as they do about the answerer.
I personally have no idea how i’d answer your religious belief question. Trivially, all religious beliefs are protected. However for religious practices (which IMO is how a lot of people will interpret that question) the answer becomes extremely complex and subjective.
I happen to think the gay wedding cake issue is a trojan horse designed to undermine gay rights but there is a tough question that underlies it which is to what extent can laws that are just about actions pose a restriction on religious beliefs and practices and where exactly we put the line.
You don’t follow religious beliefs, you believe them.
In case the original trick question goes over anybody else’s head, the constitution protects free exercise of religion, not religious belief, not any specific religious practices.
I didn’t include it because Congress is allowed to make exceptions. Besides it only applies to people who were already elected and took the oath of office when they participated in insurrection against the United States.
The one time they did make an exception, after the civil war, it was not on an individual basis. It was a broad amnesty called the Amnesty Act, I believe.
This doesn’t exactly answer the question but, after George W I’ve often thought that presidents should be required to have some combination of general world history and/or sociology courses. Bush’s statements about the black and white nature of international order were concerning as they ignored a lot of nuance that could have avoided a lot of the messes we’ve ended up in. (knowing full well that Trump was a spectacularly worse catastrophe)
Candidates should pass the background investigation that would be required for SECRET security clearance.commander-in-chief of the armed forces to have it.
Candidates should sit for the same civic exam that naturalized immigrants would sit for. The test should be video-recorded, and the video and test answers should be made publicly available.
Candidates should submit a hand-written 500-word essay on the subject “A time that I really screwed up, why I screwed up, and what I learned from it.” Again, the candidate should be video-recorded while composing the essay, and the manuscript should be made publicly available.
Candidates should sign a release authorizing the publication of their state and federal tax returns for the last ~12 years.
These aren’t (or shouldn’t) be difficult. We require them of junior military officers, naturalized immigrants, bankers, high school students. Any trustworthy American adult who graduated high school should easily be able to meet these criteria, therefore anyone who wants to govern those people ought to possess that same level of competency.g
Compare and contrast the following economic systems giving the advantages and disadvantages of each: Communism, Socilaism, Mixed Economy, and Laissez-faire capitalism.
What does it mean to say that the free market is efficient. In particular: what are the underlying assumptions behind this claim? To what extent do these assumptions hold in the real world. In what way is such a market efficient. To what extent are the advantages of a free market spread evenly among the participants.
Describe what economists mean when the refer to externalizes, and the tragedy of the commons, In what way can these problems be mitigated using climate change as an example.
Accurately plot the Laffer curve on the provided set of axes. (note this is a trick question, a graph with anything marked except a dot at (0,0) and a dot at (1,0) will be marked incorrect.)
Not sure voters would pay attention to anything more complicated than a Proust Questionnaire.
I agree with simple published questions on their views and platforms, and should be clear but need not be “yes or no”. Policies sometimes need ti change so general ideas acceptable.
Some simple questions demonstrating basic competence in economics, general law, possibly official languages (only if relevant to position), ethics, honesty, laws relevant to position, personality test excluding sociopaths and those with archaic views, dementia test to show great competence, declaration of oath to obey law, understanding of democracy and environment, understanding of business and domestic and global challenges, ability to see both “sides” of complicated diplomatic issues,