# Wow, I didn't realize how little some voters know about government! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 21, 2024, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015 "2024-08-21T20:58:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/61 "2024-08-22T12:22:22Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > I wonder if there’s some collection of all the questions for a real (if still easy) test. Yes, although I don’t have a link handy. I have several friends who recently became citizens, and one who is going through the process right now. We sometimes discuss the questions over a beer or two, to help the one who still has to take the test. One of the ones who already did it has the entire stack of (I think) 100 potential questions printed out as flash cards, as a study aid. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/62 "2024-08-22T12:34:45Z")
There is a test for immigrants who wish to become British Citizens. I got 100% (although the N Ireland answer was a guess). I bet a lot of Dopers would get high marks: [UK British Citizenship Test Practice Questions \>\> FREE Tests (lifeintheuktestweb.co.uk)](https://lifeintheuktestweb.co.uk/british-citizenship-test-practice-questions-12/) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/63 "2024-08-22T13:05:12Z")
With government and the constitution, it is the case for many people as it is for the Bible and Christianity: They sort of vaguely remember a Kid’s Sunday School version plus whatever they pick up by proximity induction from those around them plus what their fave preacher or leader says plus somethign they liked that they saw on YouTube or Facebook. But they never really actually sat down to learn what it really does say. They figure for them it’s enough to “Believe in (Jesus/America)” and all will be good, why should a layman bother with details about how Dispensationalism or the Electoral College are supposed to work. … Re: the citizenship test, as indicated the questions are a sampling from a larger pool of possible questions – some of which are actually multiple phrasings of the same bit of knowledge. The final test given to the applicant, as mentioned, comes only after a huge schlep of a legal process and is not really meant to pass a course on “civics” (more on this next paragraph) but to reflect that the applicant has absorbed some of the political culture (AND, for the majority of people, to help verify the applicant has enough level of English comprehension to understand the question in the first place – long-time resident seniors and people with certain disabilities get a bye on the language requirement). I never had a “civics” class but my social studies classes through grade and middle school included units on the organization of the communty – starting with our town in 3rd grade, the territory in 4th, the US and the Americas in 5th. Then in later middle school the geography units and in HS the history units would cover more about the organization of the US and PR governments. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > > > Even if you weren’t sure the correct answers were obvious. > > > > “What is the Capitol of the US?” > > Answer: The Capitol. 🤪 Honest to goodness, come on people: City: CapitAl Building: CapitOl I blame that in some American dialects you sort of swallow your final vowel and both words become sort of “capit-'l” ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/64 "2024-08-22T13:09:27Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I bet a lot of Dopers would get high marks: [UK British Citizenship Test Practice Questions \>\> FREE Tests (lifeintheuktestweb.co.uk)](https://lifeintheuktestweb.co.uk/british-citizenship-test-practice-questions-12/) 18/24. I passed! ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/65 "2024-08-22T13:14:24Z")
It’s still a breathtakingly poorly written test question though. I mean, just because the right answer can be inferred by eliminating the obvious, it doesn’t actually follow that almost anyone is going to _know as a result of their citizenship studies_ that Pennsylvania actually borders Canada, and even those who can visualize it, may get kind of tripped up on not knowing where the actual state/national border goes through Lake Erie. Good questions on tests like this should be one that’s got a clear and evident answer that doesn’t involve goofy trickery, and that doesn’t require eliminating the obviously wrong answers. Replacing Pennsylvania with Vermont would test the same basic knowledge, without relying on trickery and arcane knowledge about where the border is in the lake. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/66 "2024-08-22T13:21:43Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I mean, just because the right answer can be inferred by eliminating the obvious, it doesn’t actually follow that almost anyone is going to _know as a result of their citizenship studies_ that Pennsylvania actually borders Canada… It would follow if some just studied the finite list of questions in the weeks (or days) prior to their naturalization interview: > **[100q.pdf](https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/questions-and-answers/100q.pdf)** > > 295.55 KB See question 92. The test may loom large in the consciousness of people who have never had to take it for having been born citizens, but the real hurdles are in the paperwork. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/67 "2024-08-22T13:22:56Z")
They give you the list of potential questions ahead of time? What sort of BS test is that? I don’t really care if people pass a test, but I am a little bit annoyed that it’s super-easy to begin with, and they _still_ give the answers ahead of time. What’s the point in doing it in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/68 "2024-08-22T13:23:46Z")
Very little about our immigration system makes sense when you actually sit and think about it. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/69 "2024-08-22T13:24:02Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > > [@bob\_2](#): > > > > I bet a lot of Dopers would get high marks: [UK British Citizenship Test Practice Questions \>\> FREE Tests (lifeintheuktestweb.co.uk)](https://lifeintheuktestweb.co.uk/british-citizenship-test-practice-questions-12/) > > 18/24. I passed 23/24 – a higher proportion of _cultural_ knowledge questions than the American equivalent. > [@bump](#): > > They give you the list of potential questions ahead of time? What sort of BS test is that? They do the same thing for the written part of the driving license test. In both cases the tests are designed to be fair to people without formal educations who will be learning these things specifically for the purpose of the test. Again, in the case of citizenship the test is mostly a formality after all the legal rigmarole you have to go through to progress through the immigration and naturalization ladder – and as is the point of the thread, _ **born** _ citizens are often even ignorant of these minimal details about how the country runs. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/70 "2024-08-22T13:43:41Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > you can make an argument that there is no land border, but technically there’s a border there Well, in that case, Texas and Louisiana border Canada as well. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/71 "2024-08-22T14:02:52Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > > [@Smapti](#): > > > > What countries did the US fight in WWII? > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > 2- Quite a few- sure Japan, Germany, Italy, but there was also Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland and a few others. IMHO if you get the first three right, you’d be okay. I do not think I could list all of them. > > You already listed all of them plus one extra. The US declared war on 6 countries in WWII; Finland was not one of them. > > This is getting off topic, but … xkcd386… There’s also Thailand, which the United States may or may not have been at war with. Thailand was a Japanese satellite by 1942. But the Thai ambassador to the United States was anti-Japanese. So Japan ordered Thailand to declare war on the United States. Thailand complied and sent the declaration of war to its ambassador to deliver. But the ambassador refused to deliver the declaration when it arrived. So the official American position was that the United States was not at war with Thailand. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/72 "2024-08-22T14:05:46Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > > > you can make an argument that there is no land border, but technically there’s a border there > > Well, in that case, Texas and Louisiana border Canada as well. Pennsylvania has a water border with Canada. Texas and Louisiana do not. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/73 "2024-08-22T14:08:23Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I bet a lot of Dopers would get high marks: [UK British Citizenship Test Practice Questions \>\> FREE Tests (lifeintheuktestweb.co.uk)](https://lifeintheuktestweb.co.uk/british-citizenship-test-practice-questions-12/) Got 22/24. Had to guess on how many MPs in the Northern Ireland Parliament and where some art museum is. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/74 "2024-08-22T14:18:27Z")
I also got 22/24 and that surprised me. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/75 "2024-08-22T14:22:38Z")
I assume he refers to the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/76 "2024-08-22T14:23:39Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > I blame that in some American dialects you sort of swallow your final vowel and both words become sort of “capit-'l” In all my years, I’ve never heard it pronounced any other way. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/77 "2024-08-22T14:24:25Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I did get confused alittle a war fought in the 18th century. I was gonna be a wise ass and say The Barbary Wars but that didn’t start till 1801. So that led me to believe that the only 18th century war would have been the Revolution. However Wikipedia claims that there was an American-Algerian war in the final days of the 18th century. But then… Why isn’t _this_ the first Barbary war? ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/78 "2024-08-22T14:27:27Z")
9/10 ! I only didn’t knew who wrote the declaration of independence… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/79 "2024-08-22T14:55:05Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I assume he refers to the ocean. I don’t think that’s possible. International waters start at twelve nautical miles from shore. Even if you include exclusive economic zones, which go two hundred nautical miles from shore, there’s no point where Canadian territorial waters touch American territorial water that’s extended from Texas or Louisiana. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015/80 "2024-08-22T15:01:43Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Good questions on tests like this should be one that’s got a clear and evident answer that doesn’t involve goofy trickery, and that doesn’t require eliminating the obviously wrong answers. Yes. I was an item engineer for state and national license/certification exams. Ideally-constructed test items do not have stems that are long or tricky, nor include negatives. Responses should not be easy to eliminate based on grammar, length, phrasing, or other characteristics. The content should be relevant to the defined learning outcomes and, for applied tests, relevant to the skills and knowledge the examinee is being tested for based on job-analysis or other assessment that was used to build the test and justifies its existence. Post-administration analysis should demonstrate that higher scorers are not generally answering a particular question incorrectly. On another topic in the thread, I used to teach an HIV class. After talking about the racist trope that HIV was initially transmitted by humans having sex with monkeys, I would state verbally and in writing that this was untrue and that stating or affirming this idea on a test would result in failing the class. I included a true/false question about this, and 1/3 of the students would fail it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-i-didnt-realize-how-little-some-voters-know-about-government/1006015.md?page=5)