Americans: How knowledgeable are you about your government?

[BatteredRose]

You answered 24 out of 33 correctly — 72.73 %

[Okard]

Cant say that anyone besides the actual government can tell you even half of what the US Government knows. They keep so many secrets its rediculous.

[Catta]

You answered 28 out of 33 correctly — 84.85 %

Danish citizen...

[sp13]

21 of 33 - 63.64%

I haven't taken any kind of American history or Government course since '04.

My questions to all are (especially the high scorers), how many did you guess on and how many did you actually know? Also, when was the last time you took a history/government class?

[Humungo]

75.76 %

What was with the questions about Socrates and Sputnik...Also the oddball ones about what Roosevelt was fighting with the supreme court over in 1933, seemed like some off topic questions.

I guessed on most Roosevelt questions. I'm not a history buff, I'm a science and philosophy buff.

[Catta]

75.76 %

What was with the questions about Socrates and Sputnik...Also the oddball ones about what Roosevelt was fighting with the supreme court over in 1933, seemed like some off topic questions.

One is philosophy upon which the legal system among other's rests on and the sputnik question is most likely about the person's knowledge of the Space race

[Bearshield]

You answered 17 out of 33 correctly — 51.52 %

Lol I expected it to be worse, I guessed on a LOT.

[Joán]

You answered 28 out of 33 correctly — 84.85 %

... And I'm Swedish and have no overwhelming interest in american history or political theory.

Average Americans managing only 49% is rather... Distressing...

[braeldiil]

32 out of 33 - only one I missed was where "Government of the people, for the people, by the people" came from.

It's a fairly biased quiz, though - just by taking it I could tell they were out on the Glen Beck fringe.

[Catta]

32 out of 33 - only one I missed was where "Government of the people, for the people, by the people" came from.

It's a fairly biased quiz, though - just by taking it I could tell they were out on the Glen Beck fringe.

Yes i noticed that too....

[Reg]

You answered 23 out of 33 correctly — 69.70 %

[Kreyzor]

You answered 28 out of 33 correctly — 84.85 % - U.S. Citizen

If it had not been for AP U.S. History and Economics last year I probably would have gotten a 40 or something.

[Olianda]

25 out of 33, 75.76%

I went through to quickly and got two of them wrong because I clicked the wrong one though. >.>

[lupito]

You answered 20 out of 33 correctly — 60.61 %

As a brazilian I think it's enough =)

[jaykaywhy]

You answered 28 out of 33 correctly — 84.85 %

If you have any comments or questions about the quiz, please email americancivicliteracy@isi.org.

You can consult the following table to see how citizens and elected officials scored on each question.

As a US Citizen some of those questions... Yeah I choose wrong thinking somone couldn't do some of the things they were saying. Like the first question... Seems like a blatant abuse of the Presidancy to say "i'm going to appoint more judges that think like me" so I didn't vote that... but I guess that was the obvious one consider how FDR felt about things. Sigh!

All presidents do that. The SCOTUS now can be pretty easily divided up between the conservative bloc: CJ Roberts (G.W. Bush), Scalia (Reagan), Thomas (Bush), Alito (G.W. Bush) and the "liberal" bloc: Ginsburg (Clinton), Sotomayor (Obama), Breyer (Clinton), Kagan (Obama). Kennedy (Reagan) is either a conservative liberal or a liberal conservative, depending on your point of view.

You also have to consider there was a lot more at stake at the time during FDR's presidency. USA was undergoing its worst depression, and FDR felt that he needed strong executive ability, without being impaired, to change.

[Gringgotts]

A fun little quiz, though I felt it was a bit heavy on the history/philosophy.
27/33

[Sayl]

It's a fairly biased quiz, though - just by taking it I could tell they were out on the Glen Beck fringe.

Agreed, it was obvious from the content and wording. This is the same group who published Rick Santorum's book in 2005.

I scored 30/33 despite the slant.

[Clawtastic]

28 out of 33. I am an American.

[Aeka]

You answered 32 out of 33 correctly — 96.97 %

messed up on decreasing both taxes and spending during recessions: decreasing taxes and increasing spending was correct.

[anywherenotes]

You answered 24 out of 33 correctly — 72.73 %

US resident since 1990, 12 years before that in Russia.
wrong answers:

Which of the following is a policy tool of the Federal Reserve?
What was the source of the following phrase: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”?
Question: In 1935 and 1936 the Supreme Court declared that important parts of the New Deal were unconstitutional. President Roosevelt responded by threatening to:
Question: What impact did the Anti-Federalists have on the United States Constitution?
Question: A flood-control levee (or National Defense) is considered a public good because:
Question: The phrase that in America there should be a “wall of separation” between church and state appears in:
Question: International trade and specialization most often lead to which of the following?
Question: What was the main issue in the debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas in 1858?
Question: The Puritans: