Idiocracy?

[dales]

Opinion: Elected Officials Flunk Constitution Quiz

Jan 14, 2011 – 6:00 AM



Special to AOL News When the Republican House leadership decided to start the 112th Congress with a reading of the U.S. Constitution, the decision raised complaints in some quarters that it was little more than a political stunt. The New York Times even called it a "presumptuous and self-righteous act."

That might be true, if you could be sure that elected officials actually know something about the Constitution. But it turns out that many don't.
In fact, elected officials tend to know even less about key provisions of the Constitution than the general public.

For five years now, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute has been conducting a national survey to gauge the quality of civic education in the country. We've surveyed more than 30,000 Americans, most of them college students, but also a random sample of adults from all educational and demographic backgrounds.

Included in the adult sample was a small subset of Americans (165 in all) who, when asked, identified themselves as having been "successfully elected to government office at least once in their life" -- which can include federal, state or local offices.

The survey asks 33 basic civics questions, many taken from other nationally recognized instruments like the U.S. Citizenship Exam. It also asks 10 questions related to the U.S. Constitution.

So what did we find? Well, to put it simply, the results are not pretty.

Elected officials at many levels of government, not just the federal government, swear an oath to "uphold and protect" the U.S. Constitution.

Still more OpinionBut those elected officials who took the test scored an average 5 percentage points lower than the national average (49 percent vs. 54 percent), with ordinary citizens outscoring these elected officials on each constitutional question. Examples:

•Only 49 percent of elected officials could name all three branches of government, compared with 50 percent of the general public.
•Only 46 percent knew that Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war -- 54 percent of the general public knows that.
•Just 15 percent answered correctly that the phrase "wall of separation" appears in Thomas Jefferson's letters -- not in the U.S. Constitution -- compared with 19 percent of the general public.
•And only 57 percent of those who've held elective office know what the Electoral College does, while 66 percent of the public got that answer right. (Of elected officials, 20 percent thought the Electoral College was a school for "training those aspiring for higher political office.")


You can take the quiz yourself -- click here.

Overall, our sample of elected officials averaged a failing 44 percent on the entire 33-question test, 5 percentage points lower than the national average of 49 percent.

The fact that our elected representatives know even less about America's history and institutions than the typical citizen (who doesn't know much either) is troubling indeed, but perhaps helps explain the lack of constitutional discipline often displayed by our political class at every level of our system.

Given this dismal performance, it would seem that last week's House reading of the Constitution shouldn't be described "presumptuous and self-righteous," but as a necessary national tutorial for all elected officials.

In fact, we can only hope that this trend of Constitution reading will continue to sweep the nation and states. After all, there are 50 state constitutions as well.

When elected officials take an oath "to protect and defend the Constitution," shouldn't they know what they are swearing to?

Richard Brake is co-chairman of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's National Civic Literacy Board. For more details regarding the ISI's past and current civic literacy studies and to take the test online, go to http://www.americancivicliteracy.org.


* * *
Are you smarter than an elected official?
If you can correctly answer five or more of these basic Constitution-related questions, congratulations! You're smarter than the average elected official! (Answers are below -- but no peeking!)

1) What are the three branches of government?
A. executive, legislative, judicial
B. executive, legislative, military
C. bureaucratic, military, industry
D. federal, state, local

2) What part of the government has the power to declare war?
A. Congress
B. the president
C. the Supreme Court
D. the Joint Chiefs of Staff

3) In the area of United States foreign policy, Congress shares power with the:
A. president
B. Supreme Court
C. state governments
D. United Nations

4) The United States Electoral College:
A. trains those aspiring for higher political office
B. was established to supervise the first televised presidential debates
C. is otherwise known as the U.S. Congress
D. is a constitutionally mandated assembly that elects the president
E. was ruled undemocratic by the Supreme Court

5) What impact did the Anti-Federalists have on the United States Constitution?
A. their arguments helped lead to the adoption of the Bill of Rights
B. their arguments helped lead to the abolition of the slave trade
C. their influence ensured that the federal government would maintain a standing army
D. their influence ensured that the federal government would have the power to tax

6) The phrase that in America there should be a "wall of separation" between church and state appears in:
A. George Washington's Farewell Address
B. the Mayflower Compact
C. the Constitution
D. the Declaration of Independence
E. Thomas Jefferson's letters

7) The Bill of Rights explicitly prohibits:
A. prayer in public school
B. discrimination based on race, sex, or religion
C. the ownership of guns by private individuals
D. establishing an official religion for the United States
E. the president from vetoing a line item in a spending bill

8) Identify one right or freedom below guaranteed by the first amendment.
A. Right to bear arms
B. Due process
C. Religion
D. Right to counsel

9) Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government listed below?
A. Make treaties
B. Make zoning laws
C. Maintain prisons
D. Establish standards for doctors and lawyers

10) Who is the commander in chief of the U.S. military?
A. Secretary of the army
B. Secretary of state
C. President
D. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs

Answer key:
1) A; 2) A; 3) A; 4) D; 5) A; 6) E; 7) D; 8) C; 9) A; 10) C

[oldr_n_wsr]

100% thanks to many here involved in discussions involving the constitution. Guess I'm too "wise" to run for office.

[Rick]

Without help from the article I don't believe I would have gotten #6.

I also got #7 wrong...

[Sue U]

Did it in the on-line version, got 32 out of 33, but some of the questions are odd and not really "factual" in a civics sense so much as a policy choice, and some of the answers are strangely worded.

[Lord Jim]

Man, that's just about the easiest test I've ever taken....

blew through the on-line version in less than five minutes and got 100%.

[dgs49]

This is funny and rather pathetic.

Just as interesting would be a quiz to "educated and well informed Americans," posing such questions as:

Is "affirmative action" in the Constitution?

Under which of the Bill of Rights can one find the "Right of Privacy"?

What is a "penumbra," and where is it found in the Constitution?

May Congress create a compulsory retirement system under the Constitution? Why or why not?

Where does the Constitution refer to a "wall of separation" between Church and State?

Where is the "Right to Choose" (abortion) in the Constitution?

Did the original Constitution permit income taxes?

Is "health care" a "right"?

[Guinevere]

Did it in the on-line version, got 32 out of 33, but some of the questions are odd and not really "factual" in a civics sense so much as a policy choice, and some of the answers are strangely worded.

We obviously share a brain. I did the on-line version, had the same reaction, and the same score. I bet we got the same one "wrong."

[oldr_n_wsr]

Did it in the on-line version, got 32 out of 33, but some of the questions are odd and not really "factual" in a civics sense so much as a policy choice, and some of the answers are strangely worded.

We obviously share a brain. I did the on-line version, had the same reaction, and the same score. I bet we got the same one "wrong."

Wel you both are lawyers, right?

[Lord Jim]

Wel you both are lawyers, right?

Well oldr, as we all know, lawyers all share a collective consciousness....

Sort of like The Borg.....

[Big RR]

Hate to say it, I got one wrong as well--and still think a number were badly worded.

[Sean]

Piece of piss!

You answered 23 out of 33 correctly — 69.70 %

The Sputnik question seemed a little out of place though...

[BoSoxGal]

Included in the adult sample was a small subset of Americans (165 in all) who, when asked, identified themselves as having been "successfully elected to government office at least once in their life" -- which can include federal, state or local offices.

In all fairness, these elected officials who couldn't pass the test could have once been dog catchers, or even worse, school board members.

'God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board' ~ Mark Twain

[Lord Jim]

In all fairness, these elected officials who couldn't pass the test could have once been dog catchers, or even worse, school board members.

I was thinking the same thing....

The way the lead-in for the article was set up, one could have gotten the impression they were talking about members of Congress...

'God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board' ~ Mark Twain

It's amazing how well that quote holds up, over a hundred years later.....

[Lord Jim]

My all time favorite true story about Congressional ignorance:

Isn't Freedonia Next to Oz?

Published: January 13, 1993

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 — What should the United States do to stop what's going on in Freedonia?

Asked that question, a number of House freshmen, clearly not fans of the Marx Brothers, offered answers that included "take action" and "it's a different situation than the Middle East."

Not one got the joke.

The joker was Spy magazine, whose staff revived the sovereign but fictitious nation of Freedonia from "Duck Soup," the 1933 Marx Brothers movie.

Posing as the host of a New York radio talk show, Spy's staff called about 20 first-term House members and, after a series of innocuous questions, asked, "Do you approve of what we're doing to stop what's going on in Freedonia?" or "Do you approve of what we're doing to stop ethnic cleansing in Freedonia?"

The responses, apparently based on the assumption that the questioner was asking about Bosnia, came readily.

Representative Corrine Brown, Democrat of Florida, said she approved of what the United States was doing in Freedonia, and added, "I think all of those situations are very, very sad, and I just think we need to take action to assist the people."

Representative Jay Inslee, Democrat of Washington, was candid. "I have to be honest with you, I'm not familiar with that proposal," he said. "But it's coming to the point now that a blind eye to it for the next 10 years is not the answer."

Representatative Steve Buyer, Republican of Indiana, said, "Yeah, it's a different situation than the Middle East."

Spy's national editor, Jamie Malanowski, characterized the responses as "completely understandable."

"In campaigning," he said of the lawmakers, "they are asked a lot of dumb questions, and they are all used to supplying answers."

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/13/us/is ... to-oz.html

[Gob]

I got the one about the chicken wrong

[loCAtek]

As usual, you weren't paying attention.

[Sean]

In all fairness, these elected officials who couldn't pass the test could have once been dog catchers, or even worse, school board members.

I would dearly love to follow the campaign of somebody who was running for Dog Catcher! The debates particularly would be priceless!

Sorry, that just really tickled me... Carry on!

[Guinevere]

Have any of your bothered to think about how your city or town or county would run without local boards and commissions? Have you thought about the fact that the officials at that level are for the most part volunteers? Have you considered that they give up multiple evenings a month to attend public meetings and make decisions on things that impact you and your family -- like curriculum, the budget for the DPW so your street can get plowed, and whether or not your library gets funded? Do you have any clue how many hours outside of meetings most officials work? Have you ever thought what it must be like to be the center of interest wherever you're out and about in your town? To refrain from ordering a glass of wine when out to dinner so no one starts a rumor that you have a drinking problem? To have a citizen stop you in the middle of Disneyworld to complain about a local issue?

And for the record, I'm an elected official, and I represent local municipalities, boards, commissions, and officials. They make incredible sacrifices, put in countless hours, and do it all because they want to make a difference in their communities. It is indeed a thankless job, but thank goodness there are enough of us who are willing to do it, so the rest of you can toss pot shots at us.

[dales]

They are paid here (quite well I might add) but it is still a thankless job.

[Big RR]

While the majority of local officials do it for altruistic purposes, several in my town have become quite wealthy (illegally) during their tenure in office; and we had a mayor who wen to jail for 5 years for doing the same thing and shaking down developers.