by -ThoughtRogue
Ever wonder how you’d stack up against the best and the brightest students at our most prestigious houses of higher learning when it comes to basic American Civics?
Well, Take the Civics QUIZ, here. Sorry, it’s a closed-book exam - just do your best. ;^)
How’d you do?? Yours truly was lucky enough to squeak out a 90%. (btw, I missed the first two questions straight out of the gate – Doh!)
After taking the Quiz, check out the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s analysis and school rankings of how actual freshmen and seniors fared on the Quiz, at America’s most prestigious academic institutions. Seniors at Harvard did the best, almost averaging a 70% on the basic civics exam. For other institutions, it’s all down hill from there. Keep in mind, one would expect to score a 20%, on average, by purely guessing at the answers.
It was fascinating that some institutions actually de-learned their American civics with Seniors achieving lower scores than they did as incoming freshmen! And these institutions of negative American-civics learning turn out to be none other than the “elite” Ivy-league schools.
This leads me to a question I’ve always pondered, especially in light of how Obama was elected; should American Citizens be required to demonstrate some basic proficiency in American Civics to be eligible to vote? Why, or why not?! I truly believe that it would serve our country better, ensuring a better government than the clowns and weasels we currently endure. Wouldn’t you love to see these quiz scores broken out by students of the Left versus the Right of the political spectrum?
Here’s an even better idea: Shall We, The People not demand that anyone running for political office be tested for at least an average proficiency in American Civics, but also be subject to examination on a few other areas of knowledge such as: Finance & Mathematics, Logic & Statistics, Business & Economics, Political Systems, World History, Basics of Religions, Advanced Ethics, etc.
I’m very interested in what you think about these stunning civic requirements? Would there be any unintended consequences – Good, or Bad?
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