Just How Knowledgeable Are You?

Take This Test to Determine If You Are a Member of the Informed Electorate.

Cal Thomas wrote an interesting and informative commentary for the Washington Times concerning America's intellectual deficit. He highlighted the results of a civics knowledge test of 2508 Americans conducted this year by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI).  The results showed an amazing lack of knowledge by our citizenry about America's founding principles, political history, international relations, and market economy. The reality is that a large segment of our population is ignorant about much of the history of behind what is being debated in the public sphere. It makes one wonder what is actually the basis for the political voting decisions made by the electorate.

Only 29% of Americans who took the test achieved a passing grade. This 33 question test examines the most basic of knowledge about our nation. Interestingly, the ISI report finds that elected officials score lower than the general public. That's a real confidence inhibitor, particularly as our nation faces our present economic challenges. There are a number of other revelations that are a bit shocking, like the fact that a college degree does not confer a significant increase in knowledge about America's founding principles.

The test is available on-line and a complete report on the findings is available here.

Can the results of this test provide an inkling of what is lacking in our educational institutions? Do our citizens have sufficient knowledge about basic financial and economic matters? Can the results provide a possible explanation for the economic difficulties that our nation is now facing?