Opinion: Elected Officials Flunk Constitution Quiz

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

OK, My Friends, This is Scary! These people are making Laws, trying to manage our Day to Day Lives.
They want to tell you how is the best way to raise your kids and they are the ones trying to raise our taxes for a better education system! They can't even read and write themselves.
Their trying to Dumb Us Down With TV and their already dumber than most of the general population, I know my friends here at ATS are smarter than most Politicians I've meet.

Anyway here's the link to the story and here's the test for you to take.
www.aolnews.com...

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

Have fun, I scored really, really high, I'm proud of myself, for only being an American for 10 months, I scored a 100%,,,,
Thank You

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

sad my family immigrated to from the phillippines (legally) only for me to see that the US is nothing but a land of empty promises. I have to work hard to study about the structure of the US government yet these so called officials don't know anything

reply to post by starwarsisreal


I understand totally,,,, I'm sending this list of questions to my local politicians, I'm not including the answers!

reply to post by guohua


That doesn't surprise me in the least. They're all self serving morons in my opinion.

reply to post by guohua


Sorry to break it to you but, this was already posted earlier.

www.abovetopsecret.com...


I took the test and only got one wrong. Obviously, I'm overqualified for politics.

Here were my results.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f03e3f4ee9b2.png[/atsimg]

I took the test several hours ago on another thread Here.

I guess I am smarter than elected officials and I'm not even 20!

To serve as a govt official in this nation we should be holding them to a very high standard.

I would suggest a 90% + score as MINIMUM.

Dire straights indeed!

Originally posted by FortAnthem
reply to post by guohua

 

Sorry to break it to you but, this was already posted earlier.

www.abovetopsecret.com...


I took the test and only got one wrong. Obviously, I'm overqualified for politics.

FortAnthem No Apologizes are needed, I ran the ATS search option Twice and came up negative each time I ran search.
I would like to Thank Every One For replying to this thread.
Thank You.

I've had this problem many times sense we've had this new format at ATS.
Thank You for letting me know.

Note to MODS: Please delete this thread, it would appear a thread was already started and the Search Function is not working.
Thanks

Originally posted by FortAnthem
reply to post by guohua

 

Sorry to break it to you but, this was already posted earlier.

www.abovetopsecret.com...


I took the test and only got one wrong. Obviously, I'm overqualified for politics.

Only One Wrong?
You should be POTUS

reply to post by guohua


Surprise, surprise, the ATS search failed AGAIN.



Does that thing ever work?

reply to post by Misoir


Misoir, You're not even 20 yet?
You only missed 3 questions,,,,, Keep up the Good Work and think about a local run for a committee board opening.

Originally posted by WeRpeons
reply to post by guohua

 

That doesn't surprise me in the least. They're all self serving morons in my opinion.

["They're all self serving morons in my opinion."] Quote That's an Understatement! Their Total Money Grabbing ASSH**ES and they only think about themselves and their special interest groups.

Didn't France have some kind of Revolution about CAKE!
I think the gas prices are getting to high again, What Say You,,, America!

Originally posted by guohua

Originally posted by FortAnthem
reply to post by guohua

 

I took the test and only got one wrong. Obviously, I'm overqualified for politics.

Only One Wrong?
You should be POTUS

You're lucky ATS doesn't have the Foe button anymore. I wouldn't wish that awful fate on anyone.

The fact that some idiots spend a small fortune running for that job should be a signal to us all they they have no common sense and have no business running this or ANY country. Wanting that job should immediately disqualify anyone from serving in that office. The ideal candidate should be forced, kicking and screaming into that office.

reply to post by FortAnthem


Quote by FortAnthem "The ideal candidate should be forced, kicking and screaming into that office."

You are So Absolutely Correct!, I didn't think of all the monies they spend to get in to Office So The Can Legally RAPE US!
You're right, Kicking and Screaming going in and Crying and Screaming and Begging For Their Life on their way OUT!
Politicians,,,, Who Needs Them,,,, Not Us

First the quiz was not just about the Constitution, very few questions are about the Constitution. So you cannot say failing it is failing a "Constitution Quiz" and your thread title is misleading. Further, you don't say what level those supposedly failing politicians operate at. Are the member of Congress, or local School Board members? City Mayors or State Governors?

Second I got one question wrong. I misread the answers to the last question and hit submit too soon. I am not interested in elective office, thank you very much.

Originally posted by rnaa
First the quiz was not just about the Constitution, very few questions are about the Constitution. So you cannot say failing it is failing a "Constitution Quiz" and your thread title is misleading. Further, you don't say what level those supposedly failing politicians operate at. Are the member of Congress, or local School Board members? City Mayors or State Governors?

Second I got one question wrong. I misread the answers to the last question and hit submit too soon. I am not interested in elective office, thank you very much.

edit on 15/1/2011 by rnaa because: (no reason given)

I'd have to say, you'd make a Great Politician, You didn't read the article very closely, it was all there for you to read, all you had to do was read a little slower, Also, The Thread Title is Misleading?, It's Not Mine, It's the title to the Article.
It's kinda like Obamas Health-care,,, You had to pass it to read it and know what was in it, Common Progressive Thinking!