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For the Americans out there ... the Intercollegiate Studies Institute has a Civics Literacy Test to see how well you know America's founding principles, political history, international relations, and market economy. As with most such tests, the results are depressing:

~ Less than half can name all three branches of the government.
~ Only 21% know where the phrase "government of the people, by the people, for the people" comes from.
~ Although we have engaged in two wars in the last eight years, only 53% know who has the power to declare war under our system.
~ Only 55% know who has authority over U.S. foreign policy.
~ Only 27% know the source of the prohibition against establishing an official religion for the United States.
~ Less than one in five know the source of the phrase "a wall of separation" between church and state.

It's not that the questions should be that hard:

Civic illiteracy cuts across political lines, being basically the same among liberals, conservatives and moderates. But people who state that they have held elected political positions score worse than the already dismal averages. And we wonder why our rights seem to be continuously eroding.

My score? "You answered 32 out of 33 correctly ? 96.97 %."

The question I missed was:

11) What impact did the Anti-Federalists have on the United States Constitution?

Actually, I had the correct answer but managed to click the wrong button. (You don't think I'd be reporting on this if I did badly, do you?)

While I said this was for Americans, I would be interested to know how non-US citizens score on the test. I have the sinking feeling that many would outscore our own citizens.
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