Do you think the U.S. should institute a civics exam to be able to vote?

[Vesayen]

If your not from the U.S. then plug in your countries name instead......anyway this issue is important for every democratic western nation.

The stupidity of the average American on social issues is mind boggling-the stupidity of the average high school student actually scares me.......

People who have no idea of the issues should NOT be voting as they just muck up the results with uninformed opinions.

This idea has been thrown around for two centuries but I always supported it.

It wouldnt be HARD exam by any means-it would take somewhere between 10-30 minutes and be filled out in advance of the voting at some standard site. The testee would be isolated for a few minutes and fill the exam. VERY basic kind of questions-what is the constitution, who was the first president, what is the state capital etc....A VERY easy exam but some basic knowledge everyone should know. No harder then the basic test given to people applying for citizenship.

When the ignorant vote they arent voicing "their" opinion, they are voicing the opinion of whatever politicion effected them with a commerical.....

Do you really want some uninformed dolt who has NO idea of the issues, and was influenced by some flashy political add to neutralize the value of your informed vote?


Problems for the disabled who cant make it to a voting center to be isolated to fill out a form are another issue but im sure we can work out a solution.

I think 20 minutes of every American(at least every voting American) would go a GREAT way towards fixing this countries problems.

Edit: Correction-I think this would be the single most important/easiest change our country could possible make.

[SlowwHand]

Every voter should know as much as incoming immigrants obtaining citizenship.

[Jon Miller]

most people don't vote anyway

so I don't see it as an issue

Jon Miller

[chequita guevara]

The minute you try and curtail the franchise is the minute I make lots of political allies.

[Jon Miller]

it is true that our highschool education (and grade school) should be better

people who finish highschool should be able to pass the immegrant citizenship test

Jon Millre

[Vesayen]

John-im a graduating senior at a suburban highschool with overall great grades, a blue ribbon school, but in political science/social stuides the students knowledge is abominable.

Yes they can pass the tests but they have NO retained knowledge on it a month later-I would expect 90% of my school to fail such an exam.

[Vesayen]

John-most of my school would fail it........(graduating senior) they have NO retained knowledge about social issues/sciences.


Any idea where I could find one online though? Curious what I would get.

[DaShi]

Yes, and the exams should all be racially biased.

[boann]

even stupid people should have the right to vote.

[DaShi]

Stupid babies need the most attention.

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by boann
even stupid people should have the right to vote.

I have to disagree.
To go with your viewpoint, we REALLY screw up with our tests for citizenship.

And to who said "Most don't vote", if you don't vote, keep your mouth clamped shut.
You have nothing worth hearing to say.

[Jaguar]

It's tempting to say yes, but it's eerily similar to Mississippi's "literacy" tests in the south.

I have no opinion on this issue. And nobody's gonna change my mind, dammit!

[Traianvs]

VERY basic kind of questions-what is the constitution, who was the first president, what is the state capital etc....

Well not knowing what your state capital is, would be most ridiculous, you'd have to be living in the stone age for that..

Well I would be in favour of the exam if the questions were about the party you are going to vote on

a test on the programme of the party you are voting on, it shouldn't be too difficult, but you should know what the party stands for (in the US you only have about 2 big parties, the greens are pretty pathetic so..., but in Belgium there are lots of parties, and the thing is with a lot of voters here, quite a few vote on the rightwing extremist party but they don't know what the party's programme is.. they just vote on them because they are racists and they want foreigners out here )

That would do much good... If you fail the test your vote doesn't count..

[Vesayen]

"Well not knowing what your state capital is, would be most ridiculous, you'd have to be living in the stone age for that.."

DO NOT under-estimate the stupidity of Americans on politics/social issues as you will repetadly be amazed when you see new lows (I can say this because im American heh).

[Carver]

No exams.

If you're truly intrested in the issue I reccommed The Democratic Dilemma: Can Citizens Learn What They Need to Know? by Arthur Lupia and Matt McCubbins. In synopsis:

The political consequences of limited information can be very serious. However, our theorems suggest that people do not suffer these consequences nearly as often as many scholars and pundits proclaim. Politics often forces poeple to learn what they need to know from the oral and written testimony of other people. In these cases, limited information procludes a principal (voter) from making a reasoned choice if the conditions for persuasion do not apply. Therefore, if a principal has access to the testimony of at least one speaker whom she perceives as knowledgable and trustworthy, then limited information need not preclude reasoned choice. However, and unlike prior explanations of persuasion, we conclude that trust need not be derived from a principal's assesment of a speaker's personal charachter. Instead, we argue that external forces that alter and clarify a speaker's incentives can serve as the basis for trust. When people can learn from others, reasoned choice requires neither encyclopedic information nor relevant personal experience.

People have incentives to be, and in fact are, quite selective about whom they choose to believe.