Comments on: Flunking the Electoral College

By: Required Reading at The Core Knowledge Blog

Required Reading at The Core Knowledge Blog — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:32:38 +0000

[...] Flunking the Electoral College at Joanne Jacobs Seventy-one percent of adults failed a civic (and economic) literacy test, according to Our Fading Heritage by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. [...]

By: Quincy

Quincy — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:38:21 +0000

Aside from Keynesian economics being the economic model that got us into the current economic mess we’re in, and which will keep us mired here as long as the politicians keep believing in it, I didn’t find anything particularly Keynesian about the questions. Was I missing something?

By: Brendan

Brendan — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:13:07 +0000

I don’t agree with some of the economic questions (thought I did get them correct)

I think they questions should be modified to state in Keynesian economic models…

I mean its a model and a good one, but by no means perfect.

On the other hand I am no economist, I could just be talking out of the wrong end of my body.

By: Bart

Bart — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:32:31 +0000

The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).

I couldn’t support it, for all the usual reasons. Anyway, what’s the electoral college’s maximum historical error relative to popular vote– around one percent? Vote-splitting in a three-way race can easily top that error by a factor of twenty. Abolishing the electoral college won’t help.

By: susan

susan — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:01:19 +0000

To change enough state laws to make every vote in every state politically relevant and equal in presidential elections, support the National Popular Vote bill.

The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC). The bill would take effect only when enacted by states possessing a majority of the electoral votes (270 of 538). When the bill comes into effect, all the electoral votes from those states would be awarded to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and DC).

The bill is currently endorsed by 1,181 state legislators — 439 sponsors (in 47 states) and an additional 742 legislators who have cast recorded votes in favor of the bill.

The National Popular Vote bill has been approved by 21 legislative chambers (one house in CO, AR, ME, NC, and WA, and two houses in MD, IL, HI, CA, MA, NJ, RI, and VT). It has been enacted into law in Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, and Maryland. These states have 50 (19%) of the 270 electoral votes needed to bring this legislation into effect.

see http://www.NationalPopularVote.com

By: Marco

Marco — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:42:17 +0000

I got 100%. I’m a social studies teacher though, and a perfectionist, so I should have done well.

By: MTheads

MTheads — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:12:02 +0000

I missed the last one – being right 97% of the time is exhausting.

By: BadaBing

BadaBing — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:41:17 +0000

The ones I missed shouldn’t be on the quiz:-)

By: Cardinal Fang

Cardinal Fang — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:30:06 +0000

100%!

Some of those questions are pretty picky, though. If you know the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, is it important to know exactly which amendment does it?

It would be good if more people knew the right answer to the Keynesian spending one, though.

By: Devilbunny

Devilbunny — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:19:25 +0000

31/33, though I plead that on one of them there was no correct answer.

Still, it’s a bit over the top. If you expect civic literacy to include the philosophies of the Greeks and Aquinas, well, you’re going to be disappointed at what you find.