The Intercollegiate Studies Institute surveyed over 2500 people with a 33 question multiple-choice quiz about the federal gov't and American history. Although the average score was 49%, people who had been elected to some office only averaged 44%.
From the
summary page. Spoiler warning -- some of the info on that page reveals test answers.
Quote:
All survey respondents were asked whether they have ever engaged in any of 13 different political and civic activities. These included, for example, registering to vote, signing a petition, contacting a public official, publishing a letter to the editor, and whether they have ever been elected to a government office.
Among the 2,508 respondents, 164 say they have been elected to a government office at least once. This sub-sample of officeholders yields a startling result: elected officials score lower than the general public. Those who have held elective office earn an average score of 44% on the civic literacy test, which is five percentage points lower than the average score of 49% for those who have never been elected. It would be most interesting to explore whether this statistically significant result is maintained across larger samples of elected officials.
The elected officeholders come from the ranks of Democrats (40%), Republicans (31%), Independents (21%), and those who say they belong to no party or indicate no affiliation (8%). None were asked to specify what office they held, so the proportion in which they held local, state, or federal positions is unknown.
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Take the quiz -- I scored 100%, but there were a couple where I was guessing between 2 of the 5 choices.