Blog @ MoreWhat.com

This is the ninth installment of this blog’s series on civics literacy. It focuses on the third item in the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s civics literacy quiz. The quiz that most Americans fail or score lower than what is acceptable. There needs to be something of a renaissance on this topic in this country. That end is the mission of this series. So to get right to it the third item on the quiz taken last year pointed to the three branches of government in the United States. The linked text below offers a simple overview of the importance of this concept.

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention faced a difficult challenge. They wanted to ensure a strong, cohesive central government, yet they also wanted to ensure that no individual or small group in the government would become too powerful. Because of the colonies’ experience under the British monarchy, the delegates wanted to avoid giving any one person or group absolute control in government. Under the Articles of Confederation, the government had lacked centralization, and the delegates didn’t want to have that problem again. To solve these problems, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention created a government with three separate branches, each with its own distinct powers. This system would establish a strong central government, while insuring a balance of power.

Governmental power and functions in the United States rest in three branches of government: the legislative, judicial, and executive. Article I of the Constitution defines the legislative branch and vests power to legislate in the Congress of the United States. The executive powers of the President are defined in Article 2. Article 3 places judicial power in the hands of one Supreme Court and inferior courts as Congress sees necessary to establish

A copy of the US Constitution is available on this blog on the main page in the sidebar under the heading ‘Pages’. The references above can be found there. Or use any resource you are comfortable with as long as you make an effort to improve your understanding of YOUR country, its founding and how government is supposed to work. No matter what your skill level if you cannot ace the ISI quiz you need to work on this. That of course assumes the person reading this is an American citizen or genuinely wants to become one for the right reasons.

Fewer than half of all Americans can name all three branches of government, a minimal requirement for understanding America’s constitutional system.

Read the linked text below and take the quiz by clicking on it to determine your understanding and/or the need to do better.

Are you more knowledgeable than the average citizen? The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the following test was 49%; college educators scored 55%. Can you do better? Questions were drawn from past ISI surveys, as well as other nationally recognized exams.

The next post in this series may list some handy resources for improving your knowledge and understanding of critical information every citizen should know.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

BTW, the knowledge or skill level of the author of this blog is a work in progress like everyone else. These posts are not intended to insult anyone unless that is what it takes to get people to address their civic responsibilities. Too often rights are what receive the focus. Responsibility is equally important and often overlooked.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 12:24 am and is filed under Public Affairs, Education, wordpress, America, United States, Freedom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.