Know Enough to Vote?

Now the Pew Center has published results of a recent survey of public knowledge. Their survey consisted of ten multiple choice questions propounded to a random sample of 1000 Americans. Their quiz was about 1/3 as long as ISI’s and their sample was less than half as large. My perfect score put me in the 93rd percentile; the top 7%.

Pew’s average was 35% compared to ISI’s 49, probably reflecting an easier quiz because of fewer and easier questions.
In their survey, men scored 8% higher than women whereas the gender differential in ISI’s quiz was 7%. Pew found a 2.6% gain among college graduates, whereas ISI found a 13% gain.

No matter how you slice the data, it is obvious that the body politic is woefully ignorant about politics & economics. Ignorance makes them too easily deceived by demagogues. Take the quizzes; if your score is below 60%, then either start studying or burn your voter registration card.