The Citizenship Test
by Cosmo
Dec 4, 05:20 PM
So I was perusing the official list of US Citizenship practice questions today. Aside from missing an unacceptably high number (9 of 96), and being taken aback by several of the answers (apparently, the Constition is not a document outlining the organization and function of the United States Government, but simply “the supreme law of the land”), what really struck me was this question:
93. What is the most important right granted to United States citizens?
Are you kidding me? You want me to pick one single right as the most important? I guessed correctly that they wanted me to say “the right to vote”, but seriously, what good is a vote without freedom of speech and assembly? Similarly, without freedom of religion, any single creed could banned from the country, thus keeping them out of the ballot box entirely.
Then there’s the fact that a slight majority of US citizens (women) have been denied de jure the right to vote for most of this country’s history, while de facto infringements on all citizens continue to the present day. To judge by enforcement, it sure doesn’t seem the most important (of course, that standard would also indicate that Amendment III, which protects citizens from the forced quartering of soldiers, was paramount).
My logic in guessing “the right to vote” was that it gives the citizen input on advancing or restricting any and all other rights. But Amendments I & II fill that void quite nicely; as my more adrent libertarian friends say “soap box, ballot box, jury box, and if all else fails, ammo box.” Honestly, though, I can’t say I’d like to live without any of the rights provided American citizens (though I suppose I wouldn’t revolt if the state legislature started electing Senators again).
The real question here is why the hell is this on a citizenship exam in the first place? It promotes a single ideology by insisting that participating in government is the most important of our many rights, and actively advances that statist agenda by blocking those who do not agree with it from joining the citizen body. The decision on which right, if any, is most important lies solely with the citizen (or potential citizen) and should not be dictated by this nation as a prerequisite for membership.
Dec 4, 08:45 PM
9 out of 96? What else did you miss?
Dec 4, 10:58 PM
Other than the Constituion being the
“law of the the land” (#17), I missed:
#19: Total number of amendements – I said 29; it was 27.
#28: Number of House members – I said 416; it’s 435.
#56: Beliefs held by the Declaration of Independence – I said that if people are mis- or under-represented by their current government, they have a legitmate right to form their own; apparently, it’s that all men are created equal and have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
#68: For “who helped the pilgrims in America’, I said Holland; (I misread the question, thinking it said “get to America” – but that wouldn’t matter to a Homeland Security official)
#72: Though I could name all the voting rights amendments, I added the direct election of senators and knew none of the numbers.
#73: Date of Constitution – I said 1783; it was 1787
#75: For “to whom does the Constitution apply?” I said all US citizens; it’s all people in the United States.
#88: I had no idea what form is required to apply for citizenship.
I did (as I said above) correctly guess #93, about which right was most important.
Dec 5, 04:56 PM
I also took the test. Aside from 93 and 17 (which I didn’t answer having already seen your complaint), I missed
19. I said 25 Amendments
40. I gave Maine a spot in the original 13 over Georgia. Should know better.
41. Sorry Patrick Henry
72. No idea on which Amendments deal with voting.
73. I incorrectly said 1781 for the Constitution.
88. Why would I know which form?
89. Ashamed to say I didn’t pull out “Republic.”
The worst question though, I thought was #90. What does the UN have to do with becoming a US citizen? Aside from us housing the UN and occasionally paying our dues?
Dec 5, 06:59 PM
How are these questions graded? It seems unlikely to me that they would ask “What is the Constitution?”, not provide answers to choose from, and only accept the answer “Supreme Law of the Land”.
Unless there is a naturalization class (akin to driver’s ed) where the purpose is to coach people on verbatim answers to open ended questions like this.
Dec 5, 07:10 PM
I graded myself harshly because a) I should know this stuff and b) I doubt Homeland Security is equipped to handle informed answers (reference Apu’s answer to the “What was the cause of the Civil War?” question on The Simpsons)