(I, for instance, would not be able to answer “How many senators are there?”)
I tend to think that knowing the answer to a question like this is important when voting for your senator (and there are 100 senators − 2 for each state).
and you select for people who really care strongly about politics
If caring is paired with knowledge, this isn’t necessarily bad.
tests for voting have been tried before, and were used to stop blacks voting in the US.
Yes, this the primary criticism I have received from people about this idea, and I agree with you that none of these things need apply to a future voting test.
If caring is paired with knowledge, this isn’t necessarily bad.
I’m a little worried that the people who shout the loudest are not the wisest, but the most ideolgically driven, therefore the most blinded by ideology. Maybe it’s the extremists who really care, the centralists are often more ambivalent.
I tend to think that knowing the answer to a question like this is important when voting for your senator (and there are 100 senators − 2 for each state).
I should point out that I’m not actually american, and the equivalent situation is slightly more complex in the UK, because the number of MPs keeps changing.
I tend to think that knowing the answer to a question like this is important when voting for your senator (and there are 100 senators − 2 for each state).
If caring is paired with knowledge, this isn’t necessarily bad.
Yes, this the primary criticism I have received from people about this idea, and I agree with you that none of these things need apply to a future voting test.
I’m a little worried that the people who shout the loudest are not the wisest, but the most ideolgically driven, therefore the most blinded by ideology. Maybe it’s the extremists who really care, the centralists are often more ambivalent.
I should point out that I’m not actually american, and the equivalent situation is slightly more complex in the UK, because the number of MPs keeps changing.