World's Smallest Political Quiz: The questions as I would want them

[nude_dude_runner]

The WorldÂ’s Smallest Political Quiz (with the questions how I believe they should read)

I worked the county fair one year at the libertarian booth.  Having discussed the test and the results with many voters, this is the way I wish the Quiz was presented.  I feel that the term "Government" should be in every question because it is the government that wants to decide these issues for us.  Any comments?


Personal Issues

(Choose D if you disagree, M for Maybe, and A for Agree)

Government should tell me what I can say and not say        D   M   A

Government should decide if I need to serve in the military      D   M   A

Government should tell me what sort of sex I can  and cannot have. D   M   A

Government should tell me what drugs I can and cannot take.   D   M   A

Every person should have a Government Issued ID Card      D   M   A      

Economic Issues

Government should assist companies when they feel it is needed.   D   M   A

Government should decide if and when other countries can       D   M   A
ship their products to the US.

Government should manage my retirement funds.         D   M   A

Government should replace private charity with social programs   D   M   A

Government should spend what they need and tax us accordingly.   D   M   A

Scoring:

Give yourself 10 points for each D, 5 for each M, and 0 for each A.  Then plot as the quiz suggests.

[velojym]

On the drugs question, in addition to the can and cannot, don't forget the 'must take'.

[Porcupine_in_MA]

The WorldÂ’s Smallest Political Quiz (with the questions how I believe they should read)

I worked the county fair one year at the libertarian booth.  Having discussed the test and the results with many voters, this is the way I wish the Quiz was presented.  I feel that the term "Government" should be in every question because it is the government that wants to decide these issues for us.  Any comments?


Personal Issues

(Choose D if you disagree, M for Maybe, and A for Agree)

Government should tell me what I can say and not say        D   M   A

Government should decide if I need to serve in the military      D   M   A

Government should tell me what sort of sex I can  and cannot have. D   M   A

Government should tell me what drugs I can and cannot take.   D   M   A

Every person should have a Government Issued ID Card      D   M   A      

Economic Issues

Government should assist companies when they feel it is needed.   D   M   A

Government should decide if and when other countries can       D   M   A
ship their products to the US.

Government should manage my retirement funds.         D   M   A

Government should replace private charity with social programs   D   M   A

Government should spend what they need and tax us accordingly.   D   M   A

Scoring:

Give yourself 10 points for each D, 5 for each M, and 0 for each A.  Then plot as the quiz suggests.

I gotta say I like your version, by the way welcome to the message board.

[One two three]

That is better than the Advocates WSPQ but has problems.  Questions #1, #3, #5, #6, #7, and #10 could be worded better.

Welcome to the FTL BBS!

[Johnny_]

Personal Issues

(Choose D if you disagree, M for Maybe, and A for Agree)

Government should tell me what I can say and not say        D   M   A

Government should decide if I need to serve in the military      D   M   A

Government should tell me what sort of sex I can  and cannot have. D   M   A

Government should tell me what drugs I can and cannot take.   D   M   A

Every person should have a Government Issued ID Card      D   M   A      

Economic Issues

Government should assist companies when they feel it is needed.   D   M   A

Government should decide if and when other countries can       D   M   A
ship their products to the US.

Government should manage my retirement funds.         D   M   A

Government should replace private charity with social programs   D   M   A

Government should spend what they need and tax us accordingly.   D   M   A

Scoring:

Give yourself 10 points for each D, 5 for each M, and 0 for each A.  Then plot as the quiz suggests.

Personal Issues

(Choose D if you disagree, M for Maybe, and A for Agree)

Government should control my speech        D   M   A

Government should choose approriate sexual partners for me D   M   A

Government should prevent me from obtaining the medicine of my choice   D   M   A
   
Economic Issues

Government should use your tax dollars to fund failing companies   D   M   A

Government should prevent you from purchasing items from non-authorized suppliers

Scoring:

Give yourself 10 points for each D, 5 for each M, and 0 for each A.  Then plot as the quiz suggests.

Just a few suggestions.  I like the quiz the way it is, but hey, there's nothing keeping you from making your own edition of the quiz, right?

[nude_dude_runner]

Johnny,

If government picked my sex partners, I just might be a busier person!  That would be a sure way for a candidate to get my vote...

NDR

[HungSquirrel]

Every person should have a Government Issued ID Card      D   M   A

The question would probably be more clear if it read:

Every citizen should be required to carry a government-issued ID card

or something similar.  This places emphasis on the fact that it would be mandatory.

[Dan]

I didn't see any other relevant search hits (in under 30 seconds of searching) so I'm posting this tidbit here.

The wikipedia article on the WSPQ references a blogger critical of the current quiz.
  http://world.std.com/~mhuben/rupright.html

He puts forth the following ten questions to be scored as normal, but worded in such a way as to sway the reader to vote 'D'.

Note: Even with his questions, I scored solidly Libertarian.

Cut and pasted from:  http://world.std.com/~mhuben/rupright.html
A Modest Proposal

I'd like to offer an interesting exercise. I'll re-write the ten questions. Go back and take the quiz again, but answer my questions, not the ones in the original quiz. The purpose is to demonstrate how through a different choice of phrasing, the same questions will get different answers. My questions are phrased to incline the respondent to answer "no" more often than "yes".

Personally I won't answer "no" to all of these questions, and they are not intended to illustrate my own bias. I just want to show how easy it is to make the questions biased in the opposite direction.

So here are the questions:
Personal:

    * The military should not be allowed to draft soldiers, even in times of national emergency.
    * Government should not restrict the flow of pornography across the airwaves and internet.
    * Prostitutes are entrepreneurs. Don't legally restrict their trade.
    * PCP and heroin should be legal.
    * Let impoverished foreigners compete for our jobs.

Economic:

    * Government should not help industries or farms at risk of failure.
    * We are better off when our products are in free competition with those made by foreigners earning only a small fraction of our wages.
    * Employers should be allowed to pay people as little as they can.
    * If people need help from a government program, let them pay for it.
    * Our government should not support struggling democracies, but rich individuals and corporations can support rebels who would overthrow these democracies.

More Info

For an exhaustive critique of libertarianism and links to other pages about libertarianism, pro and con, check out Mike Huben's excellent Critiques of Libertarianism page. http://world.std.com/~mhuben/libindex.html
Mark Rupright -- 1/24/97

[voodoo]

I like those questions better than the originals.  A score based on those questions certainly separates the men from the boys.

[cerpntaxt]

I agree. The world's smallest political quiz needs balls.

[Jason Orr]

The WSPQ is biased enough as it is.  You might as well say "I believe the government should kill everyone it doesn't like."  Nobody in their right mind is going to disagree with many of those questions, which results in a false result for Libertarian when the tester might be far from it.

[Dan]

Your analysis is contradicted by the WSPQ's results: most who take the quiz do not score Libertarian.

[cerpntaxt]

Your analysis is contradicted by the WSPQ's results: most who take the quiz do not score Libertarian.

Yeah, but imagine how many fewer that would be if it were neutral

[Dan]

To go along with your mythology, a "neutral" WSPQ would result in the majority of test takers  landing in 'Authoritarian' or 'Statist'?  Maybe the majority needs to be slapped in the face about this?  That they have long ago capitulated to the system, and are so institutionalized now that they prefer to be told what to do.
 
Any way the questions are phrased personally results in my dot firmly in the libertarian spread.  Your insight just makes me more motivated.

[cerpntaxt]

I should make it clearer when I'm joking