DNA Civics · 48 questions · 10 minutes
What you know — and how sure you are.
Forty-eight questions across six domains. Choose your answer and rate your confidence — we measure both your accuracy and your calibration, how well your certainty tracks the truth.
What this civics knowledge test measures
DNA Civics is a civics knowledge test that scores two things: how many questions you get right, and how well your confidence tracks whether you were right. Forty-eight questions across six domains, about ten minutes, with a confidence rating on every answer. The result needs no account. The questions are written for the United States.
- Civics and governmentHow government works: branches, processes, elections.
- Constitutional and legalRights, amendments, landmark court cases.
- EconomicHow markets and economic policy work.
- Policy and programsWhat current policies and programs actually do.
- Political historyKey historical events and their significance.
- InternationalGlobal institutions, foreign policy, and comparative systems.
How the forty-eight questions work
Each question is multiple choice with one correct answer, drawn from three difficulty levels. After you pick, you rate your confidence from 50 percent (just guessing) to 100 percent (certain), and then you see the answer with a short explanation before moving on, so the test teaches as it scores. You can skip a question; a skip is scored as a miss.
Accuracy is the share you got right, overall, per domain and per difficulty level. Calibration compares the confidence you stated with how you actually did: sure and right is well calibrated, sure and wrong is overconfidence, right but hedging is underconfidence. Correctness is scored exactly against the answer key; the one soft number is the percentile, which comes from a fixed table keyed to accuracy rather than a live ranking of everyone who has taken it. The walkthrough is on how DNA Civics works.
What your result looks like
Two headline numbers, accuracy and a calibration reading (well-calibrated, overconfident or underconfident); six domain cards, each with its confidence gap, so you can see where you are overselling and where you are underselling; your accuracy by difficulty level; and a question-by-question review with the correct answer and the explanation for every item, so the result is something to learn from rather than a grade to file away.
How it compares with other civics quizzes
The USCIS naturalization civics test and the Pew Research Center’s knowledge quizzes score right and wrong answers only. DNA Civics adds the confidence rating, which is what lets it report where your certainty has outrun what you can back up. It is a fixed set of forty-eight questions sampled from the material, not the whole of it, and it is not a substitute for any official test.
What it can and cannot claim
It measures knowledge, not values. It says nothing about what you believe or which side you are on; a high score does not make your politics right and a low one does not make them wrong. It is a snapshot of the day you sat down, the percentile is an estimate, and the question set is a sample. Come back once you have read more and take it again.
Frequently asked questions
Is the civics knowledge test free?
Yes. All forty-eight questions, your accuracy and calibration scores, the domain breakdown and the question review are free and need no account. PoliticalDNA is a for-profit, independent project; the only paid products are optional Deep Readings written from your DNA Scan answers.
How long does it take?
About ten minutes: forty-eight questions, each with an answer, a confidence rating and a short explanation. Your progress is kept in this browser, so you can leave and resume.
Is this the same as the citizenship test?
No. The naturalization civics test is an official exam with its own question bank. DNA Civics covers similar ground on government and history, adds economics, policy and international questions, and scores your confidence as well as your answers. It is not preparation for, or a substitute for, any official test.
Does it measure my political beliefs?
No. It measures what you know about how government and civic life work, not which side you are on. The DNA Scan is the instrument for position.
Can I see which answers I got wrong?
Yes. The explanation appears right after each answer, and the result page lists every question with your answer, the correct answer and the explanation.
The rest of the suite: the DNA Scan (where you land) · DNA Origins (why you land there) · DNA Dynamics (how you hold it) · who represents you