The Civic Coach: Learn How Your Government Actually Works
This is a coach, not an exam. It asks one question at a time, explains every answer, and remembers what you missed so it can bring it back tomorrow instead of letting you forget it. It also builds you a map of your own government, the officials no website can look up for you. Nothing is recorded, nothing is sent anywhere, and there is no account.
Six ways to use it. Let it teach you one question at a time. Have it read questions aloud so you answer from memory, which is much harder and much more honest than picking from a list. Take a twelve question check and get back a reading plan instead of a score. Build your own civic map. Ask it a question in your own words. Or look at what you have learned so far.
It runs entirely in your browser, which means it works with the wifi off, and what you know or do not know stays on your device.
Every Question, Written Out
The coach above is the better way to learn this. The full list below is here so the material works without JavaScript, so you can read it straight through if you prefer, and so a search engine can see it.
QUESTION 1 OF 20
Which level of government decides whether an apartment building can be built on a particular lot?
Answer: Your city or county. Zoning and land use are decided locally, by a city council or a county board acting on a planning commission recommendation. Congress has almost nothing to do with it. This is the single most common reason a complaint goes to the wrong office.
QUESTION 2 OF 20
The local level usually contains more than one government. Which of these is its own separate government, with its own elected board and its own share of your taxes?
Answer: A special district, such as water, fire or transit. Special districts run schools, water, sewer, fire, transit, libraries and mosquito abatement across much of the country. They levy taxes and hold their own elections, and most residents have never heard of the ones they pay. Local is three levels deep in most places.
QUESTION 3 OF 20
Which branch of government interprets the laws?
Answer: Judicial. The judicial branch. Legislative writes the rules, executive carries them out, judicial says what they mean. The part that surprises people: every level of government has all three, so your state and your city each have their own version of these three jobs.
QUESTION 4 OF 20
What is the supreme law of the land?
Answer: The Constitution, federal statutes and treaties. The Supremacy Clause in Article VI names three things: the Constitution, federal laws made under it, and treaties. In a 2025 American Bar Association survey, 39 percent got this right and 48 percent said the Constitution alone.
QUESTION 5 OF 20
How many members are in the U.S. House of Representatives?
Answer: 435. 435 voting members, fixed by statute since 1929 and reapportioned among the states after each census. 100 is the Senate. 538 is the Electoral College, which is 435 plus 100 plus 3 for the District of Columbia.
QUESTION 6 OF 20
Which of these is NOT protected by the First Amendment?
Answer: The right to vote. Voting is protected by several other amendments, but not the First. The First Amendment covers religion, speech, press, assembly and petition. Only about one adult in eight names the right to petition unprompted.
QUESTION 7 OF 20
Most of the binding federal rules that affect your daily life are written by whom?
Answer: Federal agencies, as regulations. Congress passes a broad law and an agency writes the detailed rule that actually binds you. The bill is the part everybody watches. The rule is the part that decides what your employer must do and how your benefit is calculated.
QUESTION 8 OF 20
Before most federal rules take effect, an agency is legally required to do what?
Answer: Publish the proposed rule and accept public comment. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553, the agency must publish the proposal, accept comments, and respond to substantive ones. Most proposed rules receive almost no comments. It is the cheapest influence available to a private person.
QUESTION 9 OF 20
Roughly what share of the bills introduced in Congress become law in any form?
Answer: About 3 percent. In the 118th Congress, 19,315 bills and resolutions were introduced and about three percent were enacted in some form. Most die in committee without ever being scheduled for a hearing, which makes committee chairs unusually powerful.
QUESTION 10 OF 20
In the U.S. Senate, how many votes does most legislation need to end debate and get to a vote?
Answer: 60. Sixty, under the cloture rule. This is why a bill with clear majority support can still fail. Budget reconciliation and most nominations are the main exceptions.
QUESTION 11 OF 20
A presidential veto can be overridden by whom?
Answer: Two-thirds of both chambers of Congress. Two-thirds of both the House and the Senate, under Article I, Section 7. It almost never happens, which is why the veto threat alone shapes most legislation long before one is issued.
QUESTION 12 OF 20
Who sets most of the rules for how elections are run, including registration deadlines?
Answer: The states. States write election law and counties or towns usually administer it, within federal limits set by the Constitution and by statutes such as the Voting Rights Act. This is why the deadline in one state is nothing like the deadline in the next.
QUESTION 13 OF 20
Which body typically sets your local property tax rate?
Answer: Your county board or city council. A locally elected body sets the rate, usually a county board of supervisors or a city council, often after a public hearing that almost nobody attends. Your assessment is set separately, by an assessor, and can usually be appealed.
QUESTION 14 OF 20
Which of these is a civic duty rather than a civic responsibility?
Answer: Serving on a jury when summoned. A duty is legally enforceable. Jury service, paying taxes and obeying the law are duties. Voting, staying informed and showing up are responsibilities, expected but not enforced. In the United States nobody is penalized for staying home on election day.
QUESTION 15 OF 20
What generally happens if you ignore a jury summons?
Answer: You can be fined or held in contempt of court. Courts can fine you or hold you in contempt, and the specifics vary by court. Ignoring it is the worst option, and it is also the unnecessary one, because deferrals and excusals exist and are usually granted for a real reason.
QUESTION 16 OF 20
Public comment time at a city council meeting is generally open to whom?
Answer: Members of the public, with rules set locally. Councils set their own rules, and they usually turn on residency or on having business before the body rather than on citizenship or voter registration. Most councils reserve time at every meeting and most of that time goes unused.
QUESTION 17 OF 20
Your member of Congress has staff who can do what about a federal case that is stuck?
Answer: Make a formal inquiry with the agency on your behalf. It is called casework and it costs nothing. A caseworker can make a congressional inquiry, get a status answer, and flag a file that has fallen through. They cannot order an outcome, and any office that promises one is not telling the truth.
QUESTION 18 OF 20
How are most local board and commission seats filled?
Answer: By appointment, often from resident applicants. Planning commissions, library boards, zoning appeals boards and civilian review bodies are usually appointed by a council or a county board, often from whoever applied. Seats go unfilled every year because nobody applied.
QUESTION 19 OF 20
School board and other local elections are often held when?
Answer: In odd numbered years or otherwise off cycle. Many are deliberately held off cycle, and turnout in those races routinely runs under 20 percent. They decide the school calendar, the superintendent, the bond, and a large share of your property tax bill.
QUESTION 20 OF 20
Which rights in the Bill of Rights apply to people rather than only to citizens?
Answer: Most of them, including due process and free speech. Most of the Bill of Rights is written in terms of persons rather than citizens, and courts have long read it that way for due process, speech, and criminal procedure. Voting in federal and state elections is limited to citizens. Knowing which is which prevents a great deal of unnecessary fear.
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Common Questions About This Check
Is this an official government test?
No. It carries no legal weight of any kind and we have no connection to any government agency. These are questions about how government works for anybody living here, written from the pages on this site, and most of them do not appear on any official exam.
Do you keep my score?
No. The whole thing runs in your browser and stops existing when you close the tab. There is no form on this page and no page on this site asks you for personal information.
What is a good score?
Twelve is a solid working knowledge and seventeen is genuinely unusual. Under ten puts you in the largest group by far, and you finish with something most people never get: a specific list of what to read next. Every explanation links straight to it.
Can I use this with a class or a group?
Yes, without restriction. Read it aloud, project it, print the questions, adapt it. There is no permission to ask for and no attribution required, though we appreciate a link. If you want us to run it live with your group, we do that at no charge.
Keep Going
What civic education is, and what it teaches. Why it matters to a community. The three levels. The three branches. Request a workshop.
Sources
Supremacy Clause, Article VI of the Constitution. House membership fixed at 435: Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929. Notice and comment rulemaking and the duty to respond to substantive comments: Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 553. Bills introduced and enacted in the 118th Congress, 19,315 measures with about three percent enacted: GovTrack congressional statistics. Senate cloture at 60 votes: Senate Rule XXII. Veto override at two-thirds of both chambers: Article I, Section 7. Supreme law of the land answered correctly by 39 percent: American Bar Association Survey of Civic Literacy, 2025. Three branches recall and First Amendment recall: Annenberg Public Policy Center Civics Knowledge Survey, August 2025. Jury summons consequences, council public comment rules, board appointment procedures, property tax rate setting and election administration are set by state and local law and vary. Last checked August 23, 2026.