XIV, 3. Giving differences between a president and a king
Procedure. Say: “There are three main differences between a president and a king; what are they?” If the subject stops after one difference is given, we urge him on, if possible, until three are given.
Scoring. The three differences relate to power, tenure, and manner of accession. Only these differences are considered correct, and the successful response must include at least two of the three. We disregard crudities of expression and note merely whether the subject has the essential idea. As regards power, for example, any of the following responses are satisfactory: “The king is absolute and the president is not.” “The king rules by himself, but the president rules with the help of the people.” “Kings can have things their own way more than presidents can,” etc.
It may be objected that the reverse of this is sometimes true, that the king of to-day often has less power than the average president. Sometimes subjects mention this fact, and when they do we credit them with this part of the test. As a matter of fact, however, this answer is seldom given.
Sometimes the subject does not stop until he has given a half-dozen or more differences, and in such cases the first three differences may be trivial and some of the later ones essential. The question then arises whether we should disregard the errors and pass the subject on his later correct responses. The rule in such cases is to ask the subject to pick out the “three main differences.”
Sometimes accession and tenure are given in the form of a single contrast, as: “The president is elected, but the king inherits his throne and rules for life.” This answer entitles the subject to credit for both accession and tenure, the contrast as regards tenure being plainly implied.
Unsatisfactory contrasts are of many kinds and are often amusing. Some of the most common are the following:—
“A king wears a crown.” “A king has jewels.” “A king sits on a throne.” (“A king sets on a thorn” as one feeble-minded boy put it!) “A king lives in a palace.” “A king has courtiers.” “A king is very dignified.” “A king dresses up more.” “A president has less pomp and ceremony.” “A president is more ready to receive the people.” “A king sits on a chair all the time and a president does not.” “No differences; it’s just names.” “A president does not give titles.” “A king has a larger salary.” “A king has royal blood.” “A king is in more danger.” “They have a different title.” “A king is more cruel.” “Kings have people beheaded.” “A king rules in a monarchy and a president in a republic.” “A king rules in a foreign country.” “A president is elected and a king fights for his office.” “A president appoints governors and a king does not.” “A president lets the lawyers make the laws.” “Everybody works for a king.”
It is surprising to see how often trivial differences like the above are given. About thirty “average adults” out of a hundred, including high-school students, give at least one unsatisfactory contrast.
The test has been criticized as depending too much on schooling. The criticism is to a certain extent valid when the test is used with young subjects, say of 10 or 12 years. It is not valid, however, if the use of the test is confined to older subjects. With the latter, it is not a test of knowledge, but of the discriminative capacity to deal with knowledge already in the possession of the subject. It would be difficult to find an adult, not actually feeble-minded, who is ignorant of the facts called for: That the king inherits his throne, while the president is elected; that the tenure of the king is for life, and that of the president for a term of years; that kings ordinarily have, or are supposed to have, more power. Even the relatively stupid adult knows this; but he also knows that kings are different from presidents in having crowns, thrones, palaces, robes, courtiers, larger pay, etc., and he makes no discrimination as regards the relative importance of these differences.