ProCon’s Mandatory National Service Quiz

Question: Which internationally popular pop-music act went on hiatus because of mandatory national service?

Answer:The seven members of the K-pop (South Korean pop music) boy band BTS had to take a break from their wildly successful careers from December 2022 to June 2025 to complete their country’s mandatory national service.

Question: Which of the following is a common argumentin favor of mandatory national service in the United States?

Answer:All of these are common arguments in favor of mandatory national service.

Question: What is the common meaning ofconscription?

Answer:Conscription, also called a draft, is compulsory enrollment in military service.

Question: Which country has a mandatory, police-enforced community cleanup on the last Saturday of every month for everyone age 18 to 65, contributing to the country’s reputation as one of the cleanest countries on its continent?

Answer:In Rwanda, the last Saturday of every month is called Umuganda (meaning “coming together in common purpose”), a compulsory, police-enforced community cleanup. The monthly event has fostered civic responsibility and national unity and has significantly contributed to the African country’s social and economic development.

Question: Which of the following offers Americans an avenue for community, national, or international service?

Answer:All of these offer opportunities for community, national, or international service.

Question: Which of the following is a common argumentagainst mandatory national service in the United States?

Answer:All of these are common arguments against mandatory national service.

Question: Which event was widely associated with mandatory U.S. national service in the 1960s and early ’70s?

Answer: In the 1960s and early ’70s, some2.2 million men were drafted into the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.

Question: Which American novel promoted mandatory national service?

Answer:The utopian novelLooking Backward: 2000–1887 (1888) by journalist Edward Bellamy imagines a society in which mandatory national service is seen as so natural and reasonable that the idea of its being compulsory has ceased to exist.