• Twitter
  • Facebook
News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

Big dummies

The new congressional leadership has pledged to require a citation of the constitutional justification for any new legislation, which would be comforting if we could believe legislators actually know and understand the Constitution. But, well. Over the last five years, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute has surveyed more than 30,000 Americans 33 basic civics questions, including 10 on the Constitution. Mostly college students were surveyed, but there was also a random sample of adults, including elected public officials. The results aren't pretty:

Elected officials at many levels of government, not just the federal government, swear an oath to "uphold and protect" the U.S. Constitution.

But those elected officials who took the test scored an average 5 percentage points lower than the national average (49 percent vs. 54 percent), with ordinary citizens outscoring these elected officials on each constitutional question.

[. . .]

The fact that our elected representatives know even less about America's history and institutions than the typical citizen (who doesn't know much either) is troubling indeed, but perhaps helps explain the lack of constitutional discipline often displayed by our political class at every level of our system.

Only 49 percent of elected officials could even name all three branches of government, and only 46 knew it was the Congress rather than the president having the power to declare war. Sheesh.

Here are the 10 questions if you want to check out your own constitutional knowledge.

Posted in: Uncategorized

Comments

tim zank
Fri, 01/14/2011 - 12:48pm

Those are awfully easy questions, how in the heck can that many people not know the answers? I'm just a middleaged midwest rube and I got them all right.

Sheesh indeed.

William Larsen
Fri, 01/14/2011 - 9:44pm

Why did so many people miss so many? Good question. Yes they were easy. However, with five children that have attended our public school system, I find that public school is not what it used to be.

In order to make room for all the new standards, we have left out a great deal on US government. In order to offer more classes, we have eliminated whole areas in subjects so that specicalization is the key, not worldly knowledge.

I suggest people take a look at classes offered at their local high school. We are no longer teaching our children how to learn or presenting a sound foundation on which to build, but making them make that early decision, what do I want to do when I grow up? this results in specialization.

littlejohn
Sat, 01/15/2011 - 4:29pm

I agree, Mr. Larson. My wife is a public schoolteacher, and the list of topics she's not allowed to address is astounding. She could work for a private school, but they pay little more than the minimum wage. Our country doesn't seem to value education. Our current governor, in particular, seems to think it's the best place to cut expenses. Middle-aged folks ought to understand that when we get old and frail, it's the current group of high school kids who will be taking care of us. I would cheerfully pay higher taxes to improve public education.

tim zank
Sat, 01/15/2011 - 5:26pm

Littlejohn, what does the Governor cutting expenses to schools have to do with what your wife is "allowed" to teach in the classroom?

While a gratuitous swipe at Governor Daniels is expected of you, at least make it germane.

Quantcast