“Know your rights”. Who hasn’t heard that phrase? More importantly, who actually follows it? And who actually learns about the system of government in the United States? Apparently very, very few.
In a recent study done by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute it was found that the general public scored an average 54% on a 33 question test of basic governmental knowledge. Sadly, the scores got lower(49%) when questioning those who had been public officeholders. A major flaw with the study is that they only had 165 elected officials while there were 30,000 respondents in the general public group. The test results still tell us a great deal though.
I am glad that this study was done for a few reasons. First, it completely supports the assertion that I made in item #3 here and I wish I had made that wager as only 19% of the general public knew that “wall of separation between church and state” can be found in a Jefferson letter and not in the Constitution. Second, it puts a little light on a serious problem with those elected to lead not knowing what they are supposed to be doing, even though the study is a tad flawed in regards to the number of elected respondents. The problem shines through when you see things like 33 of the 165 thought the electoral college was a school or that 80 of the 165 could not name the 3 branches of government.
I took the 10 question sample and aced it easily and, as always with studies like these, I want access to the other 23 questions. Here are the 10 sample questions. Just click on what you think the correct answer is and it will appear in green if right. Leave your score in the comments and be honest:
1) What are the three branches of government?
A. executive, legislative, judicial
B. executive, legislative, military
C. bureaucratic, military, industry
D. federal, state, local
2) What part of the government has the power to declare war?
A. Congress
B. the president
C. the Supreme Court
D. the Joint Chiefs of Staff
3) In the area of United States foreign policy, Congress shares power with the:
A. president
B. Supreme Court
C. state governments
D. United Nations
4) The United States Electoral College:
A. trains those aspiring for higher political office
B. was established to supervise the first televised presidential debates
C. is otherwise known as the U.S. Congress
D. is a constitutionally mandated assembly that elects the president
E. was ruled undemocratic by the Supreme Court
5) What impact did the Anti-Federalists have on the United States Constitution?
A. their arguments helped lead to the adoption of the Bill of Rights
B. their arguments helped lead to the abolition of the slave trade
C. their influence ensured that the federal government would maintain a standing army
D. their influence ensured that the federal government would have the power to tax
6) The phrase that in America there should be a “wall of separation” between church and state appears in:
A. George Washington’s Farewell Address
B. the Mayflower Compact
C. the Constitution
D. the Declaration of Independence
E. Thomas Jefferson’s letters
7) The Bill of Rights explicitly prohibits:
A. prayer in public school
B. discrimination based on race, sex, or religion
C. the ownership of guns by private individuals
D. establishing an official religion for the United States
E. the president from vetoing a line item in a spending bill
8 ) Identify one right or freedom below guaranteed by the first amendment.
A. Right to bear arms
B. Due process
C. Religion
D. Right to counsel
9) Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government listed below?
A. Make treaties
B. Make zoning laws
C. Maintain prisons
D. Establish standards for doctors and lawyers
10) Who is the commander in chief of the U.S. military?
A. Secretary of the army
B. Secretary of state
C. President
D. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
Got any more BRAIN BUSTERS?
The title of this post is, in my opinion, overly harsh even if technically correct. It doesn’t take much to find out the truth about how government should operate and what is included in important documents. The recent reading of the Constitution in Congress was clearly needed (even if I don’t believe it will do much good for politicians) and I recommend we all do our own reading frequently.
Now leave your score in the comments and tell us what you might have missed. It’s OK to miss some as long as it is not more than 3 as that is a 70% and under that you fail and make me weep for my country.
UPDATE:
Wow, I just have to add this video of Senator Chuck Schumer demonstrating the above very perfectly.
I missed one, most of these you should just be able to logically think your way through, even if you are not sure of the answer. People are pretty dumb. Some may think that the general public just isn’t educated enough, but if they went to public high school then they should know more than 54% of the answers.
9/10. I got number five wrong. I had no idea on that one. If you miss #1 or #4 that’s just sad…
To be fair, we should also read SCOTUS and other court precedent. Much like the Bible, the U.S. Constitution isn’t up for private interpretation. (Well, both of them are, but that’s how we have 1000s of sects of Christianity, and 1000s of erroneous opinions about what given tracts of the Constitution mean in terms of implementation.)
@Gus – Uuuuuuh, that seems to not have much to do with the contents of this post. Are you trying to hide a bad score? Just let us in, this is a safe space. 😉
I don’t see much use for precedent. I see it as a great way to drift away from the original intent of the Constitution. Case law wasn’t really taught before the 1900’s and judges just went by what was on the books and how it related to the situation at hand. Rather than follow other judges, they followed the law itself as written. Clearly, the Constitution was meant to be consulted itself rather than consulting the opinion of someone else about it. Let’s just be glad no one uses the Dred Scott case as precedent.
Besides, the Constitution is a quick read and is also not written in Sanskrit.
100% baby!