Posted on 01/14/2011 11:12:26 AM PST by OldDeckHand
When the Republican House leadership decided to start the 112th Congress with a reading of the U.S. Constitution, the decision raised complaints in some quarters that it was little more than a political stunt. The New York Times even called it a "presumptuous and self-righteous act."
That might be true, if you could be sure that elected officials actually know something about the Constitution. But it turns out that many don't.
In fact, elected officials tend to know even less about key provisions of the Constitution than the general public.
-snip-
Included in the adult sample was a small subset of Americans (165 in all) who, when asked, identified themselves as having been "successfully elected to government office at least once in their life" -- which can include federal, state or local offices.
Only 49 percent of elected officials could name all three branches of government, compared with 50 percent of the general public.Only 46 percent knew that Congress, not the president, has the power to declare war -- 54 percent of the general public knows that.
Just 15 percent answered correctly that the phrase "wall of separation" appears in Thomas Jefferson's letters -- not in the U.S. Constitution -- compared with 19 percent of the general public.
(Excerpt) Read more at aolnews.com ...
They had to do a survey to find this out?
We have known this for years.
So why is this country going down the toilet?/s
Great... just another bit of awesome news
I actually do find it surprising that they actually know less than the public they've been dumbing-down.
Yes, I thought so too. These weren't esoteric constitutional law questions. These were about as 8th grade government class as you can get.
I wonder how Journalists would fare on the quiz compared to the average person.
I agree. IMHO, if you couldn't score 100% on that quiz, you shouldn't even be allowed to vote, let alone hold office.
Their answer: Democracy
However, Article Four Section Four of our Constitution states: "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government..."
There aren't any 8th grade government classes. That's a jugh part of the problem.
Actually in my day (1960’s) we learned this stuff in 6th & 7th grade history class. By the 8th grade we had to memorize the bill of rights and be able to explain it in detail. I only had one daughter that learned about this in grade school. They skipped it entirely with my other two children. Fortunately, my children learned about the constitution and bill of rights from their parents and grandparents.
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