A coalition of the ignorant

In the days since the November election, Americans have heard much about the need for bipartisan cooperation in dealing with the serious challenges our nation will face in the coming years on both the domestic and foreign policy fronts.

But we have already achieved a bipartisanship that is not helpful: A large majority of Americans in both major parties share a profound ignorance of our nation's history and institutions. The majority of Independents have joined this coalition, too.

Seventy-nine percent of Democrats, 66% percent of Republicans, and 63% of Independents fail a basic test on America's history, key texts, foreign policy and free-market economic principles.

This spring, in the midst of an extraordinarily exciting and interesting presidential primary campaign, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's (ISI) American Civic Literacy Program administered a 33-question exam on these subjects to a random sample of 2,508 Americans (www.americancivicliteracy.org).

The exam was designed to measure basic-not advanced-knowledge.  Almost half the questions were simply borrowed from the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests that the U.S. Department of Education administers to high school seniors and from the naturalization exams that the U.S. government gives to immigrants seeking citizenship.

The results were abysmal. Seven out of ten Americans failed. The overall average score was only 49% and the average college graduate scored only 57%.

Nor did ideology matter. Americans did poorly on the test regardless of where they stood on the philosophical spectrum. Seventy-three percent of conservatives, 71% of liberals, and 69% of moderates failed.

Among Republicans and Independents, the average score was 52%. Among Democrats, it was 46%.  Moderates scored an average of 51%, liberals scored 49%, and conservatives scored 48%.

As is evident from these numbers, no party or ideology earned bragging rights when it comes to knowledge of this nation's history and institutions. Americans are united in ignorance of their national heritage. Consider what Americans don't know about America:

Overall, a majority cannot name all three branches of our government. Fifty-eight percent of Democrats, 45% of Republicans and 43% of Independents are stumped when simply asked to name the executive,legislative and judicial.

Only 23% of Independents, 22% of Republicans and 21% of Democrats know that the phrase "government of the people, by the people, for the people" comes from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

Slightly more than that-31% of Independents, 28% of Republicans and 23% of Democrats-know that the Bill of Rights explicitly prohibits establishing an official religion for the United States.

In the past eight years, Congress has approved two foreign wars. There has been intense national debate over these conflicts, and they have been a major issue in two successive presidential campaigns.

Nonetheless, only 59% of Independents, 53% of Republicans and 50% of Democrats know that the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. Forty-one percent of Republicans, 39% of Democrats and 36% of Independents incorrectly believe the president has that power.

With unemployment rising, stock prices falling and the nation heading into troubled economic times, only 56% of Republicans, 54% of Independents and 46% of Democrats can correctly define business profit as revenue minus expenses.

About one in five Americans cannot name a single right or freedom guaranteed by the 1st Amendment.  This is true of 23% of conservatives and 20% of liberals.

The results of this test raise disturbing questions in this troublesome time.  If Americans don't even know what the three branches of government are-let alone their legitimate constitutional roles-how will they know if government is properly doing its job?  How will they know if government is overstepping its bounds?

There was at least one salutary result from the test, however.  If Americans have created a bipartisan coalition of civic ignorance, they have also formed a bipartisan coalition that acknowledges the value of civic knowledge.

Seventy-four percent of Republicans, 72% of Democrats and 72% of all respondents agree that colleges should prepare civic
leaders by teaching students America's history, key texts and institutions.

As national leaders work to repair our economy, they should also work to repair an educational system that has made us a nation that is forgetting it own heritage.

Lt. General Josiah Bunting III, president of the H. Frank Guggenheim Foundation and Superintendent Emeritus of the Virginia Military Institute, serves as chairman of ISI's National Civic Literacy Board.