Knowledge of U.S. History and Government on the Decline Among Americans
According to a recent Newsweek poll, only one in 10 Americans knows the name of one of the authors of the Federalist Papers (Alexander Hamilton/James Madison). Only one in five knows who was president during World War I (Woodrow Wilson). And only one in four knows why the Cold War was fought (Communism).
If you got one or even two of the answers before the prompt congratulations! You are in rare company—with the exception of immigrants who are tested on these facts prior to being sworn in as citizens.
If you are thinking “so what, I’m an American by birth”, well, the “what” is this; apathy about American history and government leads to an ill informed electorate—one that is more prone to vote based upon catchy campaign commercials instead of knowledge of candidates and platforms. (See Florida Governor Rick Scott’s primary win over Bill McCollum and general election win over Alex Sink for reference)
Whether you are an isolationist or a global expansionist, a basic understanding of ourselves and the world around us is critical to understand the conflicts, like in Libya, that demand our attention.
A few years ago I attended a seminar in Minnesota where one of the founders of Politico explained that his organization was fortunate in its ability to garner web traffic in an age in which entertainment sites like TMZ, Perez Hilton and Media Takeout capture the imagination of millions of Americans.
This is not to say that those sites have no use, as a well rounded individual should be equally adept at understanding the legislative process as naming at least one of Elizabeth Taylor’s former husbands. (Stumped? Richard Burton, Eddie Fisher and Nicky Hilton immediately spring to mind).
But as to knowledge of our governmental systems, I fear that this all encompassing ignorance will only worsen because our school districts are cutting history, government, art and music in favor of forcing teachers to spend more time spent mastering basic skills tests. In essence, we are developing a generation of students that will be “trained” instead of “learned.” To that end, President Bush’s No Child Left Behind and even President Obama’s Race to the Top have as unintended consequences the chilling effect of destroying good political discourse and debate.