CIVICS KNOWLEDGE IS AT A FIVE-YEAR HIGH

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center say knowledge about civics has actually increased over the last year — reaching its highest levels since 2006. Even so, it’s pretty sad. The center’s annual poll of more than 1,000 people finds:
– Three-quarters of Americans (74%) correctly stated that the First Amendment protects the freedom of speech.
– Six in 10 Americans (61%) incorrectly stated that the First Amendment’s protection of free speech means Facebook must permit all users to freely express themselves on their website. The First Amendment protects citizens from government censorship, but social media companies are private entities. Therefore, the courts have ruled that the freedom of speech doesn’t cover these forums.
– Fewer respondents knew the other things the First Amendment protects: the freedom of religion (56%), freedom of the press (50%), the right to assembly (30%), or the right to petition (20%).
– Only 51 percent correctly said that the Supreme Court gets the final say on whether something the president does is constitutional or not.
– 56 percent of Americans are now capable of naming all three branches of government. In 2006, just 33 percent of respondents could accurately say the three branches.
* Those three branches of government include, of course, the executive, the legislative, and the gun lobby.
* Which Amendment allows Facebook and Google to monitor everything we do 24 hours a day?
* The knowledge of how American government works would have been even higher, but a couple ex-Trump Administration officials got into the survey and brought the averages way down.
* You have to admit, since January 6th we’ve all had the most exciting civics class ever.