Ignorance not bliss...

[Gob]

They’re the sort of scores that drive high-school history teachers to drink. When NEWSWEEK recently asked 1,000 U.S. citizens to take America’s official citizenship test, 29 percent couldn’t name the vice president. Seventy-three percent couldn’t correctly say why we fought the Cold War. Forty-four percent were unable to define the Bill of Rights. And 6 percent couldn’t even circle Independence Day on a calendar.

Don’t get us wrong: civic ignorance is nothing new. For as long as they’ve existed, Americans have been misunderstanding checks and balances and misidentifying their senators. And they’ve been lamenting the philistinism of their peers ever since pollsters started publishing these dispiriting surveys back in Harry Truman’s day. (He was a president, by the way.) According to a study by Michael X. Delli Carpini, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication, the yearly shifts in civic knowledge since World War II have averaged out to “slightly under 1 percent.”

But the world has changed. And unfortunately, it’s becoming more and more inhospitable to incurious know-nothings—like us.

To appreciate the risks involved, it’s important to understand where American ignorance comes from. In March 2009, the European Journal of Communication asked citizens of Britain, Denmark, Finland, and the U.S. to answer questions on international affairs. The Europeans clobbered us. Sixty-eight percent of Danes, 75 percent of Brits, and 76 percent of Finns could, for example, identify the Taliban, but only 58 percent of Americans managed to do the same—even though we’ve led the charge in Afghanistan. It was only the latest in a series of polls that have shown us lagging behind our First World peers.

Most experts agree that the relative complexity of the U.S. political system makes it hard for Americans to keep up. In many European countries, parliaments have proportional representation, and the majority party rules without having to “share power with a lot of subnational governments,” notes Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker, coauthor of Winner-Take-All Politics. In contrast, we’re saddled with a nonproportional Senate; a tangle of state, local, and federal bureaucracies; and near-constant elections for every imaginable office (judge, sheriff, school-board member, and so on). “Nobody is competent to understand it all, which you realize every time you vote,” says Michael Schudson, author of The Good Citizen. “You know you’re going to come up short, and that discourages you from learning more.”

It doesn’t help that the United States has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the developed world, with the top 400 households raking in more money than the bottom 60 percent combined. As Dalton Conley, an NYU sociologist, explains, “it’s like comparing apples and oranges. Unlike Denmark, we have a lot of very poor people without access to good education, and a huge immigrant population that doesn’t even speak English.” When surveys focus on well-off, native-born respondents, the U.S. actually holds its own against Europe.

Other factors exacerbate the situation. A big one, Hacker argues, is the decentralized U.S. education system, which is run mostly by individual states: “When you have more centrally managed curricula, you have more common knowledge and a stronger civic culture.” Another hitch is our reliance on market-driven programming rather than public broadcasting, which, according to the EJC study, “devotes more attention to public affairs and international news, and fosters greater knowledge in these areas.”

Article contniues here....

[MajGenl.Meade]

I studied hard for my citizenship test in a country called ASU (anag.). The immigration officer who adminstered my test was himself a naturalized Brit. We chatted about football and ASU wives. Finally he said "Right then - how many stripes on the flag?" I answered correctly. And got my papers.

I was hoping he'd ask me the name of the vice president as I'd almost got that one down

Meade

[Gob]

For my citizenship test, I sat a test not unlike this one

I got 100% right

[loCAtek]

Must not have liked you much...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Why is this OP under Philosophy and Religion you doofus?

I tried the practise test and got 8 out of 10 - missed out on "What's more fun than chundering?" (I disagreed with all) and "Who in their right minds wants to be Australian eh?" even though all choices were zero

[thestoat]

To pass the test, you must answer 75 per cent, or 15 out of 20 questions, correctly.

So I take it they aren't looking for mathematitions then

[MajGenl.Meade]

To pass the test, you must answer 75 per cent, or 15 out of 20 questions, correctly.

So I take it they aren't looking for mathematitions then

or gud spelurs.


75% = 3/4 of 100%. 15 = 3/4 of 20. 3/4 = 75%. Or is this some kind of infinity thing?



chiz chiz

[thestoat]

No, their maths is correct - I just thought that saying 15 out of 20 was enough - or 75% - but to say both implied to me that their target audience weren't too good with maths ...

[Sean]

It is said that Aussies wear thongs to allow them to count past twelve...

[MajGenl.Meade]

No, their maths is correct - I just thought that saying 15 out of 20 was enough - or 75% - but to say both implied to me that their target audience weren't too good with maths ...

Oh I see - sorry! That's probably true of anyone applying for citizenship in Orztrilia.

[thestoat]

Mind you I still think Oz has to be the finest place of earth. (I love SA too - just a little unpredictable in violence for me. I had some friends in Jo'Burg who told me of their neighbours who decided to leave the country - too dangerous - and go to the safest place they could find. They emigrated to Canada. Within a week, these people were mugged. Turned out their assailants were South Africans. (Sure - may be just an urban legend - but I always loved it.))

[Sue U]

For my citizenship test, I sat a test not unlike this one

I got 100% right

I didn't know what a Governor-General does, so I got 19 out of 20 -- is that 75 percent? Am I an Australian now? Do I have to go by Sheila or Bruce? Can I get another beer, at least?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Governor-General was my dad!

And no, first you have to blow chunks and suck at cricket

[thestoat]

Don't bother with beer in Oz - they don't really understand beer. They're kind of European that way. For true beer, come visit the UK and I'll buy you a pint

[dgs49]

The general ignorance of the American population manifest on our television screens, daily.

But to me, the most striking reminder of the ignorance of our population used to be (the radio guy recently died) local man-in-the street polling that was done during election cycles. The announcer used to approach random people and ask them who they were going to vote for, along with a couple very simple questions about the major issues. He rarely was able to find anyone who could even articulate what the issues were, let alone have a coherent rationale for his own position. In most cases, their understanding of the issues was completely confused - they didn't understand the difference between the duties of the President and Congress, and things like that. And the ones who felt strongly about a candidate or issue were just as likely to have things confused as those who indicated they probably wouldn't vote.

And keep in mind, the people he was approaching were well-dressed, middle class people walking on the streets in the Central Business District.

It was very unnerving.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Should have asked these fine lads!

[Joe Guy]

For my citizenship test, I sat a test not unlike this one

I got 100% right

I got 18 correct and passed the Australian Citizenship test!!!!

Aye Mate!!

Put a shrimp on the barby!

Tie me kangaroo down, sport!

I barrack for the Magpies!!

Barrack Obama?

[loCAtek]

Sheesh, they'll let anybody in



At least, they're not paying Somali pirates to move in.

[Rick]

Should have asked these fine lads!

Aren't they Welsh?

They don't even know about vowels...

[Sean]

Don't bother with beer in Oz - they don't really understand beer. They're kind of European that way. For true beer, come visit the UK and I'll buy you a pint

I miss beer...