Free cheeseburgers for the elderly!
Remember yesterday when I commented on what U.S. citizens need to know? In response to Blogthings' Could you pass the U.S. citizenship test thingie, I said:
Upon reflection, I wonder if these questions were truly the important questions. I'll grant that it's nice to know when the President's inauguration occurs....It's more important for a potential citizen to know the roles of the different branches of the Federal government, and it's even more important to know the roles of Federal vs. state governments (in other words, why you don't call your Senator when your neighbor's dog barks at 3am).
Well, in this one instance I was trendy. I was oh so trendy, d00d, because the very next day, the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum released this report (PDF) entitled "Americans’ Awareness of First Amendment Freedoms."
For the moment I'm gonna ignore all the stuff about how we know more about the Simpsons and American Idol than we do about the First Amendment (other than to note that Simon must be angry that more people know that "Paula" is a judge than know that "Simon" is a judge).
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the cornerstone of American freedoms. It is critical that Americans have a firm and greater understanding of our nation’s hard-earned freedoms in order to preserve and protect them. The less Americans know about freedoms, the more they are likely to erode without our notice. The McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum is committed to helping Americans increase their knowledge and understanding of our freedoms, especially those fundamental rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.
The five essential freedoms contained in the First Amendment are
Let's stop right here for a moment. Do you know all five? I know I don't.
Before I talk about the five First Amendment freedoms, let's talk about some things that people think are in the First Amendment, but aren't.
[A]bout one-fourth (27%) of Americans incorrectly named something other than the five freedoms actually contained in the First Amendment. These included 11% who mentioned the right to bear arms, a Second Amendment right, and about 6% mentioned the idea of freedom to pursue happiness, or life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which appears in the Declaration of Independence.
In response to a separate question, some more items were incorrectly attributed to the First Amendment:
Americans also incorrectly attributed a number of other rights to the first amendment. A majority (55%) said the right to a trial by jury, which is covered by the Seventh Amendment, is a First Amendment right, and most (53%) said the right to vote also comes from the First Amendment. The right to vote is discussed in the Constitution itself, and also expanded by the 15th Amendment to include all races, by the 19th Amendment to include women, and by the 26th Amendment to include those ages 18-20.
In addition, almost half (45%) believe the right to own a gun, a Second Amendment right, is included in the First Amendment, and almost as many (44%) believe the right to an attorney, guaranteed by the 6th Amendment and often repeated on television as one of the “Miranda” rights, stems from the First Amendment.
More than one-third (38%) believe that the right against self-incrimination at trial – generally known as “taking the 5th Amendment” because it is guaranteed by that Amendment – is a First Amendment right. Slightly fewer (36%) believe the First Amendment, ratified in 1791, grants women the right to vote, a right not granted until the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920.
Now these responses, while worrisome, are not especially disturbing. One can argue that it doesn't make a bit of difference whether something is in the 1st amendment, or the 2nd amendment, or the 5th amendment, or whatever. The most worrisome one out of this bunch was the group of people that thought that a Declaration of Independence clause was part of the First Amendment. But I can even live with that.
But now the responses begin to get a little weird:
Similarly, more than one-third (36%) believe the right to a public education is guaranteed by the First Amendment. Although numerous Supreme Court decisions and federal laws have helped shape the right to a public education, this area is primarily the responsibility of the states, and education is not guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or other Amendments.
This is disturbing. As I mentioned in my oh-so-trendy way just yesterday, there is a long-standing contention between the states and the Federal Government over who is responsible for what. This was reflected in the slavery issue and civil rights issues, and is reflected today in the abortion issue, the gay marriage issue, and the disaster response issue. I'll grant that there are arguments on both sides of these issues (with Communists and baby seal clubbers often switching sides to say that Issue X is a Federal issue while Issue Y is a state issue), but it's still paramount that citizens understand the difference between the national government and the state governments.
OK. Now it gets really weird.
One out of five (21%) Americans also agree that the First Amendment grants citizens the right to own and raise pets, something that isn’t mentioned specifically in the U.S. Constitution or Bill of Rights. The 5th and 14th Amendments are relevant in that they prohibit depriving people of their property without “due process.”
Finally, almost one out of five (17%) Americans believe the right to drive a car is guaranteed by the First Amendment, although the automobile wasn’t invented until 100 years after the First Amendment was ratified. The “right” to drive is not a fundamental right – perhaps not a right at all – and drivers’ licenses are regulated by the individual states. In general, people with more education and higher incomes are less likely to incorrectly attribute various rights to the First Amendment.
Huh?
OK, so have you figured out what is in the First Amendment yet?
The five essential freedoms contained in the First Amendment are freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly, and to petition the government for redress of grievances. As the basis for our many freedoms, the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment are something every American needs to take to heart, and should know “by heart.”
We don't:
Q. What are the freedoms that are guaranteed to U.S. citizens by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution? (Open end with pre-codes) Anything else?
Correct
Freedom of speech 69%
Freedom of religion 24%
Freedom of the press 11%
Freedom of assembly/to assemble 10%
Freedom to petition for redress of grievances 1%
Incorrect
Right to bear arms 11%
Life, liberty pursuit of happiness 6%
Right to vote 3%
Other 5%
Don’t know 19%
And all of these years I've been worried that people think that "separation of church and state" is language directly from the Constitution. It turns out that 76% of all people don't even realize that freedom of religion is protected by the Constitution. And 89% don't realize that freedom of the press is similarly protected.
This begs the question - how can you have intelligent dialogue about religious press issues (such as U.S. response to the Danish cartoons issue) when so few people realize what the Constitution says about the matter?
Now I don't advocate that we restrict voting rights to the "elite" that "know better." Instead, I believe that we need to make sure that everyone, including native-born Americans, has a good understanding of the Constitution.
(The title of this post, by the way, is taken from an old Doonesbury cartoon. I think Clyde said this when trying to drum up support for Ginny.)
Comments
But, the pen is mightier than the sword. :)