Duh-mocracy in America

According to the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, civic literacy is at a dangerous low. Results of a test given last fall to roughly 14,000 freshmen and seniors at 50 college institutions found that overall, scores were in the failing range. Even the best overall scores – Harvard seniors had 69.56 percent correct – would look embarrassing on our transcripts.\nWhat’s more, only one person who took the test scored 100 percent. The result among critics has been obvious– a general bemoaning of the current state of the American voter and a sigh of exasperation in solidarity with the long-held view that education is declining. But this view takes the test’s results as more than they are, and before we write off our civic literacy as non-existent, would you be able to sum up Tocqueville’s writings? What about the chronology of civil war battles? The history of abortion law?\nIf those questions seem obscure, then they effectively capture the spirit of the test, which is replete with names and dates. One question asks during which 25-year period Lincoln was elected. Not being able to answer that doesn’t mean you aren’t a good citizen. It doesn’t even make you uninformed as far as meaningful knowledge goes. It just means that you didn’t keep your notes from high school American history, or you somehow lack an obsession with obscure facts. This test is a game of trivial pursuit, not a meaningful commentary on the knowledge of our citizenry.\nIndeed, this test doesn’t even purport its result to be commentary, merely a test on the history of civics. It favors liberal arts majors and places a strong emphasis on details. And while we don’t distinctly encourage the results to come out the way they did, the value put in this test by outside commentators is based on the assumption that if one can differentiate between the sentiments expressed in each of Thomas Paine’s writings, one surely understands them. But is it right to say that conversely, if one does not know in which document Paine first argued for independence, one misunderstands the importance or implication of that sentiment?\nMost would answer that it does not. Modern civic education puts an emphasis on analysis, not rote memorization. Indeed, most majors here at IU would require a student to take classes that covers almost all of this knowledge. The students have sat through and been tested on similar information, have performed in a manner that satisfies our departments and have since gone on to major in specialized fields. \nIndeed, what makes a democracy valuable is the cooperation of diverse people with different sets of knowledge. Quoting Tocqueville may be valuable, but so is knowledge of medicine, business, art and fiction. Those that take this test’s results as a sorry commentary seem to think that we should all major in history and economics, carry flashcards with the date of Lincoln’s inauguration and quiz each other on details that are not by themselves meaningful. Civic literacy is a complicated matter and not easily tested. One would do well to remember this before overestimating the significance of a number that measures it.