A recent study of more than 3,000 college students from all 50 states found that the average college student is unable to answer basic questions about the U.S. government.

The College Fix is reporting on the survey which was conducted in June of this year by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) with the aim of assessing students’ grasp of fundamental principles concerning the U.S. government. Students responded to a 35-question survey, entitled “Losing America’s Memory 2.0” which revealed a shocking lack of understanding of basic American history and government.

Some of the more significant findings of the survey include:

• Only 31% of students know that James Madison is the Father of the Constitution.
• Sixty percent of students do not know the term lengths of members of the U.S Congress.
• Only 27% correctly identify Kamala Harris as the president of the U.S. Senate.
• Only 37% know that John Roberts is the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
• Only 23% of students know that the phrase, “Government of the people, by the people, for the people,” comes from the Gettysburg Address.
• Only 35% know that Mike Johnson is the speaker of the House of Representatives.
• Only 28% of students correctly identify the 13th Amendment as the government action that freed the slaves.
• Only 32% know that a trial of impeachment takes place before the Senate, despite living through two recent presidential impeachment trials

“It seems that many students are completely tuned out to politics, lacking the knowledge to participate effectively,” ACTA’s Vice President for Policy Bradley Jackson told The Fix in a recent email. “In a democracy, that is a recipe for disaster.”

He went on to explain that “Our form of government requires citizens who understand its nature and history. It should not be possible to get a bachelor’s degree without learning the basics of American history and government, but this is the norm on our college campuses. American colleges and universities must step up and take responsibility for this sorry state of affairs. They must lead the way toward a renewal of civic education, rather than aggravating polarization and flattening our discourse with illiberal ideology.”

As bad as these results are, historian and Hillsdale College Professor Wilfred McClay told The Fix in a recent email he was both “appalled and saddened” by another finding from the survey that found 57 percent of students would flee the country rather than stay and fight in the case of an invasion.

“This reflects a social malady, a sickness of the soul, that runs deeper than just a lack of knowledge,” McClay said.

So what do we do about it?

According to the organization, ACTA’s mission is to ensure that all American college students are required to take a course on U.S. history and government in order to graduate. Currently, less than 20 percent of colleges require this.

In addition, Jackson told The Fix that students should also be required to learn proper debate in order to learn how to have “empathy, tenacity, and mental agility” in conversations with people who share different views.

But civic education needs to start long before college. Both Jackson and McClay told The Fix that much of the dearth in civic education is also found in the K-12 education system.

“The problem really begins in primary and secondary education, including the textbooks used in those schools, and is dramatically reinforced by a popular culture that accepts and echoes the worst mischaracterizations of the American experience,” McClay said.

The situation can and must be turned around for the sake of the survival of American institutions.

As ACTA President Michael Poliakoff said the results of their survey show that without a basic knowledge of America’s past and it’s core principles, students have “no guide to take them through the roiling controversies facing us today or to enable them to defend and protect the free institutions that are the glory of our nation and an inspiration to the world. They cannot uphold what they do not comprehend.”

As we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation’s independence and the birth of our democratic republic, we need to take a long hard look at this critical failure in the U.S. education system because, as Poliakoff warns, “Being the world’s oldest democracy is no guarantee for the future of our democratic republic.”

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