Analysis: The best thing the Trump presidency did
(CNN)It’s funny what four years of a president who carries a healthy disregard for the Constitution, and a violent insurrection at the US Capitol, can do for people’s knowledge of our democratic institutions!
For the first time in 15 years, a majority (56%) of people could name all three branches of the federal government in a new survey conducted by Annenberg Public Policy Center.
That number was under 30% in 2016 but has consistently risen every year since then — suggesting strongly that Trump’s assault on a variety of democratic institutions has made the average American pay more attention to how the government works (and doesn’t).
People were also more aware of the rights afforded to them by the Constitution than in the past. Asked to name the five freedoms conferred by the First Amendment, 3 in 4 named the freedom of speech, while more than half (56%) were able to come up with freedom of religion, and 50% exactly named freedom of the press. (Fewer than 3 in 10 could name the freedom to assemble or the freedom to petition.)
Now, before we break out the champagne, it’s not exactly a huge victory that just half of Americans get that freedom of the press is right there in the First Amendment of the Constitution.
And there’s also this: “Just over 1 in 3 people knows how long the term of office is for a senator (35% correctly said six years) and a representative (36% correctly said two years).”
So, yeah. Not exactly a clear win for American civics teachers out there.
But progress is progress. And there seems little doubt that the real threats to democracy — culminating in a riot at the US Capitol to protest the results of a fairly conducted presidential election — have woken a decent-sized chunk of people up to the fact that knowledge is power in our country.
Which, well, about damn time.
The Point: Donald Trump’s presidency (and post-presidency) was and is a cataclysm for democratic institutions. If it helps people realize how fragile this democracy is and what they need to know and do to sustain it, it will have done one good thing.
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/FBYcsOGbEPM/index.html
