A very well sourced story and well worth the read. Americans are very dumb compared to their world counterparts. Testing and research reports reveal how dumb we really are. This a national disgrace and it definitly affects governance of the country when the electorate is to stupid to vote.

An excellent story about a major issue that dramactically effects elections, our economy and our country in many other ways. With the exception of this article I have read nothing I can recall about this issue. This is what journalism should be a well written article that may not be popular but needs to be part of our public discussion.

Very well written commentary on how ignorant Americans are on their own government and world affairs. Commentary is supported by studies, surveys, and polls conducted over the last 30-40 years. With the Internet, news and information is readily available and a minority of people use it for that purpose. Less people are reading the news than a generation ago. With the internet, it is easy to provide links for supporting documentation to provide background information so readers can become more informed and reverse the trend that "War is God's Way of Teaching Americans Geography."

This is a great article, but I ask you: I'd say all of us reviewing articles here are more informed than most, or at least we think we are! And could YOU answer all of the questions the author used as examples of American ignorance? I will be honest and say that I couldn't immeditaly name the significance of Yorktown.

The article includes a large number of exemplifying statistics of public ignorance. The multi-part definition he gives of stupidity includes an aspect close the the heart of the NewsTrust mission of searching out good sources of information. I wonder about his generalizations of the ignorance. While statistics on the proportion of "ignorant" people are startling, it would be interesting to see if the knowledge of those people who are interested and motivated consumers of education and news are better informed than that same component of the population in past decades. A stimulating but depressing article.

Based on his book concerning the stupidity of American voters, Rick Shenkman has provided us with a solid piece of journalism of critical importance. His overview, based mainly on conclusions drawn from scientific studies, polls and surveys spanning nearly seventy years, is both damning and depressing -- depressing, that is, if one agrees with Thomas Jefferson that a nation which expects to be "ignorant and free ... expects what never was and never will be." This article is must reading for all concerned with the state of education in the USA and, in my judgment, with the preservation of our system of government and the central ideas and values that gave birth to it.

The article has a lot of interesting, and some might say alarming, statistics, but it misses the point. It clearly shows that most Americans are ignorant about political theory, but it does not explore political reality. 49% of Americans don't know that only Congress can declare war? Perhaps this is because only 49% of those in Congress are aware of this--or we would never have gotten into wars in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia, or Iraq. Herbert Hoover is no longer considered the worst US President? The article doesn't say how many voted for George W Bush. Perhaps Americans are ignorant, even stupid--but perhaps they're much smarter than they appear.

On the face, this is another story of the "too many idiots" variety, and is fundamentally flawed by the details. Untangling the mess of directed surveys and tricky questions is difficult: can you name all five freedoms guaranteed by the fifth amendment? Some other examples of citizens getting the 'facts' wrong involve facts that make for interesting arguments in law schools. The article's only saving graces are good sourcing and some apology for why citizens may find politics irrelevant. Simply yelling "they are all idiots" is not an article worth reading.