Reply #42: Bailing out ignorance: Voting public 'dumber than ever'

[tbyg52]

So much for the wisdom of The People. A new report from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute on the nation's civic literacy finds that most Americans are too ignorant to vote.

Out of 2,500 American quiz-takers, including college students, elected officials and other randomly selected citizens, nearly 1,800 flunked a 33-question test on basic civics. In fact, elected officials scored slightly lower than the general public with an average score of 44 percent compared to 49 percent.

Only 0.8 percent of all test-takers scored an "A."

America's report card may come as little surprise to fans of Jay Leno's man-on-the-street interviews, which reveal that most people don't know diddly about doohickey. Still, it's disheartening in the wake of a populist-driven election celebrating joes-of-all-trades to be reminded that the voting public is dumber than ever.

More:
http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081129/OPINION09/311299979/-1/OPINION