{"id":99,"date":"2006-04-14T10:45:37","date_gmt":"2006-04-14T15:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/"},"modified":"2006-04-14T13:09:23","modified_gmt":"2006-04-14T18:09:23","slug":"constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Constitutionally Clueless Americans vs. Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Future of Freedom Foundation<\/a><\/strong> is sending out my piece today on constitutionally clueless Americans.\u00a0 The Baltimore Chronicle<\/a><\/strong> also has the piece on their site.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Here’s my latest tribute to postive thinking:<\/p>\n

Constitutional Illiteracy & Attention Deficit Democracy <\/strong><\/font>by James Bovard<\/font><\/p>\n

Another poll has confirmed that most Americans are constitutionally without a clue. Americans\u2019 political illiteracy is good news for Washington politicians hungry to seize more power. But this ignorance is one of the most perilous elements of Attention Deficit Democracy.<\/font> <\/font>The McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum poll, released last month, found that barely a quarter of Americans could name more than one of the fundamental freedoms recognized in the First Amendment. Far more Americans could name the characters on The Simpsons <\/em>than could recall the provisions of the First Amendment. Three-quarters of Americans recognized two of the product brands connected to five popular ad slogans, while only 28% could name two or more freedoms cited in the First Amendment.<\/p>\n

Delusions on the First Amendment were more appalling than the raw ignorance. Almost a quarter of Americans believe the “the First Amendment granted them the right to own and raise pets” or somehow guaranteed “the right to drive” – regardless that automobiles were plenty scarce at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787.Thirty-six percent believed the First Amendment gave women the right to vote – which would have been a surprise to the Suffragettes of the early twentieth century.<\/p>\n

Many Americans have long been constitutional Know Nothings. A 1979 Gallup poll found that 70 percent of respondents did not know what the First Amendment was or what it dealt with. A 1991 American Bar Association poll found that only 33 percent of Americans surveyed knew what the Bill of Rights was. A 1987 survey found that 45 percent of adult respondents believed that Karl Marx\u2019s communist principle “from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs” was in the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n

The recent poll found that 36% of Americans believe the right to a public education is guaranteed by the First Amendment. This widespread notion vivifies how schools have failed. More years in government schools have done little or nothing to help citizens understand the limits on government power codified by the Founding Fathers. Politically controlled education cannot be trusted to enlighten people on the perils of political power.<\/p>\n

The McCormick Foundation warned, “The less Americans know about freedoms, the more they are likely to erode without our notice.” But it is not a question of freedoms eroding<\/em>: it is a question of being plowed under at a high rate of speed.<\/p>\n

From the proliferation of free speech zones (quarantining anyone who protests against the president\u2019s policies), to the assertion by Justice Department lawyers that the president is above the law (regarding interrogation methods), to the nullification of limits on government searches (the warrantless National Security Agency wiretaps), individual rights are becoming an endangered species. But few Americans recognize the rising danger.<\/p>\n

The conventional wisdom is that, though Americans may not know the Constitution or the laws, they still imbibe sufficient political wisdom merely from living in the United States. This is the fluoridated water theory of citizen competence. But there is no reason to assume that most Americans know enough to prevent politicians from trampling their rights. If a citizen is unaware of his rights, then, for all practical purposes in disputes with government officials, he does not have them.<\/p>\n

America is becoming an Attention Deficit Democracy. The government is still nominally democratic \u2014 elections are boisterous events accompanied by torrents of dubious ads and mass rallies. But after the election, the president returns to his pedestal, congressmen return to their free lunches, and most people ignore political life.<\/p>\n

Because so many people are so ignorant, it becomes easier each decade for politicians to seize new power and decimate established rights. But the fact that someone does not have fire insurance does not entitle his neighbor to burn down his house. Similarly, the fact that most people are politically negligent does not entitle government to trample their rights.<\/p>\n

A 1937 Senate report declared that “the Constitution . . . is the people\u2019s charter of the powers granted those who govern them.” The Bill of Rights recognized the pre-existing rights of American citizens\u2014it did not bestow those rights on a conquered populace. Americans of the Revolutionary Era only permitted a national government to come into existence after the leaders of that government solemnly pledged to limit its power in perpetuity. Politicians cannot violate the Bill of Rights without destroying the legitimacy of their power.<\/p>\n

Attention Deficit Democracy lacks the most important check on the abuse of power: an informed citizenry resolutely defending their rights. But no amount of popular ignorance can legitimize political absolutism. The government must respect the Bill of Rights regardless of how few Americans understand the highest law of the land.<\/p>\n

Tagline: Bovard is the author of Attention Deficit Democracy (Palgrave, 2006) and 8 other books. He is a policy advisor to the Future of Freedom Foundation<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/font>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Future of Freedom Foundation is sending out my piece today on constitutionally clueless Americans.\u00a0 The Baltimore Chronicle also has the piece on their site. \u00a0Here’s my latest tribute to postive thinking: Constitutional Illiteracy & Attention Deficit Democracy by James Bovard Another poll has confirmed that most Americans are constitutionally without a clue. Americans\u2019 political […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[22,659,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-99","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"tag-attention-deficit-democracy","9":"tag-bovard"},"yoast_head":"\nConstitutionally Clueless Americans vs. Democracy - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Constitutionally Clueless Americans vs. Democracy - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Future of Freedom Foundation is sending out my piece today on constitutionally clueless Americans.\u00a0 The Baltimore Chronicle also has the piece on their site. \u00a0Here’s my latest tribute to postive thinking: Constitutional Illiteracy & Attention Deficit Democracy by James Bovard Another poll has confirmed that most Americans are constitutionally without a clue. Americans\u2019 political […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-04-14T15:45:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2006-04-14T18:09:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2006\\\/04\\\/14\\\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2006\\\/04\\\/14\\\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"Constitutionally Clueless Americans vs. Democracy\",\"datePublished\":\"2006-04-14T15:45:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-04-14T18:09:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2006\\\/04\\\/14\\\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":837,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Attention Deficit Democracy\",\"Attention Deficit Democracy\",\"Bovard\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2006\\\/04\\\/14\\\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2006\\\/04\\\/14\\\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2006\\\/04\\\/14\\\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\\\/\",\"name\":\"Constitutionally Clueless Americans vs. Democracy - James Bovard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-04-14T15:45:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-04-14T18:09:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2006\\\/04\\\/14\\\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2006\\\/04\\\/14\\\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2006\\\/04\\\/14\\\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Constitutionally Clueless Americans vs. Democracy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Bovard\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\",\"name\":\"Jim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Jim\"},\"description\":\"Bovard's homepage is at http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/jim.bovard\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jimbovard\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Constitutionally Clueless Americans vs. Democracy - James Bovard","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Constitutionally Clueless Americans vs. Democracy - James Bovard","og_description":"The Future of Freedom Foundation is sending out my piece today on constitutionally clueless Americans.\u00a0 The Baltimore Chronicle also has the piece on their site. \u00a0Here’s my latest tribute to postive thinking: Constitutional Illiteracy & Attention Deficit Democracy by James Bovard Another poll has confirmed that most Americans are constitutionally without a clue. Americans\u2019 political […]","og_url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/","og_site_name":"James Bovard","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","article_published_time":"2006-04-14T15:45:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2006-04-14T18:09:23+00:00","author":"Jim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jimbovard","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"headline":"Constitutionally Clueless Americans vs. Democracy","datePublished":"2006-04-14T15:45:37+00:00","dateModified":"2006-04-14T18:09:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/"},"wordCount":837,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["Attention Deficit Democracy","Attention Deficit Democracy","Bovard"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/","name":"Constitutionally Clueless Americans vs. Democracy - James Bovard","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-04-14T15:45:37+00:00","dateModified":"2006-04-14T18:09:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2006\/04\/14\/constitutionally-clueless-americans-vs-democracy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Constitutionally Clueless Americans vs. Democracy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/","name":"James Bovard","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f","name":"Jim","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Jim"},"description":"Bovard's homepage is at http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}