Awareness
I was watching a show on ESPN the other day and the announcer said that the player he was interviewing once commented that he keeps so busy he doesn’t know who the President is.
By way of follow up, he then asked the player who the President was.
The player smiled and said “Obama.”
The announcer then said “And the Vice President?”
*blinks* Silence. Nada.
I was just like WHAT???????
It got me thinking about where the lowest bar on political information should be set. In law school I remember essentially dumping a guy cause he didn’t know who Tip O’Neill was.
This is what I think, all Americans over the age of 21 should know:
1. President
2. Vice President
3. Speaker of the House
4. Majority/Minority Leader of the Senate
5. At least one Senator who represents their state (I have bent on this since I pretty much forget about Gillebrand at every opportunity)
6. Their U.S. Congressperson
7. The Governor of their state
8. Their Mayor
Fair? Too easy? Too hard?
October 8th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I have never known who my specific Congressperson was. And since moving to Nevada, your post made me realize I have no idea who the Governor is — largely, I suspect, because I don’t read any of the LV papers for my news.
I suppose it becomes a question of how interested you are in politics and world affairs. If you have no interest in those things (and let’s face, lots of Americans don’t, through ignorance or lack of education or plain disinterest) then I could see throwing out #3 and #4 from your list. #1, #2 and #5 seem almost like requirements. #6 I allow leeway since I don’t even know. #7 and #8 again seem like requirements.
So your list might be a little over-inclusive, but not by much.
October 8th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
My town doesn’t have a mayor. Biden is my favorite. #silverlining
October 8th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
The comment I want to make here will get me accused of being racist.
October 8th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
To retain your mental health, you should forget bad news as soon as possible. The US has a vice president?
October 8th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Jake funny. And I agree! No Vice President! Yay!
October 8th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Since Menendez went to the senate, I have know idea who #6 is either (it’s a democratic machine candidate, and I don’t vote for the machines unless I have to). I also could not confidently tell you who the minority leader is but would guess o’connell if forced to do so
October 8th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
#thereisvicepresidenttoo Biden! Biden! Biden! #imfunny
October 8th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
NO, WE DON’T HAVE A VICE PRESIDENT! Jake said so. Right, Jake?
October 8th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
From a civics point of view, you’re probably right, but from a ‘living my life the best I can’ point of view, you’re being a little too strict. Numbers 1-3 is probably right as they affect every American pretty directly. Maybe not on a day-to-day basis, but from the point of public policy. Number 4 is unnecessary as the Minority/Majority leader are mostly important to the functioning of the congressional bodies and the political parties. They’re so interchangeable it really doesn’t matter who they are. Number 5 is a given, as is number 7. Number 6 *should* be important, but if you’re going to go down to that level, you might as well ask for State Senators too. Number 8 is only important relative to the size of the city you live in. At the smaller level (under 100,000 residents), the mayor is essentially in charge of keeping the roads clear. The local Board of Education has more power.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Alceste Senate Minority leader is actually Mitch mcconnell — however, since I thought it was John Boehner, um…I agree, that one is too hard!
October 8th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
I think a lot of folks live blissfully unaware of anything related to the US or state governments. I would hope most people at least know who the president is.
That said, I think anyone who doesn’t know most of the answers shouldn’t have the right to complain about the government. Okay, they have the “right” but I wouldn’t take their complaints seriously.
I’m not into politics but I can answer all the items on your list, even answer for my home state of Maryland.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
#8 should be “Mayor or Delegate”, since if someone don’t live in a “Town” or “City”, then they’re dealing with a County Board of Supervisors or something similar.
The only one that I wouldn’t worry much about is #4. Everything else people should know, especially the local representatives because they affect way more of the day-to-day stuff people deal with than the Federal Government does.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Hmmm, a while back Yaron made a comment, either here or someone else’s blog that he sees low turns out for elections for government as a good thing, since it means people don’t see the government affecting their lives. I kind of see this kind of information in the same light, if you aren’t very concerned w/ govt. that’s a good thing because if you are then the govt. is probably playing a larger role in your life than it should.
I think people need to start paying attention to their local government more. So many things (taxes esp.) on the local level have a much bigger impact than on the national level. So I would be more impressed if ppl. paid attention to local politics and knew what their local govt. is doing. Also: #Bloombergsucks
October 8th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
This whole post is such a snobfest.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
If you live in a small town next to a big city, you don’t have to know who your mayor is. I can name at least three people running for mayor of Atlanta. I have no idea who runs the nearby town I live in. Given the recent flooding, hopefully Aquaman.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
No looking it up: Who’s the Prime Minister of Canada?
Quickly now.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Fisch, you spelt ‘snob’ wrong. It’s spelled s-n-o-o-z-e.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I thought it was spelled A-M-E-R-I-C-E-N-T-R-I-C.
No, no, its good to only look inwards, I hear Bush was a big navel-gazer.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
The better question is – who cares? When the US collapses and you all want to move to Canada to avoid the roving deathrape gangs, none of those names will matter.
But for fun.
1.- Phil Ivey
2.- Dan Quayle
3.- Someone’s crazy aunt
4.- Bob
5-7.- Don’t apply to me, but let’s go with Mary, Sally, and Jimbo
8.- David Miller
October 8th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
It’s way more important to know a few people in your local sheriffs department.
October 8th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Astin – impressive move on the David Miller front. (and also very Toronto-centric of you, which Canadians love to hate).
All the rest are off the hook, seeing as how its [Canadian] Thanksgiving this weekend and we are supposed to be all thankful and shit.
Although, safe bet nobody knew that either.
October 8th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
You would think someone with such a holier-than-thou attitude would spell “it’s” correctly.
I guess she’s too busy looking outwards.
October 8th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Maybe she spelled it the Canadian way, eh?
October 9th, 2009 at 9:45 am
“In law school I remember essentially dumping a guy cause he didn’t know who Tip O’Neill was.”
This is awesome!!!! #legendary!!!!
How to measure political awareness and what test should be given to determine if people are politically sophisticated or… not is a huge ongoing debate among political scientists. There’s just no good way to measure it.
October 9th, 2009 at 11:43 am
I must have forgotten abooot the grammer police (do you guys carry guns in the states?)
October 9th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
You have to know all of those, plus about 90 more to pass the citizenship test and become a naturalized citizen.
October 10th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
MissusB! Hi! It’s been forever since you commented!!