A statewide survey on a series of civics-knowledge questions finds that the average Utah resident is failing in civic understanding. The study, conducted by Utah Valley University along with the polling firm YouGov, shows that Utahns generally did not perform well when demonstrating their level of civic knowledge.
On the series of questions, the average Utah resident only got slightly better than 50% correct, suggesting a grade of a D at best on the test.
The survey was conducted online as part of UVU’s Civic Thought and Leadership Initiative. It utilized a representative sample of 942 Utahns to ask factual questions regarding the U.S. Constitution, the political system, public policy, and various national and world political leaders.
To allow for comparison between Utahns and the rest of the country, the questions were selected from surveys previously administered to national samples by other major polling organizations. Overall, respondents in the Utah sample performed no better or worse than those in national samples.
The survey included 21 questions assessing different topics. These ranged from identifying the three branches of the U.S. Government—Legislative, Executive, and Judicial—and First Amendment rights to identifying the offices held by leaders such as Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris, as well as foreign leaders like Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin.
The survey identified specific areas of strength and difficulty among respondents. The easiest question for Utahns involved the U.S. budget deficit, with 87% correctly indicating that the deficit is larger than it was in the 1990s.
The most difficult question involved naming rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. While 73% of respondents could name freedom of speech, only 8% were able to identify the right to petition government for redress of grievances.
