Lack of knowledge among Americans creates a push for civic education

On the first day of his American National Government class, professor Kevin Dopf asks how many of his students are U.S. citizens. All hands shoot up.

“So, how did you all become citizens?” he asks. “Did you pass a test?”

“No,” says a young woman hesitantly. “We were born here.”

That’s a good thing. Based on his years of administering the test to immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship, most would be rejected.

“Thirty, 35 percent of students pass,” says Dopf, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and former West Point instructor. “The rest of them have no idea. I mean, they just have no idea.”

Most states require some form of civics education in high school. But with a recent survey showing that a third of American adults can’t name the three branches of the federal government, many are thinking we should aim higher.

In recent years, a small but growing number of states have begun requiring students at publicly funded colleges to complete a citizenship requirement. That’s because polls show civics education is wildly popular across the political spectrum.

Citizenship — the study of the rights and responsibilities of citizens — fosters a sense of unity, proponents say, and an ability to navigate disagreements. It empowers citizens, and many believe it can help heal America’s divisions. If offered in higher education, they could look at issues in a more sophisticated way, perhaps incorporating them into other classes.

“I think we’re in the business of making a case for America,” said Louise Dube, head of iCivics, which promotes civics education.

But what does it mean when people talking about civics often can’t even be polite?

Take North Carolina, where lawmakers and academics engaged in a heated battle over who would decide how civics would be taught.

Last year, Republicans in North Carolina introduced the REACH Act, an acronym for “Reclaiming College Education on America’s Constitutional Heritage.” The law required students to complete at least three college credits in U.S. government and read a range of key documents on American history, from the Declaration of Independence to Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” They would also have to take a final exam that counted for 20 percent of the grade.

If the bill seemed innocent enough on the surface, it drew fierce opposition. Critics pointed to the bill’s title, its attempt to dictate a curriculum normally set by professors, and the fact that it was authored by Jameson Broggi, an outspoken conservative Marine Corps captain and lawyer who has said the curriculum must include “a commitment to American institutions and ideals.”

The North Carolina Act passed the House of Representatives easily in March 2023 and received a first reading in the Senate, appearing to be on its way to victory.

Administrators and faculty at the University of North Carolina were not happy.

“We have tried to slow this down in the House but had zero success,” Bart Goodson, senior vice president of government relations for the 16-school UNC system, wrote to a fellow administrator in an April 2023 email, which Broggi obtained through a public records request.

“It was a ‘wrap yourself in the flag’ type of bill and anyone who spoke out against it was effectively seen as un-American,” Goodson wrote.

As the idea slowly moved through the legislative process, UNC faculty took matters into their own hands.

Wade Maki, chair of the UNC faculty assembly, worked with professors from four other campuses, including two historically black universities, to develop a set of learning outcomes. They studied what was being done in other states.

The resulting proposal, called the “Foundations of American Democracy,” mirrors the REACH Act in many ways. They even added Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to the list of required documents.

It seemed like everyone wanted the same thing.

But proponents of mandating citizenship through legislation were concerned: why did the faculty oppose their version?

“What are these people afraid of?” asked Michael B. Poliakoff, president and CEO of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, which helped Broggi draft the North Carolina Act and a similar law passed in South Carolina three years ago.

“As if understanding the founding documents and the pivotal moments in our history, culminating in a letter from Birmingham Jail, were too disturbing and too retro.”

That’s not the point, say the academics.

Unlike the norms in K-12 schools, college faculty typically determine the content of individual courses. It is seen as a core of academic freedom.

“Faculty are the primary owners of the curriculum,” says Maki, who teaches philosophy at UNC-Greensboro. “We know what works in ways that someone outside of higher education sometimes doesn’t know what works.”

UNC’s board of trustees, all 24 of whom were appointed by the GOP-led Legislature, unanimously approved the plan in mid-April. Details are still being worked out, with the requirement applying to students entering the system beginning in July 2025. (The sponsors of the NC REACH Act, unhappy with UNC’s plan, have vowed to revive the legislative effort next year.)

According to the conservative New York-based Civics Alliance, legislation in at least 10 states — Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wyoming — requires students at public universities to take at least one course in American history and/or government. The requirement is being implemented or at least discussed in other states.

And the Alliance – which opposes “identity politics” and “radical New Civics activists” – is eager to spread the message.

The organization has drafted model legislation that calls for “study of and devotion to America’s extraordinary and commendable history.” David Randall, the alliance’s executive director, said the materials had “influenced” legislation in Florida, Iowa and Texas, but declined to say which other states might have reached out.

Some public college systems, such as UNC, did not wait for a legislative mandate to take action.

For example, students at Purdue University in Indiana and its satellite campuses can choose from three paths: write reflections after attending six approved events on civics, listen to 12 podcasts and take a series of quizzes, or complete one of 13 courses in politics or history and take an exam. Faculty in the University of Arizona system are currently developing curricula for “American Institutions” to meet a Board of Regents requirement.

Professors acknowledge that not all students appreciate mandatory citizenship classes.

“Some see it as the vegetable in a meal, some see it as the dessert. For some, the goal is just to finish the meal,” said David Reingold, dean of Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts, who oversaw the implementation of the system’s citizenship program.

According to the Civics Alliance, America’s colleges, which train teachers from elementary through high school, “have been taken over by a radical establishment determined to replace decent civic education with pedagogies like Critical Race Theory and action-oriented civics education.”

Whitney Ross Manzo, an associate professor of political science at Meredith College in Raleigh, says fears of political indoctrination “assume a power that teachers simply don’t have.”

“If I could tell my students to do anything, it would be to read their syllabus and do their homework. I don’t have the power to change their political ideology,” said Manzo, who once taught in Texas.

Back in Bluffton, Dopf has his hands full with the job.

After a few introductory remarks, Dopf asks his students to grab a piece of paper and a pen.

“This is your first test.”

The 14 questions are relatively simple: How many members are in the U.S. Senate? What are the requirements to become president? How long is the term for members of the House of Representatives?

Future citizens must get six out of ten answers right to pass. Dopf sets a lower standard for his students: only seven out of fourteen.

As expected, about 70% dropped.

One student thought Clarence Thomas was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Another suggested that the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1667.

“To miss such basic facts,” Dopf says in an exasperated voice. “We need to develop better skills for our students so we can have a better democracy.” (To be fair, he says that even 30 percent of his West Point cadets failed the test.)

Audra Hillman, 18, a freshman from Wake Forest, N.C., took two politics classes in high school. So how did she do?

“I probably would have been thrown out,” she says with a nervous laugh.

Hillman would eventually like to work with children with special needs, but doesn’t mind having to squeeze in this civics lesson.

“Everybody should vote,” she says. “It’s your duty as an American citizen. And I think everybody should go out and get informed.”

Breed and Sullivan write for the Associated Press.