Tyrants thrive when people are ‘functionally illiterate’ about democracy

[cartoon id="305109"] The big question that will animate future historians - assuming that this country has a future - is how voters in the world’s oldest democracy inexplicably hired a sociopathic madman to run it into the ground and destabilize the global economy. It’s surely a combination of many factors – disaffected working-class whites, the polarizing impact of social media, a wimpy Democratic party – but I’d put the decline of civics education near the top of the list. Back in 2021, a nonpartisan group called Educating for American Democracy really nailed it: “Civics and history education has eroded in the U.S. over the past fifty years…Dangerously low proportions of the public understand and trust our democratic institutions. Majorities are functionally illiterate on our constitutional principles and forms. The relative neglect of civic education in the past ­half-century – a period of wrenching change – is one important cause of our civic and political dysfunction.” In other words, if Americans in our public schools aren’t taught about fundamental stuff like the separation of powers, they’re more likely to follow a fascistic pied piper. If they aren’t taught to understand and respect the rules of democracy, they’re more likely to be putty in the paws of demagogues who smash the rules and tweet mentally-ill swill like “Open the F–kin’ Strait, you crazy bastards.” A 2024 report by the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute for American Democracy laments schools no longer prioritize teaching “the hard facts of government, nor the skills and values of citizenship.” The report concludes that “declines in civic literacy have corresponded with a decline of trust in government…a lack of civics knowledge goes hand in hand with a lack of trust in government institutions - research has shown that these states reinforce each other.” I don’t want to numb you with numbers, but here are a few shockers. According to a 2024 poll from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, more than 70 percent of Americans would fail a basic civic literacy test. The Annenberg Public Policy Center says 36 percent of Americans can’t name the three branches of government, and only 34 percent know freedom of the press is guaranteed in the First Amendment. I fondly remember being taught civics all year long in Massachusetts elementary school. In fact, we couldn’t advance to fifth grade unless we proved ourselves to be budding good democratic citizens. Among the tests, we had to correctly name all nine members of the Supreme Court. But today, at last check, only 31 states require just a half-year of civics education – only in high school – and a mere 8 states require any civics in their middle schools. The long goodbye to civics began in the late 1960s. The traditional nonpartisan goal was to assimilate all students, to teach them American democratic culture, but critics called it “Eurocentrism” or “cultural imperialism,” and said that it ignored diversity within many communities. Rather than take flak, educators deemed it prudent to just back off. The anti-civics mindset has since accelerated, thanks to the increasing emphasis on STEM education: science, technology, engineering, and math. I have no problem with that quartet, but the obsession is over the top. Federal money for STEM education has “skyrocketed,” according to the O’Connor Institute, while “the same funding for civic education has plummeted,” from an annual $150 million in 2010 to less than $5 million at the end of Trump’s first term to $23 million in Joe Biden’s last year. George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind law, enacted in 2002, was also a major villain. It tied school funding to test scores in math and reading, so teachers started teaching for the test. Civics was not a NCLB priority. The damage was obvious by 2007 when a national education study found that the sparse instructional time devoted to civics had been further cut by 32 percent. It’s too late to reverse the damage that has already been done - the fascist warlord is well ensconced - and even if educators were to suddenly rediscover the value of teaching civics, major obstacles would impede the effort. Because everything and everyone are so polarized, a renewed emphasis on teaching the separation of powers would offend parents who worship dictatorial executive power. Plus, any discussion of current events would be a minefield. And any attempt to teach the importance of separating fact from fiction - a basic tool for any budding citizen - would risk blowback from those in the community who wallow in lies. All we’re left with are the warnings that state what is glaringly obvious. This one, for instance: “We have come to take democracy for granted, and civic education has fallen by the wayside. In our age, when social media can instantly spread rumor and false information on a grand scale, the public’s need to understand our government, and the protections it provides, is ever more vital.” So wrote John Roberts, near the tail end of Trump’s first term. Wise words indeed. Too bad he’s been part of the problem. - Copyright 2026 Dick Polman, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia and a Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, writes the Subject to Change newsletter. Email him at [email protected]