Can you list all the First Amendment rights? Only 7% of Americans can, poll finds

Most Americans cannot list three or more rights enumerated in the First Amendment, and less than two-thirds can list all three branches of the federal government, according to new polling.

The latest Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey, which is released annually, found a significant share of the population is unfamiliar with many other basic facts about the U.S. government.

The survey, conducted in May, sampled about 1,600 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points. The findings were largely in line with the results from 2023.

First Amendment and branches of government

Only 7% of the respondents could list all five rights in the First Amendment of the Constitution, while 30% could name three or more.

About half of the respondents, 48%, could list one or two of the rights, and 21% could not list any. In order to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, many applicants are asked to name just one of these rights.

The vast majority of respondents, 74%, were able to name freedom of speech, while 39% could name freedom of religion and 29% could name freedom of the press. Twenty-seven percent successfully named the right to assembly and just 11% named the right to petition the government.

Further, 22% of respondents incorrectly named the right to bear arms — a right enumerated in the Second Amendment.

Additionally, almost two-thirds of respondents, 65%, could list the three branches of government (legislative, executive and judicial). Meanwhile, 13% could name two, 8% could name one and 15% could not name a single branch, according to the poll.

“Civics knowledge matters,” Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, said in a news release. “Those who do not understand the rights protected by the Constitution can neither cherish nor invoke them…”

Congress and the Supreme Court

A significant minority of respondents were unsure about the current partisan breakdown in Congress.

Slightly more than half of respondents, 55%, correctly said that the Senate is controlled by the Democrats. But, 22% answered wrongly and 22% said they were unsure.

Similarly, 56% correctly said that the House of Representatives is controlled by Republicans, while 20% answered wrongly and an additional 22% said they were not sure.

Remarking on these findings, Hall Jamieson said, “Those who do not know which party controls the House and Senate may misattribute credit or blame for action or inaction.”

Larger shares of respondents were knowledgeable about the functioning and structure of the Supreme Court.

Seventy-three percent correctly stated that a 5-4 court ruling results in that decision becoming the law of the land. Meanwhile, 13% wrongly said the decision would get returned to Congress and the same share wrongly said it would be sent to the federal court of appeals.

Asked whether the court’s justices are appointed or elected, 86% correctly said appointed and 13% wrongly said they were elected.

Similarly, 85% correctly said that the justices were appointed to a life term, while 15% incorrectly said they served for a fixed amount of time.

One question that tripped up a larger share of respondents was: “Who decides if the president’s actions are constitutional?”

More than half, 56%, correctly said that the Supreme Court makes the final decision. But 23% incorrectly said the Congress makes the final call, while 5% wrongly said the president does.

Changes to the Supreme Court

The survey also asked respondents to weigh in on several proposals for reforming the Supreme Court. Some of these proposals have been brought up by elected officials in recent years, following a decline in public trust in the high court.

Eighty-two percent of respondents said they would support barring justices from taking part “in cases in which they have personal or financial interests.”

Seventy-seven percent said they would support the enactment of an official ethics code that would permit investigations into the justices’ behavior should they be accused of a violation. In November, the court adopted a formal ethics code, however legal experts called it “vague and unenforceable,” according to previous reporting from McClatchy News.

A majority of respondents, 69%, also said they would support a mandatory retirement age for the justices. And about the same share, 68%, said they would favor limiting the justices’ terms to “a specific number of years.”

President Joe Biden has advocated that the court adopt a “binding code of conduct” and term limits.

Less than half of respondents, 47%, said they would support giving the American public the power to vote to reverse court rulings on contentious issues.

And just 29% of respondents said they would favor adding additional justices to the court, which is made up of nine members.

Multiple Democratic officials have signaled their support for increasing the size of the court in recent years, in particular following the court’s controversial decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, according to ABC News.

Republicans, on the other hand, have criticized such proposals.

“That any Democrats are seriously considering a plan to pack the courts is a sad development for the United States,” the Senate Republican Policy Committee said in a 2021 statement.

This story was originally published September 13, 2024 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Can you list all the First Amendment rights? Only 7% of Americans can, poll finds."