Arianna Alfano

Dr. Andrews

American National Government (POL 101)

July 23, 2018

American society is filled with ignorance and shortcomings. With a rise in the number of

American “flat-earthers” and “anti-vaxxers,” it is difficult to deny the simple truth that the

United States is failing to properly educate its citizens and reform old ideas. Even worse,

included as one of the many afflictions of the American public, is political ignorance. In fact, not

much has changed since this issue was brought to light in the 1930s by pollsters—who

determined that Americans cared little and knew even less about the happenings of the political

arena. While it may not seem apparent, as the United States is a nation dependent on the

functioning of democracy to ensure its survival, America does suffer from ill-informed voters.

Whether considering the issue at a macro level—where it can be said that Americans fail due to

the education system, partisan propaganda, and rational ignorance—or at the micro level—where

Americans do not get involved due to the lack of media coverage—voters are, most certainly, not

well-informed, and overall society suffers from this issue perpetually.

There is a plethora of explanations as to why American voters are so ill-informed about

politics. Primarily, however, the answer lies in the shortcomings of the United States’ education

system. With over 83 percent of Americans currently holding a high school diploma, the issue of

political ignorance does not lie in the fact that not enough people are getting an education, but

rather not enough people are getting a proper, adequate education. Principally, it is the field of

civics where the curriculum is lacking. A majority of schools across the United States specify

that high school seniors are only required to take half a credit of civics/ American national
government in order to graduate. Typically, this equates to only about 4 months of the entire

school year being devoted to learning about how the government functions. Rome was not built

in a day, and neither was the United States. It is somewhat preposterous for state officials to

believe that American teenagers need only half of a school year’s time to get a full, in-depth

understanding of how the government functions, and ultimately, this ridiculousness translates to

a multitude of awful test scores. For instance, “in 2009, 89 percent of those who took a test on

civic knowledge expressed confidence they could pass it; in fact, 83 percent would have failed.”1

Even in college, there seems to be an insufficient amount of class time spent on the United States

political system. Problematically, only a small percentage of the top 25 colleges in the nation

require that students majoring in history take a U.S. history course. Overall, in order for

Americans to truly cast a knowledgeable vote, they need to be knowledgeable in their country’s

civics—which means the curriculum for American national government needs to be expanded

beyond a 4 month, half credit period. The only way the government could possibly expect the

public to be better informed about the functions of American democracy and voting is through

broadening the requirements of the course and requiring more time spent on civics in the

classroom. Thus, the lack of time spent on learning about civics is most certainly a factor in the

public’s limited knowledge about how the United States’ government functions.

Typically, partisan propaganda also plays a key role in explaining why American voters

are so ill-informed. An overwhelming amount of media focusing on one candidate can most

definitely cause voters to be confused or unaware of the assets each candidate would bring to

their position if elected. In the presidential elections especially certain television channels

1 Cole, Jonathan R. “Ignorance Does Not Lead to Election Bliss.” The Atlantic. The Atlantic, 8 November 2016. Web.
20 July 2018 < https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/11/
ignorance-does-not-lead-to-election-bliss/506894/>.
focusing solely on or only positively highlighting one candidate can cause for even more

confusion amongst voters. For instance, FOX News is very much to the right on the political

spectrum—being that the channel highlights solely republican ideals. Hence, this television

station was key to the rising of Donald Trump’s popularity throughout the 2016 election.

Through its work focusing on conveying, practically, only positive information about Donald

Trump while spreading much negative news about Hilary Clinton, it, therefore, can be said to

have influenced voters and caused many of those watching the channel to believe that Donald

Trump was clearly the “right choice” in that presidential election. Without voters watching

several different stations and consuming information that is unbiased, they can be considered ill-

informed due to the partisan propaganda that tends to affect most channels. Additionally,

partisan propaganda goes beyond the mass media. People tend to be politically influenced by

their friends and family. Thus, when discussing politics, individuals tend to hear about new

information from one another. Unfortunately, when most people are having a conversation about

political issues such as presidential candidates, they tend to be biased in their understanding and

retaliation of the news. This partisan propaganda, therefore, causes many voters to hear

misinformation or inaccurate news about candidates and issues in their country—which,

obviously, causes them to be ill-informed.

Another very real reason voters are so, obviously, ill-informed in American society is due

to what many consider “rational ignorance.” Rational ignorance, as it is defined, is refraining

from acquiring knowledge when the cost of educating oneself on an issue exceeds the potential

benefit that the knowledge could possibly provide. Unfortunately, while the nation is very

dependent on Americans keeping themselves informed and knowledgeable about their country’s

politics, many would rather abstain from doing so simply because it does not benefit them from
beyond the political arena itself. Many question why they should become more competent in

politics if they are only to use their newfound knowledge to become a better voter—which to

many does not seem like much of a reason at all. While Americans are supposedly taught that

every vote counts and that it is extremely important that they use their political power wisely,

individuals often see their one vote as insignificant, and, therefore, do not believe that they can

actually make any remarkable change in society. With this mindset, it does seem as though it

may not even be worth the time and effort to immerse oneself into American politics. However,

the idea that one’s vote is not powerful could not be further from the truth. Perhaps it might take

some time, but voters do get rewarded—the perquisite of helping a change be implemented.

Regrettably, many people are dependent on instant, material satisfaction, making such a gift

basically worthless in their eyes. Therefore, many purposefully do not find the time to work

toward further understanding the government and how they could make a difference in their

communities. Thus, being that many Americans genuinely believe that they do not get much out

of educating themselves on civics and voting, rational ignorance is most certainly a factor in

explaining why American voters are so ill-informed.

Finally, American voters tend to be ill-informed due to lack of media coverage of certain

elections or hot-topic issues taking place within their own communities. While large, nation-wide

elections are constantly getting “air time” on television, small, local happenings get little

attention from the media. It is in local elections that Americans have the most power—being that

the form of democracy used in such elections is more direct and, often, less involved with

representatives. Being that the vast majority of the public relies on television and/ or radio to

learn of developments in the political arena, a lack of representation in these fields causes a lack

of voter turnout. Ultimately, this is problematic for all people in the community because it means
that despite the amount of power each vote holds, only a limited number of people are actually

actively working to better society. Ultimately, without more information on local elections being

made transparent through local news programs, Americans are left in the dark about such

happenings. As a result of not having easy access to dates and times of rallies, elections, etc.,

Americans are, for the most part, unable to participate. Therefore, without the media informing

the public about local, political occurrences, voters remain ill-informed about the politics in their

own neighborhoods.

Overall, it can, without a shed of doubt, be said that voters are ill-informed. On the

national level, voters suffer due to a variety of causes. Primarily, with the education system

setting such low standards for civics, Americans are able to graduate without having a full

understanding of the political system in which they are expected to frequently be participating.

This already leaves an abundance of people lost in confusion when they are expected to partake

in elections. Additionally, partisan propaganda afflicts the American public daily. Without being

fully informed of all sides of a topic, without any sort of bias, voters are not able to make

completely knowledgeable decisions in elections. Even beyond this, Americans often are found

to be ill-informed voters due to their choice to follow rational ignorance—believing that they

would not get much out of educating themselves on America’s national government and how it

functions. Lastly, on a micro scale, citizens often face issues with understanding and being

knowledgeable about the happenings and elections of the local government due to the lack of

media coverage on such topics. Therefore, American voters tend to have problems both

understanding the civics of their nation and attaining enough information to cast fair,

knowledgeable votes in elections on all levels of the government. Ultimately, through the

problems that have been thrust upon the public and some individuals’ decisions, American
voters, very often, are found to be politically ignorant—which has a great deal of consequences

for the United States’ society as a whole.