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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact Judith Berrett Poll Shows Critical Need for Better Civics EducationSeattle, Washington, February 16, 2006 — Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) President S. Brooke Taylor today announced that a poll of registered voters conducted earlier this month shows a disturbing percentage of Washington voters do not understand basic civics concepts — knowledge they need to make informed decisions. Only 55 percent of Washington's registered voters are able to correctly identify the meaning of "separation of powers." Twenty-one percent think it means that different federal departments have different powers; 11 percent don't know; and 10 percent believe it means that the federal government does some things, like set postage rates, while state governments have other powers, like setting speed limits on state highways. When asked to identify a responsibility of the judicial branch of government in addition to determining whether a law violates the U.S. Constitution, Washington voters fare poorly — just 53 percent chose the correct response: "determine how existing law applies to the facts of a case." Twenty-three percent think the judiciary "advise the President and Congress about the legality of action they intend to take in the future." And almost one-third (31 percent) of registered voters do not know what is meant by the term "independent judiciary." Eleven percent think it means that "judges are not Republicans or Democrats," and eight percent believe it means that "judges can make decisions based on what they personally believe." Eight percent do not know, and four percent believe it means that "judges can make or change laws from the bench." Since Washington judges are elected by the people, voters' understanding of the role of the judiciary is especially important. Making this lack of understanding even more troubling is that a full three-quarters of the Washington voters surveyed have at least some college education, with 48 percent having graduated from college. Income levels were also high — 45 percent reported an annual income of $50,000 or more. Among those whose formal education stopped at high-school graduation, just 58 percent can correctly identify the three branches of government; this compares dramatically to 82 percent of college graduates. Sixteen percent of high-school graduates believe the three branches are Republican, Democrat, and Independent. Less than half (49 percent) of high-school graduates know the meaning of "separation of powers." More than one-third (38 percent) believe that the judiciary advises the President. And less than two-thirds (62 percent) know the correct definition of "checks and balances." These results clearly indicate that the role of our public schools in civics education is especially critical for those whose formal education does not go beyond high school. The encouraging news amid these discouraging statistics is a bill (House Bill 2579) currently in the Legislature that would hold school districts accountable for teaching the state's civics learning requirements by mandating they conduct classroom-based assessments at three grade levels. The bill has received broad bipartisan support and is supported by the Washington State Bar Association, the Board for Judicial Administration, Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington, and the League of Women Voters of Washington. It was passed (83-15) in the House Monday night. It is now before the Senate, where the WSBA is hopeful it will be passed. According to WSBA President S. Brooke Taylor, the WSBA Board of Governors unanimously and enthusiastically gave its support to HB 2579. He says: "It's time to get 'back to basics'; increasing public understanding of 'the four corners of freedom' — the rule of law, the separation of powers, checks and balances, and judicial independence — is absolutely vital in our democracy." President Taylor continued: "In addition to supporting legislation calling for increased civics education in our schools, the Washington State Bar Association is involved in other efforts that support and promote public legal education. Since 1999, the WSBA has administered the Council on Public Legal Education, which promotes public understanding of the law and civic rights and responsibilities by conducting, coordinating, encouraging, and publicizing public legal education efforts in our state. The WSBA supports the Council with a full-time staff person. And there's now a wonderful resource of legal information — a website (www.lawforwa.org) that provides the people of Washington easy access to information on the law, the courts, the government, and civic rights and responsibilities. "Additionally, I am calling on lawyers and judges across the state to reach out to their communities and look for teaching opportunities — after all, lawyers and judges are natural teachers. Our system of government is precious, and I believe that it is the duty of those of us who are privileged to work in the system to make sure that it is fully understood and never taken for granted." The poll was conducted by Seattle-based Elway Research. Since 1975, Elway Research has directed hundreds of research projects for major corporations, media outlets, associations, foundations, campaigns, and governmental agencies from the federal to the neighborhood level. They are well known for their "Elway Poll," an independent, non-partisan, ongoing analysis of public opinion trends in Washington state and the Northwest that measures changing public attitudes; analyzes the interplay of issues, candidates, and opinions; and tracks political races. The findings are not those of "The Elway Poll," but are results of questions that were written by the American Bar Association, paid for by the Washington State Bar Association, and inserted as a proprietary question in "The Elway Poll." The size and composition of the sample was 405 Washington voters who were polled in a telephone survey conducted February 6-9, 2006. The overall margin of sampling error is plus or minus five percent at the 95 confidence interval. About the WSBA As a regulatory agency, the WSBA administers the bar admission process, including the bar exam; provides record-keeping and licensing functions; and administers the lawyer-discipline system. As a professional association, the WSBA provides continuing legal education for attorneys, in addition to numerous other educational and member-service activities.
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