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A U.S. citizenship test review booklet and notes are seen during a citizenship test preparation class in Perris, Calif., on June 16, 2016.(Photo: Robyn Beck, AFP/Getty Images)
Sure, you can fire up a barbecue and set off fireworks. But as the Fourth of July weekend approaches, do you know enough about the United States to become a citizen?
A new survey by Ipsos Public Affairs tested more than 2,000 respondents on some of the questions included on the exam immigrants must pass as part of the process of gaining citizenship.
More than nine in 10 of those polled aced the question of the day, correctly identifying the date the Declaration of Independence was signed as July 4, 1776. Ninety percent or more knew that the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, that the presidential election is held in November, and that the flag has 13 stripes to represent the original 13 colonies.
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Poll shows how citizenship questions stump many
Close behind: More than eight in 10 correctly chose the Constitution as the supreme law of the land, The Star Spangled Banner as the national anthem and the Atlantic as the ocean along the East Coast — although another one in 10 misidentified it as the Pacific. Geography class, anyone?
After that, scores start sinking.
About two-thirds picked Paul Ryan as the current speaker of the House and Franklin Roosevelt as president during the Great Depression and World War II.
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Evan Vucci, AP)
But only a bit more than a third, 36%, knew that Benjamin Franklin is famous to this day as a U.S. diplomat. Nearly as many, 27%, identified him as a writer of the Federalist Papers. (That would be Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay.)
“Contrary to popular opinion, Americans are not all about the Benjamins,” says Chris Jackson, vice president of Ipsos. “Most respondents were unable to answer the role Ben Franklin played as a founding father.”
Asked a random selection of five of the 10 possible questions, 35% of those surveyed scored a perfect five, which Ipsos graded as an “A.” Thirty-one percent<span style="color: Red;">*</span>missed just one question, getting a “B.” At the bottom of the class: 18% who got a “D” for getting three right. Sixteen percent failed, answering two or fewer questions correctly.
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In terms of partisanship, Republicans outscored Democrats and independents. Forty percent of Republicans answered all five questions correctly, compared with 35% of independents and 33% of Democrats.
In the actual civics test administered by the U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services, applicants are asked up to 10 questions chosen from a list of 100 about American history and government, and they must answer six correctly to pass. The official test is more difficult than the survey, however, because it doesn’t include multiple-choice answers.
In the poll, 57% said correctly that the Supreme Court has nine justices, but the 18% who said the correct answer is eight might have grounds to dispute being marked down — at least until a replacement is confirmed for the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
The online survey of 2,010 adults, taken Monday through Wednesday, has a credibility interval (akin to a margin of error) of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
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