What Do Americans Know about the American System?

What Do Americans Know about the American System?

By Emma Gobbell, Class of 2020

    A survey conducted by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation this year discovered that a mere 36% of Americans were able to pass the U.S. citizenship test, based on questions given to immigrants who apply for American citizenship. This test consists of ten questions about the basic history and government structure of the United States, and a passing score is answering six or more correctly. This same survey revealed that 37% of Americans believed that Benjamin Franklin invented the light bulb. For people under the age of 45, only 19% of them passed the test. The best-scoring group on this test were adults age 75 and older, which seems strange, because one would assume that our education system has far surpassed the teachings from 50 or so years ago. Apparently it hasn’t, nor have 75 year olds forgotten their civics lessons. The test asks “civics” type questions about the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, but also asks some questions about American history and geography.

  In a separate survey, it was discovered that 37% of Americans could not name even one right guaranteed by the First Amendment and only 26% could name all three branches of government.
 
    So how would Providence seniors do on the same test?
 
   Mr. Rottman gave his seniors in American Government class a 20-question version of the citizenship test, which is twice as long as the version given to immigrants. All 18 of the Providence seniors passed the test. One hundred percent! (Although some struggled with “What is the second longest river in the U.S.?”)

    In fact, at least one of the questions that one student answered incorrectly had a faulty answer. Libertas Scholar Jenna Peterson noted that the answer “printing money” is not technically a correct answer to a question asking for an example of a power granted to Congress in the Constitution, because Congress is only given the power to “coin money.” Whether coining money implies the ability to print money, or implies the constitutionality of the Federal Reserve, which might then imply the legality of its quantitative easing…well, the test doesn’t go that deep.

    As the Providence American Government class transitions to learning about economics, Providence seniors are going to delve a bit deeper into subjects like these for the remainder of the year, so that they will understand not only the American political system, but our economic system as well. I, for one, am looking forward to that dive.

Libertas Scholars Work and Play the Summer Away

It meant getting up in the wee hours on a July morning when most students were sleeping in, and taking a bumpy van ride to LAX for a long flight to hot and muggy St. Louis, but for five Providence Libertas Scholars, a three-day seminar on Leadership and Economics sponsored by the Foundation for Economic Education was a big mid-summer vacation hit. Sophomores Christine Venzor, Olivia Bates, Belen Cruz, and Joshua Frankenfield and senior Pedro Cruz joined 70 students from around the country at Lindenwood University to hear talks, do trading experiments, prepare presentations on solving social problems, embark on a scavenger hunt, play in a trading game, and make connections with students from all over the country—all with the goal of learning about both economics and leadership.

Mr. Rottman chaperoned and spoke three times, along with Professor Antony Davies (who has spoken twice at Providence and employs simulations to explain how well markets work) and entrepreneur TK Coleman, who inspired students with compelling stories and analysis on how to use persuasion and passion to improve society. “Being a leader,” he noted, “forever ruins your world with responsibility.”

Olivia shooting the breeze with friends.

Josh increases his happiness with some fellow traders.

What were the students’ reactions? Christine "enjoyed meeting new people," and learning how to change the world by doing what you are interested in—“not asking what the world needs, but what makes you come alive because that is what the world needs—people who have come alive."

Pedro noted that he discovered how government's efforts to protect people sometimes accomplish the opposite of what their intentions were.

At the City Museum, Josh works on his shooting abilities,

...while Olivia, Christine, and Belen hide out.

Earlier in June, five different Providence students (juniors Emma Gobbell, Chloe Norton, Frankie Harman, Bella Madrigal, and Hanna Garza) flew to Vanderbilt University in Nashville to a different FEE seminar on "Economics in the Real World."

Frankie noted connections between how economics reveals truth, and truth is essential to the real world, which reminded her of class discussions on Speaker for the Dead. She noted the importance and benefit of applying basic economic principles to your everyday life, such as “the benefit behind looking at the opportunity costs behind everyday decisions or the unseen consequences of a seemingly good decision in the moment.” In bringing up the idea of sunk costs, Chloe said that the seminar was an amazing experience that taught her to apply economic principles to everyday life.

Providence Libertas scholars attend a variety of seminars not only during the summer, but during the school year as well, as part of the Libertas Scholar Program requirements. This summer, half of our 20 Libertas Scholars went to FEE seminars.

He Was a President Who Understood Principle

Coolidge was the rare sort of politician who stuck by his principles of fiscal responsibility and governmental restraint.

by  Jake Yonally

In his veto of a congressional salary increase, our 30th president, Calvin Coolidge, told Congress that, “No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.” This statement truly characterizes Coolidge for who he was as a man.

Not only was he deeply concerned with tax reduction and the federal budget, he was also highly dedicated to the serving of both his neighbor and nation. Coolidge had a special understanding of public service and never swayed from his foundational beliefs. These qualities made him the beloved man that he was. Calvin Coolidge —although soft-spoken— showed immense amounts of courage in serving his nation and staying true to his fundamental convictions.

Economic Responsibility

His principled fiscal stewardship caused many poor Americans to succeed in achieving a better life. 

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

An important way in which Calvin Coolidge showed this courage was in his approach to public service. Prior to his term as Commander-in-Chief, the government had grown unchecked for years under the Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson administrations. Wealth redistribution, government regulation, and the strength of unions were on the rise in America during this era of progressivism. Soon after stepping into the Oval Office, Coolidge promptly went on a budget- and tax-cutting spree to abolish what he referred to as “Despotic Exactions.”

Although scoffed at by many, this decrease in taxation and government spending saved the average American over $200 per year (about $1,500 today). Coolidge wanted to help the poor, and he saw that this was the only way to enact true, long-term change toward raising the American standard of living. He and his Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon, referred to this policy as “Scientific Taxation.” Coolidge once said, “Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.” This informed approach was his creative service to the least of these. 

It took an immense amount of courage on Coolidge’s part to abandon previous methods and take a new approach to public service. This new approach was both utilitarian and grounded in a strong respect for people’s basic human rights. Though unorthodox, his principled fiscal stewardship caused many poor Americans to succeed in achieving a better life. With the national debt being cut almost in half, the 17.5 percent increase in the nation’s wealth, and illiteracy being cut in half as well, his presidential term was a success by any standard.

Strong Principles

Inaction can benefit a nation more than action, as demonstrated by his numerous vetoed bills. 

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Although seemingly reserved, Coolidge was a man of strong principles. He called his fellow citizens to return to the proven principles of the American political tradition and encouraged them to examine their own beliefs in light of these principles. He believed strongly in the limits of social engineering, the nature of wealth, individual responsibility, and society’s dependence on moral and religious values. His ability to stand by these fundamental convictions in the face of adversity is rare among men.

In her book entitled Coolidge, Amity Shlaes refers to President Coolidge as our “Great Refrainer.” She suggests that inaction can benefit a nation more than action, as demonstrated by his numerous vetoed bills. “This was the boy with his finger in the dike, stopping a great progressive tide,” she accurately states. Throughout his life, Calvin Coolidge rejected what Bastiat called “legal plunder” and worked toward the creation not only of wealth but of beauty.

Calvin Coolidge’s messages regarding public service and his fundamental convictions have held true for almost a century. These firm principles were the groundwork for his ability to enact change for the better in America through public service. The way he thought determined the way he lived; his form followed his function. Calvin Coolidge lived by the principles that defined him. His belief system never aged. Even in the culturally diverse, globalized world we live in where people are desperate for new answers, ideas, and solutions, the simple social and moral code by which he lived remains as relevant as ever.