A Virtuous Citizenry, Vital To A Free Republic
It’s a question that goes back to the founding of our nation: should we urge all citizens to vote simply because they have the right, or should there be a greater focus on promoting an informed electorate?
Let’s say we have two citizens, the first who is very familiar with the history of the United States and follows national and international news on a daily basis, while the second person is only marginally familiar with topical or historical events and gives little, if any, thought to how those events shape his life.
Should both citizens be encouraged to vote?
Two very different men raised essentially the same question a few weeks ago.
Howard Stern sent a representative out to Harlem to ask potential voters why they supported Sen. Barack Obama. The twist? Sen. John McCain’s views were ascribed to Mr. Obama, ie -”Do you support Obama being pro-life?” The answers were startling.
John Stossel interviewed concert goers who, by and large, had virtually no knowledge about our country. Registered voters answered that America has “52 states,” that we have “50″ or “7″ senators per state. Roe v. Wade? “Isn’t that about a black person and a white person?” (H/t Ben Casnocha)
This brings me to what is perhaps a provocative question: should one be required to pass an elementary American history examination prior to registering to vote for the first time?
We require a citizenship test of all new Americans; would it be so radical to suggest that Americans prove a basic grasp of how our Republic works prior to gaining the right to vote and impacting the future of that Republic?
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