Test your local civics knowledge

Constitutional scholar David Adler hit the bull's-eye this summer with his column declaring Americans' civic literacy ignorance poses a serious threat to the Republic.

Among the lamentable facts he presented were these:

"In the last few years, surveys and assessments have disclosed a stunning lack of knowledge of basic facts about our governmental system. Sixty-four percent of Americans can't name the three branches of government. Most cannot name their own members of the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate. Nearly half don't know that states have two senators. Fifty-four percent can't name a single U.S. Supreme Court justice. Only a bare majority can name even one basic purpose of the Constitution. More citizens can name 'American Idol' judges than can name the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. Sixty-one percent can name at least one 'American Idol' judge, but only 15 percent know that John Roberts is the chief justice of the Supreme Court."

But Adler did more than cite and bemoan; he recommended. He implored Congress to restore and fully fund the Democracy for Education Act, a superb civic literacy program that graduated millions of American students in a span of more than 25 years and, in turn, help the nation stand tall in its quest to preserve the Republic.

We agree wholeheartedly with Dr. Adler. We also think his conclusions hold true on multiple levels.

It's always astonishing to us how many citizens, some very politically active, don't know what's a state issue versus a national issue. Equally, some citizens are clueless about the power lines separating city and county governments, and city/county issues versus state issues.

We can't fix that, but we can try to slightly increase the local civics IQ. If we're successful, readers will even have a little fun knocking the dust off their local civic literacy.

On Wednesday and Friday, this space will be devoted to local civics quizzes with questions we think most citizens should be able to answer without leaning on the Web for brain relief. Don't worry; nobody will be checking your answers but you. We'll publish the answers on the same day's Opinion page.

We encourage families to discuss the questions and answers, and to share with friends and neighbors the challenge of knowing more about local governance. Understanding how things work is a strong precursor to greater participation. That's how you preserve a Republic, one community at a time.