Discussions of the Constitution regularly dominate cable news and political commentary, but constitutional knowledge among Americans is perhaps at a nadir. The NAEP U.S. history assessment finds each year that more than half of high school seniors score “below basic.” The 2020 Annenberg Constitution Day Survey found that just 51 percent of American adults could name the three branches of government – and 23 percent could not name one. If citizens don’t know the most rudimentary facts about their government, how can they pass on the blessings of liberty to future generations?
Fortunately, a joint program offered by The American Conservative and the Center for the Study of Statesmanship at Catholic University looks to correct these trends – at least among Washington, D.C. policymakers. The Constitutional Fellows Program is a highly competitive “three month course of study designed for Congressional staffers, journalists, and other policy professionals” that “illuminates the meaning of the Constitution and the prospects for its reinvigoration.”
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