Most Americans Lack Basic Political Knowledge: Survey

Only 18% of Americans can correctly name the current secretary of state, Britain’s prime minister and which party controls the US House, a LiveScience survey finds. Among the survey’s 3,612-person sample, more than half correctly said that the Democrats have a majority in the House, while 42% correctly identified Condoleezza Rice. Less than 30% said Gordon Brown is current UK prime minister.

The survey also asked where respondents got their news from, and found that only regular readers of the New Yorker, Atlantic, Weekly Standard and New Republic, along with regular viewers of Hardball and NPR listeners, had a majority of respondents who answered all three questions correctly. Puzzlingly, only 44% of Americans who watch the BBC could name Britain’s PM. (More Public Knowledge stories.)