A democracy is only as strong as the citizens who understand how it works. Florida has taken that idea to heart, investing in civic education from the earliest grades. This summer, in a Tallahassee event hall filled with middle schoolers, their families, and a nervous buzz of anticipation, I watched that investment pay off.
At the end of June, the Institute for Governance and Civics (IGC) at Florida State University hosted the Florida Statewide Finals of the National Civics Bee®, a competition for middle school students. Twelve middle schoolers from across the state had earned their place by writing an essay about a problem in their own community and connecting it to the nation’s founding principles. On stage, they answered round after round of rigorous civics questions about the three branches of government, the founding documents, and the ideas this country was built on. On a 20-question round, many students missed only one.
That level of knowledge is not the norm. A U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation survey found that more than 70% of Americans fail a basic civic literacy quiz. At the IGC, our own research found that fewer than half of the Floridians we surveyed could correctly answer five basic civics questions.
When citizens don’t understand how their government works or how their rights are protected, trust in institutions erodes and participation in elections and civic life fades. Watching a room full of 12-year-olds outscore most adults isn’t just charming; it is evidence that the trend can be reversed…