A new survey reveals how little the public knows about their state government. Media coverage is partly to blame.
By Liz Farmer | Governing
Do you know who your governor is? Can you name your state representative or senator? Or say whether your state has a one- or two-chamber legislature?
Turns out, many Americans don’t know the answer to those questions.
Studies Show Voters Need a Graduate-Level Education to Understand Ballot Measures Will Civics Education Make People Better Voters? An Experiment in Civic Engagement According to a survey released this month by Johns Hopkins University, 1 out of 3 people can’t name their governor, 4 out of 5 can’t say who their state legislator is and roughly half don’t know whether they have a uni- or bicameral legislature.
Despite that, the vast majority of the 1,500 respondents say their state government officials are doing a better job than the federal government, and that they trust them to handle problems.
