Half Of Americans Don’t Know What Rights They Have Under U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment

The latest Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey found that fewer than half of Americans can name most rights protected under the First Amendment.

The Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey is a nationally representative survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania prior to Constitution Day. 

SSRS, an independent research company, conducted this year’s survey of 1,590 U.S. adults from May 1 to May 23 for APPC. 

The margin of error is ± 3.3 percentage points at the confidence level of 95%.

The survey found degrees of public knowledge unchanged from last year. 

Much like the respondents in the 2023 survey, most Americans could only name one right guaranteed by the First Amendment: freedom of speech.

When asked what particular rights the First Amendment guarantees, 74% of respondents said freedom of speech. 

Far fewer people had recalled the other four rights.

Thirty-nine percent of the respondents named freedom of religion, while 29% said freedom of the press. Twenty-seven percent stated the right to assembly, and 11% named the right to petition the government.

Those responses are in line with the survey conducted last year.

Thirty percent of respondents could name three or more rights, 7% could name all five rights, 23% could name three or four, and 48% could name one or two—21% of respondents could not name any rights.

Although 11% correctly said the right to petition the government, 22% incorrectly named the right to bear arms, a right protected by the Second Amendment.

“Civics knowledge matters,” the Annenberg Public Policy Center director Kathleen Hall Jamieson stated. “Those who do not understand the rights protected by the Constitution can neither cherish nor invoke them; those who do not know which party controls the House and Senate may misattribute credit or blame for action or inaction.”

A new survey by YouGov and the Economist conducted in September 2022 showed that over 40% of Americans believe a civil war in America will begin within ten years.