FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 11, 2006
CONTACT: Francine Andia Walker,
The Florida Barwww.FloridaBar.org
TELEPHONE: 850/561-5666
Ninety percent or more of Florida adult residents say the constitutional concepts of separation of powers and checks and balances are important principles in the federal government, according to a new poll conducted by Harris Interactive® for The Florida Bar.
But when asked “What are the three branches of government?” only 59 percent of the Florida adults surveyed chose the correct answer: legislative, executive and judicial. The second most frequent answer was “local, state and federal” (18 percent), followed by “Republican, Democrat and Independent” (16 percent). Questions about the meaning of the terms “separation of powers” and “checks and balances” also yielded low percentages of correct answers (46 percent and 61 percent respectively).
The results of the Florida poll (see poll questions) are similar to those of a national poll that asked the same questions done by the American Bar Association in July 2005. The national poll report is available at www.abaconstitution.org.
“After seeing the national results, The Florida Bar became very concerned about our own citizens’ knowledge of these vital principles of democracy, Alan B. Bookman, President of The Florida Bar, said. “We discovered that Floridians score an A on recognizing the importance of the constitutional concepts, but get an F on defining separation of powers and checks and balances, and a D on identifying the three government branches.”
The American Bar Association came to the same conclusion after conducting its poll -- that the majority of Americans could use a civics refresher course.
With this report card in hand, The Florida Bar is setting out to advocate for more public awareness and education on civics. For example, the organization will use its statewide Speakers Bureau and its Citizens Forum, a non-lawyer advisory group, to go out to civic and community groups with presentations on civics. Throughout the state, local bar associations will support many community-based educational activities, particularly during national Law Week in May which is themed “Liberty Under Law: Separate Branches, Balanced Powers.” In addition, the Bar is asking the media to become involved in civic education, especially in coverage leading up to the 2006 elections.
At the same time, The Florida Bar is targeting a revitalization of civic education for the state's youth.
“As we questioned the civic knowledge of adults, we also looked at the state of civic education in Florida. Although civic education has historically been a primary mission of American public education, it appears that this commitment is fading,” Bookman said.
According to the Florida Law Related Education Association, less than 10 percent of Florida’s 67 counties require the teaching of civics in middle school. High school students are required only to take a one semester government course, usually in the senior year, but law-related education experts say that requirement is too little, too late.Bookman said that the Bar is concerned about giving young people the knowledge they need to value and participate in democracy. “We’d like to see 100 percent of Florida middle schools providing a mandatory yearlong course in applied civics,” Bookman said.
“As we speak to adults and the media about civics and civic education, we are asking that they assess their own school districts’ civics offerings and talk to local superintendents and school boards about providing required yearlong civics courses,” he added.
The Florida Law Related Education Association created the Florida Civic Alliance to promote civic education in Florida’s K-12 public school system through a broad-based plan addressing curriculum reform, state and local policy, public awareness and coalition building. A complete middle school course has been developed for local districts, based on Miami-Dade’s required civics course, and Palm Beach County adopted and implemented that curriculum in the 2005-6 school year according to the law related education association.
The bottom line for The Florida Bar is that if citizens don’t understand what makes democracy work, they are just as likely not to understand the essential components of an independent judiciary – that the judiciary be fair and impartial.
“America’s enduring strength flows from our Constitution and its mandate that there be three separate but equal branches of government. We must educate the public and remind them that without a strong and vibrant rule of law, our democracy will simply cease to exist,” Bookman said.
Harris Interactive® conducted a telephone survey on behalf of The Florida Bar between December 27 and 29, 2005, among 400 adults from Florida aged 18 and over. Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults and number of voice/telephone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to align them with their actual proportions in the population. In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a sampling error of plus or minus five percentage points of what they would be if the entire Florida adult population had been polled with complete accuracy.
The Florida Bar is the statewide professional and regulatory organization for all lawyers licensed to practice in Florida.About Harris Interactive®Harris Interactive Inc.
(www.harrisinteractive.com), based in Rochester, New York, is the 13th largest and the fastest-growing market research firm in the world, most widely known for The Harris Poll® and for its pioneering leadership in the online market research industry. Long recognized by its clients for delivering insights that enable confident business decisions, the Company blends the science of innovative research with the art of strategic consulting to deliver knowledge that leads to measurable and enduring value.Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe (www.harrisinteractive.com/europe) and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiary Novatris in Paris, France (www.novatris.com), and through an independent global network of affiliate market research companies.
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EDITORS: Please note The Florida Bar is not an association and "Association" is not part of our name. Proper reference is "The Florida Bar." Local bar organizations are properly termed "associations."
[Updated: 02-02-2006 ]
