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Essay On Constitutional Illiteracy

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We live in a society today that is for the most part illiterate. Literacy isn’t just the ability to read words on a page. Infact, according to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, Literacy means the ability to use printed and written information to function in society, accomplish one’s goals, and develop one’s knowledge and potential. Most Americans have the ability to read words on a page. However when it comes to our government and our nation’s most important document, our citizens lack true literacy. We live in a nation today that is constitutionally illiterate. Fundamentally, constitutional literacy is an idea that citizens are well versed in and have an understanding of the constitution. The first standard of constitutional literacy is that citizens must have read and understood the full text of the constitution. The second is that in turn citizens must understand and be willing to carry out their duties according to the constitution. The third is that citizens must be aware of their government’s actions in order to hold that government accountable when it steps outside of its constitutional bounds. In 2013 the …show more content…

However, few Americans recognize the rising danger. To rectify constitutional illiteracy, we must teach the generations of today, who will become the voters of tomorrow, about our government and our constitution. We do this by ensuring students read and understand the full text of the constitution, teaching them about their duties according to that constitution, and enabling them to perform them. By doing these things we ensure that our students and ourselves are aware of our government’s actions so that we have the ability to hold that government

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