My friend Kellyanne Conway has conducted an amazing poll – at once shockingly disheartening, yet encouraging for those of us who still believe in limited government.
She found that most Americans are unable to identify even a single department in the United States Cabinet.
A majority – 58 percent – could not provide any department names whatsoever. A minority – 41 percent – could. But only 4 percent could name at least five of the 19 executive-level departments.
Last year, Conway’s polling company found 64 percent of Americans could not name any of the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court.
“These poll numbers would make any high-school civics teacher cringe,” says Conway, president and chief executive officer of the Polling Company Inc. in Washington.
That might be true, if only there were any high-school civics teachers left in America. And, if there were, given the general state of public education in America, it’s highly questionable whether they would respond any more intelligently than the average citizen.
“The differing levels of knowledge according to gender, race and age are astonishing,” said Conway. “An incredible 70 percent of 18-34 year olds failed to specify a single agency or department, and while a majority of men (52 percent) could name at least one, less than one-third of women (32 percent) could do the same.”
No respondent out of 800 named all 19 correctly, and only 1 percent were able to name at least 11.
Only 23 percent could even cite the Department of Defense as one of the Cabinet agencies. Here’s the breakdown on the rest of the departments:
- Department of Treasury, 14 percent
- Department of State, 13 percent
- Department of Homeland Security, 12 percent
- Department of Interior, 11 percent
- Department of Agriculture, 8 percent
- Department of Health and Human Services, 8 percent
- Department of Commerce, 6 percent
- Department of Justice, 6 percent
- Department of Education, 6 percent
- Department of Transportation, 6 percent
- Department of Labor, 4 percent
- Department of Energy, 3 percent
- Environmental Protection Agency, 2 percent
- Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2 percent
- Department of Veterans Affairs, 1 percent
- U.S. Trade Representative, 1 percent
- Office of National Drug Control Policy, 1 percent
- Office of Management and Budget, 0 percent
Pretty grim.
But there is a silver lining.
If so few Americans can name these super-agencies that spend billions and billions of their hard-earned tax dollars, then it ought to be relatively easy to persuade these people the agencies should be abolished.
After all, who could oppose abolishing a department they couldn’t name?
Do you see where I’m going?
Most Americans are so hopelessly out of touch with their government that it makes it entirely hopeful they can be convinced most functions of that government are entirely unnecessary – which they are.
Let’s just start from the bottom and begin whacking these departments one by one – or better yet, two by two. Better yet, maybe we should start with the Department of Education that has done so much to aid this dumbing-down process.
How important could the work of these agencies be if Americans can’t even name them? How popular could they be? How vital could they be? How necessary?
It’s sad that Americans don’t know who is wasting their precious money. But since they don’t, let’s capitalize on their ignorance.
Let’s start cutting. Nothing will stimulate the economy more or reduce the deficit faster. And with fewer names to remember, it’s a certainty Americans will do better on this test in the future.
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