Survey: U.S. admires, but hasn't read, Constitution

President James Madison and the other Founding Fathers would be happy to know the Constitution they signed 223 years ago today is still in place, but they might also be dismayed over the lack of knowledge Americans have of the “people’s document.”

Montpelier’s Center for the Constitution on Thursday released results of a national survey conducted this summer to gauge knowledge of constitutional principles. Although 79 percent of those surveyed said they understood at least some of the Constitution, only 28 percent of the 988 people surveyed said they have actually read the entire document.

The survey showed that older people know more about the Constitution and are more likely to have read it.

“We all know that the Constitution begins with the words ‘We the People,’ but rarely do we consider what those words mean,” said Michael Quinn, president of the Montpelier Foundation. “The Constitution begins with those words because it is us, the American people, who are the creators of our nation and the source of our governmental authority. This is a legacy entrusted to us by our founders and it is also a responsibility. Each generation of Americans has a responsibility to learn and uphold the principles of the Constitution.”

Although 88 percent of people surveyed said the Constitution still works, only 55 percent of them said they believed the Constitution limits government’s power over people.

Democrats surveyed were more likely to believe government’s powers are limited than those who identified as Republican or independent, said Sean O’Brien, executive director of the Center for the Constitution at Montpelier.

Officials believe many of those surveyed answered certain questions about government based on current events and not how the Constitution reads on subjects such as limited government powers, separation of power and the separation of church and state.

Although those surveyed said they believed strongly in these principles, other answers implied their views might be skewed by current events, O’Brien said.

“The results are so surprising that you wonder if they are answering the same questions we were asking,” O’Brien said. “We intended the survey to be about what [those surveyed] think about the Constitution today and [it appears] they think government is too large.”

Results from the $20,000 survey will help Montpelier officials come up with a curriculum for Constitutional programs. The Center for the Constitution already has programs for teachers, legislators, law enforcement and the media and is now working on programs for the public.

“The mission of the center is to increase the knowledge and understanding of the founding principles of the United States,” O’Brien said. “We did this survey to gauge what the American public knows about the Constitution and what they need to know better.”

A.E. Dick Howard, the White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, said it’s important for everyone to understand the Constitution.

Howard, who has spent his career working with other nations on their constitutions and helped draft Virginia’s latest state constitution, said the Founding Fathers worked hard to draft the Constitution and then sell it to the American people.

He said the cornerstones of the Constitution — limited government with checks and balances, and constitutional supremacy — are still important today.

“[The Founding Fathers] understood the human condition and the potential of people living in a free, democratic society,” Howard said.

Although some of the survey answers surprised him, Howard said he was pleasantly surprised overall to see many of the people surveyed understood the importance of the Constitution.

He was not surprised to find that many didn’t know a lot about James Madison and his work to frame the document, but said the challenge for Montpelier officials will be to increase that understanding.

Although Montpelier officials have been working on refurbishing Madison’s home, the foundation’s focus will soon turn to championing the Constitution and teaching its importance.

“The Constitution is the framework with how a free people govern themselves and place meaningful limits on that government in the name of individuality,” Howard said. “Madison knew this and surely was the most creative political thinker in American government at that time.”