This report from the Pew-Knight Initiative examines how Americans engage in public life across a range of activities, including politics, civic and community involvement, news consumption and religious participation. It analyzes how patterns of engagement, when clustered together, can form distinct groups within the U.S. public. It also explores how these engagement groups differ in their demographics, attitudes and levels of civic knowledge.
The report draws from nationally representative surveys of U.S. adults (refer to “How we did this” below). Many questions in these surveys asked about behaviors in the past 12 months, which for most respondents included the 2024 presidential election. Responses reflect the activities Americans took part in during this specific period. Patterns around political activity in particular may look somewhat different at other points in the political cycle.
Why we did this
People participate in public life in different ways – from voting and volunteering to following the news and taking part in religious or community activities. But these behaviors are often studied separately, making it difficult to see how they come together in people’s day-to-day lives. We conducted this study to provide a more integrated picture of how the public engages across these different domains.
We also used a specially designed survey with the awareness that some surveys can struggle to reach Americans who are less likely to participate in public life – because these same people also may be less likely to participate in surveys.
How we did this
This analysis draws on two Pew Research Center surveys.
The main data source is the Cross‑Sectional Engagement Survey, fielded July 9 to Dec. 5, 2025, among 5,393 adults. People could respond online, on paper or by telephone, and we reached out multiple times to people who didn’t initially respond. Refer to the methodology for details.
We also used data from Wave 179 of the American Trends Panel (ATP), a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults, conducted Sept. 8-14, 2025, among 5,195 respondents via web and phone.
To classify Americans into engagement groups, we did a cluster analysis of the Cross-Sectional Engagement Survey based on 19 measures of participation across the range of activities mentioned above. Respondents in the ATP survey were assigned to these groups based on how similar their patterns of behavior were to those identified in the cross‑sectional survey. We used the ATP survey to examine engagement groups’ levels of civic knowledge and views of politics and news. Refer to “How we measured Americans’ engagement in public life” for details on questionnaire design and data analysis approaches.
Americans who are highly engaged in public life are more likely than those who are less engaged to correctly answer several factual questions about politics.
Meanwhile, those who are less engaged are the most likely across the board to say they are unsure about the answers to these questions, including which political parties and leaders are currently in office.
To examine what U.S. adults know about American politics, we asked four factual questions about current issues, figures and institutions:
Which political party has majority control in the U.S. Senate? (Republican Party)
Which political party has majority control in the U.S. House of Representatives? (Republican Party)
What position is held by [the name of the governor in your state]? (Governor; D.C. residents were asked about their mayor)
What term describes a U.S. government tax on imported goods? (Tariff)
These quiz-like questions are not designed to capture the entirety of what people know about politics, but these types of questions have been shown in studies to serve as a good proxy for broader political knowledge.
How engagement relates to knowledge about politics
On each of the four questions, most Americans answer correctly. Almost three-quarters know that the Republican Party currently has majority control of both the House and the Senate (73% each). And even larger shares recognize the name of their state’s governor (80%) or know that a U.S. government tax on imported goods is called a tariff (86%).
Our new study also sorted Americans into four groups based on their answers to questions about engagement in public life.
The least engaged groupis significantly less likely to answer each question correctly – although majorities still get these answers correct. For example, 59% of Outsiders know that Republicans currently have majority control of the U.S. Senate, and 58% know the same about the U.S. House of Representatives. About seven-in-ten adults in this group (71%) recognize the name of their state’s governor, while 78% know the definition of a tariff.
Less engaged Americans are more likely to say they are unsure when quizzed about politics
% of U.S. adults in each engagement group who responded “not sure” to 1 or more of 4 knowledge questions
Note: Engagement groups are based on a cluster analysis that sorted Americans into four groups based on their responses to 19 questions about political activity, civic involvement, religious attendance and attention to news. All questions are multiple choice; for full question wording, refer to the topline.
Source: Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Sept. 8-14, 2025.
“How Americans Are Engaged With News, Politics, Religion and Civic Life”
PEW-KNIGHT INITIATIVE
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Less engaged Americans are more likely to say they are unsure when quizzed about politics
% of U.S. adults in each engagement group who responded “not sure” to 1 or more of 4 knowledge questions
Note: Engagement groups are based on a cluster analysis that sorted Americans into four groups based on their responses to 19 questions about political activity, civic involvement, religious attendance and attention to news. All questions are multiple choice; for full question wording, refer to the topline.
Source: Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Sept. 8-14, 2025.
“How Americans Are Engaged With News, Politics, Religion and Civic Life”
PEW-KNIGHT INITIATIVE
Gaps between groups are largely due to differences in the percentages of people who say they are not sure about the answer – and not differences in people selecting the wrong answer. On all four questions, no more than 10% in each of the four groups selected an incorrect response.
The differences across engagement groups are even more evident when looking at all four questions together. Half of Outsiders (50%) said they are not sure on at least one question, compared with 15% of Mobilizers and 16% of Connectors. Likewise, only 41% of Outsiders were able to correctly answer all four questions, versus majorities of Connectors (72%) and Mobilizers (68%).
Age, education and political involvement are also important factors intertwined with both engagement and knowledge about politics. But our analysis shows that engagement is linked with knowledge even when controlling for these other factors.
About the engagement groups
This study sorts Americans into four groups based on their answers to 19 questions about how they engage (or don’t engage) in society through political activity, civic involvement, religious service attendance and attention to news. The four groups are:
Mobilizers: Doing it all. This group is the smallest and the most active across politics, civics, news and religion.
Connectors: Involved, but less political. This group is larger than the Mobilizers and also highly engaged in many ways – including joining groups and making donations – but much less likely than the Mobilizers to be heavily involved in political activities.
Spectators: Keeping an eye on things. They follow the news at high rates but are much less likely than the more engaged groups to participate directly in other ways.
Outsiders: Less involved in most ways. This group is less likely than others to report taking part in most of the activities we asked about – including voting, volunteering and following the news.
Education is closely related to levels of knowledge about politics. Across all four engagement groups, Americans with college degrees tend to be more likely to correctly answer all four factual questions.
For example, 67% of Spectators with a college degree got all four questions correct. That compares with 46% of Spectators with only a high school diploma.
Adults with college degrees tend to be more likely to correctly answer factual questions about politics
% of U.S. adults in each engagement group who answered all 4 knowledge questions correctly
Note: Engagement groups are based on a cluster analysis that sorted Americans into four groups based on their responses to 19 questions about political activity, civic involvement, religious attendance and attention to news. All questions are multiple choice; for full question wording, refer to the topline.
Source: Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Sept. 8-14, 2025.
“How Americans Are Engaged With News, Politics, Religion and Civic Life”
PEW-KNIGHT INITIATIVE
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Adults with college degrees tend to be more likely to correctly answer factual questions about politics
% of U.S. adults in each engagement group who answered all 4 knowledge questions correctly
Note: Engagement groups are based on a cluster analysis that sorted Americans into four groups based on their responses to 19 questions about political activity, civic involvement, religious attendance and attention to news. All questions are multiple choice; for full question wording, refer to the topline.
Source: Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Sept. 8-14, 2025.
“How Americans Are Engaged With News, Politics, Religion and Civic Life”
PEW-KNIGHT INITIATIVE
Political knowledge gaps by age
Older adults in each engagement group are the most likely to answer all four questions correctly, with similar patterns by age apparent across the four groups.
For example, 83% of Mobilizers ages 50 and older answered all four questions correctly, compared with 49% of Mobilizers under 30.
Older adults are more likely to correctly answer factual questions about politics across engagement groups
% of U.S. adults in each engagement group who answered all 4 knowledge questions correctly
Note: Engagement groups are based on a cluster analysis that sorted Americans into four groups based on their responses to 19 questions about political activity, civic involvement, religious attendance and attention to news. All questions are multiple choice; for full question wording, refer to the topline.
Source: Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Sept. 8-14, 2025.
“How Americans Are Engaged With News, Politics, Religion and Civic Life”
PEW-KNIGHT INITIATIVE
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Older adults are more likely to correctly answer factual questions about politics across engagement groups
% of U.S. adults in each engagement group who answered all 4 knowledge questions correctly
Note: Engagement groups are based on a cluster analysis that sorted Americans into four groups based on their responses to 19 questions about political activity, civic involvement, religious attendance and attention to news. All questions are multiple choice; for full question wording, refer to the topline.
Source: Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Sept. 8-14, 2025.
“How Americans Are Engaged With News, Politics, Religion and Civic Life”
PEW-KNIGHT INITIATIVE
The gender gap in responses to political knowledge questions
When asked factual questions about politics, women in less engaged groups are more likely to say they aren’t sure
% of U.S. adults in each engagement group who responded “not sure” to 1 or more of 4 knowledge questions
Note: Engagement groups are based on a cluster analysis that sorted Americans into four groups based on their responses to 19 questions about political activity, civic involvement, religious attendance and attention to news. All questions are multiple choice; for full question wording, refer to the topline.
Source: Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Sept. 8-14, 2025.
“How Americans Are Engaged With News, Politics, Religion and Civic Life”
PEW-KNIGHT INITIATIVE
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When asked factual questions about politics, women in less engaged groups are more likely to say they aren’t sure
% of U.S. adults in each engagement group who responded “not sure” to 1 or more of 4 knowledge questions
Note: Engagement groups are based on a cluster analysis that sorted Americans into four groups based on their responses to 19 questions about political activity, civic involvement, religious attendance and attention to news. All questions are multiple choice; for full question wording, refer to the topline.
Source: Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Sept. 8-14, 2025.
“How Americans Are Engaged With News, Politics, Religion and Civic Life”
PEW-KNIGHT INITIATIVE
Women were generally more likely than men to say they were unsure about the answers to the factual political questions we asked. This pattern matches long-standing research showing that men are more likely to guess the answer to these kinds of factual questions rather than respond that they don’t know.
But there is no significant gap among the most engaged group: Roughly the same share of women and men who are Mobilizers responded “not sure” to one or more knowledge question (15% and 13%, respectively).
By contrast, among Outsiders, 59% of women said they were not sure on one or more of the four questions, versus 38% of men.
Mobilizers: Doing it all. This group is the smallest and the most active across politics, civics, news and religion. 
Connectors: Involved, but less political. This group is larger than the Mobilizers and also highly engaged in many ways – including joining groups and making donations – but much less likely than the Mobilizers to be heavily involved in political activities.
Spectators: Keeping an eye on things. They follow the news at high rates but are much less likely than the more engaged groups to participate directly in other ways.
Outsiders: Less involved in most ways. This group is less likely than others to report taking part in most of the activities we asked about – including voting, volunteering and following the news.
