That’s the percentage of the public who could name the current vice president, Dick Cheney; In 1989, 74% of the public were able to identify Dan Quayle as the vice president. On average, today’s citizens are about as able to name their leaders, and are about as aware of major news events, as was the public nearly 20 years ago. A new Pew survey includes nine questions that are either identical or roughly comparable to questions asked in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 2007, somewhat fewer were able to name their governor, the vice president, and the president of Russia, but more respondents than in the earlier era gave correct answers to questions pertaining to national politics. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.