After conducting a Constitution Day IQ survey in fall 2014, University of Guam Master of Public Administration (MPA) students from the PA510: Administrative Thought class have found that Guam residents compared favorably to other states in knowledge about the U.S. Constitution, scoring higher than over 40 states including Florida, Michigan and Vermont. Comparing the scores, Guam placed eighth overall.

The class took on the survey as a special project after finding that Guam and other U.S. territories were not represented in a national Constitutional IQ survey conducted by http://www.constitutionfacts.com. The class felt it would be interesting to see how Guam would compare with the nationwide results. The class duplicated the survey and gathered a random sample of 200 participants.

"This project was a way for our graduate students to engage in Constitution Day 2014, have fun, and walk away with something worth talking about.  The project yielded some very interesting results,” said Dr. John Rivera, UOG MPA Program Chair.

Guam fared very well in comparison to the individual states, placing 8th overall, with a score of 6.11 out of 10. California was the state with the highest average score of 6.69 with the same set of questions. Participants with post-secondary degrees or college experience seemed to be more knowledgeable about the Constitution.

The students noted some probable factors which may have influenced Guam’s scores:

1. Guam’s relatively young history of self-government as a U.S. Territory.
2. A self-determination movement that encourages study in political self-rule—these ideas can translate to knowledge about the U.S. Constitution.
3. Many Guam residents have served in the armed forces or have worked for the federal government.

“We were pleased to see that Guam did comparatively well among the 50 states with this survey. More importantly, we found that Guam residents - no matter how deep their knowledge or familiarity of the US Constitution - were eager to participate, revealing a keen interest in the intents and meanings of the document itself,” said Dan Brown, MPA student. 

The class has contacted www.constitutionfacts.com to add Guam to the survey results. “What better way to commemorate Constitution Day than to add Guam to the data set," added Rivera

Constitution Day is September 17. To take the survey yourself, you may go to http://www.constitutionfacts.com/?page=quiz.cfm.

 

MPA PA510: Administrative Thought Contributors:

Emmanuel Aguon, Miranda Alegre, Séa Alvarez, Tammy Amuan, Jacquelyn Anderson, Louise “Mae” Bautista, Amanda Blas, Daniel “Dan” Brown, Colleen Cabedo, Kathleen Duenas, Rachel Flores, Mario Garcia, Danny Gonzales, Restine Hernandez, Chenoa Hutchinson, Young Hoon “Tommy” Joo, Anthony Lifoifoi, Michael Paulino, William Piki, Lea Chelsea Quinitio, Maria Teresa “Dondi” Quintans, Abigail Reyes, John “Jack” Ruane, Tricia San Nicolas, and Tasha Wade.