On the first day of class, my political science teacher asked if anyone could name one of the first 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. About 10 out of 65 hands went in the air. Then he asked how many discuss politics with friends and family. Again, only around 10 students raised their hand.

Growing up in Europe, where political discussion was as common a topic as weather, the event in the classroom completely shocked me.

In 2008, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute created a quiz with 33 questions on American history, politics and economics. Of the 2000 participants, 71 percent received failing grades. Josiah Bunting from the institute said, “Men and women, rich and poor, liberals and conservatives, Republican and Democratic, white, black, yellow and brown – all were united in their inability to master the basic features of America’s constitutional form of government.”

How can it be that something that affects everyone on a daily basis is something most people in this country don’t have the basic knowledge about? The lack of knowledge certainly explains the question about why people don’t seem to talk about politics. How are you supposed to discuss things you don’t have a clue about?

Lack of political knowledge and the ability to discuss politics can be dangerous for many reasons.

When the constitution was established, it said that the people were supposed to check on the government in order to prevent corruption. It’s a matter of our responsibility as citizens to know enough to be able to “keep an eye” on the government. Without us doing so, the governing is not working the way it was designed to.

Lack of political knowledge will also lead to confusion when watching TV and reading newspapers. We might blindly believe what we see and hear because we can’t tell what is true and we might not make the correct inferences. Without knowledge we cannot use critical thinking correctly.

An interesting example is when John McCain and Sarah Palin called Barack Obama a socialist. But everyone who has the slightest knowledge of political ideologies would immediately realize that Obama is as far away from being a socialist as George W. Bush is from being a smart guy.

Americans are also known for being reluctant to trust the government and let it be “too powerful”. Of course you don’t trust the government if you barely know how it works and what rights and duties you as a citizen are guaranteed.

Make sure that you have done your homework. Learn about politics and the foundation of this country. You will be able to understand what the news guy is talking about and have your opinion on whether Obama’s health plan is legitimate. When you have the knowledge is when you start talking politics with people around you, and that’s how we all have the chance to successfully change and make our society move in the direction that we, the people, want.