A recent study shows members of Congress speak at about a 10th-grade level

[America2]

Is Congress getting dumber?

By Mike Krumboltz | The Upshot – Mon, May 21, 2012.

Think members of Congress act like a bunch of high school students? You might be on to something. A recent study from the Sunlight Foundation found that members of Congress tend to speak at about a 10th-grade level.
 
The Sunlight Foundation analyzed every word spoken by every member of Congress on the floor of the House or Senate. Sunlight imported the words into a searchable database and then "ran them through an algorithm to determine the grade level of congressional discourse," according to a buzzy story from NPR.
 
The finding: Congress is speaking at a lower academic level. Back in 2005, members of Congress spoke at a level equal to a high school junior. Now, the numbers have dropped off. Congress talks like a bunch of sophomores. Sunlight used something called the "Flesch-Kinkaid" scale to determine speech level. Longer sentences and words with more syllables equal higher grade levels.
 
Some interesting factoids from the Sunlight Foundation's study:
 
—"Prior to 2005, Republicans on average spoke at a slightly higher grade level than Democrats. Since then, Democrats have spoken on average at a slightly higher grade level than Republicans."
 —On average, Congress members who are moderate speak at a higher level. Those on the far right and left speak at a lower level.
 —Don't assume you speak at a higher level than your representative. The average American speaks between an eighth- and ninth-grade level.
 
It is tempting to see these results and say, "Congress is getting dumber," but a piece from the Atlantic suggests another theory. Perhaps Congress is just getting better at getting its points across. After all, why make an issue or speech or anecdote more complicated than it has to be?
 
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/congress-getting-dumber-184032926.html

[TheHiveMind]

I dont think it's so much that the members of Congress are stupid. But more likely they know how dumbed-down the general population has become, that's why they talk to us like a bunch of children.



I couldn't resist.

[larsonstdoc]

  10th grade level is much higher than the average American.  No telling what level the average Spanish speaking American speaks at.

[Geolibertarian]

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/16/business/media-talk-why-the-mind-shrivels-for-the-body-politic.html

MEDIA TALK; Why the Mind Shrivels for the Body Politic

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
The New York Times
October 16, 2000

Does the dialogue of the presidential debates seem more juvenile than eloquent?

American political discourse has grown more simplistic for decades, at least according to the Flesch-Kincaid reading-level formula, a gauge widely used by publishers and educators for evaluating the difficulty of a text, according to the length of its words and the complexity of its sentences.

It turns out that Vice President Al Gore's statements in the first debate in Boston a couple of weeks ago read at a level roughly appropriate to an eighth-grader. Gov. George W. Bush spoke at a level almost a grade below. Each candidate's speech fell half a grade level in the second debate last week.

Robert Beard, linguistics professor emeritus at Bucknell and chief linguistics officer of the language information Internet company yourDictionary.com, evaluated the transcripts of the debates using Flesch-Kincaid software now installed in many word-processing programs.

He said that in the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Stephen A. Douglas's speeches tested at nearly a 12th-grade reading level, and Abraham Lincoln's just above 11th grade. In the first televised presidential debate, in 1960, John F. Kennedy spoke at nearly a 10th-grade level and Richard M. Nixon just above 10th grade. But during the 1996 presidential election debates, Bill Clinton spoke at a level suitable for eighth-graders, and Bob Dole at a level right for the sixth grade.

The hands-down winner for complex talk in the current campaign is Ralph Nader, of the Green Party, who hit the 12th-grade reading level in a recent television appearance.

Speaking at a low reading level is in some ways a measure of success for a politician in an age of the mass media, since less-challenging usage is accessible to more of the electorate. ''The lower reading level shows they are more interested in people who are going to vote than in history and posterity,'' Professor Beard said. ''You wouldn't simplify your speech to impress intellectuals or to appear statesmanlike.''

Franklin D. Roosevelt, for example, sought the declaration of war against Japan in 1941 at a comparatively erudite 12th-grade level, he noted.

The principal candidates this year conduct their debates at a level only slightly below that of the pundits who dissect their words, Professor Beard said. The transcript of a recent ''Meet the Press'' program read at a level that might be somewhat challenging for an eighth-grader, and the contentious ''McLaughlin Group'' at a level appropriate to the ninth grade. This article reads at about the 12th-grade level.

[Continued...]

[Monkeypox]

If Ovomit gets a second term, they'll start speaking at a 5th grade level.

[Highland]

I dont think it's so much that the members of Congress are stupid. But more likely they know how dumbed-down the general population has become, that's why they talk to us like a bunch of children.



I couldn't resist.

No these suckers are stupid brain damaged corporation commune gangsters that seem to spend most of their time promoting a war for dependence and non freedom..

[Satyagraha]

I once worked for a company that had government contracts, and they required that we use software that would 'dumb-down' the language to a specific grade-level. I never realized until now, that it was to tailor the writing for congress. 

[Jackson Holly]

  WTF? OMG ... f'in tards! 

IMHO they are SSINF ...(*_*)! ... ROFLMFAO! 

[chris jones]

Highlander posted this:
I dint think it's so much that the members of Congress are stupid. But more likely they know how dumbed-down the general population has become, that's why they talk to us like a bunch of children.
 Its a bump*
Since when have these fakes spoken to the general population as if we were not moronic.

[hardrain77]

Rand Paul was even on that list. We know Rand is a well-educated, articulate man with good lineage, yet I bet he feels like he has to dumb down his rhetoric for KY voters--hence using terms like 'gayer'.

[Constitutionary]

It's all apart of dumbing down America.

Dumb slaves = easier control

[egypt]

Well, 10th Grade is quite a step up when newspapers are written at a 5th Grade level.  Last I heard, they were talking about dumbing down the newspapers even further.

Love, e

[Constitutionary]

I know how is a modern Newspaper any different than the elementary school Weekly-Readers they used to hand out every Monday in schools across the nation ??

In truth probably not all that much.

Had it been left up to the Weekly Reader I would never have taken an interest in anything news-worthy.

[chris jones]

 10th graders are schooled according to the standards set by our GOV. It goes to follow the general public is being conditioned.

[Constitutionary]

In the Army they even admit that the manuals are written to the level of a 10th Grader.

No reason the government shouldn't be operating at the same level.

No wonder the Globalists find it so easy to manipulate them.

I may run for something here in Florida just cuz the educated here seem not to have much of a voice.

[egypt]

I may run for something here in Florida just cuz the educated here seem not to have much of a voice.

hahaha - what a GREAT idea!  I'd vote for you.   

Love, e

[jofortruth]

And you wondered what is wrong with Congress? (Pay special attn to the guy from Georgia - Johnson, but all of these people are a joke! I wonder if they are even 10th grade level!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ONEvCC94DA

[Valerius]

I'm kind of surprised its at that. Certainly it can't be on tv interviews.

[kidA]

  10th grade level is much higher than the average American.  No telling what level the average Spanish speaking American speaks at.

What about the Farsi speaking American? How about the Chinese speaking American?

Get over yourself. I just went to my brother's graduation and noticed how many LATINO people were accepting their MASTERS.

This has nothing to do with race, yet you always have to jab at Latinos.

[Femacamper]

A recent study shows members of Congress speak at about a 10th-grade level

Yeah, drugs can to that to you.