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Some conclusions about these answers.
Americans are more likely to think that the people they know are good or somewhat good citizens. In some ways, this could be demonstrating a habit of Americans to see bad citizenship as something that describes other people. Additionally, friends, family, and even the participant's local community are more likely to share similar world views or political positions. This project only searched for aspects of good citizenship that Americans agree on. That does not mean that all Americans share the exact same idea of what good citizenship is. So, while vast majorities of Americans believe that their friends, family, and local community are mostly good citizens, this does not mean that Americans evaluate those groups on the same aspects. Remember, this is a very subjective survey. However, this does show that Americans believe that most of those that they are close with are are trying (and succeeding) to be good citizens.
That is why there is a beacon of hope. Almost everyone is trying to be a good citizen. If we can remember that the next time we are frustrated by someone's views, opinions, or votes, then hopefully we can keep our tempers tamed. And maybe, just maybe, we will be able to find something that we agree on.
Question Fourteen
"On a scale of 0 to 10, rank your own citizenship."
This question was one of personal evaluation. The scale went from 0 to 10. Take note that responses to this question were based on the respondents personal definition of good citizenship, and not on how the respondent felt they compared to other Americans. The references in the picture to the left should help explain the average number and the graph. The references were provided on the survey as well to better demonstrate what the question was asking participants to do. The average number, rounded, is 7. Which means people think that they are relatively good citizens. The two numbers that received the most amount of responses were 5 and 7.
Question Thirteen
"My friends members are mostly..."
Question Three also asked about the citizenship of the respondents' friends. Again, a vast majority of respondents chose "Good" or "Somewhat Good"as their answers. Americans seem to believe that the people they know well are good citizens. The closer person's relation is to the respondent the more likely it is that the respondent would regard that person as a good citizen.
Question Twelve
"My family members are mostly..."
Question Twelve asked about an even smaller group that respondents had closer relations with. This group was their family. The percentage of respondents who chose "Good" or "Somewhat Good" options increased again. Nearly half of the respondents chose outright "Good" as their answer.
Question Eleven
"Members of my local community are mostly..."
75% of respondents believe that members of their local community are mostly good citizens to some degree. Only about 5.5% believed the the opposite. Twice as many people believe that their local community members are mostly good citizens than believe that most Americans are good citizens. Americans definitely believe that their fellow community members are more likely to be a good citizen than the average American.
"Other" answers were from respondents who did not want to make a judgement because they did not feel they knew enough of their local community to give an answer.
Question Ten
"Most Americans are..."
Question Ten asked the about the citizenship of Americans as a while. "Good Citizens" and "Somewhat Good Citizens" increased significantly, while all other options decreased. The combination of "Good" and "Somewhat Good" still does not represent a 70% share of the answers, although it is close. However, because the percentages of the "Bad" and "Somewhat Bad" were much smaller I felt comfortable sating that there was vast agreement around the idea that most Americans are not bad citizens.
"Other" answers were almost exclusively respondents who felt they did not know enough Americans or about citizenship to cast a definitive answer.
Question Nine
"Most high-level government officials are..."
Question Nine asked about the citizenship of America's government officials. As you can see, a large portion of respondents said that most are neither good nor bad citizens. This may show that people are reluctant to call government officials good citizens, but also unwilling to call them bad citizens. However, it may also represent a reluctance to cast judgement on people that the respondents did not really know.
Answers in the "Other" category largely said that high-level officials are bad citizens, but the answers used much stronger language. Some "Other" stated that the respondent felt that they could not come to a conclusion for various reasons.
Who are Good Citizens?
This questions on this page asked participants to asses the citizenship of various groups of people such as high-level government officials and one's friends.