Study Finds Only 1 In 3 Americans Can Name Their Representative’s Corporate Donors

WASHINGTON—According to a new study from the Pew Research Center, only 1 in 3 Americans are able to name their elected representative’s corporate donors. “This is an alarming statistic that shows a profound lack of civic knowledge in this country,” said study co-author Rania Hassan, who polled 30,000 U.S. citizens and found that only 31.5% were able to name a single corporation behind the political action committees operating in their district. “This dismal percentage includes Americans who said ‘Ray-something.’ We also counted all of the respondents who answered, ‘I can’t remember their name, but I think their logo is blue.’ Be it Citigroup, Comcast, or Marathon Petroleum, most Americans exhibited shocking ignorance of who is responsible for making laws for them.” Hassan added that the majority of Americans had incorrectly guessed 7-Eleven.