NEW YORK -- The United States will be remembered as one of the most democratic and free nations in the world and it has a fundamentally great Constitution, say most Americans, but nine out of ten also believe America should be a land where children are taught both the good and the bad about their history.

So finds a far-reaching and comprehensive national study conducted by Public Agenda for the National Constitution Center that was released today to mark Constitution Day and the 215th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. The study, Knowing It by Heart, finds that while most Americans admit that they do not have detailed knowledge about the Constitution and Bill of Rights, they seem to have absorbed its core values of protecting the rights of all citizens. The survey found overwhelming agreement (87 percent of respondents) that decisions made in the United States should follow the will of the majority, but also protect the rights of the minority. And respondents were able to put aside their personal views on controversial issues such as homelessness and abortion to consider the constitutional rights of others.

Among other findings of the survey are:

• 86 percent believe the United States will be remembered either as the most democratic and free nation in history or will rank right up there with the best of them. Yet, only 19 percent believe our Constitution is so good that we should do as much as we can to bring it to other countries. 66 percent say we should help other countries imitate it only if they ask us to.
• 67 percent say it is absolutely essential for ordinary Americans to have a detailed knowledge of their constitutional rights and freedoms. And, 90 percent of respondents agree that since the terrorist attacks of September 2001, it's more important than ever to know what our Constitution stands for.
• 65 percent say that in effect citizens who are rich or powerful have more rights and freedoms than others do, and African Americans are more likely to hold that view (76 percent).
• Reminded that the Constitution originally held little regard for African Americans or women, 76 percent of Americans believe the Constitution is still a great document that had some blind spots versus 11 percent who feel it is a fundamentally flawed or racist document. African Americans are three times as likely as white Americans (28 percent versus 8 percent) to say it is flawed or racist.
• 50 percent feel it is just as important to protect the rights of the accused as it is to put the guilty in jail and another 18 percent say that it is important to protect the rights of the accused even if this means some guilty people are let go.
• 65 percent of those polled feel the right to privacy has either been lost or is under serious threat, and most view banks and credit card companies as a bigger threat to their personal privacy than the federal government. In the domestic war on terror, however, only 4 percent of Americans say the FBI has no right to observe Internet chat rooms.

This survey shows that if the text of the Constitution is captured imprecisely in people's heads, its principles and values are alive and well in their hearts, said Joseph M. Torsella, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center.

There's a widespread myth among the nation's intelligentsia that Americans are ignorant about what the Constitution stands for and would throw away the Bill of Rights if left to their own devices, said Deborah Wadsworth, president of Public Agenda. The truth is most Americans have absorbed the principle that these rights are essential and have to be balanced.

The study was conducted by Public Agenda, a nonprofit organization dedicated to nonpartisan public opinion research, for the National Constitution Center. The Center will open on July 4, 2003, on Philadelphia's historic Independence Mall as the only institution in the world dedicated to honoring and explaining the bedrock document on which the United States was founded and the principles it represents.

Funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the study included a nationwide telephone survey of 1,520 adults conducted in mid-July. The survey questionnaire was built on responses gathered in focus groups held during the spring in Philadelphia, PA; Nashville, TN; Walnut Creek, CA; Dayton, OH; Frisco, TX; and Danbury, CT, and from interviews with legal scholars and others knowledgeable about constitutional issues.

(Editor's Note: An Executive Summary follows. For a copy of the full study and interviews with Mr. Torsella, call Liz Barszczewski, 215-923-0004 or Bruce Bobbins, 212-981-5190. For interviews with Ms. Wadsworth, call Rick Remington, 212-686-6610.)

The National Constitution Center (www.constitutioncenter.org), opening July 4, 2003, on Philadelphia's Independence Mall, is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established by Congress to increase understanding of the U.S. Constitution and its relevance to the daily lives of Americans. It will be the first museum in the world devoted to dramatically telling the story of the Constitution through more than 100 interactive, multi-media exhibit components, film, photographs, text, sculpture and artifacts. The Center will also house the Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach, which will serve as the hub for national constitutional education, town meetings and debates.

Public Agenda, based in New York City, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to nonpartisan public policy research. Founded in 1975 by former U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and Daniel Yankelovich, the social scientist and author, Public Agenda is well respected for its influential public opinion polls and balanced citizen education materials. Its mission is to inform leaders about the public's views and to educate citizens about government policy.

Executive Summary

Methodology: Knowing It by Heart was based on a nationwide telephone survey of 1,520 adults conducted between July 10-24, 2002, six focus groups conducted in spring 2002 and in-depth interviews conducted with a variety of constitutional scholars and others knowledgeable about the issue. The questionnaire was designed and the data interpreted by Public Agenda. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points; the margin of error is higher when comparing percentages across subgroups. Knowing It by Heart was written by Steve Farkas, Jean Johnson and Ann Duffett with Leslie Wilson and Jackie Vine.

I. A Measure of Pride

Public Agenda found that Americans hold their country and its Constitution in high esteem, but largely agree more work needs to be done for the nation to live up to its ideals. The pride in America cuts across ethnic lines, the survey showed.

• Over half of Americans (52 percent) believe the United States will be recorded in history as the most democratic and free nation in the world, and another 34 percent believe their country is right up there with the best of them. Just six percent believe the United States falls far short in that regard.
• But a majority also agrees that with so many poor and homeless people, the United States fails to live up to its ideals. Fully 39 percent say they agree strongly with that statement.
• Over 90 percent of Americans believe the fundamental purpose of the Constitution is to serve and protect all citizens, versus just eight percent who believe it was meant to cater to the rich or powerful. More than three out of four African-Americans surveyed agree that the Constitution was meant to protect all.
• In actual practice, however, 65 percent of Americans feel that the rich or powerful have more rights and freedoms. That view was expressed by 76 percent of African-Americans.
• Public Agenda also found strong resistance to the notion that America's classrooms should present the nation's history in the best possible light. Nine out of 10 Americans say school children should be taught the bad and the good, warts and all.

I don't want to see my child grow up not knowing and not remembering that slavery happened here, said a Texas woman. I don't want to hear children saying 'What do you mean, the right to bear arms? What is that?'
II. Looking Abroad

While some accuse the United States of imposing its values and culture on other nations around the world, the Public Agenda survey showed little American chauvinism.

• Only 19 percent agree that the U.S. Constitution is so good that we should do as much as we can to bring it to other countries. Most in the survey (66 percent) say the United States should help other countries imitate our Constitution only if they ask us to.
• Asked what they thought accounts for the animosity toward the United States found in other countries, 38 percent of the survey respondents say anti-American groups feel threatened by our freedoms and ideals, and 27 percent cite jealousy of our nation's economic success. About three in ten say our enemies view America as a bully who throws our weight around.

III. Respect for the Law

In an impressive vote of confidence, 81 percent of Americans believe one of the nation's greatest strengths is its reliable legal process and considerable support was demonstrated for due process rights.

• Asked what the most important goal of America's criminal justice system should be, 29 percent say putting the guilty in jail. But half of Americans say protecting the rights of the accused is equally important as gaining convictions. And 18 percent say it is important to protect the rights of the accused, even if this means some guilty people are let go.

But the right to an attorney and one's day in court should not apply to those who enter the United States illegally, most Americans in the survey say.

• A strong majority (61 percent) say people caught entering the United States illegally should be immediately returned to their homeland; 35 percent say they should be given some legal opportunity to contest the action.
• Illegal immigrants arrested, but later cleared of suspected terrorist links, should have the right to an attorney to face immigration charges, say 39 percent of Americans; 58 percent say they should not be extended the same protections as a U.S. citizen or legal resident.

IV. Civil Rights in the War on Terror

Following the Sept. 11 attacks, various national polls and an earlier Public Agenda survey found that most Americans were willing to accept the use of profiling in the war against terrorism. But when presented with two specific scenarios in the study regarding security in the skies, Americans showed little support for racial profiling.

• 58 percent want random screening of all passengers at airports; just 11 percent say airport screening should be limited to passengers with Arabic names or Middle Eastern appearance.
• Fully 92 percent think everyone who takes flying lessons should receive a background check; only 6 percent feel background checks should be limited only to people from the Middle East or who have Arabic names.
• On the other hand, nearly six in 10 Americans say they support as a sensible tool against terrorism a new law that enables the FBI to obtain court orders to secretly monitor conversations between suspected terrorists and their lawyers; 35 percent say they worry it would violate the right to obtain confidential advice from a lawyer.

There is little in this study to suggest that most Americans have spent much time wrestling with the constitutional implications of the fight against terror, the report states. Although we found respondents to be thoughtful and interested, few seem to have fixed or consistent views on how to balance the provisions of the Constitution with the need to ferret out those who may be plotting more terror.

V. Putting Civil Liberties to the Test

To test how far Americans believe individual rights should be protected, Public Agenda created scenarios in the survey regarding two of the more volatile issues in American society -- homelessness and demonstrations at clinics that perform abortions.

For the homelessness scenario, Public Agenda tracked the responses of those who describe themselves as sympathetic towards the homeless (48 percent of the survey sample) versus those who say they have little or no sympathy for the homeless (14 percent).

Majorities of both groups agree that a homeless man living on the streets and not bothering anyone should be left alone. Majorities in both groups also agree that if the homeless man displayed disturbed and threatening behavior, the police should remove him from the streets.

But differences emerge when the scenario involves a group of homeless people who take over a park once frequented by families. Two thirds of the least sympathetic group in the survey say police should intervene and remove the homeless people. Only 45 percent of the sympathetic group agree. More than a third of the sympathetic say the scenario is too tough to call.

Also as part of the survey, the respondents were asked where they stood on abortion rights -- 43 percent say they support the right to abortion while 21 percent say abortion should not be permitted. (Another 34 percent say they support abortion rights, but want stricter limits.) Public Agenda then created a scenario involving a demonstration at a clinic that performs abortions and tracked the responses of abortion rights supporters and opponents.

Majorities of both supporters and opponents agree that protesters would be within their rights to peacefully demonstrate across the street from the clinic. But if the demonstration moved outside the front door of the clinic with protesters shouting their beliefs, both supporters and opponents agree, the demonstrators would be acting outside their rights.

Supporters and opponents of abortion rights disagree on a scenario in which storeowners neighboring the clinic complain that a demonstration is driving their business away and seek a court order to limit the demonstration to certain hours of the day. Seventy percent of supporters, but just 47 percent of opponents, say they would support the storeowners. Large numbers in both groups (23 percent and 35 percent) consider the issue too tough to call.

VI. 'The Right to Privacy'

Public Agenda in its survey found that only 34 percent of Americans feel the right to privacy is basically safe. Four in 10 (41 percent) believe the right to privacy in America is currently under serious threat and 24 percent believe that the right has already been lost.

Yet, when asked whom they perceive poses the greatest threat to their personal privacy, 57 percent cite banks and credit card companies because of their ability to collect and sell marketing information about consumers. The federal government was feared most by 29 percent, followed by eight percent who fear law enforcement agencies.

In the war against terrorism, some experts on civil liberties warn that the government has given law enforcement too much power to snoop on people's private lives. Asked by Public Agenda for their view, a third of Americans say the government is threatening to cross the line and another 21 percent say it has already done so. But 42 percent say they do not view the war on terrorism as a serious threat to their right to privacy.

More Americans (49 percent) say they worry that the United States will give up too many rights and freedoms out of fears of terrorism, than those (40 percent) who fear terrorists will take advantage of our rights and freedoms to do the United States harm.