The Sunlight Foundation just released the results of a study measuring the scholastic grade level of speeches made by members of Congress. The scale uses the Flesch-Kincaid test and is based on the length of words and sentences used. Among its findings are, “Congress now speaks at almost a full grade level lower than it did just seven years ago, with the most conservative members of Congress speaking on average at the lowest grade level.” The study further found that it is the “most extreme members” who speak at the lowest grade levels, as well as the most junior.
As you may remember, a major turning point in American politics was the 2010 election that saw a wave of new Tea Party Republicans elected to Congress. Of the 20 lowest scoring members, 17 were Republicans, and 12 of those are in their first term of office. You have to go down to 15th place before you find a Democrat.
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