How Patriotic Is WI? 4th Of July Ranking About More Than Flag-Waving

WISCONSIN — Patriotism is measured by more than waving a flag or marching in a parade on the 4th of July, according to a new analysis that says Wisconsin is the 32nd-most patriotic state in the country.

To rank the states, the personal finance website WalletHub compared data across 18 key measures of patriotism, including the percentage of residents who enlisted in or are veterans of the military, the share of adults who voted in the last presidential election, and the number of AmeriCorps volunteers per capita.

“The most patriotic states have a lot of residents who serve or have served in the armed forces, high voter turnouts during elections, and a high share of the population volunteering with national or local organizations,” WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe said in a news release. “Patriotism also isn’t concentrated in any one particular area — the top states are located in vastly different geographic regions.”

Wisconsin, with a total score of 40.30 out of a possible 100, ranked 44th among states for military engagement and 25th for civic engagement.

Nationally, the 10 most patriotic states are, respectively, Virginia, Alaska, Montana, Maine, Oregon, Colorado, New Hampshire, Washington, Maryland and Hawaii.

The best measures of a patriot are a person’s ability to think critically and act constructively in the best interests of all members of society, Rogers M. Smith, a political science researcher and professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, told WalletHub.

That means both “taking care of their own responsibilities well” and “paying attention to the problems and the legitimate goals of their societies and seeking to contribute through voting, civic service, or other means to those they are most capable of doing so,” he said.

Glenn Altschuler, a professor emeritus of American studies at Cornell University, said true patriotism is a lived experience.

“An individual can ‘live’ patriotism by treating others with respect; staying informed about public affairs; reading essays and listening to podcasts by people across the ideological spectrum; weighing his or her personal interests against the interests of all Americans; speaking up and speaking out; voting; and respecting the outcome of elections and our system of justice,” Altschuler said.

Some experts offering commentary to WalletHub said some schools are falling short in educating students about their responsibilities as citizens.

Sheri Parks, a community strategist and professor emeritus of American studies at the University of Maryland, called for renewed emphasis on history and civics education in America’s schools.

“This country is an amazing story. It has not always been good or easy, but there have always been good and brave people who survived and overcame,” she said. “Even in the face of horrendous odds, we have kept at it.”

Parks pointed to surveys showing Americans are losing their optimism, which she said “would be both a great shame and a self-defeating movement.”

“We should be teaching our children to be Americans — the best of America — in the world,” she said. “The US still holds a unique position in the world. We are who we are because of that spirit.”

Shauna L. Shames, an associate professor of political science at Rutgers University, cautioned that patriotism “must be authentic, coming from within individuals and not forced from without.”

Schools should teach the oppressions, injustices, and dark points of our history, in age-appropriate ways, but also acknowledge the remarkable experiment in democracy and the attempt at some kind of equality among citizens,” she said. “We need to find ways to acknowledge both the injustices of history and their continuing weight, while also being aware of and inspired by the things we do well and what still holds us together as a country.”

However, Richard Lloyd, an associate professor of sociology at Vanderbilt University, said factors other than the decline of high school civics classes have contributed to current divisions in U.S. politics.

“Nevertheless, we need a serious national reckoning with the country we are and the country we want to be, and right now we not only are not having it but appear to have no idea how to have it,” Lloyd said. “There is less and less a baseline of shared principles to work from.

“The U.S. is neither a shining beacon of goodness nor a uniquely malignant force of oppression,” he said. “What it is, is both a flawed experiment, whose imperfect founders brilliantly built a framework geared towards becoming less flawed – not perfect, but more perfect.

WalletHub developed the ranking using data from the Census Bureau, Department of Veterans Affairs, Defense Manpower Data Center, Peace Corps, Military OneSource, the U.S. Elections Project, the administrative office of U.S. courts, AmeriCorps and The Thomas B. Fordham Institute.