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Congress Dumbing Down Speeches; Noem More Complex Than Franken?

NPR reports that researchers have quantified the decline of rhetoric in Congress. The Sunlight Foundation analyzed the Congressional Record from the last two decades and found that since 2005, the Flesch-Kincaid grade-level equivalent of the language our Congresspeople use has dropped almost a full grade level, from 11.5 to 10.6.

Congress Speech Grade LevelAs NPR puts it, Congress has become literally more sophomoric. Republicans have traded places with Democrats as the slightly more erudite party.

But in the shocker of the day, the Sunlight Foundation's database ranks Rep. Kristi Noem above Minnesota's junior Senator Al Franken. Noem's grade level is 10.12; Franken's is 9.99.

Before my worldview shatters to abject bits, I remind myself that the Flesch-Kincaid scale doesn't measure whether you are actually saying anything; it just measures how complexly you say it. Noem has an awful tendency to string together her empty bromides in ugly run-on sentences.

Noem is still the low scorer in our South Dakota delegation. Senator John Thune scores an 11.77. Senator Tim Johnson scores 11.16.

You can test your own readability with this online Flesch-Kincaid calculator. Score for this post: 7.56. Kristi should have no problem understanding it.

6 Comments

  1. Carter 2012.05.21

    Holla, Cornelius, if truly that is thy name in full!

    Presently I have entered truly into thine most splendid of link the words penned by that most prestigious poet William Shakespeare in his play "Henry V", that at once profound and beautiful Crispin's Day Speech that he hath written so many great generations ago. And hark! The score of 12.46 has been lain upon it by thine site! Verily, we should being to speak in our most sacred Congressional Halls as once our forefathers did.

    (This post only scored a 9.92. Truly, I lack the Bard's silver tongue...)

  2. Luke 2012.05.21

    Is there a correlation between language complexity and the onset of war, or widely televised military tragedies?
    1) 1996 rise in complexity = beginning of US and NATO peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.
    2) 1998 slight rise in complexity = US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania (among a string of bombings to follow conducted by the US)
    3) 2001 large rise in complexity = 9/11 attacks and beginning of Afghanistan war.
    4) 2003 gradual rise in complexity = War in Iraq

    Then after everyone looses interest in the war and it drags on people really begin to dumb it down. Although the theory short of falls apart in 2011 (Libya?). Unless someone knows something I don't.

    (Post score of 10.61, maybe I should run for Congress...)

  3. Carter 2012.05.21

    I think that's possible, Luke. It may have something to do with the deceit that's commonly thrown around during these wars. Politicians can't win over popular support just by yelling "Amer'ca!" loudly, all the time (though that works pretty often), so they have to win over more support by just confusing people. If you don't know what someone's talking about, then you can't really speak out against it.

    That said, one potential good aspect of this is the decline in stilted, characterless language often used in speeches. Let's be honest here. The rules of English don't always make for exciting speaking, and if people break those and make their speeches more exciting and interesting, it could end up being a benefit to us.

  4. Susan 2012.05.21

    When I saw this earlier I laughed, but now that you report Noem ranks higher then Al Franken (not by much but still reallllllly???) I have to question who wrote the report and how they came to their conclusions. Speaking in complete sentences, writing 5 books and being a writer for SNL must not count for much nor make him a man of words.
    And Franken even graduated from Harvard, cum laude, a silly little point, but he did get his degree by actually attending classes and no intern credits. But I will concede he probably didn't manage a farm and have a string of speeding tickets so perhaps he is lacking in that aspect.

  5. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.05.22

    I'd take the researchers' methodology as reliable, Susan. I don't think the Sunlight Foundation has an agenda here. We just have to be careful about what we conclude from the numbers. Flesch-Kincaid grade level doesn't tell us about the quality or content of the language; it tells us the grade level readers have to be at in order to understand the text.

    :

    0.39(words/sentences) + 11.8(syllables/words) – 15.59

    The formula assumes that longer words and longer sentences require higher reading scales for comprehension. Some ideas require more complicated language, but good wordsmiths an find ways to express those ideas in the simplest language possible.

  6. mathew 2012.10.19

    There is virtually no limit of opportunity that can be found in your database,

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