You're expecting an extremely high level of civic comprehension that truly doesn't exist in the US population anymore. That's part of what really freaks me out at times working with the public at my employing agency. Citizens should not be coming to me as groveling supplicants but yet they do far too frequently.

We have a populace that is disarmed intellectually in too many ways. Until we can overcome that you're essentially engaging in the discussion of minutia and esoterica. That's not a hopeful situation.