On this day in 1787, the founders of the United States signed the Constitution. The annual commemoration offers an opportunity to reflect on U.S. civic engagement.

The 2021 Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey found that a growing number of Americans can identify the branches of government and their freedoms under the First Amendment, even though many still misunderstand basic facts about their government.

The increase follows increased news media coverage of civic foundations in the context of an impeachment proceeding, a pandemic, protests over racial justice, a shift in the U.S. Supreme Court and a contested election that saw attempted legal challenges and an attempted insurrection trying to halt the congressional certification of the electoral vote.

“Higher proportions of the public have a foundational awareness of the three branches and the protections in the First Amendment,” Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, said in a news release. “But this knowledge appears to have been purchased at a real cost. It was a contentious year in which the branches of government were stress-tested.”

The survey found that 56% of respondents could name all three branches of government, up from 51% in 2020. Still, 20% could not name any of the branches.

Asked what it means when the Supreme Court rules 5-4 in a case, 61% correctly identified that the decision is the law.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents identified freedom of speech as protected by the First Amendment, while 56% named freedom of religion, 50% named freedom of the press, 30% named the right of people to peacefully assemble and 20% named the right to petition the government.

However, 61% of respondents erroneously said the First Amendment protection of free speech means that Facebook must let all American freely express themselves on social media. Politically, 66% of conservatives, 61% of moderates and 55% of liberals believe that Facebook posts are covered by the First Amendment.

Americans reported being divided on whether the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol reflected a constitutional exercise of the right to petition the government. Nearly half — 49% — said it was accurate to say that arresting those who entered the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the certification of the presidential election violated their constitutional rights.

The criminal prosecution stemming from Jan. 6 ­— described as among the largest prosecutions in U.S. history — has included charges of destruction of property, assaulting law enforcement personnel, targeting members of the media for assault and other unlawful conduct.

“It is a sad commentary on the public’s civic literacy that half of the public considers an effort to disrupt the certification of an election an exercise of a First Amendment right,” Jamieson said.

The Annenberg survey was conducted by an independent research company in early August. It talked to 1,007 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.