Ben Greenman, over to The New Yorker, in an essay on the pointlessness of bracket bets in the NCAA argues that

[i]f you ask people about politics, or history, or the weather, most people will possess at least a modicum of expertise, at least along a narrow band.

I'm going to leave the idea of expertise in the weather alone, but most people, although they think they have a modicum of knowledge, are dead wrong about history and many if not all ignore the facts of political life.