Is the public's ignorance of politics trivial?

Examination of a comprehensive database of political knowledge, constructed from pooled 1988 and 1992 National Election Studies, refutes criticisms that haue sometimes been lodged against standard tests that seem to reveal profound levels of public ignorance. Although most people know something abou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Critical review (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2003-07, Vol.15 (3-4), p.307-337
Main Author: Bennett, Stephen Earl
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citizen participation
Citizenship
Democracy
Democratic theory
Elections
Government and politics
Government Spending
Ignorance
Information dissemination
Knowledge
Perceptions
Political participation
Political science
Political sociology
Political thought
Politics
Presidential elections
Public knowledge
Public opinion
Social theory
Social Welfare
U.S.A
United States
Voters
Voting Behavior
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Summary:Examination of a comprehensive database of political knowledge, constructed from pooled 1988 and 1992 National Election Studies, refutes criticisms that haue sometimes been lodged against standard tests that seem to reveal profound levels of public ignorance. Although most people know something about politics, the typical citizen is poorly informed, and only a small group is very knowledgeable about politics. Differentiating people according to their perceptions of the most important national problem does not reveal pockets of well-informed "issue publics" among the electorate. The NES data also show that knowledge makes a difference in how people feel about government spending for social-welfare programs, and in how well citizens were able to connect their partisanship and ideological proclivities to their votes in the 2000 presidential election.
ISSN:0891-3811
1933-8007
DOI:10.1080/08913810308443585