Do Facts Matter? Information and Misinformation in American Politics

Abstract

WAS BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA BORN OUTSIDE the United States, so that his presidency and all laws passed under it are unconstitutional? Are two out of every five Americans black? Did the crime rate rise during the first 15 years of the twenty-first century? These are questions of factual information, to which there are correct answers—respectively, no, no, and no. Knowing the right answer to each question is important for making appropriate political choices and policy decisions. And yet in opinion polls, mainstream media, and general public discourse, many sensible and educated Americans have answered yes to each of these queries. They are wrong, and their views are likely to be associated with—and may even contribute to—consequential and problematic political actions or public policies. Consider another set of questions: Do higher taxes reduce car owners' consumption of gasoline? Do more Americans vote in local elections, where their vote has a much greater impact, than in state or national elections, where their vote may be substantively trivial? Can intensive tutoring improve reading and math skills of inner-city students? These are slightly more complicated questions of fact because they involve causal links. But they, too, have correct, or at least generally consensual, answers—respectively, yes, no, and yes. Many Americans would concur with these answers and support the implied policy or political goals—and yet do not select the actions that would seem to follow directly from them.