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Cited by 764Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationPolitical Science Research and EducationPolitical Theory and Democracy

Political ignorance and collective policy preferences

Gilens, Martin·2001·American Political Science Review
DOI 10.1017/s0003055401002222
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Abstract

In contrast with the expectations of many analysts, I find that raw policy-specific facts, such as the direction of change in the crime rate or the amount of the federal budget devoted to foreign aid, have a significant influence on the public’s political judgments. Using both traditional survey methods and survey-based randomized experiments, I show that ignorance of policy-specific information leads many Americans to hold political views different from those they would hold otherwise. I also show that the effect of policy-specific information is not adequately captured by the measures of general political knowledge used in previous research. Finally, I show that the effect of policy-specific ignorance is greatest for Americans with the highest levels of political knowledge. Rather than serve to dilute the influence of new information, general knowledge (and the cognitive capacities it reflects) appears to facilitate the incorporation of new policy-specific information into political judgments.

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Crossref · 10.1017/s0003055401002222

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Authors
Gilens, M.
Affiliations
University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Corresponding author
Gilens, Martin
ORCID
Gilens, Martin
Venue
American Political Science Review
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2001-06
Volume
95
Issue
2
Pages
379-396
ISSN
  • 0003-0554 (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-5943
DOI
10.1017/s0003055401002222
OpenAlex
W1984235607
Cited by
764
References
27
Citations by year
2026: 34 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 85 · 2018: 57 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 34 · 2014: 34 · 2013: 36 · 2012: 28
FWCI
49.38
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 1412 d)
Locations
  • American Political Science Review (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Science Research and Education
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
Keywords
political ignorance, public opinion, information processing, cognitive ability, crime rates, foreign aid

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