Jack Shafer of Reuters has an interesting column on the implications of my book Democracy and Political Ignorance, and other recent scholarship, for claims that public knowledge of politics can be subtantially increased if only we had more or better media coverage of political issues: The surplus of quality journalism in print, on the Web, […]
Archive | Democracy and Political Ignorance
My Balkinization Post On the Implications of Political Ignorance for Judicial Review
By Ilya Somin on October 8, 2013 2:53 pm in Constitutional Theory, Democracy and Political Ignorance, Political Ignorance, Representation-Reinforcement
My final substantive Balkinization guest-blogging post about Democracy and Political Ignorance focuses on the implications of widespread political ignorance for judicial review and the “countermajoritarian difficulty.” For those who may be interested, I addressed the related question of the implications of political ignorance for originalism, in this article.
My Balkinization Post on the Informational Advantages of Voting With Your Feet over Ballot Box Voting
By Ilya Somin on October 7, 2013 5:14 pm in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Political Ignorance, Voting With Your Feet
The latest in my series of Balkinization posts about my book Democracy and Political Ignorance is now up. This one deals with the informational advantages of voting with your feet over ballot box voting.
Duke Leto Atreides on Political Ignorance
By Ilya Somin on October 7, 2013 10:45 am in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Political Ignorance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
I recently noticed that several of Frank Herbert’s Dune books are among the books that purchasers of my new book on political ignorance buy at the same time on Amazon. That brings to mind the following interesting quote on political ignorance by Duke Leto Atreides in Chapter 7 of Dune: “My propaganda corps is one […]
Democracy and Political Ignorance – Response to Two Questions from Orin Kerr
In a recent post, co-blogger Orin Kerr asks two thoughtful questions about the arguments advanced in my new book Democracy and Political Ignorance: whether the existence of political parties reduces the dangers posed by ignorance, and whether my argument for smaller government is undermined if it turns out that the public prefers big government. I. […]
My Balkinization Post on Whether Political Ignorance Can be Overcome through Education and Information Shortcuts
By Ilya Somin on October 6, 2013 3:48 pm in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Education, Political Ignorance
The fourth in my series of Balkinization guest-blogging posts on my book Democracy and Political Ignorance is now up. It explains why it is extremely difficult to overcome political ignorance through information shortcuts, education, and other conventional strategies for increasing public knowledge.
My First Two Balkinization Posts About Democracy and Political Ignorance
My first two Balkinization guest-blogging posts about my new book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter are now up. In the first post, I introduce myself and the book to Balkinization readers, and thank Jack Balkin and his co-bloggers for their invitation. The second explains “Why Political Ignorance Matters,” channeling John Stuart […]
Introducing my New Book Democracy and Political Ignorance
My new book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter is out in print this week from Stanford University Press. The book argues that widespread political ignorance is a serious problem for modern democracy, one that strengthens the case limiting and decentralizing government, and for robust judicial review. Over the next few days, […]
Two Upcoming Speaking Engagements
By Ilya Somin on September 30, 2013 1:20 pm in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Same-Sex Marriage
Over the next two weeks, I will be doing two out-of-town speaking engagements that may be of interest to some of our readers. On Thursday, October, 3, 12:00-1:15 PM, I will be doing a talk on my new book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter, at Columbia Law School in Jerome Greene […]
Democracy and Political Ignorance – The Book Tour
It’s not actually an integrated book tour, but merely a set of individual speaking engagements. But, for readers who may be interested, here is a list of upcoming talks I will be giving about my book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter. In most cases, these events will last about 60 to […]
Upcoming Radio Interview About Democracy and Political Ignorance
This Sunday from 3-4 PM eastern time, 12-1 Pacific, I will be discussing my new book Democracy and Political Ignorance with talk radio host Bob Zadek, on his Bob Zadek Show. Although you listen to it on the air only in California, you should be able to listen to it online here. Based on my […]
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on Political Ignorance
By Ilya Somin on September 6, 2013 8:09 pm in Democracy, Democracy and Political Ignorance, Education, Political Ignorance, Voting With Your Feet
Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor recently gave a speech lamenting widespread political ignorance in the United States: Two-thirds of Americans cannot name a single Supreme Court justice, former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor told the crowd that packed into a Boise State ballroom to hear her Thursday. About one-third can name the three branches […]
Private Schools Increase Political Knowledge and Reduce the Danger of Political Indoctrination
By Ilya Somin on September 1, 2013 6:30 pm in Democracy and Political Ignorance, Education, Political Ignorance
Allison Benedikt’s Slate essay arguing that if you send your kids to private school you are a “bad person” who is undermining the “common good” has drawn many responses. Art Carden, Kevin Grier, Kevin White, and Megan McArdle have pointed out most of the flaws in her logic. But both Benedikt and her critics have […]
Public Ignorance About Crime Rates
By Ilya Somin on August 26, 2013 6:42 pm in Criminal Law, Democracy and Political Ignorance, Political Ignorance, Politics, Public Opinion
CNN recently published an interesting article about how most of the public believes that violent crime is rising, despite the fact that it has actually fallen dramatically over the last twenty years: You can’t escape the headlines. An Australian going to college in the United States is gunned down by teens who police say killed […]
A Knowledgeable but Selfish Electorate May be Better than a Well-Meaning but Ignorant One
By Ilya Somin on August 8, 2013 2:50 pm in Democracy, Democracy and Political Ignorance, Elections, Political Ignorance, Public Opinion
In my last post, I discussed economist Dwight R. Lee’s article about why most of the electorate does not decide who to vote for on the basis of narrow self-interest. Unfortunately, the very same incentive structure that leads most voters to base their decisions on the public interest also leads most of them to be […]